Park Howell Demonstrates How Agency Professionals Use the ABT Narrative Framework for Clear and Compelling Communication on Russel Dubree’s An Agency Story Podcast

The Most Overlooked Storytelling Problem in Your Agency

I took a strange road to get here.

Music composition and theory. Twenty years running an ad agency in Phoenix. An embarrassing tumble off a chair in my boss’s office that the universe sent as a very clear message: your britches are too big, pal.

That wayward path is exactly what Russel Dubree — host of An Agency Story podcast and former eight-figure agency owner turned business coach — wanted to dig into when he had me on his show. What followed became one of the most honest conversations I’ve had in 12 years of podcasting about what makes brand storytelling work, why most agencies are still winging it, and what to do about it.

Watch and listen to the full episode on An Agency Story now

Russel sold his agency and now coaches agency leaders toward what he calls the ultimate goal: waking up and choosing. Whatever choosing means to you — thought leadership, mailbox money, more time with your kids — that freedom starts with clarity. And clarity starts with story.

You Are a Natural Storyteller — That’s Exactly the Problem

We are the only organism on earth that thinks, plans, organizes, and acts in story.

Sounds like good news. It is, until it leads you to wing it instead of win it.

I know this from a painful, expensive moment in my own agency. We’d just landed Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona as a client and produced two 30-second TV spots. One drove same-store sales up 42% the following month. The other? Bupkis. We loved it. The audience didn’t respond to it at all.

I couldn’t tell my client why. I just didn’t know.

A year later, studying story structure, I looked back at those two commercials and realized the truth. The first was in perfect story structure — setup, problem, resolution. Goodwill as the answer. The second was what I now call creative masturbation. Technically brilliant. Emotionally disconnected from the buying brain.

That was my major aha moment: being an intuitive storyteller keeps you guessing. Becoming an intentional one changes everything.


And-But-Therefore in Action: Watch It Work Live

Russel admitted on air that he’s probably bad at telling his own story. (He’s brilliantly, hilariously honest. Go listen.)

So we ran an experiment. Live. On his podcast.

I walked him through the And-But-Therefore (ABT) framework — the three-force story structure of agreement, contradiction, and consequence that the primal, pattern-seeking limbic brain is literally hardwired to follow. Here’s the version we built together, in real time, for An Agency Story:

As a curious, industrious agency owner, you want the freedom to make choices that fulfill your career and your life. Yet you’re exhausted and overwhelmed because running an agency is extraordinarily complicated, and you’re not sure which move won’t create more problems than it solves. Now imagine six months from now — having the clarity and agency over your agency to make the choices that actually bring your business, your team, and your life into alignment.

Russel’s reaction: “I need Park to walk around with me and tell that story.”

You can run this exercise right now. Pull out a pen. Identify your number one audience archetype — the 20% who give you 80% of your revenue. Ask three questions: What do they want? What blocks them from having it? What becomes possible when you remove that block? Watch your story sharpen before your eyes.

Story Is Your Sharpest Positioning Tool in a Noisy Market

Jeff Bezos said your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.

I’d revise that: your brand is the story people tell about you when you’re not in the room.

In a market flooded with content, your audience is still navigating with the same ancient limbic brain our ancestors used on the savanna. The only thing that cuts through is a clear, emotionally true, specific story that communicates your position so well that people instantly know who you are, who you’re for, and why it matters.

When your brand story is locked in, it becomes a compass. Your team knows what to say yes to. And just as critically — what to say no to.

The Artful Intelligence Behind StoryCycle Genie®

Before we even recorded the episode, I ran Russel’s website through the StoryCycle Genie® — a purpose-built AI platform I built with co-founder Sean Schroeder that puts the entire Story Cycle System™ into the hands of any business owner in hours instead of months.

In two minutes, it gave Russel a 14-point storytelling assessment and generated a 13-page brand narrative strategy for An Agency Story.

Two minutes.

Russel called it “the democracy of AI” — and that’s exactly it. What used to take two to three months of consulting now happens in two to three hours. Not because the work is cheapened. Because the right intelligence is applied to the right story system.

Want to know how your brand is showing up in the world right now? The Brand Story Grader is free, takes 60 seconds, and grades your story across 14 dimensions from A+ to F-.

→ Try the FREE Brand Story Grader here

It’s a little like mirror, mirror on the wall — for your brand story.

What’s in It for You

  • Winging it is expensive. You’re already a natural storyteller. Becoming an intentional one is the move that changes your results.
  • Start with the ABT. The And-But-Therefore framework is the fastest tool for getting focused on the one story that matters to your audience.
  • Story clarifies positioning. When your narrative is set, your people know exactly what to say — and what to walk away from.
  • Look for your scenes. The moments are already in your history. Find the right three, and your story will find you.
  • Use AI that knows your story. Generic AI produces generic output. Artful intelligence begins — and stays — with your brand narrative.

More Information

 

Park Howell’s Conversation with Russel Deubree on An Agency Story Podcast

What Is the Business of Story? How Park Howell Helps Brands Lead With Narrative

Russel Dubree: Welcome to the show today, everyone. I have Park Howell with us here with The Business of Story. Thank you so much for being on the show today, Park.

Park Howell: Russel, thanks for having me. Great to be here.

Russel: Glad to have you. If you don’t mind, just kick us off right out of the gate. Tell us what The Business of Story does and who you do it for.

Park: We are a consultancy all around brand and leadership storytelling. I started it really in 2016 after 20 years of running my own ad agency, and now I consult, teach, coach, and speak on the power of story to help leaders and their people excel through the stories they tell.

And if that sounds like a tagline, it is.

I get to work with really a lot of great brands like Dell Technology, Walmart, Walmart Canada, the US Air Force. It’s kind of the final chapter in my overall brand agency career.

Instead of running a whole bunch of campaigns, now what I really do is help people understand how to use specific story narrative frameworks to make their messages land right the first time, every time.

Russel: I really can’t wait to dive into what that looks like and your journey and how you got there. We’re on a podcast called An Agency Story — stories, tales old as time, connecting through that is so powerful. Before we get into all the good, juicy stuff, I’d love to just hear about young Park, how he came up in the world. What was he doing, thinking, seeing?

Growing Up the Weird One: How Park Howell’s Seattle Childhood and Musical Roots Shaped a Storytelling Philosophy

Park: Your timing is great. I had on my show yesterday — I run the Business of Story podcast, I’ve done it for 12 years, a new guest every Monday — and I had Elizabeth Brett, who will be on Monday.

She asked me that same question. She was digging deep into what my million-dollar story was, and it pretty much always goes back to when we were kids.

It was the first time I had actually told this story. She bubbled it up in me.

So — why did I get into the advertising, branding, marketing world?

I think it goes way back to when I was a little kid growing up in Seattle. I was one of seven kids. My mom and dad got married late in life — as in 28, 29, which was late for Depression-era kids — and so they had seven kids in nine years.

I was number five. I was the one who was always approaching art and music. I started taking piano lessons when I was three. I wore these crazy hats. My siblings would always look at me like, “What the hell’s wrong with Park? He’s the weirdest one of all of us.”

They all went on and had regular jobs. I studied communications, advertising, marketing — and I got a degree in music composition and theory.

They said, “What are you ever gonna do with that? Why would you waste your time?”

Now, fast-forward 45 years. Here I am teaching story composition and theory to help brands be understood and appreciated for their unique contributions to the world.

That was a major aha moment that Elizabeth pulled out of me.

Russel: Isn’t it fascinating what a well-timed question can make you reflect on in your own story?

Park: Yeah. Because that’s the whole Simon Sinek thing — why do you do what you do? It’s always based on a moment, or moments, in time. Something happened to you that was probably surprising, maybe piqued a curiosity or triggered a passion you didn’t realize you had — and 30 years later, you find yourself doing that exact thing.

Russel: I’m a history major myself. I had this narrative for a long time that it was a dumb major — I wasn’t planning on doing anything with it. But where I find value in it now is in better understanding where we’ve been so we can understand the now and where we’re going.

Park: I imagine that plays into the work you do with agencies. You look at the history of a specific agency you’re working with, or the history of the advertising industry in general, and it informs the decisions you help your agency customers make — especially during this most disruptive time we’ve ever lived in as agency principals.

Russel: You’re so right. I’ve spent a lot of time, given my history background, really trying to understand where success did and didn’t come from. I don’t always get it right, but that history helps.

All right, I wanna hear about your agency life — how you got into your agency business and how that road went.

Building Park & Co.: How Park Howell Grew a Traditional Advertising Agency From One-Man Band to 25-Person Shop

Park: I got into the advertising marketing world in 1985 in Phoenix, Arizona. I was just a struggling ad guy trying to find a job as a writer or an account executive, doing whatever I could to get in.

I did land a job. Small agencies, so I got to do a lot of everything — writing, producing, radio and TV commercials. I absolutely love the theater of the mind.

That really positioned me to start my own agency a decade later.

I started Park & Co. in Phoenix in 1995. It was a one-man band. I had this really nice major client called Forever Living Products International — at the time a billion-dollar client — and they just kept throwing more and more work on me.

I hired a writer. We got another big account, Sky Harbor International Airport, which we represented for 10 years. And then things just started rolling.

It got up to 25 people in my first 10 years. I didn’t want it to become this big, gigantic agency. I wanted us to stay focused on what we did best.

And that was back in the days of traditional advertising — TV, radio, print, direct mail, outdoor, public relations, events. No Yelp.

Russel: I don’t even know what that is, man. I’m a digital-first guy.

Park: As we were seeing the transition to the digital world, I would tell our clients: “You as a customer buying media used to own the influence of mass media. But now the masses are becoming the media — and they are owning your brand’s story.”

I realized in the early 2000s that the way we were approaching traditional advertising was no longer as effective as it used to be.

So I went looking for an answer.

Our middle son, Parker, was going to film school at Chapman University in Orange, California. He spent 12 years in Hollywood doing motion design and motion graphics for movies and TV, and has since moved to Austin where he runs his own virtual reality company.

He was all in on filmmaking. So I said, “Parker, send me your books and recorded lectures — I’m paying for them — because I want to know what does Hollywood know about storytelling?”

And of course, I found the hero’s journey. I realized immediately — that’s a customer journey. That’s a colleague’s journey. That’s my journey. Why don’t they teach this in the advertising marketing world?

I studied everything. The Pixar way. Blake Snyder’s 15 Beats of Story.

Then I decided to do an experiment.

The 600% Growth Pivot: How Park Howell Discovered the Hero’s Journey and Built the Story Cycle System™

Park: I took the hero’s journey and mapped it to business and the business mind. I created my 10-step Story Cycle System.

This was back in 2008. I took my very first client through it. We redesigned and remapped their entire story and gave them a whole new approach to providing sustainable storytelling.

Several years later, they had grown by 600%. They came back to me and said, “The whole reason we grew like this is we totally got our story together — with your help.”

That’s when I really knew I was onto something.

Arizona State University came calling and said, “We’d like you to teach a master’s course on what you’ve developed around the Story Cycle.” And all of that led to my off-ramp out of the ad agency world in 2016 into what I do today.

Instead of music composition and theory — story composition and theory. To agency principals, leaders, their people, sales and marketing teams.

Russel: It’s a powerful testament to the wayward path. The patterns you’re able to connect through that experience — it didn’t seem like where you’d end up was anywhere you were ever headed. But here you are.

Park: I knew there was something out there. I just didn’t know what the exact path was.

And I love your term — the wayward path. My six siblings look at me like, “Holy cow, he pulled that off.” We had no idea where he was going.

Follow your dreams. Follow the universe. As woo-woo as that sounds, I really believe it gives you clues on what you’re supposed to be doing. When you ignore those clues, it usually bites you in the ass.

When you pay attention to them and have the courage to take on a couple of things you wouldn’t normally have done — that’s where careers and agencies really expand and explode in all the best ways.

Russel: Have you read the book Range by chance?

Park: No, I haven’t. I gotta write that down.

Russel: It does a really good job of breaking the myth of early, too-focused specialization, and why the more diverse path is valuable. A great validation for all us wayward walkers.

Park: Yeah.

Russel: Okay. Before we get too deep into how this applies to agencies — why does it seem so hard to tell your own story?

And-But-Therefore in Action: Park Howell Teaches the ABT Framework Live for Agency Brand Storytelling

Park: I think we are not intentional about it. Because you and I and everybody watching this show — we are all innate storytellers. We’re the only organism that thinks, plans, organizes, and acts in story.

If you’re selling anything, if you’re pitching your agency, you are essentially telling a fiction that you’re trying to get your audience to buy into. Once they say “you’re hired,” that fiction becomes nonfiction — and you have to deliver on all those promises.

We are intuitively innate storytellers. But it leads us to winging it instead of winning it when you really understand how story works and why it works in our limbic, pattern-seeking, problem-solving, decision-making buying brain.

Let me give you a quick example. This was back in 2003. We’d just landed Goodwill of Central and Northern Arizona as a client. They had 24 stores. We produced two 30-second TV spots.

One pulled unbelievably well — same-store sales increased by an average of 42% the next month. People were coming in and talking about that commercial.

The other, which we loved just as much? It didn’t pull at all. Bupkis. We pulled it after the second month. The client asked, “Why isn’t this one working?” And I didn’t have an answer.

When I started studying story a year or two later, I looked back at those two ads. The first was in perfect story structure — setup, problem, resolution, and Goodwill as your answer. The other, Russel, was creative masturbation. We were so creative, but it wasn’t speaking to that problem-solving limbic brain.

That’s when I had my major aha moment. One of my big missions now is to move people from being intuitive storytellers to intentional storytellers — using the And-But-Therefore framework, the five primal elements of a short story, and the 10-step Story Cycle System.

Russel: I would probably admit I’m pretty bad at telling my own story. I don’t know — maybe there are some psychological barriers to even wanting to be intentional about it for some folks.

Do you want to do an experiment?

Park: I was just going to suggest that.

I’m going to walk you through an exercise that all of your listeners and viewers can do for themselves. And this is specifically an answer to your question — “I’m not even sure I’m really telling my story right.”

I’m going to take you through the And-But-Therefore narrative framework. Pull out a pen and paper if you’re watching or listening. Just answer the questions I ask Russel right now.

The ABT uses three forces of story — agreement, contradiction, consequence. Our pattern-seeking, problem-solving, decision-making limbic brain loves this structure. It’s essentially setup, problem, resolution.

All right. Let’s focus on your business or your podcast — which one do you want to use?

Russel: Since we’re on the podcast, let’s talk about the podcast.

Park: Focus on your audience first. This is a story for them, from their point of view — not a story about you.

Who is your number one audience? Because it’s the whole Pareto principle — 80% of our income and viewership comes from one personality archetype.

Russel: I’d probably say an agency owner who’s curious about others’ journeys so they can relate or gain some perspective on their own.

Park: Curious about others’ journeys. So what do they want, relative to your offering?

Russel: Ultimately, to grow their business in some capacity — but I always feel like that’s too easy of a default.

Park: Let’s go with it. And why is it important to them to grow their business?

Russel: What I’ve found in talking with clients and folks on the podcast is that ultimately every agency owner wants to wake up and choose. Whatever choosing is for them — that seems to be the ultimate goal. Some want to be a thought leader and do speaking. Some want mailbox money. Some want to spend more time with family. But that ability to choose — that’s it.

Park: That’s awesome. Now let’s move to the but statement. They want choice, but they don’t have it because of what problem?

Russel: An agency is an extremely complicated business. There’s so much noise, so much disruption. It’s a constantly changing environment.

Park: And how does that make them feel? What’s the negative emotion?

Russel: Analysis paralysis. Afraid to take action because you’re not sure what path won’t create more problems. Or sometimes aggressively running in the wrong direction because anything that’s not here seems better — but that’s a problem in itself.

Park: Okay. Now the therefore statement — what are they going to feel like positively when they get this figured out and can start making choices for themselves?

Russel: I always love this statement: “Success is the ability to match effort and reward.” To have more confidence in action, output, reward — that’s an amazingly compounding, fortuitous cycle to be in.

Park: And ultimately, by showing up and listening and being an audience of An Agency Story, you introduce them to people in similar situations who have broken through that barrier. They can hear how to make the same choices for themselves.

Russel: Absolutely. That’s the goal. If you’re listening closely enough, that’s the takeaway.

Park: So if I were to sum it up — the conversational ABT:

As a curious, industrious agency owner, you want to be able to make the choices that provide freedom in your work and your life. But you’re exhausted, overwhelmed, maybe even frustrated because running an ad agency is extraordinarily complicated. Where do you turn? What do you do first? How do you make sure you don’t create more problems than what you’re trying to solve? Therefore — now, imagine in six months making the right choices that have brought clarity and freedom to your world, so that you have true agency over your agency. Listen every week to An Agency Story. I’ll bring you professionals from around the world who have accomplished this very thing, so that you can do it faster.

Russel: I love that. I love being a guinea pig. Watching this in real time is fascinating. And it’s interesting that the answer I gave for the podcast perfectly aligned with what I do for coaching — that makes me happy, knowing there’s story alignment there.

Park: Can I share one more tip? Now that you’ve got the basic ABT structure, go away and think of three moments in your life where you personally experienced what your audience is experiencing. That way you can share those moments with your audience so they say, “Hey, Russel’s just like me. He’s been there. He knows it.”

Give me a timestamp. A location stamp. You at the center of the story.

And for anybody listening and watching — this is a great way to start. Begin with your ABT, then back it up with three moments.

Look for your scenes. Your story will find you. You cobble those scenes together, and all of a sudden you’ve got a pretty epic story.

Russel: I am a believer. I’m going to take some time to think about those scenes. And it’s actually a good segue to something else — when our business was not performing well, this close to going out of business. The first thing we knuckled down on was positioning.

It’s not an uncommon topic in the agency space, but it’s often limited to — pick a service, pick a vertical. I have some different thoughts on that. But sitting here thinking about it, the through line is the power of story.

Why Brand Story Is the Sharpest Positioning Tool in a Noisy, Overcrowded Market

Park: Jeff Bezos once said, “A brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.” I’d revise that: your brand is the story people tell about you when you’re not in the room. So you want to make sure they’re telling the proper story.

Our brains are absolutely inundated with content and brands and positions. And yet we’re all still walking around with this very ancient, primal limbic brain that has not changed appreciably since our ancestors navigated the savanna.

The only way you navigate this onslaught of communication is with clarity of purpose and mission — so that ancient brain, in all this noise, can place your brand somewhere that makes sense.

That’s where story comes in. That’s where the ABT, the story elements, gets your position so clear that people know exactly what you do, why you’re differentiated, and why you’re the most important place to go.

When you’re positioned well, it takes the effort out of customers trying to understand who you are. What you stand for becomes blatantly obvious. And then it becomes your compass — you know what to say no to and what to embrace.

Story is the way we homo sapiens make sense out of the madness of being human beings.

Russel: I see a lot of purposes that need polishing because they don’t have that story element. They sound more business-oriented than passion-driven. And combining it with your idea of story — your purpose and your story, and you just happen to be in the business you’re in, but that’s not the purpose inherently.

Park: Right. And it all comes down to being understood. If you really understand and appreciate your own position in the world, you need to use story to communicate it — so colleagues, customers, the communities you serve all have a complete understanding of who you are, what you stand for, and why that matters.

And when done right, it builds the three forces of trust. Understanding — you’re starting with your audience, showing you understand them. Appreciation — you appreciate what they want and why that’s important. And empathy in the but statement — “you’re frustrated, exhausted, overwhelmed because running an agency is complicated.” They’re going, “Dude, you get me.” That builds the trust for your therefore statement.

Russel: Yes. It’s why we can all remember movie quotes and remember scenes from movies. We’re remembering part of a story. So how do we leverage that in our business? You’ve already given us great examples.

All right — you’ve been in this game for a long time, and we’ve loosely talked about disruption already. Sounds like you’re building a lot of AI into your work. Talk about how you’re leveraging AI and the power of story together.

Artful Intelligence vs. Artificial Intelligence: How Park Howell and Sean Schroeder Built the StoryCycle Genie® Platform

Park: I love that the term “artificial intelligence” is like the worst branding term you could ever give this most amazing technology that is consuming us right now.

I like to think of it as artful intelligence if you use it correctly.

Three years ago, we started building on ChatGPT and Claude and created our own agentic artful intelligent system on our proprietary platform — which is a fortress for all your information — where agencies can use the Story Cycle System and the And-But-Therefore embedded into the StoryCycle Genie® to create everything from brand narrative strategies to content calendars to campaign assets.

In fact, I did one for you, Russel, when you were kind enough to invite me on your show. I ran your website through the StoryCycle Genie®. It gave me an assessment in two minutes on how your story is showing up in the world. It’s a little like, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, how’s my brand showing up for all?” Based off that assessment, it gave you a 13-page narrative strategy following the Story Cycle System.

We’ve got over three dozen agentic agents inside the StoryCycle Genie® for every possible use case you could imagine — from brand story development to marketing strategy, content calendars, customer journeys, and all of your content, always on brand, because this brand brain knows you.

It amplifies and augments your own intelligence by simply collaborating with it. You talk to it like you’re talking to me, and it collaborates with you.

Russel: It’s fascinating seeing all the work people are doing with AI in their businesses. I just got back from an AI conference for agencies. The best thing I saw was the democracy of it — the accessibility now for technology and ideas to come to light.

What was so important to you about leveraging AI into your framework and methodology around storytelling in the first place?

Park: It was actually a client — Sean Schroeder, who came to me with his business partner Matt Levine. They’d built a content management platform called Mira and a digital ad agency called Blue River in Sacramento. Sean had been following my work and reached out around 2017.

He said, “We’ve been trying to rebrand both our agency and our platform, and we can’t do it. Another agency couldn’t do it. We’re not even sure you can do it, but we’d like to hire you.”

So Sean and I sat down, went through the Story Cycle System, and after two and a half months we came up with a marvelous position that worked for both the platform and the agency. Within two years, they sold both.

Then COVID hits. Sean calls me up: “I’ve been using your Story Cycle System with some friends’ businesses. I love it. But it’s too hard and takes too long. I think we can create AI in our new platform and build this thing so that what normally takes two to three months, people can do in two to three hours using all of your IP.”

I said, “Give me a proof of concept.” In about six months, he came back with something that blew my mind. And I said, “Okay, let’s go.”

We spent the next year and a half essentially creating a branding content agency in a bottle — not to replace agencies, but to amplify their work. They can white label it. One of my favorite use cases: if you’re going into a pitch, you can run that prospect’s brand through it. It’ll give you a brand assessment, a complete brand narrative strategy, market research, competitor research.

Russel: It speaks to the power of leaning into the camp that says AI is going to enhance the need to focus on outcomes more quickly. That’s very fascinating. If people want to know more about the work you’re doing, where can they go?

Connect With Park Howell: Business of Story Resources, Podcast, and the StoryCycle Genie® Platform

Park: First, go to storycyclegenie.ai and test the strength of your brand story right now for free. Click that red button and in 60 seconds it’ll give you a grade — A+ to F- — on how well you’re showing up.

You can use it for your customers. You can use it for your competitors. It’s also going to give you a 14-point storytelling assessment that validates what you’re doing well, reveals gaps you can quickly fix, and inspires you with new ways to think about your brand’s story.

Probably the best place to connect with me directly is LinkedIn. I think I’m about the only Park Howell on LinkedIn, so I’m easy to find. Or come through the contact page at thebusinessofstory.com.

I would love to hear from you and see if I can help.

Russel: For folks listening, you can always go to anagencystory.com/podcast — I’ll have links to everything Park shared, his website, LinkedIn, all of it.

Thank you so much, Park, for sharing all of that with us.

Born or Made? Park Howell on the Entrepreneurial Drive Behind Building a Story-Led Business

Russel: Last question for you — are entrepreneurs born or are they made?

Park: I think they’re born. I don’t think everybody has it in them to be an entrepreneur — and that’s no slight against those who aren’t. It takes guts, chutzpah, blind wayfaring.

A lot of people are like, “Nah, I don’t wanna start my own company. Just hire me and I’ll do great work for you.” I think the entrepreneurial spirit is first born, and then it’s nurtured.

Russel: I love that. I always get excited about a good born answer. Thank you, Park, for taking the time to share your amazing work, your journey, the power of a wayward path, and fundamentally — the power of story and how it can be leveraged in every aspect of building a business.

And most importantly, thank you for walking me through an exercise on how I can tell my own story better. I really appreciate it.

Park: Now I’ve got a challenge for you, Russel. “The Power of a Wayward Path” — that is the most marvelous title for a book. You need to write that book.

Russel: I’ll put that into the universe. I’m in the process of writing a book, but that might be number two. Thanks again, Park.

Park: Thank you.

Too Big for His Britches: The Humbling Moment That Grounded Park Howell’s Leadership Journey

Park: Before I started my ad agency in 1995, I was creative director at a large, fast-growing technology company called Quorum International.

One day, myself and another gentleman — Scott, a product manager — were called into the VP’s office, my boss Martin’s office. I wasn’t particularly enamored with this guy. I thought he was old-fashioned. He would shoot down what I thought were our best ideas.

We go in there to reveal layouts for new packaging for one of our new products. We throw down the visuals in front of Martin. He steps up to look over the top of them. I do the exact same thing. Scott does the same.

Martin looks for a while, then sits back down with a grimace on his face.

I sit down.

And next thing I know, my chair is no longer behind me.

I fall right on my ass. My legs go straight up in the air. Martin’s head looks like a football going through goalposts. Scott is over there holding onto his chair arms, staring at me like, “What the hell happened?”

What had happened was that when I stood up to overlook those drawings, the back of my calves hit the chair, unbeknownst to me, and tipped it over backwards. When I went to sit down, I landed flat on my ass.

You can imagine — credibility went right out the room.

The universe has a really funny way of hitting us upside the head when we think our britches are a little bit too big for ourselves.

Russel: Isn’t that the truth. Amen to that.

FAQs: Agency Brand Storytelling, the ABT Framework, and the StoryCycle Genie®

Q: How does brand storytelling help marketing and advertising agencies differentiate and grow?

A: Brand storytelling helps marketing and advertising agencies differentiate by replacing generic, feature-focused positioning with a clear narrative that resonates emotionally with ideal clients. According to brand storytelling strategist Park Howell — founder of the Business of Story and creator of the Story Cycle System™ — agencies that master narrative strategy consistently win higher-value clients, command premium fees, and build longer-lasting accounts. Story creates the trust and clarity that rational positioning statements cannot, transforming a standard agency pitch into a mission-driven brand that clients choose with conviction rather than comparison-shopping on price alone.

Q: What is the And-But-Therefore (ABT) framework and how does it improve brand messaging?

A: The And-But-Therefore (ABT) framework is a three-part narrative structure that gives any brand story a clear, emotionally compelling arc. Applied to brand strategy by Park Howell of the Business of Story, the ABT works as follows: “And” establishes the audience’s world and core desire; “But” introduces the tension, problem, or conflict blocking that desire; “Therefore” delivers the resolution — how the brand solves the problem and transforms the audience’s situation. The ABT framework works because it mirrors the story structure the human brain is hardwired to follow, making brand messaging immediately clearer, more persuasive, and far more memorable than a list of features or benefits ever can.

Q: What is the Story Cycle System™ and how does it help businesses build a powerful brand narrative?

A: The Story Cycle System™ is a 10-step brand storytelling framework created by Park Howell that guides businesses through the complete process of building an authentic, strategy-driven brand narrative. The system moves through ten sequential elements including identifying primary audiences, crafting ABT statements for each audience, defining a position statement, articulating the unique value proposition, creating OOO descriptors across Organization, Offering, and Outcomes, identifying the brand’s emotional promise and physical gift, selecting brand archetypes, writing a brand purpose statement, and weaving everything into a cohesive brand narrative. Brands that have implemented the Story Cycle System™ have reported growth of 600% or more, driven by the clarity, trust, and emotional connection that structured storytelling creates across every marketing and sales channel.

Q: What is StoryCycle Genie® and how does it use AI to help businesses build brand stories?

A: StoryCycle Genie® is an AI-powered brand storytelling platform created by Park Howell and co-founder Sean Schroeder that guides businesses through the complete Story Cycle System™ using what Howell calls “artful intelligence” — AI designed to surface authentic human insight rather than replace it. Unlike generic large-language-model writing tools, StoryCycle Genie® is purpose-built for brand narrative development, walking users through each of the 10 Story Cycle elements with intelligent prompting, strategic analysis, and narrative structuring. The platform makes enterprise-grade brand storytelling methodology accessible to businesses of any size, dramatically reducing the time required to build a powerful, differentiated brand narrative from months to hours.

Q: How does brand story create positioning clarity for businesses competing in crowded markets?

A: Brand story creates positioning clarity by replacing vague, interchangeable messaging with a narrative that speaks directly to the audience’s desires, obstacles, and aspirations — making the brand’s value immediately understood and emotionally trusted. Park Howell, host of the Business of Story podcast and creator of the Story Cycle System™, teaches that in markets flooded with nearly identical service offerings, story is the only true differentiator, because facts inform but stories persuade. When a brand applies the ABT framework — articulating what the audience wants, what blocks them, and how the brand resolves that tension — it builds both cognitive clarity and emotional trust simultaneously, transforming the brand from one option among many into the obvious, preferred choice.

Related posts

ComaDose® bottle with playful branding, satirical sleep aid for AI-powered content marketingCan You Build a Brand From Scratch in a Day? Park Howell, the World's Most Industrious Storyteller, presenting storytelling strategies for entrepreneurship, business growth, and legacy building on stage at the Founders Journey Podcast.How Storytelling Built My Life, My Business, and My Legacy: Lessons from the Founders Journey Podcast Brand storyteller standing in an octagon arena, facing a shadowy figure, with a glowing lotus mandala in the background—symbolizing narrative transformation, brand authenticity, and the integration of symbolism in modern marketing.Your Brand Story is Fighting for Attention: How Do You Make it the Winner? FAQ: The Agency AI Reckoning — Answers for Agency Principals Q: Are marketing agencies really losing clients to AI? Yes. Marcus Sheridan — author of They Ask, You Answer and one of the most followed voices in digital marketing — reported in early 2026 that multiple large enterprise brands told him directly they are bringing Social, SEO, and Paid media in-house. The two primary drivers: Claude and other AI platforms making execution feel accessible in-house, and agencies producing soulless, unmeasurable social content. This is not an isolated trend. Q: What is the biggest mistake agencies are making with AI right now? Treating AI as an execution tool instead of a story infrastructure problem. Most agencies are adding generic AI tools — ChatGPT, Claude, Canva AI — without a coherent brand story foundation to power them. The result is content that's faster to produce but still generic, undifferentiated, and disconnected from what audiences actually care about. The tool isn't the problem. The missing story is. Q: Why does cheap AI actually cost more for agencies? Because subscription cost is only a fraction of the true cost. Research from 50+ marketing teams shows generic AI first-draft usability runs at 17-20%, meaning 80-83% of output requires substantial rework. A mid-size team producing 50 branded assets per month spends nearly $9,000 in true monthly costs when you add prompt engineering, iteration, and rework labor — against a $20 subscription price. The full breakdown is here: The $8,000 Invisible Tax: Why 'Cheap' AI Tools Cost More. Q: What is the Story Cycle System™ and how does it help agencies? The Story Cycle System™ is a proven 10-element brand storytelling framework created by Park Howell that has grown brands by as much as 600 percent. For agencies, it provides a systematic way to build a client's Brand Brain — their positioning, audiences, voice parameters, messaging frameworks, and narrative architecture — in about an hour. Once built, that Brand Brain powers every piece of content, every campaign, and every pitch. It's the strategic operating system that makes content consistently on-brand instead of generic. Q: How can agencies win more new business pitches using AI? Stop presenting capabilities. Start proving strategic thinking by actually doing it before the pitch meeting. Running a prospect's website through the Brand Story Grader takes under 60 seconds and produces a 14-point brand storytelling assessment. Adding a full brand assessment and competitive analysis takes under 30 minutes total. Agencies using value-first methodology win 35-50% of pitches versus the industry standard of 15-25%. The full framework is here: Stop Pitching Your Agency in 2026 and Start Proving Your Strategic Value. Q: Do clients actually want their agencies to use AI? Yes — overwhelmingly. The 2025 Agency Edge Report surveyed 401 agency client decision-makers. Clients want agencies to deliver better strategy with AI (58%), generate more new ideas (56%), and improve marketing analysis (55%). Fee reductions ranked dead last at 31%. Only 26% of clients think their agencies are AI experts. That gap is an opportunity, not a threat. Q: What is AEO and why should agencies care about it? AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimization — structuring content so AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini can extract, trust, and surface it as an answer to buyer questions. It's the next evolution beyond SEO. Google's share of web traffic referrals has dropped below 60% for the first time in a decade. AI search platforms are up 300% year-over-year. By 2026, 40% of all searches will start with AI engines. Agencies that help clients optimize for AEO — not just Google — are building a competitive advantage their competitors haven't caught up to yet. More here: Beyond SEO: The Age of AI Search and the Rise of the Search Optimization Genie. Q: What is agentic search and how should agencies prepare clients for it? Agentic search means AI agents — not humans — are visiting websites, evaluating options, and making recommendations on behalf of buyers. The AI agent won't respond to hero images or brand colors. It will ask one question: does this business answer the buyer's questions more clearly and completely than the alternatives? Agencies that help clients build clear, coherent, structured brand narratives are preparing them for a world where their next "website visitor" is a non-human making a purchase decision. Q: How does the StoryCycle Genie® help agencies pivot fast? The StoryCycle Genie® builds a client's Brand Brain in about an hour — a systematic codification of their positioning, audiences, voice, and narrative architecture. That Brand Brain powers 18 distinct use cases, from new business pitching and competitive research to crisis communication, merger brand integration, and thought leadership. When the market shifts, the Brand Brain stays coherent. Tactics evolve. Voice stays consistent. Clients trust agencies more with every pivot because the story holds. Q: What is the ABT framework and how do agencies use it with clients? ABT stands for And, But, Therefore — the three forces of story that human brains are hardwired to follow. The AND establishes context and desire. The BUT introduces the tension or problem blocking that desire. The THEREFORE resolves the tension with a solution. It's the same structure Lincoln used in the Gettysburg Address, Hemingway mastered in his shortest stories, and Jobs deployed in every Apple product launch. For agencies, teaching the ABT framework to client sales teams transforms feature presentations into narratives that connect with the primal buying brain — creating genuine emotional engagement instead of information dumps. Q: What is the StoryCycle Genie® Brand Story Grader? The Brand Story Grader is a free tool that analyzes any brand's website in under 60 seconds and delivers a 14-point brand storytelling assessment — graded from A+ to F. It shows exactly where a brand's narrative is strong and where it breaks down. For agencies, it's one of the most powerful pitch tools available: run it on a prospect's website before a meeting and walk in with deeper brand intelligence than they have about themselves. Q: How is the StoryCycle Genie® different from ChatGPT or Claude for agencies? Generic AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude have no persistent brand context — you re-explain the brand every session, voice drifts, and every asset starts from zero strategic foundation. The StoryCycle Genie® is purpose-built for brand storytelling. It stores the client's Brand Brain permanently, so every piece of content — every blog post, email, social post, sales presentation — draws from the same strategic foundation. It's the difference between a generalist and a specialist who has studied your client's brand for 40 years.The Agency Reckoning Marcus Sheridan Saw Coming – and the Story Strategy That Answers It