on the subject of brand narrative
laurence vincent
group director, strategy
11.20.08

brand narrative forms
foundational
The External View
Promise Values Voice The Internal View

a story that permeates from the inside out

brand narrative forms
foundational projective
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+ Namequest™

brand narrative forms
foundational projective infective
living folklore with…
+ strong basic story-appeal
+ foundation in actual belief
+ meaningful message or moral

narrative structure
situation complication resolution
act one act two act three
Subject at rest until forces act Series of beats which raise Subject comes to rest in a
upon it, setting it in motion. The the tension and complicate new, changed state (often the
dramatic question is posed, the dramatic question. The polar opposite state of act
tension is introduced. “meat” of the story unfolds one). All dramatic questions
with several twists and turns. are answered and tension is
relieved.
dramatic tension/
conflict
climax
= beats

narration channels and devices
narrative
theme characters plot aesthetics

narration channels and devices
narrative
theme characters plot aesthetics
cause stakeholders products touchpoints
+ visual system
+ voice
promise

brand narrative mapping techniques
narrative mapping attempts to connect past and present story points with current and
future touchpoints, so that the desired story is more concrete.
past era current era future era
act one act two act three
+ shareholders + shareholders + shareholders
stakeholders + b2c customers + b2c customers + b2b/b2c customers
characters + media + developers + media
+ media + developers
business challenger brand vs. the dominant brand vs. needs
activity rest of the world innovator vs. wall street of the little guys
plot conflicts
identity
elements limited to master brand + extended to a master
aesthetics core product brand brand portfolio of
products and platforms complete ecosystem

brand narrative forms
foundational projective infective reflexive
a brief history of identity formation in the u.s.a.
early americans modern era
identity linked to old- identity linked to consumption
world customs and and feedback from
generational norms environment and “others”
tradition inner other
transcendentalists
identity linked to lessons learned
in childhood and readings from
the “inner compass”

brand use and personal narrative
sequence: pre during post
brand activity: selection use experience
narrative driver: theme character plot aesthetics
consumer
engagement: role preparation performance evaluation / feedback
influence: definition and presentation of others’ response to
construction of identity identity to the others identity performance

narrative identity stored In
consumer subconscious
beats
story beat exposed to consumers consumer matches beat to the
narrative stored in identity centers
of the subconscious brain
narrative priming
+ the source narrative already exists in the consumer’s head
+ brand touchpoints prime the brain to recall the story
+ through repeated experiences, the brand is linked to the narrative in long
term memory and validates identity constructs

“Unlike purely cognitively based priming effects, which decrease
after a short delay, our results show that the effect was actually
magnified: while participants primed with IBM (a goal-irrelevant
brand) were uninfluenced by delay, Apple-primed participants’
creativity increased in strength over time, a hallmark of goal-
directed behavior.”
+ Journal of Consumer Research
June, 2008

harley-davidson
+ product use activates a
narrative identity
+ behavior is driven by brand
attributes
+ voice is tuned to resonate with
personal identity drivers

brand narrative forms
foundational projective infective reflexive communal
+ beliefs
+ culture brand mythology cycle + agents
+ narrative

the silicon valley narrative
+ setting
the humble garage
+ characters
two misfit inventors
+ plot
rags to riches as a result of
brilliant technological innovation
+ theme
fortune rewards good ideas and
hard work

+ beliefs
+ agents
+ narrative

linking brands to cultural conflicts

37 signals
+ poster brand for GTD and
web 2.0
+ a culture first, a collection of
products second
+ navigating several cultural
dramas with a solid foundation,
but much uncertainty

brand narrative forms
foundational projective infective reflexive communal universal
Call to Adventure
The Journey Home
Meeting the Mentor
The Ordinary World
Crossing the Threshold
The extraordinary World/
The World of
Transformation Seizing Your Treasure
Helpers & Challengers
The Supreme Ordeal
Into the Innermost Cave

archetypes
+ a personality type observed multiple times
+ persistent in literature throughout the world for
centuries
+ used in Jungian psychology to suggest a heritable
memory ingrained in the collective unconscious
+ driver of Joseph Campbell’s monomyth theory
about the one great narrative that transcends time
and geography

tapping the collective unconscious
+ ritual dimension of consumer behavior
+ tribal branding
+ mono-mythic experience design
+ phonetic symbolism
+ ‘basic level’ brand architecture

frish
frosh

frish
frosh

“...back vowels such as the [u] sound in dull or ugh are very often
found in words expressing disgust or dislike (e.g., blunder, bung,
bungle, clumsy, muck), and words beginning with sl also tend to
have a negative connotation (slouch, slut, slime, sloven). Words
beginning with fl often express movement (flutter, flap, flicker).
Across languages and cultures, similarities have also been noted.
Words connoting “little” in non-English languages are kleine
(German), petite (French), piccola (Italian), and mikros (Greek), all
of which have front vowel sounds for the initial syllable. The same is
true for suffixes.”
+ Phonetic Symbolism and Brand
Name Preference
Journal of Consumer Research, 2007

brand architecture and prototype theory
superordinate animals furniture Apple
basic level bird chair iPhone
subordinate sparrow Stickley 3G

summary
+ every brand has the potential to tell a story
+ some brands are more literal than others in the way they choose to narrate
+ other brands enable stories already at play in the mind of the consumer or in the
community in which they participate
+ understanding the drivers of narration is key to managing brands over time

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