Leadership & TalentRooted in Rap Royalty, Narrative Focuses on Storytelling for the ‘New American Mainstream’Russell Simmons was a co-founder of the New York shopBy Marty Swant|June 26, 2017 (L. to r.) Narrative's Benjamin Vendramin, CCO; Tricia Clarke-Stone, co-founder and CEO; and Aaron Royer, content and technology chiefCourtesy of NarrativeShareBy Marty Swant|June 26, 2017 ShareIt’s been four years since Tricia Clarke-Stone and Russell Simmons—most notably known as the force behind hip-hop label Def Jam Records—co-founded Narrative, an agency focused on storytelling for the “new American mainstream.”Since then, Narrative’s 16 full-time employees and freelance collective of “nerds, cool kids and weirdos” have worked for brands ranging from JCPenney to Santo Mezquila, a mezcal-tequila startup founded by musicians Sammy Hagar and Adam Levine.“For us, it’s about going beyond stories told to stories experienced,” said Clarke-Stone, CEO of Narrative. “And usually how we’re able to do that is by leveraging technology and culture.”For Showtime’s Billions, the shop created a Kickstarter campaign for the show’s fictional company, Axe Capital, which solicited ideas for Showtime to fund real-life entrepreneurs via the platform. Recently, to promote a signature shoe by Under Armour and Stephen Curry, Narrative developed a wearable, Bluetooth-equipped “Fan Badge” that alerts fans whenever their favorite player does something notable. It now has a patent pending and could be available more widely by the next NBA season. Click for more from this issue This story first appeared in the June 26, 2017, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe. Adweek Adweek