using archetypes to build strong brands

8/11/2019 Using Archetypes to Build Strong Brands

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F A L L 2 0 1 1V O L U M E 1 0 N U M B E R 1

Program Preview

2011 ANNUAL

QRCA CONFERENCE

ROBUST RESEARCHwithout Robust ResBources

Eight Ways to Become a

REFERRAL MAGNET

USING ARCHETYPESTO BUILD STRONG BRANDS

INSPIRATION AND RESOURCES

FOR QUALITATIVE RESEARCH


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THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE QUALITATIVE RESEARCH CONSULTANTS ASSOCIATION

FALL 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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MIXED METHODS:Capturing Air TravelersRoundtrip Airport Experiences

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adequately uncover the insights we need. Today, all the rage

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TOOLBOX:A limited budget and scant manpower need not

hinder your marketing research. A dynamic community panel

may fulfill your needs quite cost effectively.

4 QRCA VIEWS FALL 2011 www.qrca.org

USING ARCHETYPESTO BUILD STRONG BRANDS

COVER STORY:How have Coca-Cola, Apple, Johnson & Johnson,

Walmart, Nike and Hallmark established some of the most

memorable and relevant consumer brands in the world? They

have used universal stories told since the dawn of mankind.

Here are some tips for your brands.

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COVER STORY

Consumers dont just buy products they buy the story about theproducts, and all the emotion that comes along with these stories.

USINGARCHETYPESto Build Strong Brands

BYFRITZGRUTZNER

BrandGarten Madison, WI

[email protected]

many years, I was in charge

of marketing for Johnson &

Johnsons line of baby prod-

ucts.One of our products was JohnsonsBaby Powder, which was always, forme, a great example of the emotionalpower of branding. When we conductedfocus groups, consumers talked aboutthe brand as if it were a close friend whogave them caring and love. Yet, we allknew that inside the bottle was simplytalc (a rock ground up into a fine pow-der) and fragrance (a very special fra-grance). What I learned from JohnsonsBaby Powder was that consumers dontjust buy products they buy the storyabout the products, and all the emo-tion that comes along with these stories.

Companies can develop their brandstrategies by identifying the archetypalstory that best expresses their brand

experience. These are stories like thehero,the caregiverand the mentor,sto-ries that have been told around thecampfire since the dawn of man. Arche-types prove to be very powerful toolsto align a brand around a key emo-tional need in a way that both the clientand the consumer can readily grasp.This approach has worked successfullyfor some of the largest consumer brandsin the country, as well as for smallnon-profits and even business-to-busi-ness companies.

Archetypal Stories Are UniversalC.G. Jung used the term archetype torefer to universal ideas or characters he

found appearing consistently in dreamsand stories from cultures around theglobe. He felt that the archetypes werewhat made up the content of our col-

lective unconscious. These charactersshared fundamental similarities acrosstime and across geographies.

For example, the story of Achilles

starts with his mother, Thetis, tryingto make him immortal by dipping himin the river Styx. Unfortunately, shehad to hold him by something hisheel. Thus, later in the Trojan War,he was killed when Paris shoots hisarrow into his vulnerable heel.

In Germanic Nibelungenlied,we find a similar story of the greatSiegfried, who as a young man fightsthe dragon Fafnir. Unfortunately forSiegfried, a Linden leaf happens to falland cover the small of his back just

before he kills the dragon, and Siegfriedis bathed in its blood to become immor-tal. Siegfried later takes a fatal spearright in this spot.

For


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The power of identifying a brand with one of these timeless stories isthat the story already exists deep within our subconscious it does

not need to be created. The task for the brand is to simply evokethe story with cues. If it does this well, the brand will also evoke theemotion that consumers seek to derive from the brand.

These are the retellings of the uni-versal story of the hero. All heroesshare a vulnerability. Think of Super-man and Kryptonite or Sampson andhis hair. All cultures at all historic timeshave told the hero tale. Heroes are typ-

ically orphans called to a quest. Thehero myth follows a very distinct storyarc, regardless of the culture tellingthe story. Joseph Campbell describedthis phenomenon of the universal herostory masked by local details in hisbook Hero with a Thousand Faces.

Archetypal stories like the herostory have existed through the agesbecause they deliver on very impor-tant emotional needs we all share. The

hero story helps us understand ourmortality and speaks to our desire toachieve great things. Such timelessstories bring understanding andmeaning to our lives.

In his work, Jung identified seven of

these archetypes, but said there weremany more to be discovered. In theirwork, The Hero and the Outlaw,Margaret Mark and Carol Pearsonexpanded this thinking to identifytwelve specific archetypes and showedhow these could be used to guide brandstrategy. The power of identifying abrand with one of these timeless storiesis that the story already exists deepwithin our subconscious it does

not need to be created. The task forthe brand is to simply evoke the storywith cues. If it does this well, the brandwill also evoke the emotion consumersseek to derive from the brand.

Archetypes PowerHere are a few things we have learnedabout the power of telling an archetypalstory with a brand.

Brands that consistently tell onearchetypal story perform betterfinancially.Mark and Pearson cite a study theyconducted with Stern Stewart, whichdemonstrated that brands closely


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Using Archetypes C O N T I N U E D

associating themselves with one of theirtwelve archetypes had a significantlyhigher economic value added over thesix-year time frame than brands tellingeither no archetypal story or multi-ple stories.

For instance, without their brands

packaging, Coke and Pepsi could beseen as basically selling carbonated sugarwater with cola flavoring. However, aswe all know, both brands have builtdistinct, powerful identities supportedby years of marketing and advertising.

Coke has done a masterful job ofstaying unwaveringly true to the arche-typal story of the innocent (a story ofoptimism, hope and a desire to be vir-tuous). On a functional level, Cokestands for refreshment. But on a deeperemotional level, Cokes alignmentwith the innocent story helps its fans

believe there is an innocence and virtueabout the brand. In each Coke ad,from the hilltop singing of Id like toteach the world to sing, to Mean JoeGreene sharing a jersey, a Coke and asmile, to the polar bears, to the latestcampaign of Open happiness, Cokehas consistently told the innocent story.

Pepsi, on the other hand, has strayedin the past two years from its archetypaljester story (a story of spontaneity,fun and living in the moment). For years,Pepsi ads always had a humorous twist(e.g., Ozzy Osborn becomes DonnyOsmond) or singing and dancing (fromMichael Jackson to Britney Spears). Thisbrand strategy helped them maintain thenumber two spot in the categoryfor two decades. Recently, Pepsi hasdeparted from this path and tried to bemore like Coke, with its Refresh every-thing project, focused on a grassrootsphilanthropy that has led to significantmarket-share losses. This past March,

Ad Agedeclared, Pepsi has lost thecola war, after it fell to third place inmarket share behind Diet Cokes share.

Brands stray from their originalarchetypal story at their own peril.For two decades, Target has been

nipping away at Walmarts share ofthe market. Target has consistentlymarketed its brand as a stylish, inno-vative and cool place to find commonhousehold staples repeatedly tellingthe archetypal story of the creator.When Walmart opened its first storein Bentonville, Arkansas, it adhered toan archetypal story embodied by itsfounder Sam Walton the regularguy a story about accessibility andunpretentiousness. It espoused a beliefthat nobody is better than anybody else.

As Walmart grew, the managementteam forgot its core story. Walmartbecame the largest company in theworld, and a large group of disgruntledconsumers decided that the companywas not a regular guy, but rather wasacting out the dark side of the rulerstory by bullying communities and ven-dors and running small retailers out oftown. Fortunately for Walmart, its mar-keters discovered this error just beforethe economic downturn of 2009, andthey successfully relaunched the brandwith a new visual identity and a regu-

lar guy tagline of Save money. Livebetter, resulting in a very strong salesrebound.

Sometimes, the archetypal story isnot obvious.Understanding the underlying arche-typal story takes a careful analysis andunderstanding of the emotional con-nection that the brand has established

with its consumers. It would be easy toassume that Apple is telling the crea-tor story, given the brands use by cre-ative types and its track record of amaz-ing innovation. When you dig below thesurface, though, it is clear that Apple,at its core, has always told the story of

the rebel. It is a brand about challeng-ing the status quo and changing it.

From the 1984 big brother spotthat ran once on the Super Bowl, to thetaglines of Think Different and TheComputer for the Rest of Us, Applehas always understood that its brandwas about taking a different path thanthe crowd. Even the logo, which showsnot just an apple but an apple with abite out of it (Eves first act of rebel-lion in the Garden of Eden), subtlyreinforces the rebel story.

A rebel needs a ruler against whichto rebel. In the early years, IBM playedthis role for Apple, but for the past twodecades, Apple has brilliantly positionedMicrosoft/PC into this role. The Ima Mac campaign, which brought tolife the anti-establishment Apple brandpersonality, was recently named Cam-paign of the Decade by AdvertisingAgeand has helped make Apple theworlds most valuable brand.

The task of an established brandis to discover and clarify its core

archetypal story.It is always amazing to me how littleinstitutional memory exists in most bigmarketing companies. Many of theyoung brand managers have no ideaof the story of how the brand came tobe, what fundamental consumer needit addressed or even how the brand gotits name. When you conduct interviewsand dig into the historical files of well-

Psychological interviews and their projective techniques are essentialbecause we need to discover the core emotional benefit that thesefans derive from the brand, and consumers often cannot tell us or arehesitant to tell marketers their true reasons for buying a brand.


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established brands, you will invariablyfind meaningful nuggets from thebrands founding.

Often, the brand remains a perfectreflection of the forgotten philosophyof the brands founder. Consumer per-ceptions of brands change quite slowly,

so it is always enlightening to go backto the earliest TV campaigns to see whatthe original imprint of the brand was.

Recent work with the Lubridermbrand showed that consumers had adeep memory of the alligator used inthe early campaigns with the tagline,See you later, alligator. Even thoughthese spots had not run for over 20years, this was the primary memory thatconsumers retained of the brand becauseit struck a deep emotional chord.

The task of new or undefined brandsis to identify an archetypal story andstick with it.For a new brand, archetypes can beextremely helpful in establishing theunderlying emotional need and theguardrails for how the brand tells its

story. Half the value of using archetypesto guide brand strategy is that the mar-keters align around a single story, ratherthan trying to tell several.

The key to selecting the right storyis to conduct the projective qualitativeresearch to understand consumers emo-tional needs in the category. Once theemotional need is identified, the teamshould select the archetypal story thatdelivers this need (e.g., if soup purchas-ers ultimately want to feel nurtured, the

caregiver story delivers on this need a story Campbells tries to own).

The other key consideration is howcompetitors have positioned themselvesand whether or not they own a relevantarchetypal space. If so, you have twooptions: (1) outspend them and try to

usurp the archetypal story, or (2) picka different story.

Archetypal brand-buildingstarts internally.Companies like Johnson & Johnson, EliLilly and Rawlings use the power ofarchetypes to build their brands. Thesestrong brands are built from the core.If the senior company executives andbrand leaders do not grasp the funda-mental essence and emotional appeal


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C O N T I N U E D Using Archetypes

of the brand, it is difficult for the front-line employees to deliver the right brandexperience, and it is particularly hardfor consumers to connect emotionallywith the brand.

Therefore, start with the core teamof a company and brand, conduct

interviews with the key executives anddo a deep dive into the history of thebrand. Administer a survey to all theemployees familiar with the brand tobetter understand which archetypalstories they believe could be true forthe brand. This is an essential part ofthe process because, ultimately, thebrand story around which your teamaligns needs to be true. The companyshould be able to deliver on this storywith its products and services at allthe key brand touch points.

With this understanding, conducta series of in-depth interviews amongthe brands most devoted fans. Theseare the consumers who have the strong-est emotional connection to the brand.I recommend conducting these inter-views with a trained consumer psychol-

ogist. Psychological interviews andtheir projective techniques are essentialbecause we need to discover the coreemotional benefit that these fansderive from the brand, and consumersoften cannot tell us or are hesitant totell marketers their true reasons forbuying a brand. When was the lasttime you heard a Mercedes driver tellyou that he or she chose the brand forits prestige and power?

Instead, consumers typically list therational alibis for choosing the brands

they use. It is simply human nature toassume that the decisions we make arebased on rational thought processes, butthink for a moment about how youwent about buying your house or yourcar. Was it really a purely rationaldecision? Be honest! These interviews

help us determine the key emotionalneeds and the most compelling arche-typal story for consumers in a spe-cific category.

Brand Strategy IcebergIn the last phase of a project, make thekey findings of the research actionablefor marketers. I have developed a brandiceberg model (below) that has been veryeasy for clients to understand and foragencies to use as guidance. It is basedon the idea that a large part of your


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Using Archetypes C O N T I N U E D

brand is never seen by the consumer;it is below the waterline in our model.

Below the waterline

These are elements that all strongbrands share.They include a foundation story,

which helps employees (and some-times consumers) understand why thebrand came to be in the first place,what problem it was solving and whatits reason for being was. A well-researched foundation story can oftenprovide strong guidance and meaningfor the employees or brand team.

Strong brands have a set ofbrandpillars,which can be values or traitsof the brand that have always beenpart of the brand and always will be.We like to limit these pillars to nomore than five. Some of the pillarsmay be shared with competitivebrands, but as a whole, they shoulddifferentiate the brand from anyother brand.

Strong brands also define theirbrandpersonality.Whether we like it or not,consumers will tend to personifybrands they desire. Apple, which foryears ran the Im a Mac campaign,made it easy for consumers to under-stand the brand personality and toidentify with it.

Strong brands also define their brand

worldview. This should be an inspir-ing belief statement the brandstake on the world. It should be a beliefthat is shared by the brands mostardent fans. It should be a worldviewthat permeates all aspects of thebrands offering and communication.

Finally, strong brands are able tointernally articulate their brand strat-egy to their employees in a memo-rable way in just two or three words abrand promise.The brand prom-ise is always an internalmantra. It

should never be used in the externalcommunication of the brand becauseit lays bare the emotional strategicintent of the brand. Let your advertis-ing agency help you develop a compel-ling tagline that brings this strategy tolife in consumer language, but keep

the brand promise internal. I often liketo explain the brand promise as whatthe consumer actually gets, emotion-ally, from the brand. For example,Nike sells shoes, but their brandpromise is authentic, athletic perfor-mance. Hallmark sells greeting cards,but their brand promise is caringshared. Notice that these promisesare just a few words and anchoredby a noun. This is the emotionalbenefit that their consumers getfrom the brand.

Above the waterline

Above the waterline are the key ele-ments of your brand that consumersexperience. These include things like:a brands product or serviceand how

well it delivers on the storythe iconographyof the brand (e.g.,

logo, smell, sound and feel that yourbrand owns)

the personification of the brand,whether it is a founder (e.g., KFC),a character (e.g., Tony the Tiger) oran association with a celebrity (e.g.,

Nike and Michael Jordan)the tagline or languageyou use tovoice your brand (e.g., on the website,in your ads, on Facebook)

ritualsassociated with yourbrand, like the way you order yourStarbucks coffee and then step tothe end of the row and put the sleeveon it

the brands rational alibi,or thereason a consumer might justify her

purchase to a friend (e.g., the NoMore Tears formula in Johnsonsbaby shampoo)

Final ThoughtsIn summary, strong, iconic brands evokea timeless archetypal story. This storyconnects them emotionally with theirfans. Brands keep the story relevant byretelling it over and over again in fresh,contemporary ways, and they payattention to the details of the storybecause the little things a brand doesoften matter much more than any bigthing a brand says. They are fanaticalabout the consistency with which theytell the story because it is easy for thespell of the brand story to be brokenif even minor details are out of syncwith the story that consumers havecome to know and trust.

Archetypal branding works becauseit appeals to us as humans. We all sharea deep need to feel stability, belonging,discovery and achievement. As with therunner who on a cold morning laces upher Nike shoes to go for a jog because

she wants to just do it in todaysworld, our brands have taken on therole of important props in our ownpersonal mythologies.

Archetypal branding works because it appealsto us as humans. We all share a deep need to feelstability, belonging, discovery and achievement.

using archetypes to build strong brands

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