Storytelling has become a guiding principle for great marketing, letting companies neatly fit into consumers’ lives. But with one well-timed ad capable of changing someone’s shopping habits for years, how can brands address our milestone moments without seeming opportunistic?

With America now starkly divided, many are struggling to comprehend the views they missed in the run-up to the 2016 election. PodcastS-Town, which has gained over 1.8 million subscribers, is the timely tale of a New York-based journalist seeking to understand an eccentric from Shit Town, Alabama.

P&G and the ‘My Black is Beautiful’ initiative worked together to create an ad spot that tells the stories of black mothers teaching difficult lessons to their children about racial bias. The two-minute video uses creative storytelling to encourage empathy and understanding among viewers.

If Faisal Islam, Ralph Keyes and theNew York Timesare to be believed, the Trump candidacy and the vote for Brexit show we've entered a post-truth era – a world where emotion and populism win out over facts and experts. But is it true? And do emotional appeals really trump facts and figures?