Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No! It’s your brand! The Hero is a natural defender, taking a stand to make the world a better place, or simply to ensure people can live their lives exactly the way they want to.
The Hero Archetype represents power, honour, victory, and the ability to triumph over evil, adversity, or a major challenge. It inspires us, showing what is possible if we believe. It speaks of strength, dependability, and discipline; addressing social issues and helping people perform – whether that’s in sport, competition, or their daily lives.
As we’ve discussed previously, Archetypes help create a tangible, relatable persona for a brand that invites its target market to build a deeper connection with them. Each of the twelve branding Archetypes are symbolic of a particular set of personality traits and characteristics that seek out and speak to the kind of consumer that brand is targeting.
Within the Hero are three sub-categories, each representing a different face of the Archetype – the Open Hero, the Unsung Hero, and the Reluctant Hero. The Unsung hero is reserved, and hides in the shadows to allow others to take credit for the job. Conversely, the Open Hero is in the spotlight, acknowledging their accomplishments and asserting themselves as a master of their domain. The Reluctant Hero is thrust into the spotlight, not because they want to but by external forces, whether they accept the position or not.
Superman is an Open Hero. He’s out and proud, flashing his pearly whites as he effortlessly stops a speeding train with one hand, while women faint and swoon all around him. Katniss Everdeen is a Reluctant Hero – despite compelling arguments from those around her, it takes some time for her to see the driving force she could become for the revolution. And Neville Longbottom is the picture of an Unsung Hero – he is painted as the chubby, accident-prone “witless wonder” from the beginning, but time and time again he steps up when no one else will, ultimately spelling the end for Voldemort.
So how does the Hero translate to branding? Simply put, the Hero brand wants to change the world. It wants to save everyone, by prevailing over adversity or challenges. It is strong, dependable, and produces consistent results – it helps people perform at their peak ability, or to turn a phrase, it helps people be their best self.
It stands to reason, then, that any sports equipment brand would do well to position itself as a Hero – after all, it’s important that people realize that buying their products will help them beat their rivals and smash their old Personal Bests. However, other industries and products can certainly align well with the Hero, especially any product people buy for its reliability, like batteries, cars, and electronics – basically anything people are buying because it always performs like you say it will.
Speaking of which: you’re not you when you’re hungry.
Snickers
Snickers Satisfies.
Sure, a chocolate bar isn’t necessarily the first candidate that pops into your head when you imagine a Hero. And yet Snickers makes it work, inexplicably passing off a 50g pile of sugar as the best snack option when you need to be revitalized and re-energised.
The premise is simple – hunger makes us say and do out-of-character things, and the best way to slake your hunger is clearly by eating a Snickers. Apples and trail mix are for chumps!
Nike
Just do it
With Nike on your side there’s nothing you can’t do, so, in the words of the inimitable Shia LaBeouf, just do it. For Nike, the challenge to be conquered comes from within each of us. To quote one of the best motivational sports videos on YouTube, the enemy is “them”. The enemy is “no”. The enemy is “can’t”. The enemy is “next year, last year, statistics, excuses”. And the only way to overcome those enemies is by just…doing it.
Adidas
Impossible is nothing
The power of the Hero is such that it can stand up against any number of challenges or villains, depending on the campaign. For Adidas, sometimes that’s the perceived limitations of the self. In higher-level competition, it’s the other team. And in the case of the above advertisement, it’s the restriction of old technology and fabrics. Whatever the challenge, Adidas says you can overcome it with them to carry you through.
BMW
The Ultimate Driving Machine
BMW’s entire premise is that their high quality makes BMWs superior to all other cars. From their 2017 5 Series campaign, “It doesn’t matter what you do in life, just be the best at it.” Their nearly 50-year old tagline, The Ultimate Driving Machine, has upheld that BMW is the best car that any car owner could want since the ‘70s – they overcome mediocrity and unreliability to be the ultimate in driving.
Tag Heuer
Don’t Crack Under Pressure
From Tag Heuer’s website, the value of their product lies in these elements: avant-garde and creativity, boldness and reliability, challenge and anti-conformism. Their recently adopted tagline – #DontCrackUnderPressure – and their alignment with many high profile athletes and celebrities all serve to strengthen the notion of reliability and ability to withstand pressure. Being such a high-end, luxury brand, it would have been easy to romanticise the product with the Lover Archetype, but in shirking this Tag Heuer distinguish themselves from other high end accessory brands.
Duracell
Quality that Lasts
Batteries are exactly the kind of product where all people care about is that it “does what it says on the tin”. You’re literally buying them for their power, so it makes sense to come across as powerful and dependable.
Hero brands often market their product as being superior to its competitors and Duracell does this well – their advertisements often show a side-by-side comparison of the same electronic product being powered by both Duracell batteries and those of their competitors. As expected, the inferior generic batteries wither away, while the Duracell-powered product keeps going and going and going and…
So you think your brand would do well to position itself as a Hero. How else can you play to this Archetype? It’s in your language, your visual communication, your social media, and at the very heart of your brand – its people. Brandonian wants to help you awaken your Archetype, so get in touch today.