Collective Bias

Collective Bias prides itself on its storytelling or, as the company calls it, story selling.

The company was founded in 2009 to tell the stories of brands and use that storytelling to increase sales for clients.

The company now averages more than 500 campaigns a year and has expanded to 122 employees with satellite offices in New York, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Cincinnati and London.

Collective Bias has also been recognized as one of the country’s 25 Most Promising Companies by Forbes and is part of the Inc. 5000.

Holly Pavlika, the company’s senior vice president of brand strategy, said Collective Bias is “developing a new industry,” which is starting to take hold with more people. “I think actually people are understanding what we do more,” as well as the industry as a whole and how important it is for a brand, Pavlika said.

Pavlika said that the company has learned from what hasn’t worked for brands in the past and keeps up with trends by issuing white papers and hosting seminars.

“So many brands I think early on made the mistake when it came to social media of too much blatant self-promotion. There’s an art to blogging and influencer content to create it in a way that the audience understands that it’s valuable content, not just the selling of a brand,” she said.

Amy Callahan, a company co-founder and chief community officer, said one of the keys to good story selling is promoting a brand while not being in the customer’s face.

“Story selling content gives your brand context. It tells a narrative of how the product fits into the fabric of your consumer’s everyday lives — not just the pretty pictures, but also the honest way people interact with your product. It’s weaving your brand into the relevant passion points of your consumer’s life,” Callahan said.

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