The Brand Backstory and the Strategic Performance of Transparency

Brands use factory tours, visitor centers, and other behind-the-scenes encounters to share their histories and operations. These backstory performances are fragile events that must balance revealing and concealing. This article defines “brand backstories” as selectively disclosive narratives offering a curated set of brand content, and conceptualizes brand backstory performances as spatially embedded enactments that invite consumers into a staged version of what feels like a backstage. Drawing on dramaturgical theory, the authors examine how brands negotiate the tension between showcasing transparency and retaining control during backstory performances. A multimethod investigation centered on four primary backstory sites identifies three interdependent dimensions of the backstory performance (staging performance elements, orchestrating the characters, and tailoring the script) that together modulate consumers’ experience of transparency. Backstory experiences must be skillfully delivered, stimulating, and safe to optimize perceived transparency. This research reframes brand transparency from a property that brands possess to a narrative experience they perform. It shows how contemporary brand storytelling depends on carefully curated and staged encounters that are calibrated to the optimal dosage of revelation to make insider status feel real without surrendering control.