Latest / Brand Storytelling with Fexingo: Narrative, Mission, and Stories That Sell / How Away Suitcases Built a Travel Brand Narrative
Transcript
- Lucas: If you have bought a suitcase in the last five years, there is a decent chance you at least considered Away. And I bet it wasn't because the zippers were revolutionary or the polycarbonate shell was a technological marvel. Luna: No, it was probably because the Instagram ad showed a woman in a linen dress walking through an airport with that sleek carry-on, and you wanted to be her. Lucas: Exactly. Away sold a feeling, not a piece of luggage. And today I want to drill into exactly how they built that narrative—from the founding story to the visual language to the recovery after some very public founder drama. Luna: Let's start at the beginning. Jen Rubio and Steph Korey met at Warby Parker, so they learned the direct to consumer playbook firsthand. But luggage is not eyeglasses. Lucas: Right. Eyeglasses are a necessity you buy infrequently. Luggage is also infrequent, but it's more emotional. It's tied to travel, which is tied to freedom, adventure, identity. Rubio and Korey understood that if they could attach their product to that aspirational identity, they could charge a premium. Lucas: Their founding story itself was a narrative: Rubio's suitcase broke on a trip, and she realized there was no brand that combined design and function for modern travelers. That story was everywhere in early press. It set the stage for the product to be a solution, but really it was an invitation. Luna: And they backed it up with a very specific aesthetic. The suitcases came in these curated colors—blush, navy, sage—and every single photo on their site and Instagram had the same warm, minimalist, golden-hour vibe. Lucas: It was incredibly consistent. If you scrolled their feed, you could tell it was Away within half a second. That visual shorthand is powerful. Studies show consumers recognize a consistent brand aesthetic in under two seconds on social media. Away nailed that. Luna: But the product itself had to deliver. And it did—the built-in battery charger, the compression system, the weight. The narrative only works if the product doesn't break. Lucas: That's the key. The story invites you in, but the product keeps you. And Away's early reviews were stellar. They had a 4.7-star average across thousands of reviews within the first couple of years. That social proof fed back into the narrative. Luna: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support—buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Seriously, it keeps us independent and able to dig into cases like this without sponsored messaging. And we appreciate every single one. Luna: So back to Away. Their Instagram strategy was genius. They didn't just post product shots. They reposted user-generated content constantly—real travelers with their Away bags in airports, hotels, scenic overlooks. Lucas: That UGC was gold. It turned every customer into a mini-influencer. And they incentivized it with a hashtag, something like #travelwithaway. At one point they had over 300,000 tagged posts. That's free content that also serves as social proof. Lucas: They also did something smart with email. After you bought a suitcase, you'd get a series of emails not about the product, but about your upcoming trip. Tips on packing, destination guides, airport hacks. Luna: Right, because they wanted to extend the travel narrative beyond the purchase. They wanted you to associate Away with the entire experience, not just the checkout moment. Lucas: Those trip-preview emails reportedly had open rates above 55 percent. That's massive. Most e-commerce email sequences are lucky to hit 30 percent. But because the content was useful and emotionally resonant, people wanted to read it. Luna: And then the founder drama hit. In 2019, a report came out detailing Steph Korey's abrasive management style. It was bad. The narrative suddenly shifted from 'travel lifestyle brand' to 'toxic workplace.' Lucas: That's a brand storytelling crisis. The story that brought you in can turn against you. Away's response was interesting. They initially defended Korey, then she stepped down, then she came back, then stepped down again. It was messy. Luna: But what they did right was refocus on the product narrative. They launched new colors, new sizes, a kids' line. They put the suitcases back at the center of the story, not the founders. Lucas: And they leaned into partnerships. They collaborated with hotels and airlines to create co-branded luggage. They opened physical stores designed to feel like a hotel lobby, not a retail floor. Every touchpoint reinforced the travel narrative. Luna: So the lesson is: build a story so strong that even when the founders stumble, the brand identity can survive? Lucas: Partly. But also: diversify your storytellers. Away relied heavily on the founders as the face. When that face cracked, they had to pivot to the community and the product. The UGC became even more important. The partnerships became the new heroes. Lucas: Today, Away is still growing. They've expanded into backpacks, duffels, and travel accessories. That's a testament to the narrative's endurance. They didn't become just a luggage company; they became a travel lifestyle brand. Luna: And it all started with a broken suitcase and a story about wanting something better. That's the power of narrative—it turns a commodity into a companion. Lucas: The question I'd leave listeners with is: what's the narrative around your product? Is it just a list of features, or does it invite the customer into a version of themselves they want to be? Because that's what Away did.