Storytelling Summit 2025

09.30

Welcome from the Chair

Grant Feller, Founder, Every Rung

09.40

Panel: Storytelling in the boardroom: how insights can shape better conversations and smarter decisions for CEOs

Insights need to travel further and faster but that’s hampered by the disconnect between decision-makers at the top and those who supply those insights. How can we create more useful, captivating and relevant stories to maximise the influence of insights teams?

Chair:
Grant Feller, Founder, Every Rung
Panel:
Beth Butterwick, CEO Clarendon Fine Art (former CEO Jigsaw Fashion)
Claire Brough, Head of Communications, Astra Zeneca
Dan Korn, VP Programming, Hearst Networks, Discovery and History Channels
Eric Salama, Chair of Verian (former Ceo Kantar)

10.10

Uncovering the emotional story of money and helping Nationwide build deeper connections

Money is more than numbers—it’s emotions, conversations, and lived experiences. Nationwide wanted to tap into the deeper financial narratives shaping people’s lives. Partnering with Verve they went beyond traditional research, leveraging AI to analyse real, unfiltered financial discussions online. Through discourse analysis, they explored emotional themes like security, stress, aspirations, and fears related to different generational cohorts.
The findings revealed a human-centred narrative of money, showing how Nationwide can forge deeper connections with gen Z, families, and older adults. More than insights, the research unearthed powerful provocations and new ways for Nationwide to connect meaningfully.

Katrien Gunn, Business Director, Verve
Anne Caffrey, Senior Research Manager, Nationwide 
Bich Quan, Research Manager, Nationwide

10.40

Genre, culture, and the future of storytelling

What does the future of comedy and drama tell us about the role of storytelling, within our industry and beyond? How does culture influence the stories consumers crave? How can we weave the threads of narrative storytelling into content and marketing strategy? 
This session will examine the links between culture, genre, and storytelling as both a narrative and strategic tool. Hear key insights from Warner Bros.’ recent project on the future of comedy and drama including macro level trends that are impacting audience appetites in 2025 and beyond. Consider the fluid nature of storytelling to reflect evolving, emerging and fading audience tastes.

Dr. Victoria Gerstman, Semiotician and Cultural Insights Specialist
Sarah Stone, VP of Strategy, Hypothesis Group
Elisabeth Serna, Director, Global Research, Insights, & Analytics, Warner Bros. Discovery
Melissa Shamberg, Director of TV Audience and Content Insights & Research, Warner Bros. Television Group

11.10

Break

11.40

Romancing the future: how Penguin Random House is reclaiming romance in culture

Romance is having a resurgence in literature - it’s booming, evolving, blossoming. In this thought-provoking conversation, Penguin Random House and Space Doctors explore the deeper cultural shifts driving the meteoric rise of romance fiction and how their approach redefined Penguin’s role in this growing genre.
As storytelling evolves, so does romance fiction. By understanding new dynamics in collective storytelling and empowering writers, we helped shape the future of the category.
Julius and Afsana will reveal how research-driven storytelling transforms not just a brand’s narrative, but an entire category. No longer just a guilty pleasure, romantic fiction is now a movement: a network of vibrant communities redefining connection, aspiration and storytelling itself.

 Julius Colwyn, Director, Space Doctors
In conversation with
Afsana Alam, Marketer, Penguin Random House

12.10

Snapping our brains out of prediction mode: disruptive storytelling that drives growth

Our brains are prediction machines, constantly seeking patterns and anticipating what comes next. But what happens when we disrupt that cycle?
In June 2024, luxury re-commerce brand, The RealReal, known for its commitment to authentication of every product it sells, created a storefront in New York City featuring inauthentic product, encouraging people to question their own attitudes and behaviours about what is real and how 'real' fakes can be. This story led to millions of mentions on social media and articles in The New York Times driving measurable results for the brand.
At the core of The RealReal successful campaign was an insight that nudged a creative team toward a pattern-breaking narrative. As insight professionals, let’s explore how to bring this storytelling magic into our work.

Leanne Tomasevic, UK & US Head of Insights, Tracksuit
Caroline Mayhew Gardner, Global Marketing and Brand Leader, The RealReal

12.40

Lunch

13.40

Panel

Elevating insight-led storytelling with AI
This panel will examine how AI is enhancing the way we interpret, visualise, and communicate insights, making complex data more engaging, actionable, and accessible. Join panellists as they discuss how to use new tools and frameworks to maximise the impact of insight stories.

• Examining innovative applications of gen AI for visual optimisation, narrative creation and insight personalisation
• The role of AI in personalised storytelling for internal audiences and hyper-personalisation at scale for consumers
• Using synthetic data to enrich analysis, predict outcomes and drive more compelling storytelling
• Assessing how to use AI tools and platforms to enhance the accessibility of insights and drive greater stakeholder engagement
• Exploring the potential of AI powered experiential storytelling

Chair:
Grant Feller, Founder, Every Rung
Panel:
Susannah Croucher, Chief Impact Officer, MMR
Dr Vanja Ljeva, Chief Data Scientist, Kubic Intelligence
David Wright, Co-Founder & Director of AI and Data, Hello Ara  

14.10

‘Data Lives’: crafting simple stories to convey complex concepts

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) exists to empower the public with their personal information. But personal data is often abstract, complex, and disconnected from daily life. ‘Data Lives’ uses storytelling to bridge the gap.
In an ongoing, three-year ethnography, ‘Data Lives’ delivers an empathy-led picture of how people think, feel and act around their data, informing the ICOs future research agenda. Film is used as both the data and the outputs and so participants’ stories have become embedded into the ICO’s decision-making.
This case study shows storytelling as more than just organising information—it transforms human moments into meaningful, empathetic insights, no matter the complexity.

Angus Smith, Research Manager, Ipsos ECE
Dr Heidi Hasbrouck, Director of Ethnography, Ipsos UK
Dr Allaina Kilby, Senior Research Officer, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

14.40

Break

15.00

Beyond storytelling: how story embedding drives real impact

Once upon a time, Ancestry had a detailed marketing segmentation – filled with insights and opportunities – but lack of clarity meant it wasn’t fully embraced across the organisation. A tale as old as time… or one we could rewrite?
This case study will show how storytelling together with storyembedding transformed Ancestry’s segmentation from a duckling into a swan. Discover how combining a values methodology and video ethnography brought people’s stories to life. And how storyembedding was the vital ingredient for ensuring these emotional stories resonated with stakeholders, driving to understanding and adoption.

Karis O’Leary-Smith, Research Partner, One Minute to Midnight
Maxine Walter, Director of Insights (International), Ancestry

15.30

From functional to emotional: transforming wayfinding research through immersive storytelling

This case study demonstrates how a seemingly functional research project about station navigation for Great Western Railway (GWR) was transformed into a compelling narrative about human emotion and experience. By combining innovative eye-tracking technology with emotional journey mapping, Magenta revolutionised how wayfinding research is presented in the rail industry. 
Discover how this immersive narrative reframed GWR’s understanding of wayfinding, not as a signage problem, but as an emotional experience with real consequences for passengers. Hear how it engaged stakeholders and enabled them to step into the shoes of their customers; see things as they see them - literally, feeling the frustration of confusion and the relief of intuitive navigation. 

Dr Jo Meredith, Associate Director, Magenta
Ross Hickie, Customer Research Analyst, Great Western Railway

16.00

Driving systemic change with compelling insight-led stories

This session brings together two case studies demonstrating storytelling advocacy where insight data has been weaved into powerful emotive narratives to raise awareness, inspire action at a policy level, and shift perspectives on critical social issues.

Amplifying messaging of the ‘You Were Told’ report and accelerating action towards tougher sentencing for femicide

Hannah Shrimpton, Research Director, Public Affairs, Ipsos
Anna Ryder, Director of Killed Women Charity

Employing counter-storytelling techniques to highlight the lived experiences of black police officers and catalyse positive change within policing

Speaker to be announced, Verian
Keiley George, Head of Communications, Warwickshire Police (formerly, Head of Communications, NPCC)

16.40

End of conference