What if I told you the most successful brand stories correspond with common genres in fiction? And that these storytelling archetypes give the brands meaning and power?
Take Starbuck’s, for example.
The Victorian era inspired Charles Dickens, George Eliott, Elizabeth Gaskill, and other novelists to explore the individual’s place in society. It was a period of tremendous change, when people gathered in the marketplace and private parlors to converse about the issues of the day, gossip, marry off friends and family, and to feel a sense of rootedness.
Starbuck’s is the 21st Century coffee house version of 19th Century Victorian society in a warm, and pleasantly predictable environment (Starbuck’s being the master of the customer experience). Here, people gather with their book clubs, church groups, and associates; and to study, write and surf the Internet in the company of others—all for the price of coffee drink, served up to the individual’s exact specifications.
Even the name Starbuck’s originated from Victorian times. (Starbuck was the first mate on the whaling ship Pequod in Moby Dick, published in 1851.)
Over the next few weeks, we’ll look at some other major brands and their corresponding fiction genres to see how–and why—their stories resonate so powerfully.
Looking at your brand narrative: Is it an Victorian novel, adventure, romance, or thriller? Myth or folktale?
