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So, we were talking about story branding in the last video.
Now, I'd like to talk a little bit about mythology and what is called the myth gap.
Now, why do we talk about the myth gap.
Well, first of all, what is mythology.
Mythology, we often think of it as stories that are not true.
Like we think that a myth is a lie,
but that's not actually the role that myths play in our lives.
What myths do is myths are stories which again,
help us to understand the world.
But what has happened is that really with the rise of technology in the 20th century,
mythology began to disappear.
In other words, all of our old myths were broken.
And so, what's happened is that we don't have these sort of
commonly shared stories that help us to understand the world.
And so, we've essentially been left without mythology as a guiding tool.
Now, I'd like you to think for a moment about your childhood.
And think what are the first sort of lessons or stories that you were told over and over?
And how do those lessons continue to serve you today?
And I'll give you an example. For me,
one of the first stories that I ever learned was,
you know, when you fall down,
get back up and try again.
And that's still a story that applies to me in my life today.
In other words, that myth,
that story that I learned when I was little has continued to aid me as I've grown.
And that idea of keep moving forward keep trying.
And we can think of Nike for example, as a brand.
Again, using Nike as the example of just do it.
Just do it is essentially that same story that
I learned when I was a little kid and I fell down.
So, when we look back, we can see that these stories that we learn through our lives,
they're sort of like morals.
And they keep aiding us in our lives,
and helping us to essentially live better lives.
And then what happens is that what we see is that these days the world is full of images.
And there are certain images which again,
they are almost like mythological stories.
We look at an image like this image,
and we know what this image is about.
We know that this is an image of heroism.
That it's a moment in history when heroism was required.
And we can see in the face of this fireman that the fireman is anxious,
but is in control.
And so, it shows us,
it shares with us a story.
And essentially, we learn when we see these kinds of images.
So, let's look now,
if we want to use an example for mythology,
let's look specifically at Star Wars.
And then we can compare that kind of mythological story to how brands tell stories.
So, if we think of Star Wars,
we think well, here's this, you know,
Luke Skywalker is this sort of young unexpected hero.
He's a farm boy and all of a sudden,
he is thrust into this,
you know, sort of intergalactic battle to save the universe.
And he's given this this light-saber.
Which is this tool,
this gift, which he can then use to accomplish his goals.
And the force is this sort of value system,
this belief system, which is going to aid him in overcoming these obstacles.
Now, so, what's interesting is that we can look at brands in almost the same way.
In other words, the product is kind of like the light-saber,
but the values of the brand are kind of like the Force.
I know this sounds all kind of ridiculous and silly,
but I want you to begin to think about advertising in this way.
That essentially, what brands are beginning to do is they're
beginning to to share their stories with us.
And they're beginning to to show us how we can live better lives,
and overcome the obstacles that we have in our lives in order to live better lives.
So, what we find is that these days we are all
connected more and more by these common stories.
If you look at social networks,
our sharing of the stories that we see on social networks.
Whether they're branded content stories that are shared by brands.
Or simply content that is produced by people.
We're constantly sharing these things,
and what we're doing when we share them is we're saying this is what I believe in.
This is how I think we should all be living.
And I'm sharing it with you to show you what I believe,
and to show you how I think that you can also live a better life.
So, let's stop for a moment.
As long as we're talking about branded storytelling and mythology,
let's just stop for a moment and say in this context what is a brand?
What does that mean? A brand.
Now, in business school,
they will tell you that a brand is a promise.
Or they'll talk about branding as in the logo,
and the fonts that are used, and the colors.
In branded storytelling, we look at it a little differently.
I'd like to think of the brand as almost like the moral of the story.
In other words, if a brand like,
let's take North Face for example.
What is the moral of the story of North Face?
The moral of the story of North face is never stop exploring.
So, it's not just about the products,
it's actually about an attitude and a value system.
And this is what I want you to get this.
Now, what we're going to do is we're
going to begin to look at lots of advertising examples,
so that we can begin to see how this works.
But I want you to look at this quote because I think it's very interesting.
Scott Bedbury, the former head of marketing for Nike and Starbucks said that a brand
is a metaphorical story that connects with something very deep.
A fundamental human appreciation of mythology,
and companies that manifest this sensibility in something very powerful.
So, essentially, what he's saying is that these stories,
when brands are able to tell these kinds of stories,
it becomes much more important.
Much more powerful than just looking at the product.
So, in the next step,
what we're going to look at is we're going to look at specific examples of advertising.
To see how the campaigns,
how the images communicate their brands' stories. I'll see you there.
Brian HallettAssociate Professor
