4 Reasons Your Brand Needs A Hero

Have you ever come out of the cinema completely pumped or even exhausted from the emotional roller-coaster you’ve just been on? I love it when that happens. You talk about your favourite bits with your friends and some people are even driven to social media to share their thoughts publically.

The strategic building of a movie franchise is commonplace these days; Disney, Pixar and our favourite superhero movies aren’t worth doing if there’s not three sequels, two prequels and an avalanche of merchandise sales planned years in advance. The job of a contemporary franchise movie is to build the audience and achieve emotional buy-in to the story and the characters. The movie used to be the product, but now it’s the marketing in this lucrative business model. 

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 Imagine if our content marketing could be anywhere near as effective as this. Let’s face it, it’s not likely - but we can learn how to build hype from Hollywood and apply the same technique without any risk of having to wear your underpants on the outside of your trousers!

One of the main reasons we’re taken on an emotional roller-coaster when we watch movies, is because we vicariously experience the adventure through the eyes of the hero. We empathise quickly and we live and breathe every step, imagining ourselves in the same position at every twist and turn of the hero’s journey.  So maybe the first step to telling better brand stories is to be clear on who our hero is and what adversity, challenges and obstacles they must face for our audience empathise and connect.

If we can somehow harness the power of a hero in our marketing stories, maybe we can enjoy some of the same benefits Hollywood and other professional storytellers have enjoyed for many years.

I recently chatted to storytelling expert Michael Hauge to explore this very subject. Michael’s been coaching and supporting top screenwriters, producers, and directors for over 35 years. He’s best known for his work on I Am Legend and he works regularly with Will Smith on a variety of different movie projects. So, here is Michael Hauge’s top 4 tips for using the power of a hero in your stories…

1. Heroes elicit emotion

Whether you’re a film writer, a marketer or a public speaker, there’s one shared objective: making content resonate with your audience emotionally. Utilizing a hero means you can change the course of the story, without leaving the audience behind.

“If you want to move someone into action, you have to get them to feel something first” 

- Michael Hauge 

People don’t relate to statistics or events, they relate to human experiences: the good, the bad and the ugly. As marketers, we need to make sure that our customers feel involved in the messages and the stories we’re telling.

2. The customer becomes the hero 

So, the customers may not be involved in the story, but as Michael emphasised, the audience should become the character on a psychological level. They should feel as though they’re the ones in the story, whether it’s fighting a battle or falling in love.

“The character is the vehicle through which we experience the story” 

 - Michael Hauge

Empathy helps make this happen.  Our favourite characters are never the perfect ones. We like to root for people who have to work their way up to reach success. Would we have the same empathy for Spiderman without his tragic background? Chances are, we probably wouldn’t. His misfortune makes him the character that he is.

“In some of the most powerful stories, it is an every-day person who finds the courage to accomplish a goal and become a hero” 

-Michael Hauge

• Sympathy – at the beginning of the story, the character should be a victim of an underserved misfortune.

• Jeopardy – the next step is to place the character in jeopardy. For marketing, it may simply be showing the audience that the character is faced with an everyday problem.

• Likeablity - Make the character good hearted and generous. Showing the audience how the hero helps another person overcome conflict is the key to building that connection.  

3. The hero creates action

So, how does the hero actually sell? When it comes to creating a call to action, we shouldn’t need to use the hero to directly sell. The hero enhances the story overall, which gradually filters down to enhancing the whole customer experience of your brand.

With a strong story embedded by equally strong characters, the call to action should grow naturally. Once the audience are taken through the hero’s journey, they should be able to see how your brand has benefited the character. Once they can see that, they’ll see how they could benefit too.

4. Stories leave a legacy

None of us want our brand to fade away over time, right? The ultimate measure of brand success is the legacy left behind? Greeting card brands have mastered playing on sentimentality. Huge brands such as Hallmark pride themselves on sentiment. They made a business commitment to their audience with the slogan: “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best”.

With their video content recently, they’ve created the hash tag #CareEnough. The running theme of emotion is what keeps people hooked on the message of their brand. They also use diverse characters to ensure that their audience can relate. Your brand hero doesn’t have to look like Spiderman… it can be the everyday person you see on your way to work!

With their strategy firmly in place, Hallmark doesn’t need to keep reminding their customers to choose them. Instead, they rework their storytelling methods to maintain long-standing brand recognition. So, as Michael Hauge pointed out, the target audience may not buy immediately, but taking them through the experience of their brand reinforces their level of belief.

So, to ensure your customers think of your brand first, make sure you utilize the power of a strong story and relatable hero. It’s the difference between your brand being remembered, and fading away over time.

Let us know how we can help build your brand message. From video content to a storytelling workshop, don’t hesitate to let us know how we could help you out with your strategy.

You can also listen to the full storytelling interview with Michael Hauge here:/goosebumps/podcasts