Episode 473: Are you using these storytelling archetypes?
In this episode you'll learn:
How brand archetypes, based on Carl Jung's psychological theory, help create consistent and recognizable brand identities that resonate with audiences
The four categories and twelve brand archetypes that businesses typically align with, and why most brands embody two primary archetypes
Why understanding your brand archetype is crucial for effective storytelling, messaging, and building trust through pattern recognition
Real-world examples of how successful brands like IKEA and Nurofen effectively use multiple archetypes to connect with their audience
The importance of establishing clear brand archetypes before implementing AI tools to ensure authentic and consistent brand communication
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Fiona Killackey:
Do you love your life as a small business owner? Let's be real—sometimes we just don't. It's my hope that this My Daily Business Podcast helps you regain a little of that lost love through practical, actionable tips, tools, and tactics; interviews with creative and curious small business owners; and in-depth coaching episodes with me, your host, Fiona Killackey.
With more than 20 years of experience in marketing, branding, content, and systems, and having now helped thousands of small business owners, I know what it takes to build a business that you can be proud of and that actually aligns with your values, beliefs, and hopes for the future.
So much of our daily life is spent working on and in the businesses and the brands that we are creating. And so, it makes sense to actually love what you do. So, let's get into this podcast and help you figure out how to love your business and your life on the daily.
Hello and welcome to episode 473 of the My Daily Business Podcast. Today, it's a quick tip episode, and this can be a huge one for really thinking about how your brand is going to be perceived—the messages, the narrative, and all the storytelling that you're putting out into the world around your business and your personal brand (if you're trying to build one as well). It's a super important part of branding, messaging, and marketing, and it's something that I think a lot of brands fail to really consider in terms of their long-term strategy when it comes to these areas.
Before we get stuck into that, we've had such good feedback about our latest episode with the co-founder Naz from Poppy AI. As I said, I am obsessed with this tool. I use it literally every single day for all sorts of things in business and life. It’s just incredible. If you’re keen to join, please use the affiliate link that I have. Again, I very, very rarely become an affiliate. I get asked to be an affiliate for a lot of different courses and things, and I say no to the majority of them. But this one? I absolutely, totally, 110% stand behind.
We got so much feedback from it, and a lot of people were asking for the link. So the link is start.getpoppy.ai. I think you can just join monthly, so you could join for a month, see how you go, or sign up for the whole year. It's an expense, but it will change your business. Honestly, it's just incredible. So that's the link. If you want that, you can also just send us a DM or an email, and we’ll send it to you as well.
All right, before we get stuck into today's chat, I wanted to remind you of another chat—our AI Chat. We meet every month for an hour on Zoom and talk about a particular AI tool, or discuss within the group who is using what tool for what in their business. It's a really safe place. You can ask all the questions—there are no silly questions.
There’s no one who’s going to say, "Oh, don’t you know that?" It’s just a beautiful, non-judgmental group of creative small business owners from all sorts of industries. If you’d like to join, it’s once a month. If you can’t make the live session, you can listen to the replay. You can also send through questions that you want answered.
We now have a WhatsApp chat between sessions as well, so you can join that. It's incredibly affordable, and you can do that at mydailybusiness.com/ai-chat.
The last thing, of course, is to acknowledge where I’m coming from and to acknowledge the Woiwurrung and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional owners and custodians of this beautiful land. I pay my respects to them, to their elders past and present, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded.
All right, let’s get into today’s quick tip episode.
I watch reality TV, and I am so fine to admit that. I did actually once have somebody walk up to me after a conference where I'd done a keynote and say, "I've lost a lot of respect for you because you watch Married at First Sight." And I was like, really? Because yeah, I don't box people into anything. I mean, you can watch whatever you want to watch. I'm not going to judge you, but I do. I watch reality TV.
And I have often, you know, even in the first book, I talked about Real Housewives of Atlanta and Kenya Moore, my favorite cast member from there. And so, what reality TV does really, really well is that it has a cast; it has archetypes. It always has the villain, the aloof, ditzy one, the beautiful, sexy one—it has these people that you are putting into boxes, even though I just said doing that is not cool. But hey, it's reality TV.
This really stems from this idea that Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist, had many, many years ago. Later, I think it was made into brand archetypes by two women who wrote a book. Let me double-check who they are because I want to give props where it's due. Yes, I was correct—Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson. In their book, The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes, they took this concept that Carl Jung had created. The idea is that regardless of your upbringing, culture, background, nationality, race, religion, or anything else, as humans, we really identify and put people into 12 archetypes.
When we're watching any kind of TV show, or reading a book, we need these archetypes. We need the villain, the protagonist, and so on. Donald Miller also puts this in a different way in his book StoryBrand, which, you know, went bananas when it first came out. The concept is that there are 12 key brand archetypes. If you are running a business or a brand, you want to consider: which archetype am I? Usually, I think most businesses tend to fall into two.
There are 12 archetypes grouped into four categories, with three archetypes in each group. One of the groups is Seeking Paradise, which includes the Innocent, the Sage, and the Explorer. Then you've got Leaving a Legacy, which includes the Outlaw, the Magician, and the Hero. Next is Building Connection, which includes the Lover, the Jester, and the Everyman. Finally, there's Providing Structure, which includes the Creator (like Apple), the Ruler (like Rolex), and the Caregiver (like Thank You or Who Gives a Crap).
You want to think about where your business fits and which two archetypes you regularly show up as. People can identify and quickly recognize patterns, and that's a psychological need we all have. Pattern recognition helps us build trust through expectations. This is what I get from that brand.
You want to go through a brand archetype exercise. You can do that in my new book, Business to Brand. You can also Google this stuff or work with us one-on-one, where we'll go through all of it plus much more in a coaching session. When you go through it, you’ll come up with your archetypes.
An example might be IKEA. IKEA is a perfect example of an Everyman (or Everywoman, Everyperson) archetype. If you think about IKEA, pretty much everyone in the West will have something from IKEA. I remember when I used to write for The Design Files, an incredible design blog in Australia. I used to feature Australian homes, and people thought I was going to judge them. They’d say, "Oh, that's just IKEA—hide that!" But I'm like, no, everyone has IKEA. Even the most design-focused people will probably have something from IKEA, even if it's just a metal railing in their kitchen to hook utensils on.
IKEA has really creative solutions. I think IKEA is both a Creator brand and an Everyman brand. The Creator part comes from their incredible incubator called Space Something—I can't remember the exact name. They are always innovating. Recently, they announced that by 2030, everything they create will be made from renewable, recyclable materials and will also be recyclable and repurposable. I think that's incredible. If IKEA can do it on such a massive scale with their low price points, they’re leading the way for other brands. It’s lighting the way for innovation in sustainability.
Another example is Neurofen. Neurofen is in the health space, like Panadol or Tylenol. It’s an anti-inflammatory product. Often, women—especially in heteronormative households—are the ones buying these for their families. So Neurofen is a Caregiver brand. But they’re also becoming more like a Sage brand, which focuses on education and sharing knowledge.
Recently, they launched a campaign about the “gender pain gap” (P-A-I-N, not P-A-Y). They looked at how women are often not believed about their health and pain—statistically more so for women of color. They created content and messaging to help women advocate for themselves in health appointments. So, I’d say Neurofen is both a Caregiver and a Sage brand.
Think about brands you like: what is their brand narrative and archetype? How does it come through in their messaging? Then, for yourself: what are we trying to create, and how do we come across?
A business like mine is very much in the Sage space. Anyone offering education is. But you also want to think about what other archetypes fit. That’s it for today. Think about your brand archetypes and whether you’re using them effectively in storytelling and messaging.
I know I talk about AI a lot, especially recently. You’ve got to understand who you are as a brand and create that knowledge base to use AI more efficiently. The more you understand this about yourself, the more you can powerfully embrace AI.
That’s it for today. If you want to join our AI chat, go to mydailybusiness.com/podcast/AI-chat. For the Poppy link, message us or visit https://start.getpoppy.ai/Fiona.
Thanks so much for listening, and I’ll see you next time. Bye.
Thanks for listening to the My Daily Business podcast. For tools to help you grow your business, including coaching programs, courses, and templates, check out our shop at mydailybusiness.com/shop. If you want to get in touch, email us at hello@mydailybusiness.com or find us on Instagram at @mydailybusiness_. You can also find us on TikTok at @mydailybusiness or connect with me, Fiona Killackey, on LinkedIn. I look forward to connecting.
