---
id: "quote-borrowing-storytelling-power"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Power of Rivalry Narratives"]
tags: ["narrative", "engagement"]
related: ["concept-rivalry-reference-effect"]
speaker: "Abhishek Borah, Johannes Berendt, Sebastian Uhrich and Gavin Kilduff"
speakers: ["Abhishek Borah", "Johannes Berendt", "Sebastian Uhrich", "Gavin Kilduff"]
sources: ["tail2"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail2"
originDay: 2
articleStem: "hbr-tail-124-good-rivalry-brand"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/08/a-good-rivalry-can-elevate-your-brand"
sourceTitle: "A Good Rivalry Can Elevate Your Brand"
---
# Borrowing the Engagement Power of Storytelling

> "When brands tap into existing rivalry narratives, they're essentially borrowing the engagement power of storytelling."

— [[entity-abhishek-borah|Borah]], [[entity-johannes-berendt|Berendt]], [[entity-sebastian-uhrich|Uhrich]] & [[entity-gavin-kilduff|Kilduff]]

The one-sentence statement of the mechanism behind the [[concept-rivalry-reference-effect]]: rivalry references succeed because they inherit the pre-built, culturally salient narrative that already exists between the brands (the 'story embeddedness' the study measures).