For Lee de Lang, founder of Big Red Oak, storytelling is more than a communications trend — it’s a business tool that drives outcomes. And increasingly, it’s a skill that leaders across sectors are looking to sharpen.
“In a world overloaded with information, attention is the new currency,” he says. “And what earns attention is emotional connection.”
Big Red Oak, a Toronto-based content agency, works with companies operating in complex and often technical spaces — from nuclear energy to biotech to financial investment — helping them translate their work into messages that resonate. Their focus: using clear, compelling storytelling to build trust, deepen engagement, and drive action.
Research backs the approach. Stanford studies show that stories are up to 22 times more memorable than facts alone. And neuroscience has shown that stories foster empathy and influence decision-making more effectively than data.
“We’re seeing more companies recognize that how they tell their story matters just as much as what they do,” de Lang says. “Storytelling isn’t an add-on — it’s foundational.”
Tackling Communications Challenges with Clarity
Big Red Oak’s work spans sectors, but a consistent thread runs through their projects: helping organizations communicate high-stakes or high-complexity ideas in ways that are human and accessible.
When Westinghouse Canada needed to raise its national profile, Big Red Oak designed a campaign that blended digital storytelling with high-impact placements like airport takeovers — reaching over 8 million Canadians and delivering strong traction across LinkedIn and other platforms.
For Conexus, the rebranded identity of the former CANDU Owners Group located in Toronto, the firm led stakeholder interviews, messaging strategy, and a visual overhaul — supporting this global organization’s alignment with the evolution in the expanding nuclear energy industry.
In the talent space, OMERS partnered with Big Red Oak to better showcase its employee experience. The result was a storytelling campaign centered around purpose, wellness, and growth — which helped increase applications by 20% and strengthened employer brand visibility in a competitive market.
And for the regenerative medicine organization, CCRM, Big Red Oak produced flexible, security-sensitive content to help attract international talent and investment — even in a tightly controlled lab environment.
“These are organizations doing incredibly important work,” says de Lang. “But if the story isn’t told clearly, it risks being missed or misunderstood. Our job is to make sure it lands — and leads somewhere.”
Regional Expertise, Global Relevance
Based in the Toronto region, Big Red Oak has a close view of the city’s role as a hub for innovation — and of the communications challenges that come with it.
“Whether you're in infrastructure, finance, life sciences or advanced manufacturing, you're trying to reach people who may not have technical knowledge — but whose decisions matter to your future,” de Lang explains.
As a member of the Toronto Region Board of Trade, Big Red Oak sees how local organizations are embracing a more strategic approach to storytelling — not just to promote, but to engage stakeholders, shape policy conversations, and attract top-tier talent.
“Technical specs might tell someone what your product does,” de Lang says. “But stories explain why it matters, and why they should care.”
What Businesses Can Learn from the Shift
As storytelling takes root in more areas of business — from investor communications to employee engagement — de Lang sees a broader shift underway: communications becoming a leadership responsibility, not just a marketing task.
“It’s showing up everywhere — in how companies explain change internally, how they share impact externally, and how they compete for attention in a crowded space.”
His takeaway: storytelling isn’t about simplifying the message, but about finding the signal in the noise.
“It starts by understanding what your audience values,” he says. “Not just what you want to say, but how it lands.”
Learn more about Big Red Oak’s approach at bigredoak.com/trbot
