At Fast Company’s MIC Summit, Pella explores emotional connection and brand storytelling

Keith Mann, Chief Marketing Officer at Pella Corporation, took the stage at the 2025 Fast Company Most Innovative Companies Summit to lead a panel on brand storytelling, consumer connection, and how innovation is reshaping the customer experience.

In conversation with Alice Norsworthy, President of Global Marketing at Universal Destinations & Experiences, Mann highlighted the importance of building emotional resonance early in the customer journey. He emphasized that brands must move beyond product functionality to create meaningful human connection. “If we’re constantly peppering the market with very functional product-specific messages, we lose an entire audience,” said Mann. “But when we connect our product to core human desires—trust, safety, comfort—we seed awareness and ultimately build preference.”

Mann shared insights from Pella’s emotionally driven “Make Life Brighter” campaign, which broke category convention by showcasing the protective and comforting role windows and doors play in the home. The campaign featured a young girl dancing confidently through her house as extreme weather rages outside, reflecting Pella’s belief that feeling safe and secure is central to how people experience their homes. “We’ve broken with a lot of the conventions that exist in our space—and we’re trying to play more with narrative and tone, and create emotional reactions that most people don’t expect from a window ad,” Mann added.

Beyond storytelling, Mann discussed how Pella is leveraging AI to simplify the complex decision-making process of purchasing windows and doors, products with up to eight octillion possible configurations. “We’re spending a ton of time thinking through tools that make the process less daunting,” said Mann. “We’re not abandoning function—we’re reframing it. We bring people in with emotional storytelling, and then we give them the tools and the clarity to feel confident about making the decision.”

In March, Fast Company recognized Pella on its 2025 Most Innovative Companies list for Pella Steady Set™—the industry’s first interior window installation system. This recognition builds on a series of recent honors from Fast Company, including Best Workplaces for Innovators (2024, 2022), Most Innovative Company (2023), and Most Innovative Design Company (2022).

Watch the full panel discussion here.