Brand experience

The era of vibetelling

Brand experience

The era of vibetelling

Brand experience

The era of vibetelling

And… of the scroll?

A story can be perfect and still get lost in the scroll. The pace at which content is consumed today has changed the way we connect with people. Everything happens faster, in fragments. We no longer remember what someone told us in detail — not the names, not the dates — but we do remember how it made us feel. And that’s what’s led many brands to stop telling classic stories and start transmitting atmospheres — or in other words: vibes.

In the previous article we talked about perspective, about how deciding where to place the viewer’s point of view can change the entire story. Now the question is: what kind of air does everything you do breathe? Because coherence is built through visible decisions, but also through the invisible — through the tone that ties everything together without needing to explain it.

From telling stories to creating atmospheres

For years, storytelling has been the go-to tool to give meaning to brands: building a narrative, following a thread, developing characters and conflicts. But the way we consume content has changed. We jump from a reel to a carousel, from a TikTok to a banner. Nothing happens in order and almost nothing is remembered sequentially.

Vibetelling accepts that reality. It doesn’t want you to follow a story — it wants you to recognize an energy. Narrative gives way to perception, with micro-fragments that, when combined, build an identity, a tone, a rhythm. Everything that makes you identify a brand without reading its name — and feel what it is.

Kenzo proved this in its campaign directed by Spike Jonze, where a woman dances alone in an empty theater to a frantic choreography. There’s no script and no dialogue, but the energy, the music, and the movement transmit the essence of the brand without a single word. Every detail builds a feeling that repeats over and over, until it becomes part of its language.

From concept albums to singles

If storytelling was the progressive rock of the seventies — with concept albums and songs that told a full story from beginning to end — vibetelling is Spotify in 2025: a constant flow of singles that work on their own but still sound like they belong together.

A brand that works from vibes doesn’t fear switching rhythm or style, because its “sound” stays recognizable in the lighting, in the texture of its visuals, in the cadence of its copy, in the way it edits or moves the camera. Every piece adds nuance — but they all belong to the same atmosphere.

From rigid manuals to living systems

Traditional brand guidelines were made for a stable world, where touchpoints were predictable: ads, billboards, catalogs. Today, brands live in a chaotic ecosystem of three-second videos, disappearing stories, cross-collabs, and audiences that switch platforms without warning.

In this context, the challenge isn’t to apply a precise Pantone every time — it’s to maintain a recognizable feeling. We’ve gone from “always use this blue” to “always transmit this calm” or “this energy.”

Every brand should be able to define its atmosphere attributes: sharp or fluid, dark or bright, bold or contemplative. Traits that act as compasses — not boundaries.

Keeping the vibes doesn’t mean improvising. It requires direction — the ability to give freedom without losing identity.

Keeping the vibes doesn’t mean improvising. It requires direction — the ability to give freedom without losing identity.

Brands that sound like themselves

Some brands have already embraced this shift and learned how to create unmistakable atmospheres.

Nude Project doesn’t tell you who it is — you feel it in how it talks, how it dresses, how it looks. Its energy is collective, real, unfiltered. More vibes than speech.
Nike, in many campaigns, skips the story and keeps only the sensation. The rhythm, the breath, the gestures — they make you feel the effort without saying a word.
Duolingo doesn’t teach languages in its communication — it teaches humor, chaos, and rhythm. Every appearance of the owl is as absurd as it is recognizable.

Each does it in its own way — but all three prove that when a brand finds its air, everything else flows.

Your story may evolve — and your design too. But when everything gets diluted in the speed of the feed, the atmosphere you create is what stays floating — still sounding, even in silence.

Maybe the challenge isn’t to tell more stories, but to sustain the air that connects them.

So the real question is:
Is your brand recognized by what it says — or by the vibes it transmits?