If you’ve spent time around cameras, drones, or content creators in the last ten years, you already know the name DJI. You’ll see them on film sets, music video shoots, tourism campaigns, in YouTubers’ kits, and wedding videographers’ hip rigs. They’re kind of everywhere. So much so that when people say “drone,” they often mean “DJI”. The brand is that dominant.

As someone who grew up in a family of TV and video professionals, I became the kind of buyer DJI would be targeting. And when I started buying gear of my own, I was the ir exact audience.

Which brings us to this:

DJI didn’t win through the tech specs arms race…

They won because they understood story. They won by building a brand that creators preferred: a brand with clear positioning, a strong narrative, and a distinctive role in the culture of content creation.

That’s what got me thinking about DJI through the lens of StoryBrand: a messaging framework developed by Donald Miller that applies screenwriting structure to brand strategy. Whether DJI studied the model or not, they’re a good example of how to build a brand that places themselves not as the protagonist, but as the guide.

Let’s explain the theory first.

StoryBrand is a messaging framework developed by Donald Miller. It borrows from the logic of the classic hero’s journey, and applies it to how brands communicate.

Here’s the basic idea:

The customer is the hero.
Your brand is the guide.

Every good story has a protagonist, but they don’t get there alone. There’s a problem to solve, they need help, and they are either too flawed or don’t have the skills or knowledge to get there on their own. Enter the guide who offers wisdom, a plan, and a path forward. Think Yoda. Think Haymitch. Think Alfred. The guide helps the hero win.

StoryBrand breaks this down into seven parts:

• A Character

• With a Problem

• Meets a Guide

• Who Gives Them a Plan

• And Calls Them to Action

• That Helps Them Avoid Failure

• And Ends in Success

Most brands get this backwards. They talk about themselves like the main character: all features, awards, innovation, “leading” this and that. It’s a handy framework for messaging, but it’s just as useful when you think about customer positioning. If you’re trying to outmanoeuvre competitors, it forces a mindset shift: your brand isn’t the protagonist. The one pulling out their wallet is the protagonist. So what does that look like in practice?

DJI started in 2006 when Frank Wang, then a university student in Hong Kong with a love of flight and engineering, began building flight controllers. Drones, at the time, were either military kit or nerdy hobbyist toys. 

Then, in 2013, DJI launched the Phantom; the first consumer drone you could take out of the box, fly within minutes, and capture genuinely impressive footage (for the time). By lowering the barrier to entry, DJI grew really fast. Today, they control most of the consumer drone market and have expanded into gimbals, action cams, and industrial tech.

From a strategic lens, what DJI did lines up with several principles we talk about in positioning and brand strategy: Let’s plug that into the StoryBrand framework:

The Character: Aspiring creators and filmmakers

The Problem: Epic aerial shots used to be limited to helicopters and big budgets

The Guide: DJI

The Plan: Intuitive drones and gimbals that make pro-level shots accessible

The Action: Shoot like a pro

The Success: Create world-class content

The Avoided Failure: Looking amateur in a pro world

DJI understood the aspirations of a very specific kind of customer: the visual storyteller. Early on, they focused on a specific audience, being the growing community of creators and filmmakers. By embedding themselves in that culture — on YouTube, in travel films, with gear reviews and tutorials — they built brand salience in the right circles. DJI was for people who wanted to make content that felt cinematic, and not just launching a drone in a park on a Sunday. They positioned themselves not as a gadget brand, but as a creative enabler. The kind of brand that made you feel like a filmmaker, even if you were just starting out. 

One of the things DJI did was resist the trap of “premium for premium’s sake,” when so many homegrown brands in Greater China do chase prestige, DJI sold more of the culture, the creator fantasy and they offered an identity upgrade. They positioned themselves as the guide that could make epic storytelling feel easy, and actually achievable.

DJI made the creator the hero.

They handed them the tools.

And they built a world that said, “You can make this too.”

Whether they were consciously applying StoryBrand theory or not, they showed up regularly with the right story, and knew their audience. They’ve become the default for “creator gear,” and once you’re the default, you’re in rare air. In essence, they’re what we call a charismatic brand: one people believe has no real substitute.

When we talk about positioning, we’re really talking about the overlap between what your audience wants and what only your brand can credibly offer. That’s where brand preference begins — and where charismatic brands are born.

At its core, this is about alignment. Story gives you a structure to speak to the customer’s journey, not just your own agenda. And brands like DJI show what that looks like in practice: a clear sense of who the protagonist is, what they want, and how your product helps them get there. When those signals line up and the customer’s identity meets a brand that reflects it back, it drives preference, and over time, builds the kind of brand people prefer.

Further Reading

If you want to explore the StoryBrand framework in full, Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand is the original reference.
Building a StoryBrand – Donald Miller

You can also explore the methodology and tools at:
https://storybrand.com