How can you use the hero's journey to tell better stories?

Using the Hero's journey framework to tell better stories is indeed a powerful approach. But you don't always have to follow a linear approach. Playing with non-linear timelines is a wonderful way to look at it. Play with the timeline, jumping between stages of the hero's journey out of order. This can create a puzzle for the audience to piece together and maintain their engagement. Another intriguing approach is to use "reverse order". This involves starting your story at the "return" stage, showing the hero's return to their ordinary world, and then use flashbacks to reveal the challenges and transformation they underwent. This can create intrigue and keep the audience guessing.

The Hero's Journey is also known as the monomyth. It was developed by Joseph Campbell in his book "The Hero With a Thousand Faces". This storytelling technique shows a protagonist who is called to adventure, sets out on a challenging journey, faces adversities, conquers, and returns home triumphant. It has been used in movies, ads, content strategy, and fund-raising campaigns. The Coca-Cola brand is famous for using the Hero's journey in their ads.

Il faut intégrer astucieusement la psychologie humaine dans le parcours du héros d'un récit fantastique. En confrontant votre protagoniste à des épreuves impliquant des êtres surnaturels, vous enrichissez la narration en explorant des aspects universels de la condition humaine. Par exemple, amenez-le à interagir avec des personnages de la mythologie grecque personnifiant ses peurs refoulées. Il faut fusionner l'épique et le profond pour captiver les lecteurs, offrant ainsi une expérience immersive qui transcende les frontières du fantastique.

The hero's journey was developed by Joseph Campbell and popularised for business purposes by Donald Miller and his Storybrand framework. In business storytelling, it's a hugely powerful structure for giving your ideal client the main character role of your story. By using in-depth ICP analysis and viewing your ideal clients as protagonists, you'll be able to craft a narrative that centres entirely around them. The structure also enables you to make your offering function as the guide on their journey.

No matter how it is used, the hero's journey can be a powerful tool for storytelling and for helping people to understand and connect with the challenges and triumphs of the human experience.

When you use the Hero's Journey in your marketing, you evoke your customers' emotions and foster loyalty. After all, who doesn't want to see the protagonist beat the odds and triumph? It also makes your messaging relatable. This is because your customers see themselves in the hero's eyes. They face the same challenges as the protagonist, need the same guide, and would gladly pay top Dollar to return home triumphant.

This framework taps into universal themes and archetypes that are deeply embedded in human psychology, making stories more relatable and impactful. It provides a clear narrative arc that can guide the development of your story, ensuring it has depth, growth, and a satisfying resolution. By reflecting the journey of growth and transformation, it engages audiences on an emotional level, allowing them to see themselves in the hero's journey.

I almost compared the "Hero's Journey journey" to the idiom "light at the end of the tunnel" then I remembered a counter phrase that said: "Light is needed to journey through the dark tunnel. At the end of the tunnel, what will the light be used for?"

The hero's journey is universal - whether we've experienced a massive or small-scale transformation, we recognise ourselves as the main character of our different life experiences. The same goes for your ideal clients. When you structure your brand narrative around them, you strengthen brand-consumer connection, making them more likely to remember and buy from you.

A great way to use the Hero's Journey is in writing your marketing copy. Show your customers you know what they're going through. Let your copy show that you know their desires, the obstacles standing in their way, and how amazing their lives would be when they solve the problems standing in their way. In 2018, Coca-Cola used its "Sunset" Campaign to show its Muslim consumers that they understand their challenges. The entire ad is a true Hero's Journey. I highly recommend watching it. As you do, think of the various ways you can use this technique to make your messaging more relatable and heart-tugging.

How you use the hero's journey will depend on the type of communications piece you're working on. For landing pages, for instance, you'd structure your copy in the three-part format of: - Current (painful) state (where your ideal clients are today) - Transformation/journey (the transformation they'd like to see relative to the particular pain point your offering solves) - Desired future state (your ideal clients' dreams)

The hero's journey is usually simplified for business storytelling purposes. The point is the transformation - and recognising the beginning as well as the end of that transformation. The key to successfully using the hero's journey narrative structure in professional storytelling is twofold: - Make sure your ideal client, not your company, is the hero of the story - Make sure your offering/service/product is the guide that helps your ideal client successfully navigate their transformation

I really liked the adaption of Hero's journey in Lord of the Rings - In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins is the hero who is called to adventure when he inherits the One Ring, an evil artifact. He must cross the first threshold and leave his home in the Shire in order to destroy the Ring. He faces many challenges and setbacks along the way, but he also makes allies, such as Samwise Gamgee and Gandalf. In the end, he destroys the Ring and saves Middle-earth.

In my opinion, before rushing trying to adapt hero’s journey to fit one’s brand or marketing, you have to properly understand storytelling in general. The hero’s journey ultimately is just one type of story structure that fits more of an epic/bigger tale and structure is only one part of storytelling. It is not a story in itself. Know what your story is going to be first. What is it you’re trying to convey, before trying to fit in a structure into the plan. The simplest structure is protagonist wants something, protagonist faces conflict/challenges towards his goal, and ends with the protagonist either gets it or fails. The beginning, middle, and end. From here you can build your story and structure up element by element.

One of the favourable ways we use a variation of the hero's journey is by starting with the climax of a story. This has proven valuable and profitable, especially for social media content and book-writing clients. Your hook (or peak) is a great way to capture a reader's attention right up front. With time being the most valuable currency, rearranging and adapting the hero's journey to suit your ideal audience's needs is critical.

I absolutely love the hero's journey storytelling framework. It's one framework I have used to tell my story over and over again

Remember the good old maxim: "Practice makes perfect". It works always. When learning to use the Hero's Journey as a storytelling technique, the first rule is to get thoroughly familiar with the technique. Read resources that explain this storytelling structure. Next, watch or read ads and look out for how this technique is used and the various adaptations to it. The next step is to apply this technique in your public speaking engagements, presentations, or marketing. Lastly, iterate and refine your Hero's Journey storytelling technique. Use feedback from experts and collaborate with great storytellers.

Apple's "Think Different" campaign of 1997 also uses the Hero's Journey. 1. It has "The Call to Adventure" - encouraging the hero to break the status quo & embrace innovative design. 2. In "The Initiation", the protagonist goes against "the norm" and meets challenges (For example they're called crazy, misfits, weird, etc.). 3. Next, he meets "A Guide". Apple is the guide that shows the protagonist that he's in good company by showcasing visionaries like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jnr, and Einstein who were labeled crazy. 4. "The triumph" is when the hero thrashes the labels and embraces innovation. The ad shows triumph by saying, "... because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world... are the ones who do."

Before designing for the hero's journey format, make sure you really, really understand your hero. This comes from doing a deep analysis of your ICP, particularly tapping into principles from character development like: - Beliefs and values - Motivation - Dreams and desires - Fears and challenges - Personality and actions If you're going to write a believable hero, and essentially convince that hero you're the guide for them, you have to take the time to develop your character before you start writing out their journey and your place in it.