The master storyteller behind Nike, Lego, and Starbucks reveals his approach to building unforgettable brands
Stanley Hainsworth has been the creative force behind some of the world’s most recognizable brands. As creative director at Nike, Lego, and Starbucks—all brands that have become iconic through exceptional design—he’s mastered the art of brand storytelling. Most recently, he completed the redesign of the Gatorade bottle, adding another major brand transformation to his impressive portfolio.
Now at the helm of Tether, his own design studio and retail space in Seattle, Hainsworth continues to shape how companies connect with consumers. His approach goes beyond logos and color palettes to something deeper: uncovering and communicating the authentic story at the heart of each brand.
In this exclusive interview, Hainsworth shares his insights on what makes a brand truly resonate with people and why storytelling is the key to creating brands that people don’t just recognize, but genuinely love.
Creating Brand Personas That Connect
According to Hainsworth, the most powerful brands develop distinct personalities that consumers can relate to on a human level. “Companies like Apple have a persona,” he explains. “You could describe what Apple is as a person, because of the personality they’ve created.”
This personification is what transforms a mere product or service into a brand that people feel emotionally connected to. It’s why Apple isn’t just a tech company—it’s the creative, innovative friend who thinks differently. It’s why Starbucks isn’t just coffee—it’s the sophisticated yet approachable “third place” between work and home.
When working with tech startups and other emerging companies, Hainsworth’s first priority is uncovering their unique story. “The first thing we have to figure out is their story—what sets them apart in the marketplace,” he says. Without this narrative foundation, even the most visually stunning design work will lack the substance needed to create lasting connections with consumers.
The most effective brand storytelling isn’t fabricated—it excavates the authentic truth about a company’s origins, values, and purpose, then presents it in a way that resonates emotionally with its audience.
Three Iconic Brand Journeys
Hainsworth’s experiences at Nike, Lego, and Starbucks provided him with unique insights into how different types of brands connect with consumers. Each company required a distinct approach to storytelling:
Nike: The Power of Attitude
“Nike is an attitude,” Hainsworth observes. Unlike brands that can be defined by a specific visual style, Nike’s identity is built around a mindset—the determination and excellence embodied in their iconic “Just Do It” ethos. This attitude-first approach allows Nike to evolve visually while maintaining a consistent emotional connection with consumers.
Lego: Product as Hero
At Lego, Hainsworth took a different approach. “For Lego, the brick was everything,” he explains. Even when the company faced challenges and experimented with product extensions, its success always returned to a focus on their iconic building brick. Hainsworth’s experience at Lego taught him the importance of knowing a brand’s core strength and remaining true to it.
Starbucks: Experience Above All
Starbucks presented yet another model of brand development. “When I started there, the idea was that we weren’t a coffee company—we were a people company serving coffee,” Hainsworth recalls. This subtle but powerful distinction positioned Starbucks as an experience-driven brand rather than a product-driven one, informing everything from store design to packaging to marketing.
Each brand requires its own unique storytelling approach. The key is identifying whether a brand’s strength lies in its attitude (like Nike), its product (like Lego), or its experience (like Starbucks)—then building the narrative from that foundation.
The Gatorade Transformation
One of Hainsworth’s more recent high-profile projects was redesigning the iconic Gatorade bottle. This wasn’t merely a cosmetic update but a comprehensive rethinking of the brand’s physical touchpoint with consumers.
The Tether team approached the redesign with three key elements in mind:
- Create an athletic stance with broad shoulders and a narrow waist that would be easier to grip during athletic activity
- Incorporate the Gatorade bolt both aesthetically and functionally as a transparent window showcasing the beverage
- Highlight the iconic orange cap that has become a signature brand element
The redesign resolved practical issues with the previous bottle—such as loose labels collecting condensation, a wide mouth that led to spills, and an oversized body that was difficult to grip with one hand—while simultaneously strengthening the brand’s visual identity.
The results were so successful that Gatorade accelerated the bottle’s rollout from a three-year plan to a one-year plan, bringing the new design to athletes nationwide much sooner than originally scheduled.
The Gatorade project exemplifies how effective brand design addresses both functional needs and emotional connections. The new bottle not only performs better for athletes but also strengthens the brand’s visual identity and storytelling.
Building Tether: A New Kind of Creative Agency
In 2008, Hainsworth founded Tether, bringing together his experiences from Nike, Lego, and Starbucks to create a different kind of creative agency. Located in Seattle’s historic Pioneer Square, Tether combines a creative gallery space with a full-service agency that works across disciplines.
What makes Tether unique is its emphasis on creating “emotional brand connections” rather than simply designing attractive visuals. The agency works across brand identity, product design, advertising, digital design, packaging, branded entertainment, and retail design—always with the goal of telling compelling brand stories.
Since its founding, Tether has grown to approximately 75 employees with a second studio in Portland, Oregon. The company has worked with an impressive roster of clients including BMW, Red Bull, Gatorade, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and many others.
Hainsworth describes Tether’s work environment as “casual intensity”—a place that’s fun but maintains high expectations for creative output. This culture reflects his belief that the best creative work emerges from diverse, collaborative teams working in an environment that encourages both passion and precision.
Tether’s success demonstrates that Hainsworth’s storytelling approach to branding isn’t just philosophical—it delivers concrete results for clients across industries and scales, from startups to global corporations.
The Philosophy of Anticipatory Design
Perhaps the most profound insight from Hainsworth is his observation about what truly great companies do: “Great companies read your soul. They give you something you didn’t even know that you needed.”
This statement captures the essence of what Hainsworth strives for in his work—creating brands that don’t just meet expressed needs but anticipate unexpressed ones. It’s the difference between responding to what consumers say they want and intuiting what will genuinely delight them before they’ve even conceptualized it themselves.
This approach explains why the most beloved brands often seem to be reading our minds, offering products and experiences that feel simultaneously surprising and inevitable. They’re not simply reacting to market research; they’re proactively shaping desires and expectations through intuitive understanding of human nature.
For designers and brand strategists, this philosophy suggests looking beyond immediate consumer feedback to deeper human truths. It means asking not just “What do people want now?” but “What might people love that they haven’t yet imagined?”
The ability to anticipate unspoken needs and desires—to “read the soul” of consumers—is what separates truly iconic brands from merely successful ones. It’s design thinking at its most intuitive and human-centered.
The Future of Brand Storytelling
As brands navigate an increasingly complex and digitally-driven marketplace, Hainsworth’s emphasis on authentic storytelling feels more relevant than ever. In a world where consumers are bombarded with marketing messages, the brands that rise above the noise will be those with genuine narratives that resonate on a human level.
The lessons from Hainsworth’s career offer valuable guidance for any company seeking to strengthen its connection with consumers:
- Know your core strength—whether it’s an attitude, a product, or an experience—and build your brand story around it.
- Uncover authentic narratives from your company’s history, values, and purpose rather than manufacturing artificial stories.
- Address both functional needs and emotional connections in every consumer touchpoint, from packaging to digital experiences.
- Anticipate unexpressed needs by looking beyond market research to deeper human truths and desires.
- Create a distinct brand persona that consumers can relate to on a human level.
By embracing these principles, brands can move beyond mere recognition to achieve what every company truly desires: a place in consumers’ hearts that transcends transactions and creates lasting loyalty.
Join the Conversation
What brands do you feel have told their stories most effectively? Which ones seem to “read your soul” and anticipate needs you didn’t know you had? Share your thoughts in the comments below!