The next great story is yours ®
Great stories make great change possible
Your world-changing message deserves to be heard — really heard. But that only happens when you learn to tell a great story. Let’s re-invent your brand, make a movie, or design and build a website. And along the way, we’ll help you tell the kinds of stories the world is waiting to hear.
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Character by Animation Director Ruben DeLuna from the Greenpeace Detox Fashion video. -
Illustration by Director of Animation Ruben DeLunaA mural of “The Story of Stuff Project” characters
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Great Place to Work® Institute Branding Great Place to Work® Institute
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Greater Than AIDS Website Greater Than AIDS
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We Honor Veterans Brand & Collateral National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization
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URGE URGE
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Kaiser Family Foundation Website and Viral Videos Kaiser Family Foundation
There’s nothing we love more at Free Range than big solutions to big problems. From our first meeting with Global Zero the idea of eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide seemed doable, obvious and urgent all at once.
What We're Thinking
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Beer marketing takes over a Colorado town, leaves a bad taste
Beer company Anheuser-Busch is still in the process of cleaning up what looked to many residents of Crested Butte, Colorado, like a hostile takeover of the small mountain town. Read more.
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Like a Girl
The Always brand (of maxi pad fame) has embraced empowerment marketing in a huge way with the release of their #likeagirl video and campaign. While legitimate complaints are being documented elsewhere about whether or...
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10 Takeaways from TYPO SF
Last week I was in design heaven at TYPO San Francisco. Not only did I see typographer, Erik Spiekermann, in his element (nerd alert!) but I was hugely inspired by the talks that spanned...
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Behind the Scenes: The Great Crate Challenge
The Great Crate Challenge has nearly 1 million views after just two weeks! If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here and then go behind the scenes with Free Range to see...
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Cadillac vs Ford: the ad battle over American values
Two auto brands offer different views of the world as the latest story war – a crucial fight between opposing societal values – unfolds in TV and YouTube commercials. Read more.
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Living Stories
The best stories aren't told, or heard, or even seen. They are experienced.
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The Ultimate Missed Social Media Opportunity for Brands: Climate Change
Coke's Super Bowl commercial supporting immigrants and Chevrolet's ad tackling gay rights won plenty of attention. Why aren't brands taking a strong stand on climate change? Read more.
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Climate Change and Our Shifting Sense of Place
One of my favorite things to do is to sit on my back deck in the morning and watch the vibrant world of birds, insects, trees and flowers. Paying close attention to the...
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Not a Republican
The Democratic party’s latest attempt at story?
“Well at least we’re not Republicans!”
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Successful Campaign Strategy = Science + Magic
Every successful campaign is its own unique blend of science and magic. Last week, our DC staff hosted a conversation with some of our favorite campaigners to unpack successful campaigns and see what greater...
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Pep-tivism Vs. Pessimism in Advertising
As a Spanish ad man, who emigrated from the homeland to work in the U.S., I live with one eye on either side of the pond. That’s how this past holiday...
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Competing Stories of America in the 2014 Super Bowl Ads
The two Super Bowl ads that really moved me yesterday (for better or worse) represent dueling stories of America.
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Lessons in Brand Storytelling from Winning the Story Wars
Listen to the latest webinar from Free Range Co-Founder and CEO, Jonah Sachs. Here, Sachs takes us through five fundamental lessons in brand storytelling from his book, Winning the Story Wars.
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New Year, New brand
The problem with New Year’s resolutions, of course, is not that we can’t pick great things to commit to. We all know what we need to do to be better...
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A Hero’s Journey of Just a Few Inches
My mind was blown recently when I learned the hero's journey can happen inside your skull — when thinking processes move from the limbic system to the prefrontal cortex.
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3 Steps to a Born Again Brand
Yes, that kind of born again. And while I don't mean that we all literally should start talking about Jesus, brands can learn a lot from people who have found meaning and...
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Engage Members, Transform Brand
What a way to start my week! One of the first e-mails in my inbox this morning was from Call To Action, announcing their new logo and tagline (Inspire Catholics, Transform Church) to their...
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Behind the Scenes of the Story of Solutions
Mara Slade from Sustainable Brands interviews Free Range Founder and CEO Jonah Sachs about the making of The Story of Solutions (our latest video with The Story of Stuff Project)!
Jonah shares...
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Fearlessness & Creativity
Amber Rae recently wrote an article about structuring her day for maximum creativity (Thanks for sharing this, Ellen!). One thing that struck me while reading her thoughts is the fact that she schedules time...
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One Great Idea: Business Leaders as Mythmakers
Jonah Sachs presents One Great Idea at the GreenBiz Forum conference: how business leaders can tell stories that matter and create new myths that transform our society within a generation.
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Want to Go Viral? Channel your Inner Disney Princess.
As someone who spent far, far too much of my childhood learning how to perfectly imitate every single Disney princess of my generation, I am kicking myself for not creating this video. Jon Cozart,...
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The Decline and Fall of Product Placement
Jonah Sachs predicts three distinct changes that might drive the emerging practice of story placement over product placement.
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GreenBiz Q&A: How to win the sustainability story wars
GreenBiz editor and reporter Kristine Wong interviews Jonah Sachs about how companies and organizations can use timeless archetypes and Joseph Campbell's "Hero's Journey" to shape storytelling about sustainability.
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Winning the Story Wars — The Hero’s Journey
Here's part two of the video series that accompanies Jonah Sachs' new book, Winning the Story Wars.
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Story Wars: Obama v. Romney
The story wars are all around us — the 2012 presidential contest is a perfect lens for examining the myths competing for our national attention, our money, and our votes. Is the highest value of...
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Designer as Journalist: The Case for Creating Content
A young doctor with a goatee and small hoop earrings quickly ushered me into the examination room of a bustling clinic in Oakland. If it were not for the white coat and the stethoscope...
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Illustrating “Winning the Story Wars”
This behind-the-scenes video gives a glimpse into the process of illustrating Jonah Sachs' book Winning the Story Wars.
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Story Wars Q&A with Jonah, Part 1
Winning the Story Wars has officially hit the shelves!
A few of us Free Rangers (Amy, Melissa, and Allie) got together to pick Jonah’s brain on the basics of his...
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25 Years of Social Venture Network
What happens when 250 of the most innovative, passionate, resourceful social entrepreneurs get together for four days, at Skamania Lodge in the awesome Pacific Northwest? Stimulating conversations. Inspiring presentations. Actionable advice. And a lot of...
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Reflections on Occupy
We had just moved into our new office a few weeks earlier. Downtown Oakland was now our home, and Free Range was nested solidly into the grid of concrete, alive with dozens of restaurants,...
STORIES ARE VERBAL DNA.
They are the tiny packets of information that carry the shape of our shared future. Our beliefs, our values, our identities are all held in the stories we listen to and repeat. That's how we humans work — we always have. So, what would you rather do: learn to write some of the source code of tomorrow or run just another marketing campaign? Let us show you how we do it.
FIRST, YOU UNEARTH YOUR CORE STORY.
Dig into any good story and you’ll find a moral — a nugget of wisdom — at its core. Crack it open and you’ll find cherished human values. That’s why stories, and brands built on stories, connect right to the heart. When you identify and embrace the moral of your own brand story, you can forever leave behind the usual marketing speak of insecurity and fear.
STORY, MEET TELLER.
Once you’ve got your message, you’re going to need a messenger. See, people connect to other people, not to faceless brands. Dive with us into the world of imagination to uncover your archetype and unique voice — it‘s the surest way to get audiences, the heroes of your story, moving on their own path to action.
STORY, MEET WORLD.
Free Range Stories are born in the strategy lab, but they live in the wilds of today's everyone-owns-it media marketplace. The launch of our first project together is the beginning of your path to change as you unleash media designed to move minds and build an iconic brand. Verbal, visual, interactive, social, all four? Let’s start writing the future. Check out a few Free Range projects already changing the world.
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Personal photo by designer Tan-ya Gerrodette Tunnel View Scenic Overlook Yosemite Valley, CA -
Personal photo by designer Darshita Mistry SoCal Flora Palm Springs, CA -
Personal photo by director of campaign strategy Cecili Thompson Williams The 4th Williamsburg, VA -
Personal photo by creative director Eric Smith Still Life Orinda, CA