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Tag: Creators

  • Day 21 — Brand Archetypes & Storytelling

    Read the full 50-Day Mini-MBA Calendar here.

    What if I told you your brand already has a personality — even if you never defined one?

    And here’s the scary part:

    👉 Customers have already assigned your brand a “character” in their heads.
    👉 It may not be the one you want.

    Research in consumer psychology shows that people make emotional judgments about brands within milliseconds, long before they read your copy, see your product specs, or understand your features.

    So the real question is:

    Are you controlling that perception — or letting customers guess?

    This is exactly where Brand Archetypes become one of the most powerful tools in marketing.

    They give your brand a clear identity, a predictable behaviour, and a story pattern that humans instinctively understand — because these archetypes are thousands of years old and wired into every culture on Earth.

    Most brands communicate like robots.
    Their messaging feels inconsistent, their campaigns feel disconnected, and their personality changes depending on who wrote the copy that day.

    Why?

    Because they don’t have a story foundation or a consistent character.

    That’s where Brand Archetypes come in.

    Today:
    You’ll learn how powerful brands use symbols older than human civilisation to build meaning, emotion, and consistency.

    📌 What Are Brand Archetypes?

    Archetypes are universal characters rooted in psychology and mythology.
    They represent core human motivations that people instinctively understand.

    Examples:
    The Hero.
    The Sage.
    The Magician.
    The Lover.
    The Rebel.

    Humans don’t respond to brands.
    Humans respond to characters.

    When a brand behaves consistently like a character → it becomes memorable.

    📌 Why Archetypes Work in Branding

    Archetypes help you:

    • Define your brand’s personality
    • Shape your tone of voice
    • Guide your storytelling
    • Decide your visual style
    • Create an emotional connection
    • Stay consistent across campaigns

    When you know your archetype, decisions become easier:

    • “Would our brand say this?”
    • “Would our brand behave this way?”
    • “Would our brand support this idea?”

    Archetypes create coherence.

    📌 The 12 Classic Brand Archetypes (with Real Examples)

    Here they are — simplified for practical branding.

    1. The Hero — “We make you stronger.”

    Examples: Nike, Adidas
    Motivation: Achievement, courage
    Tone: Motivational, bold

    2. The Magician — “We transform your world.”

    Examples: Disney, Apple
    Motivation: Imagination, possibility
    Tone: Inspiring, visionary

    3. The Sage — “We give you wisdom.”

    Examples: Google, The Economist
    Motivation: Knowledge, truth
    Tone: Clear, calm, rational

    4. The Explorer — “Go beyond limits.”

    Examples: Jeep, Patagonia
    Motivation: Freedom, adventure
    Tone: Raw, rugged, independent

    5. The Creator — “We help you build.”

    Examples: Lego, Adobe
    Motivation: Expression, innovation
    Tone: Imaginative, empowering

    6. The Lover — “Fall in love with the experience.”

    Examples: Chanel, Häagen-Dazs
    Motivation: Passion, intimacy
    Tone: Sensual, warm, emotional

    7. The Caregiver — “We protect and nurture.”

    Examples: Johnson’s Baby, UNICEF
    Motivation: Care, responsibility
    Tone: Gentle, reassuring

    8. The Ruler — “We bring order and leadership.”

    Examples: Mercedes-Benz, Rolex
    Motivation: Control, stability
    Tone: Confident, authoritative

    9. The Jester — “Life is fun.”

    Examples: Zomato, Netflix India (social tone)
    Motivation: Joy, humour
    Tone: Witty, playful

    10. The Everyman — “We’re just like you.”

    Examples: IKEA, Amul
    Motivation: Belonging, relatability
    Tone: Simple, friendly

    11. The Rebel — “Break the rules.”

    Examples: Harley-Davidson, MTV
    Motivation: Change, revolution
    Tone: Bold, provocative

    12. The Innocent — “Life is pure and simple.”

    Examples: Dove, Coca-Cola (classic ads)
    Motivation: Happiness, optimism
    Tone: Sincere, wholesome

    📌 How to Choose Your Brand Archetype

    Ask these three questions:

    1. What emotion do we want people to feel around us?

    Safe? Excited? Inspired? Empowered?

    2. What role do we play in their life?

    Guide? Friend? Leader? Challenger?

    3. What story do we want to tell consistently?

    Victory? Rebellion? Joy? Learning?

    Your archetype emerges from the intersection.

    📌 The Archetype–Story Connection

    Each archetype naturally drives a storytelling pattern:

    • Hero → Journey of overcoming challenges
    • Rebel → Breaking norms
    • Magician → Life transformation
    • Caregiver → Protection and comfort
    • Creator → Innovation and imagination
    • Ruler → Stability and leadership

    This is why brands with clear archetypes have unforgettable campaigns — their stories are consistent.

    📌 Your Day 21 Exercise

    Choose one of these:

    ✔ Pick a brand and identify its archetype.
    ✔ Write a 3-line story for that archetype using this formula:

    “Our customer is _______, they struggle with _______, and we help them _______.”

    Ready for Day 22 — Visual Identity: Logos, Colours & Memory?

  • In the Cold: India’s Creator Economy

    The fall follows the boom. If this is true for startup finance, it must also be true for the larger ecosystem that has become so important to the success of startups. We’ve already seen a churn in the gig economy, but the same might be said for creators.

    In the last few years, India’s creator economy has exploded, and entrepreneurs in creator-friendly industries have taken use of not only creative talent but also used them as investors. But what does the slump, financing freeze, and marketing cutbacks imply for India’s millions of creators?

    According to artists, agencies, and creator economy firms, there will be a bump in the road to growth, which will be more severe for those who don’t have several revenue streams.

    Due to a funding shortage in the past month, creator economy firms have had to slash expenditures, which has resulted in a slew of layoffs. Trell, FrontRow, Vedantu, Unacademy, and more companies have let off employees in recent weeks, casting a pall over the creators and influencers market.

    Even casual involvement is on the decline, as seen by reports of low penetration for local TikTok rivals such as Moj, Josh, Chingari, and others. The sale of Times Internet’s MXTakatak to VerSe Innovations, the parent company of Moj & ShareChat, is a clear sign that the market is too small for so many participants.

    Will Artists Be Left Out In The Cold?

    And now, the spending and fundraising slowdown, which is projected to persist until the end of the year, may make things even more difficult for creators who work with startups or brands on startup-owned platforms. Will creators and influencers be left out in the cold during the financing winter?

    While no one can predict how this will affect real payouts to producers and influencers, the consensus in the business is that the cheap and quick money that many creators relied on is no longer available.

    Creators can learn from how their colleagues outside of India are generating cash through different channels and directly from consumers. Although they have always had the ability and autonomy to generate content, over 90% of the Indian creative industry is dependent on brand partnerships and startup collaborations.

    Founders and agencies today believe that the best creators in this field are already thinking like entrepreneurs — not necessarily in the sense of doing everything themselves, but in terms of the problem-solving mentality that entrepreneurs must have at all times, as well as the vision.

    This is reflected in the amount of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands that creators have started, as well as the investments that creators have made in edtech, fintech, e-commerce, and other industries. And the list of such creator-entrepreneurs always includes some of the most well-known names in the Indian market.

    To take advantage of the market’s chance, they’ll have to wear a variety of hats. This entails not only utilising brand work and social commerce but also soliciting fans to pay directly and enlisting their help in the content creation process if they are unable to pay directly.

    This opens the door for creators to use software and tools to help them become more self-sufficient and manage their operations and revenue streams. In India, this field is still in its infancy.

    However, there is one important distinction that is sometimes overlooked in the hysteria surrounding creators and influencers. While these two groups can be discussed in the same sentence, they are vastly distinct.

    Influencers initially advertise their lifestyle, whereas creators add value through their knowledge, creativity, or skill. While the former may feel the squeeze of the funding freeze and budget cuts, true creators will continue to add value and earn money from brands, startups, and other partners.

    Influencers, for example, were paid anywhere between INR 10K and INR 50K for each social media post. Creators with higher interaction can earn up to INR 2 lakh for every social media post, with deals involving numerous postings per month earning up to INR 5 lakh per post. However, this varies for each platform, and there’s no way of knowing how much money you’ll make.

    When a comedian or musician uses their talent to teach others, they are directly creating value. And this will never go out of style since value creation brings money, and entrepreneurs may be willing to spend a little money today to bring in long-term value.