Bernadette Jiwa Books
Bernadette Jiwa is an Australian author, brand strategist, and storytelling expert known for her work on brand narrative and marketing innovation. She has written several acclaimed books on storytelling and branding, including Make Your Idea Matter and Story Driven.
Known for: Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly, The Fortune Cookie Principle: The 20 Keys to a Great Brand Story and Why Your Business Needs One, This Is for Everyone: Universal Principles of Design
Books by Bernadette Jiwa
Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly
Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly explores how successful brands and entrepreneurs create products and experiences that resonate deeply with people. Bernadette Jiwa argues that meaning, not mark...
The Fortune Cookie Principle: The 20 Keys to a Great Brand Story and Why Your Business Needs One
The Fortune Cookie Principle explores how successful brands connect emotionally with customers through storytelling. Bernadette Jiwa argues that a brand’s story is its most powerful asset, shaping how...
This Is for Everyone: Universal Principles of Design
This Is for Everyone: Universal Principles of Design argues that design is not a narrow technical discipline reserved for artists, architects, or product teams. It is a human practice of making things...
Key Insights from Bernadette Jiwa
Understanding the customer's story: Shifting focus from product features to the human narrative behind customer needs
Too many brands start with themselves. They obsess over product features, specifications, and competitive advantages. But behind every product lies a human being, and behind every transaction, a story. When you start with the customer’s story, you step into their world—their motivations, struggles, ...
From Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly
Empathy as the foundation of innovation: How understanding emotions and motivations drives relevance
Empathy is not softness; it’s strategy. It’s the ability to sense what others feel without them having to explain it. Innovation fueled by empathy moves beyond convenience—it creates belonging. When we innovate with empathy, we no longer chase trends; we respond to truth. Empathy allows us to see t...
From Meaningful: The Story of Ideas That Fly
The Fortune Cookie Principle
At the core of every brand lies a simple truth: people don’t buy what you make; they buy the meaning behind it. The Fortune Cookie Principle is my way of explaining that your story is the invisible thread that holds everything together. A cookie without a fortune is bland—it lacks emotion. In busine...
From The Fortune Cookie Principle: The 20 Keys to a Great Brand Story and Why Your Business Needs One
Key 1–10: Building the Emotional Core of Your Brand
The first ten keys of The Fortune Cookie Principle are about establishing the emotional groundwork for your brand story—discovering meaning, purpose, and truth before anything else. Meaning is the foundation. Every business must know not only what it sells but why it exists. When you define meaning,...
From The Fortune Cookie Principle: The 20 Keys to a Great Brand Story and Why Your Business Needs One
Empathy Makes Design Truly Matter
The most effective design begins where ego ends. Jiwa’s central insight is that meaningful design and innovation do not start with what creators want to express, but with what people need, fear, hope for, and struggle to articulate. Empathy is not a soft extra added after strategy; it is the strateg...
From This Is for Everyone: Universal Principles of Design
Start with Need, Not Novelty
A surprising idea is not always a useful one. Jiwa emphasizes that before products, services, or messages can succeed, they must answer a real human need. Too many creators begin with the desire to be original, disruptive, or different. But people do not adopt things because they are new; they adopt...
From This Is for Everyone: Universal Principles of Design
About Bernadette Jiwa
Bernadette Jiwa is an Australian author, brand strategist, and storytelling expert known for her work on brand narrative and marketing innovation. She has written several acclaimed books on storytelling and branding, including Make Your Idea Matter and Story Driven.
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Bernadette Jiwa is an Australian author, brand strategist, and storytelling expert known for her work on brand narrative and marketing innovation. She has written several acclaimed books on storytelling and branding, including Make Your Idea Matter and Story Driven.
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