The best Kiwi brands are revolutionizing how they connect with customers.
They're moving beyond tired marketing formulas and creating narratives that genuinely resonate. They're building loyal communities rather than just customer bases. And they're seeing remarkable growth as a result.
What's their secret? They've discovered a powerful truth: effective brand storytelling isn't about your company's journey – it's about understanding your role in your customer's journey.
This shift is being driven by the Jobs-to-be-Done framework, and it's transforming how forward-thinking New Zealand businesses approach everything from website copy to social media content.
The Jobs-to-be-Done Revolution in Brand Storytelling
Let's rip the plaster off: traditional brand storytelling is dying. It's being replaced by something far more powerful and customer-centric.
The Jobs-to-be-Done framework fundamentally changes how we think about brand narratives. It's not about telling your story – it's about understanding your role in your customer's story.
Here's the core insight: People don't buy products or services. They "hire" them to accomplish specific "jobs" in their lives.
These jobs might be:
- Functional ("help me solve this practical problem")
- Emotional ("make me feel a certain way")
- Social ("help me connect with others or project a certain image")
The businesses that understand these jobs will dominate their competitors in the coming years. The ones that don't will become increasingly irrelevant, no matter how much they spend on marketing.
What Kiwi Brands Get Wrong About Storytelling
Let's look at where most NZ businesses go astray:
The "All About Us" Trap
Browse most Kiwi business websites and you'll find an "About Us" page that drones on about company history and values without once mentioning what problems they solve for customers.
Through the JTBD lens, this is backwards. Customers don't care when you were founded or who sits on your board. They care about whether you understand their needs and can help them make progress in their lives.
The Feature Fixation
From craft beer to enterprise software, NZ businesses love talking about product features. The brewing process. The proprietary algorithm. The extensive functionality.
But features only matter in relation to the job being done. That craft beer isn't being hired for its hop profile – it's being hired to "help me look knowledgeable at a social gathering" or "give me a moment of discovery and delight after a tough day."
The Authenticity Paradox
Many Kiwi brands have embraced "authenticity" as a core value – yet their storytelling feels anything but authentic. They use stock photos, generic messaging, and corporate-speak that creates distance rather than connection.
True authenticity comes from deeply understanding your customers' jobs and speaking directly to their real-life situations, aspirations, and challenges.
The Future of Brand Storytelling Through the JTBD Lens
So what does next-generation brand storytelling look like? Here are the trends reshaping how the smartest Kiwi brands are communicating:
1. Hyper-Personalisation: Beyond Demographics to Jobs
Traditional personalisation relies on who someone is (age, location, gender). The future belongs to brands that personalise based on what job someone is trying to accomplish right now.
Imagine a customer browsing your outdoor gear website. Are they planning a serious multi-day tramp, or looking for comfortable day-walking shoes for their overseas holiday? The job they're trying to do should completely change the story you tell.
The most innovative NZ brands are already using AI and behavioral analytics to detect these jobs in real-time, serving content that speaks directly to the customer's current mission.
A Kiwi adventure tourism company implemented this approach and saw their conversion rate triple by tailoring their messaging to different jobs – from adrenaline-seekers wanting to push boundaries to parents looking for safe yet exciting family experiences.
2. Values-Based Storytelling: Beyond Greenwashing
New Zealanders are increasingly "hiring" brands to reflect their personal values and identity. This goes far beyond a recycling logo or vague claims about sustainability.
The future belongs to brands that weave values authentically into their narratives – not as a separate "CSR section" of their website, but as an integral part of why they exist and how they operate.
The most effective values storytelling isn't about the brand's virtue – it's about giving customers the opportunity to express their own values through their choices.
A Wellington clothing company doesn't just tell customers they're sustainable; they tell the story of each garment's journey, the people who made it, and the environmental impact avoided. They understand their customers aren't just hiring them for clothing, but for alignment with deeply-held values about consumption and ethics.
3. Visual Micronarratives: The 15-Second Story Revolution
The explosion of TikTok and Instagram Reels is a fundamental change in how stories are consumed.
Through the JTBD lens, these platforms are being hired for specific jobs like "give me a moment of entertainment during my workday" or "help me discover products
without requiring much time investment."
4. Multi-Platform Storytelling: Same Job, Different Contexts
The fragmentation of media channels presents both a challenge and an opportunity for Kiwi brands.
The key insight: different platforms are hired for different jobs, even by the same person. Someone might use LinkedIn for professional development, Instagram for lifestyle inspiration, and TikTok for entertainment – all in the same day.
Forward-thinking brands aren't telling the same story everywhere. They're adapting their narrative to match the job each platform is hired to do, while maintaining a consistent core message.
A New Zealand financial services company tells stories about financial empowerment across multiple platforms – educational deep-dives on their blog, professional insights on LinkedIn, relatable money moments on Instagram, and bite-sized tips on TikTok. Each serves a different job while reinforcing their core expertise.
How to Apply These Trends to Your Brand Today
Making the shift to JTBD-based storytelling isn't just for big brands with massive budgets. Here's how any Kiwi business can get started:
1. Map Your Customers' Jobs
Begin by identifying the full range of jobs your customers are hiring you to do. This goes beyond functional benefits to include emotional and social dimensions.
Talk to actual customers – not about your product, but about the situation that led them to seek it out:
- What were they trying to accomplish?
- What solutions did they try before yours?
- What would they have done if your solution wasn't available?
A Auckland coffee roaster discovered through customer interviews that people weren't just hiring them for caffeine or flavor – they were hiring them for "a moment of small luxury in an otherwise ordinary day" and "a connection to craft and authenticity in an increasingly mass-produced world."
2. Audit Your Current Storytelling
Review your website, social channels, and marketing materials with fresh eyes. Ask:
- Are we talking about ourselves or our customers' jobs?
- Do we explain features without connecting them to the jobs they help accomplish?
- Are we telling consistent stories across platforms, or adapting to each channel's unique purpose?
Be brutally honest. Most businesses are shocked to discover how self-centered their storytelling actually is.
3. Create Job-Based Content Pillars
Restructure your content strategy around the key jobs customers hire you for, not around product categories or business units.
A Queenstown tour operator stopped organizing their content by tour type (kayaking, hiking, etc.) and started organizing it around jobs tourists were trying to accomplish: "create family memories that will last a lifetime," "challenge myself physically while experiencing natural beauty," and "immerse myself in Māori culture authentically."
4. Embrace Visual and Interactive Storytelling
The most powerful stories often aren't told through text alone. Invest in:
- Short-form video that showcases your understanding of customer jobs
- Interactive content that helps customers diagnose which of your solutions best fits their job
- Audio content that creates intimacy and connection
The Analytics Revolution: Measuring What Matters
As storytelling evolves, so must our measurement approach. Leading brands are moving beyond page views and engagement metrics to measure:
- Job completion rate: How effectively does our content help customers accomplish their intended job?
- Job-to-solution alignment: Are customers finding the right products for their specific jobs?
- Cross-platform journey mapping: How do customers move between platforms in their journey?
This directly impacts business results.
The Future Is Already Here
The shift to JTBD-based storytelling isn't coming someday – it's happening now. The brands that adapt quickly will thrive. Those that cling to product-centric, feature-focused narratives will find themselves increasingly ignored.
In a small market like New Zealand, this approach offers a particular advantage. Kiwi businesses can't compete with global giants on marketing budgets or scale – but they can win through deeper understanding of their customers' jobs and more relevant, resonant storytelling.
The future belongs to brands that recognize a fundamental truth: your story only matters when it helps customers make progress in their stories.
So ask yourself: What jobs are your customers really hiring you for? And how can you tell stories that prove you understand those jobs better than anyone else?
That's where your next chapter begins.
