Last year, I wrote about the digital marketing lessons we could learn from Jackie and Shadow, the Big Bear Lake Bald Eagles whose lives have been streamed from their nest for years.
At the time, millions of people were watching them incubate eggs, raise eaglets, survive brutal winter storms and recover from heartbreaking losses. What looked like an overnight viral phenomenon was actually the result of years of authentic storytelling, consistent content, emotional connection and community-building.
On August 10 this year, Jackie died after more than three weeks of intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center. The outpouring of grief from people around the world demonstrated that something much bigger than a viral moment had occurred.
People did not react as though a popular livestream had lost one of its subjects. They reacted as though they had lost someone they knew.
That raises a fascinating question for marketers. How did a wild bald eagle become a character millions of people loved? And now that she is gone, can that emotional connection continue without its biggest star?
The answer may tell us something important about building brands that last.
The Brand Was Never Just Jackie
Jackie became the most recognizable star of the Big Bear eagle story, especially after she bonded with Shadow. But the story did not begin with Jackie and Shadow.
The nest was once occupied by Ricky and Lucy. Then came a young eagle originally named Jack, until observers discovered that Jack was female and renamed her Jackie. Jackie was later paired with Mr. B before Shadow entered the picture and became her longtime mate.
Now the next chapter is beginning. Shadow remains in the area. Viewers are watching to see whether another female enters his life and eventually joins him at the nest.
The cast has changed before, and it will change again.
That is possible because the larger brand has always been the Big Bear Valley bald eagles. Jackie and Shadow became its most beloved chapter, but the nest, the cameras, the environment and the continuing story existed around them.
This fits something we have believed at Trivera for decades:
Your brand is not your logo. It is the promise of an experience.
Jackie and Shadow may have become the most recognizable image associated with that experience, but they were not the entirety of it. The experience was being able to return to the nest, watch nature unfold without a script and feel connected to something happening thousands of miles away.
That promise can continue, even though Jackie cannot be replaced.
The Eagles Were Real. The Human Story Was Ours.
People did not watch Jackie and Shadow strictly as wildlife researchers objectively documenting eagle behavior. We gave them personalities. We interpreted their actions through familiar human experiences.
They fell in love. Viewers saw a devoted couple choose each other and build a life together.
They built a home. Each branch added to the nest became another step in creating a place to raise their family.
They became parents. People watched them share responsibilities, protect their eggs and care for their eaglets.
They experienced triumph and loss. Every successful hatch produced celebration. Every lost egg or eaglet produced genuine heartbreak.
They became characters we recognized. Viewers saw loyalty, courage, frustration, tenderness and perseverance in their behavior.
Now people worry that Shadow is lonely and hope he will eventually find love again.
How much of that reflects the actual emotions of bald eagles is impossible to know. We were watching real animals exhibiting real behaviors, but the characters millions of people came to know were partly created by the audience.
Anthropomorphism made the unfamiliar familiar. It gave people a way to understand eagle behavior through emotions and relationships they recognized in their own lives.
That does not mean the connection was fake. It explains why the connection became so real.
Brands work in much the same way. A company can choose its name, logo, colors, messaging and advertising. It can decide what it wants to represent. But the audience ultimately interprets those things through its own experiences.
A brand may promise precision, innovation or technical expertise. The customer experiences that promise as confidence. A manufacturer may promote quality systems and advanced equipment. The buyer experiences that as trust that the parts will arrive on time and perform as expected.
Specifications help people evaluate a company. Human expectations determine how they feel about it.
Your Brand Needs Stars
This does not mean companies should avoid building their brands around recognizable people, products or personalities. Those stars give an organization’s story a face.
Steve Jobs personified Apple. Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers each became the face of the Green Bay Packers during different eras. Roseanne Barr was so closely identified with Roseanne that removing her from the program appeared almost impossible.
But Apple did not try to manufacture another Steve Jobs. The Packers did not shut down when Favre or Rodgers left. The Conners continued without the character whose name had originally been in the title.
Each brand had built something larger around its star.
Apple had products, design principles, customer loyalty and an ecosystem. The Packers had history, traditions, a community and an identity that extended far beyond the current quarterback. Roseanne had created a family and fictional world capable of continuing as The Conners.
The lesson is not that the star was unimportant. Each one played an enormous role in building the audience’s connection.
The lesson is that your brand needs stars, but it cannot afford to depend entirely on any one of them.
For an established company, that star might be its founder, CEO, flagship product, longtime salesperson or most knowledgeable technical expert. Those people and products can strengthen the brand enormously. The danger comes when everything customers value remains trapped inside them.
When Connection Becomes Action
Friends of Big Bear Valley faced this challenge twice in a matter of months.
Sandy Steers, the organization’s executive director and one of the driving forces behind the eagle cameras and its conservation work, died in February. Preserving Moon Camp, nearly 63 acres of undeveloped habitat near the eagles’ nest, had been one of her highest priorities.
The organization continued that mission after her death. One of Jackie and Shadow’s 2026 eaglets was named Sandy in her honor.
Friends of Big Bear Valley needed to raise $10 million to prevent nearby land from being developed. More than 25,000 donations brought the campaign close to the halfway point. Then Anna and OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman contributed more than $5.5 million, putting the campaign over the top shortly before its deadline.
The donation was announced while Jackie was critically ill and receiving intensive care. Sandy was gone. Jackie was fighting for her life. But the community they helped create was turning their influence into something that could endure beyond either of them.
The cameras created visibility. The ongoing story produced an emotional connection. That connection created a community. The community took action. And that action cleared the way to protect the habitat where the larger story can continue.
That is an extraordinary return on a camera installed in a tree.
Building a Brand That Can Carry the Next Chapter
Most businesses will never generate an audience of millions watching a livestream or receive a multimillion-dollar contribution. But the underlying challenge is common, especially among established B2B companies and manufacturers.
Smart marketers should be asking:
1. What are customers actually attached to? Is it a person, product, relationship, expertise, outcome or larger experience?
2. Is important knowledge trapped inside a few people? Websites, videos, podcasts, case studies and thought leadership can preserve and share expertise before retirement or turnover takes it away.
3. Does the star connect to a larger story? A founder, product or spokesperson should represent the organization’s values and promise, not become the only reason the brand matters.
4. Can a successor create a new chapter? Tim Cook did not need to imitate Steve Jobs. Jordan Love does not need to become Aaron Rodgers. Another female eagle will not need to become Jackie.
5. Does the company own the platform where its story lives? A strong website, content library, email audience and integrated digital presence give the brand continuity when people, products and outside platforms change.
Brand durability does not come from minimizing the people and products that made the company successful. It comes from capturing what made them meaningful and building something larger around it.
What This Means for You
If your founder retired tomorrow, would customers still understand what makes your company different? If your most trusted salesperson left, would those relationships remain with the company? If your flagship product became obsolete, would the market have another reason to care about your brand?
Those are not simply succession questions. They are marketing questions.
Here are four things you should do now to protect your brand from the loss of its star:
- Identify your points of dependency. Determine which leaders, employees, products or customer relationships currently carry a disproportionate share of your brand’s recognition, credibility and value.
- Capture the knowledge and relationships behind them. Document expertise, customer history, processes and stories through your website, CRM, videos, podcasts, case studies and thought leadership before that knowledge walks out the door.
- Connect the star to a larger brand promise. Make sure customers understand the values, team, capabilities and experience surrounding the individual or product they already know and trust.
- Begin introducing the next chapter before you need it. Give emerging leaders, experts, products and capabilities visibility now so the audience has familiar reasons to remain connected when change comes.
Jackie cannot be replaced, and she should not be. But Shadow remains. The nest remains. The cameras remain. The community remains. The protected habitat and conservation mission remain. Eventually, another eagle and another generation of eaglets may begin a completely new chapter.
The strongest brands do not survive by replacing the stars people loved. They survive by delivering an experience meaningful enough that the audience stays to see what happens next.
