The Hero’s Journey: How Brand Archetypes Shape the Customer Experience

The call echoes through the forest. A young hero, reluctant yet destined for greatness, awakens to adventure. With supernatural aid, they set forth into the unknown, facing fearsome trials and emerging triumphant. Their legend lives on for generations.

While this summary may sound like mythology, it also encapsulates the essence of brand storytelling. Like the Hero archetype, brands must also embark on a quest, gather allies, overcome obstacles, achieve mastery, and return home transformed. This shared narrative shows the profound power archetypes wield in forging deep connections with consumers.

Archetypes: The Building Blocks of Brand Personality

Developed by renowned psychologist Carl Jung, archetypes represent universal patterns of human consciousness that shape behaviour, relationships, and decision-making. They manifest through myths, symbols, and stories told and retold over centuries. Savvy brands have learned to harness this collective understanding to communicate their purpose quickly and effectively.

Take Nike’s recognizable “swoosh” logo, for instance. It is reminiscent of the winged god Hermes, who guides and protects adventurers and athletes. With this simple symbol, Nike channels the Explorer archetype, promising freedom, achievement against odds, and self-transcendence.

Companies that successfully embody an archetype create resonance with consumer motivations on an unconscious level. Their brand personality feels familiar, trustworthy, and appealing, even on the first encounter.

The Hero’s Journey: Tracking the Customer Experience

While choosing one dominant archetype drives branding, examining the entire arc of the customer journey reveals opportunities to engage multiple archetypes to build deeper relationships.

Take healthcare brands aiming to improve customer outcomes, for instance. At the start of a transformation journey, consumers respond to Caregiver brand qualities: empathy, support, and gentle guidance. Further in, the sage offers expertise so consumers can make informed decisions. Approaching significant milestones, coaching through the Hero archetype’s lens empowers people to level up. Upon achieving results, the Innocent brings celebratory rewards.

Programming archetypal shifts into each interaction make customers feel understood while keeping engagement fresh and meaningful.

The 12 Archetypes and How They Map to Customers

Which archetypes should you consider when developing your brand strategy? Here’s an overview of the 12 primary archetypes with examples of how they translate to marketing:

1. The Innocent

Motto: Free to be you and me

Desire: to be happy  

Brand Example: Coca-Cola

Promises childlike optimism while uniting people worldwide through shared experience.

2. The Explorer

Motto: Don’t fence me in

Desire: freedom to discover  

Brand Example: Airbnb

Facilitates global exploration and cultural exchange. The “Belong Anywhere” platform allows you to live like a local.

3. The Sage  

Motto: The truth will set you free

Desire: To understand the world  

Brand Example: Google

Provides knowledge and “organizes the world’s information for universal access and usefulness.”

4. The Hero  

Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way  

Desire: Prove worth through courage  

Brand Example: Nike  

Empower athletes to pursue greatness with the “Just do it” mantra.

5. The Outlaw

Motto: Rules are meant to be broken  

Desire: Disrupt through rebellion

Brand Example: Uber

Broke the rules to revolutionize ridesharing. “Move what moves you” ethos promotes freedom.

6. The Magician  

Motto: I make the impossible possible

Desire: Transform the ordinary  

Brand Example: Disney  

Uses magic to create fantasy worlds that transport and transform. “Make your dreams come true” mantra.

7. The Lover

Motto: You’re the only one  

Desire: Passionate intimacy

Brand Example: Hallmark

It helps curate emotional connections through greeting cards, gifts, and ornaments for loved ones.

8. The Jester

Motto: You only live once  

Desire: To have fun

Brand Example: Old Spice

He uses humour and “unreasonable confidence” to challenge conventions around masculinity.

9. The Everyman

Motto: All for one and one for all

Desire: Connect through shared values

Brand Example: Ikea

Designs practical, affordable furniture for the many to “create a better everyday life.”

10. The Caregiver

Motto: Love and protect the less capable

Desire: Protect and care for others  

Brand Example: Johnson & Johnson

Cares for human well-being at every life stage based on principles of integrity, compassion, and trust.

11. The Ruler  

Motto: Power isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.

Desire: Control destiny through leadership  

Brand Example: Mercedes-Benz

Conveys high status, exceptional performance, and prestigious innovation.

12. The Creator  

Motto: If you can imagine it, you can create it.

Desire: Innovate through self-expression

Brand Example: Apple

Champions thinkers, creatives, and “the crazy ones” who push boundaries.

Harnessing Archetypes for Impactful Storytelling

Masterful storytelling brings archetypes to life. Through narrative, brands manifest symbolic meaning and channel the motivational energy connected to each archetype. This translates to real behaviour change and brand affinity.

For example, Peloton doesn’t just sell stationary bikes - it sells radical transformation through extreme personal challenges. Their branding conjures the Hero archetype, complete with the archetypal story elements that draw consumers in:

• The quest: pushing your physical and mental limits
• Magical helpers: coaches, tech, and community support  
• Dragon battle: fighting your inner demons, like self-doubt and excuses
• Prize: changed mindset, strengthened resolve, renewed confidence
• The return: inspiring others to embark on their own journeys

This narrative hits aspirational notes for consumers seeking self-improvement. Peloton leverages this ancient storytelling motif to drive real motivation and results by rooting its ethos in archetypal qualities.

Apple's famous 1984 ad represents another iconic brand example. The ad framed IBM as an evil ruler, hypnotizing dull conformists while promising salvation through the defiance of personal computing. This drew heavily upon the Outlaw spirit, with Apple as the rebel brand battling tyranny.

Both examples showcase the resonance of archetypal patterns and their ability to captivate an audience by appealing to universal desires and motivations.

Implementing Archetypes in Your Brand Strategy

1. Determine your brand’s purpose and the core desires of your target audience. Look for resonance between your mission and archetypal characteristics.
2. Identify overlapping secondary archetypes to add depth and dimension to your brand story. Can you incorporate multiple archetypes throughout the customer journey?
3. Bring your archetype to life through consistent messaging and visual identity: logo, fonts, colours, and imagery that reinforce symbolic meaning. Infuse language with archetypal power.
4. Keep archetypes subtle and flexible rather than constraining. Customers require just enough symbolic meaning to latch onto.
5. Track resonance through surveys and engagement. Adjust archetype accentuation when needed.

Your Brand's Archetypal Quest Begins

Brand archetypes provide patterns of meaning that resonate powerfully with human desires and experiences. Through myths, symbols and storytelling, they promise transformation, allowing brands to generate deep relationships and loyalty. With flexibility and authenticity, you can unlock this ancient cultural power and write the next legendary brand story. What will your brand’s quest entail? Why not make the impossible possible? The journey begins now.

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