Archetypes are the Magic Bullet for Brand Social Identity - Tom Troja

Archetypes are the bridge that connects people and brands. From Nike as the hero, Harley as the outlaw, Ivory as the Innocent… Archetypes work and work well. They are based on the wisdom of the ages; provide depth and resonance around human character, which we all relate with.

"What we sell is the ability of a 43 year old accountant to dress in black leather, ride through small towns and have people be afraid of him" Harley Davidson Marketing Executive

Archetypes provide the missing link between customer motivation… why they might care about you… and your product sales. Archetypes are what people envision, what they feel, sense and want. They act as the draw between products and customer motivations by providing our cultural storylines and signal the fulfillment of our desires.

ARCHETYPES EXPRESS THE INNER HUMAN DRAMA

Archetypal meaning is what makes brands come alive from an inanimate object. They are the heartbeat of the brand as they convey a meaning that makes people feel the brand is alive, a part of us somehow. Archetypes are what we relate with emotionally, how we feel when we have the urge to buy.

Plato called these patterns and imprints "elemental forms", imprints hardwired into our psyche that influence the characters we like in art, movies, and music. Psychiatrist Carl Jung coined the term archetype and noted "these are forms and images of a collective nature which occur practically all over the earth."

Joseph Campbell expanding upon the idea that archetypes are "basically the expressions of an inner human drama." Campbell sat with George Lucas and helped him write the Star Wars Saga loosely based on Campbell's thinking and his book, The Hero With A Thousand faces.

ARCHETYPES ARE THE EMOTIONAL LUBRICANT THAT MOVE PEOPLE

Using archetypes in social conversation speaks to our intuitive, emotional side allowing the more rational arguments to be heard. Archetypal marketing assumes that people's unfulfilled yearnings might lead them to respond on a deeper level to what is missing in them.

What is missing from that 43-year-old accountant? Harley is playing to that outlaw in us. Nike is appealing to our own hero's journey as we struggle to stay in shape, Ivory to our hope to stay clean and pure.

These brands are doing something more, they have a relationship with us. They make us care about them by making us feel like they care about us. This is what archetypes do.

A friend, Michelle Lapierre, Senior Director, Customer Relationship Marketing for Marriott Rewards states the industries current challenge well, "We are very good at solving problems, taking care of complaints using social, but… at making a good relationship better… we haven't really figured that out yet".

HOW DO WE MAKE A GOOD RELATIONSHIP BETTER?

The best social marketers today are using listening tools, trying to stay relevant in what people are asking for and talking about. Some of them are using social search key words to highlight the conversation based on what is trending to the top in conversations.

With others the calendar drives brand conversation with a "big happy 4^th of July" and "don't forget father's day." Many are mixing in contests, coupons, sweepstakes and polls that dominate the discourse.

By themselves, nothing is wrong with any of these tactics. By themselves they represent nothing different than what your competitor is doing. The challenge is to pull them all together with a strong social identity that is naturally yours, that speaks with an authentic voice people will embrace.

These tactics combine with a powerful archetypal voice across all social conversations, social activities and social media to play a harmonic theme based on your core as a brand. That speaks with an authentic voice everyone will recognize.

WE INTERGARTE SOCIAL ARCHETYPING™ ACROSS SOCIAL MARKETING

My company, the Social Symphony, has pioneered a process that pulls all the social tactics together through social archetyping™, giving the brand a powerful voice based on your archetypal core, that stands out and resonates as real. This is not your fathers' archetyping but one that reflects this new social age of participation and conversation… the people dominated reality of social marketing. People now expect more.

What we want to happen is combine all these tactics with archetypal voicing that excites people to tell their story aligned with your brand. We position you so people feel motivated… by their archetypal connection with you… so they share their story. We inspire people to add their narrative, to share with friends. Archetypal conversations energize people to create that story.

How do you connect with the inner magician, the hero, and the explorer in all of us? Is your core the sage, the jester or the lover that connects to the soul of your fans? My guess is your 43-year-old accountant… or someone like them… is waiting for you.

Most recently as the founder of the Social SymphonyTom has, weaved social tactics in concert with CRM 2.0 social strategies with Colgate, Cadillac, Kraft, Gallo, Reebok and others and has spoken about these subjects at iMedia Brand Summit, IAB Social, MITX and OMMA Social. Tom can be reached at TomTroja@TheSocialSymphony.com.

Read all Tom’s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at the Social Symphony.

Check us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggers.com
Follow our Twitter updates @MediaBizBlogger

MediaBizBloggers is an open-thought leadership blog platform for media, marketing and advertising professionals, companies and organizations. To contribute, contact Jack@mediadvisorygroup.com. The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggers.com are not those of Media Advisory Group, its employees or other MediaBizBloggers.com contributors. Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors.