The Future of Branding
The future of branding belongs to storytellers who understand the hero’s journey in the context of modern, mobile life. The hero’s journey is a storytelling structure pervasive across cultures. It starts with a call to adventure, requires that the hero be connected to others, including a mentor. The hero will face extremely difficult challenges along the way. The hero ultimately wins and returns home, armed with new knowledge about herself, other people and the world.
I interviewed Google's Cecilia Wogan-Silva and Ogilvy's Drew Ormrod about the future of branding for Fast Company, and the piece was published today. I'd love to know your thoughts.
Does your brand inspire people to respond to the call for adventure, whether through providing information, tools or a catalyst? Does it help them overcome the obstacles they will face on the path, either by making sure they have nourishment, transportation, tools, information or access to other people? Does it provide guidance, support, or a framework in which the story of the process, with all its ups and downs, can be documented and shared in real time? If your brand doesn’t serve any of the segments in the hero’s journey, you’re right to be concerned about the future.
I also launched my own small experimental brand today, via Kickstarter. My project is called Mystery Jars: Time in a Bottle.
Cantare amantis est
11 年This is really excellent. I new my postgrad work on story and myth would payoff one day! Aside from Joseph Campbell, I also highly recommend Christopher Vogler's The Writers Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.
International Creative Director / Bilingual Copywriter / Experiential Marketing
11 年We human beings love to be touched by compelling stories. Who doesn't fall for a great story? Some of my favorite these days are those from some of the best challenger brands, who are challenging the challenger brands from ten years ago... Not even... perhaps five years ago?
Print and Packaging Expert | Successful Product Innovator | Experienced Business Developer | Effective Sales Team Leader
11 年The heroes are hopefully those brand managers out there who are willing to explore the confluences of new media going on right now, that can help you discover how to better connect and interact with people, create vast global communities, in a fun and relevant way.
Men's Coach/Counselor ? Reigniting Men's Purpose, Power, and Passion
11 年"Ultimately, it requires the delivery of simplicity in an increasingly complex world." This is so important, so obvious, yet apparently not so easy to pull off, judging from all the obfuscation out there. I loved this article--very substantive.
Digital Marketing Analyst & Strategist | Performance Marketing Specialist | SEO/SEM/PPC Expert | E-commerce Growth Consultant | Social Media Marketing Specialist | Analytics & Data Analyst | AI Data-Driven Insights
11 年Really branding online is something which now everyone is demanding. We should consider it as a constant interaction with our customers and followers to keep them updated with our product or services and also be able to take proper feedback from them too.