Open the Factory Doors
Share behind-the-scenes processes to build appreciation, trust, and insider connection
Open the Factory Doors is a transparency strategy that deepens audience connection by revealing the normally hidden processes, people, and decision-making behind your brand. Just as physical factory tours have fascinated people since the late 1800s, sharing how your products are made, how decisions are reached, and who works behind the scenes creates appreciation, trust, and a feeling of insider access that moves audience members from passive consumers to connected community members.
The framework identifies four specific benefits of opening your factory doors. First, it helps your audience appreciate the quality and care behind your products. Second, it makes them feel unique and special for having insider knowledge not everyone has access to. Third, it connects them with the real people behind the brand, humanizing the business. Fourth, it inspires them to take action by seeing the effort and intentionality that goes into creating what you offer.
This strategy works at every scale, from Apple releasing behind-the-scenes videos of their unibody MacBook manufacturing process to a solo blogger sharing their content creation workflow. The key is showing something genuine that people normally would not see.
- People are naturally fascinated by how things are made
- Transparency about your process builds appreciation for your quality and care
- Insider knowledge makes people feel special and closer to the brand
- Connecting your audience with the real people behind the brand humanizes your business
- Seeing the effort behind creation inspires people to take action in their own lives
- Identify Your Shareable ProcessesMake a list of everything that happens behind the scenes in your business that your audience never sees: how you create content, how products are developed, decision-making processes, team interactions, workspace setup, tools you use, and mistakes you have made along the way.
- Choose a Format and ShareSelect the most fascinating process from your list and share it in a format your audience enjoys: a blog post, video walkthrough, podcast episode, live stream, or social media story series. Show the real, unpolished version rather than a sanitized highlight reel.
- Introduce the People Behind the BrandFeature the team members, contractors, collaborators, or partners who contribute to your brand but normally remain invisible. Share their stories, their roles, and what they bring to the work your audience benefits from.
When Apple released the unibody MacBook Pro in 2008, they also published a detailed video showing the philosophy and manufacturing process behind carving the laptop casing from a single block of aluminum. The video featured interviews with Jony Ive and Dan Riccio and showed the precision engineering inside the factory.
Flynn drew inspiration from the long history of factory tours in America, the enduring popularity of the TV show How It's Made with over thirty-one seasons and four hundred episodes, and his personal experience visiting the Scharffen Berger Chocolate Factory in college, which made him a lifelong customer simply because he felt an insider connection to the brand.