Strategic narrative vs. plots: stay relevant without losing your voice

One of the most challenging aspects of building a personal brand today is finding the balance between being contemporary and being consistent. You want to stay relevant, navigate new conversations, speak about what matters now. But at the same time, you need to maintain a recognisable voice, one that your public can trust and associate with your identity.

This tension is real, especially in a world where change is the norm. The more dynamic the environment, the more pressure you feel to vary your message, adapt your tone, and explore new angles. But if you adapt too much or too fast, you risk losing coherence. If you don’t adapt at all, you risk becoming invisible.

So how do you manage this paradox?

The answer lies in understanding the difference between your strategic narrative and the plots you use to express it. These two levels of storytelling work together to give you both stability and flexibility, so you can evolve with the times without losing your centre.

Let’s begin with the strategic narrative.

This is the translation of your value proposition into emotional language. It is not a storyline but the elements that give human meaning to what you offer, what you stand for, and why it matters. Your strategic narrative is what allows your brand to resonate in the heart of your audience. It is the expression of your centre of gravity, as I describe it in my book Habla con el Corazón: the fusion of your purpose, principles and culture into a coherent system of meaning.

Every strategic narrative contains four structural elements, which can be found in all powerful stories: a problem that sets the context and shows why your message matters; a vision that represents the desirable future you want to help create; a change that defines the movement from the problem to the vision and expresses your unique contribution; and a conflict, both internal and external, that shows what is at stake and adds emotional depth to your positioning.

A good strategic narrative has three key characteristics:

1. It is aligned with your purpose and your personal or professional mission.

2. It frames the transformation you offer in a way that speaks to human aspirations and challenges.

3. It positions you with intention, shaping how people interpret your presence and your contribution.

Unlike a slogan or a marketing claim, a strategic narrative is not meant to seduce. It is meant to anchor your discourse. It creates continuity across the various expressions of your brand, and it helps people know what you are about even when your content changes.

But once this emotional infrastructure is in place, how do you make your message relevant to different audiences, interests, and moments? This is the role of plots.

A plot is a specific angle, a zoomed-in narrative device that allows you to connect with a certain public or to navigate a current topic. It is always coherent with your strategic narrative, but it brings one aspect of your story into focus. Plots are not random stories. They are intentional framings that help you adapt your message without betraying your identity. In principle, you can think of your strategic narrative as an apartment and the plots as the rooms that compose it. Each room has its own function, personality and mood, but they all belong to the same space and share the same foundation. You can invite different guests into different rooms, depending on what conversation you want to have, while always remaining in your own place.

Let me give you an example.

My friend Ferran Martí is the founder of Tarannà Viajes con Sentido, an agency that specialises in ethical and transformative travel. His strategic narrative is clear: he offers travel as a meaningful journey, a way to explore the world and oneself with respect, curiosity and intention. But his audience is diverse. Some travellers are drawn to sustainability. Others to adventure. Others to personal growth. Others to spiritual traditions.

To speak to each of them, Ferran can activate different plots:

• For the sustainability-conscious, he may use the plot of responsible travel and ecological awareness.

• For the explorers, he may use the plot of discovery and overcoming limits.

• For those in search of inner work, the plot becomes one of personal transformation through movement and encounter.

• For spiritually inclined travellers, he can frame the journey as a sacred path.

All these stories live under the same strategic narrative. None of them contradicts the core brand. But each of them allows a segment of his audience to feel personally spoken to.

This is the power of plots: they help you navigate difference without diluting coherence.

Navigating the news

There is another important use of plots. Beyond segmentation, plots allow you to speak about current topics without losing your strategic voice. They help you anchor your brand in contemporaneity.

Let me share a personal case.

Nissan recently appointed Ivan Espinosa as its new CEO and I published an article on Substack analysing the decision from the perspective of personal branding. I didn’t write about operational choices or industry strategy. I wrote about what it means for a company in crisis to choose a low-profile internal leader, someone with engineering depth but limited public presence. I asked whether his personal brand was fit for the role. I explored how his identity could support or limit Nissan’s efforts to rebuild trust and regain momentum (check the article if you are interested).

By doing that, I was using a specific plot: how a leader's personal brand impacts organisations and their culture. The article was anchored in my strategic narrative, which sees personal brands as humanistic, meaning-driven platforms. But it was activated by a current event. This is how plots work: they let you engage with your time, without losing your thread.

Remember this

• Your strategic narrative is the emotional structure of your brand. It transforms your value proposition into human meaning and positions you intentionally.

• Plots are the narrative angles you use to address different publics, needs or topics. They help you stay relevant and varied without losing coherence.

• A good strategic narrative gives you direction. Plots give you movement.

• Use plots to adapt, to connect, and to participate in the present, but never lose sight of your deeper story.