This document discusses how brands can use folklore and storytelling to connect with audiences on a local and global scale. It begins by defining folklore and exploring why humans are innately drawn to storytelling. Common folkloric forms like myths, legends, and fairy tales are examined. The document also looks at how folklore taps into universal human anxieties and fears that brands can leverage. Case studies of Disney and significant objects experiment demonstrate how narrative transforms ordinary things into meaningful cultural touchpoints. The role of folklore in helping global brands translate to local markets is explored, as well as how local brands can achieve broader appeal. Archetypes and basic story structures are presented as ways to craft universally relatable narratives.

1. F O L K L O R E
& B R A N D

2. THE PLAN
1. Hello!
2. Folklore: Definition
3. Why do we tell stories?
4. Folkloric forms
5. Anxieties & Fears
6. The Power of Folklore for
Brands
7. Global brands, Local
markets
8. How to create universal
appeal through storytelling.

3. Folklore is the traditional
beliefs, customs, and stories
of a community, passed
through the generations by
word of mouth.
FOLKLORE: DEFINITION

4. Storytelling is what differentiates the human condition from the animal kingdom. It is an impulse,
emotional trigger and how we make sense of the world. We are 'homofictous'.
Ref: Jonathan Gottschall (2012), The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Making us Human
HOMOFICTOUS

5. WHY DO WE TELL STORIES?
To remember
To forget
To simplify
Escape
Reason/argue
Teach
Emote feelings
Inspire/Encourage
Caution
Strike fear
Engender trust
Honour
Prove something
Elicit identification
Compel
Entertain
Speculate
Create empathy
laugh
take action
This is why storytelling is THE
MOST powerful tool we have
as marketers.

6. Myth
Legend
Fairytales
Animal fables
Cautionary tales
Ghost stories
Jokes
Riddles
Folk Songs/Ballads
Folk Dance
Folk art
TRADITIONAL FOLKLORIC FORMS
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7. CONTEMPORARY FOLKLORE
Urban legends
Fake News
Danger stories
Family stories
Consumer horror stories
Traditional folklore
The Common Denominator?
FORMS
What's different?
Sharing stories and culture has taken on a digital
dimension, not just oral.
These fictionalised tales are intrinsically shareable and
repeatable. Understanding why is to understand the
cultural mores of particular sets of people. T

8. FEAR & ANXIETY
Parenthood
Folklore stirs anxiety over dangers to children
-the outside
-Predators
- Poisoning
- Corruption
How often is the theme 'protect your family/little
ones deployed across advertising? What consumer
products does it benefit?
Robin Croft (2006), Folklore, Families and Fear:
Exploring the influence of the oral tradition on
Consumer Decision-making, Journal of Marketing
Management, vol. 22.

9. FEAR & ANXIETY
What other fear and anxieties are
tapped into by modern folktales?
- Dating horror stories
-Consumer experiences
- Health drama
- Travel disasters
- Contamination
- What else?
How can folklore work against
brands?
How might brands tap into these
tropes to effect consumer
decision-making?

10. THE ROLE OF FOLKLORE FOR BRANDS
Global & Local brands will
typically have founding stories
and a host of company
folklore that is sometimes
recorded and often exists as
myth/legend as details being
skewed over time.
Corporate folklore around key
discoveries, legendary
behaviour of founders, early
mistakes and secret
ingredients can be very
powerful for brands, global
and local.
Company folklore infuses with
the brand values and can be
effectively translated into
'brand experiences'.

11. CASE STUDY: DISNEY - FOLKLORE & BRAND VALUES

12. CASE STUDY: SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS
A quasi-anthropological experiment
whose hypothesis was: “Narrative
transforms insignificant objects into
significant ones.” The experiment’s
parameters were as follows:
1. Purchase insignificant thrift store
items, typically $1.25 each.
2. Have a talented writer compose a
story to accompany the item, thereby
making it significant.
3. Auction on eBay, being open about
the fiction.
Result: They sold $128.74 worth of thrift-
store junk for $3,612.51.
The experiment took place in 2009-.
http://significantobjects.com/

13. GLOBALISATION AND BRAND
Marshall McLuhan (1960) described how electric technology was contracting the globe into a 'global
village' because of the instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the
same time
Globalisation debates about a homogenous global culture have been raging for decades. However,, this
single culture has not emerged. Globalisation simultaneously brings people closer together and sets
them apart. Indeed, the internet allows for niche cultural consumption to take place, allowing diasporic
communities to thrive despite being apart from their home culture. Likewise, it creates new niche
groupings e.g. fan communities.
Wha does this mean for brands?
-Global brands must be willing to think Glocally when trying to appeal in different markets
- Brands can use their distinct culltural identity to distinguish them in the global market
- Local brands must be willing to think about Global culture

14. GLOBAL BRANDS, LOCAL MARKETS
Folklore can provide a critical access point to help global brands translate and connect in local markets.
Folklore has been adapted to suit nuanced aspects of culture and society e.g. Cinderella's shoe. Global brands can do this too.
The formula is UNIVERSAL APPEAL
+ a KEEN UNDERSTANDING OF LOCAL CULTURE.
Global brands must achieve universal appeal with a campaign in order to keep the global brand identity consistent. However, the nuances of
how this is communicated through advertising storytelling and branded content can be tweaked to align the brand values with a particular
cultural values, such as national identity.
Example: Unilever's 'Dirt is Good' campaign executed differently in different countries based on cultural codes relating to hygiene.

15. GLOBAL BRANDS, LOCAL MARKETS
Folklore can also present a challenge to global brands looking to connect in local markets. If adequate local research is not carried out then
brands are in danger of using cultural reference points that do not have meaning for the local culture, or worse still using
tones/voice/colours/styles that are offensive to a local culture.
For example, brands seeking to connect with Chinese populations should be mindful that irreverent or disrespectful content is not approved
of.

16. TRADING ON DIFFERENCE
T
We've seen global brands packaged for
the local. What about brands packaged
as 'local' for the global?

17. LOCAL BRANDS
The same close attention to market research is required for positioning local
brands.
'Pure' local no longer exists. So, what cultural codes and folklore are shared
across the market? What nuances can be identified?
The formula can be much the same:
UNIVERSAL APPEAL is still relevant for
small, local or national campaigns.
+ Specific cultural identifiers can b used to align brand values with the values
of local audiences.

18. UNIVERSAL APPEAL
How can brands achieve Universal Appeal?
Marketers can draw on academic work in film literary and storytelling theory to
understand what themes and story-sets are universally accessible
In literature, an archetype is a
typical character, an action, or a
situation that seems to represent
universal patterns of human nature.
- Childhood
- Parenthood
- Grief
- Joy
- the Bully
- the Friendly Beast
-the Mentor
- Jealousy
- Love triangle
- Rebellion
Archetypes
The 7 Basic Plots
- Overcoming the Monster.
- Rags to Riches.
- The Quest.
- Voyage and Return.
- Comedy.
- Tragedy.
- Rebirth.
Ref: Christopher Booker (2004) The
Seven Basic Plots: Why we tell
stories
Further reading: Joseph Campbell
(1949), The hero with a thousand
faces

19. How can you draw on
folklore to create brand
identity and meaning for
your assignment?