Brand Story Telling

I find that the most important aspect of story telling for brands is the magical “what if?”

If the creatives get it right, the customers can see themselves as a part of the story.

If the customers see themselves as part of the story, the product becomes a part of their lives.

If the product becomes a part of their lives, the customers will be loyal to the brand forever.

The magical “what if?” is part of the question that heroes ask themselves before they begin a quest:

• What if I was strong enough to slay the dragon?
• What if I was clever enough to solve the problem?
• What if I was courageous enough to ask them out?

The hero’s journey has been a part of human existence since we began telling stories around the campfire. Joseph Campbell’s “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” inspired Star Wars and brought the concept of the hero’s journey to the public’s attention.

The basic hero’s journey looks like this:

1. The ordinary world - the land where the hero begins.
2. The call of adventure - an invitation.
3. Refusing the call - the hero says no, it's too much to handle.
4. Meeting the mentor - a teacher is discovered.
5. Crossing the first threshold - the hero steps into a new world (internal or external). 6. Tests, allies, enemies - building a team and facing simple challenges.
7. Approach to the inmost cave - getting closer to the objective.
8. Ordeal - the hardest challenge so far.
9. Reward (Seizing the sword) - there’s hope that the hero will succeed.
10. The road back - there is danger on the path.
11. Resurrection - the final battle.
12. Return with the elixir - the victorious hero goes home.

Most ad lengths won’t allow for a full rendition of each stage, but the best give you the feeling of the journey. It can be as simple as someone doing laundry.

1. Our hero wakes up to a busy and messy home.
2. They face the mountain of laundry.
3. They turn away and make coffee.
4. Next to the coffee maker sits a shining box of laundry detergent.
5. Our hero takes the detergent and enters the laundry room.
6. Our hero collects fabric softener that’s guarded by an angry toy.
7. The laundry machines are clear and ready to receive the laundry.
8. Our hero wrestles the mountain of laundry.
9. Most of the laundry makes it into the washing machine.
10. A pair of jeans just won’t fit.
11. Our hero removes the chapstick and keys from the pockets and fits the jeans in the wash.
12. The buzzer rings and the hero’s family comes home to find the house calm, clean and the laundry folded neatly where the mountain once stood.

Connecting a brand’s story to the public works best when it’s primal. Following this template of how human stories have been told for centuries is one way to make the story primal.

Something you can try if you’re stuck on your next project is ask yourself a series of questions that begin with “what if?” and lead your customer on their own hero’s journey.

This will appear in the GMS Media blog