The Hero Brand Archetype and Empathy
A Hero’s Empathy
The hero's courage and perseverance can be seen as crucial to spiritual accomplishment during more spiritual times. For example, an ad for boots reads: "The road to Nirvana isn't paved.", This illustration conjures up images of trekking for spiritual enlightenment. The paraphrased copy continued, "No one said Nirvana would be easy to reach... so strap on your hiking shoes and get there before somebody tries to turn paradise into a parking lot."
The most successful advertisement by Partnership For a Drug-Free America was "The Long Way Home," which depicted a young boy leaving school in a tough neighborhood cutting through alleyways and backyards to avoid the drug dealers. This advertisement conveyed a remarkable sense of empathy for inner-city children. It says that just saying no is not as simple as it seems. And the boy says, "The dealers may be scared of the police, but I'm not afraid of them.". Instead of advocating simplistic solutions, this advertisement empathizes with the issues that real kids face while still portraying them as heroes. According to research conducted, the advertising increased children's confidence that they could indeed resist drugs and drug dealers.
Upon being asked about Heros in Western civilization, Gandhi, a well-respected icon of peace, replied that he thought it was worth exploring. Today's values and convictions are widely perceived as lacking. The consumer-especially those who express the highest levels of the Hero archetype- are hungry for conviction, justice and tend to be more drawn to people, companies, and bands with the same types of convictions.
According to Rolf Jensen's book, The Dream Society:Brands will soon be seen as the owners of meaningful stories, not products.
Ultimate Guide to Brand Archetype