PART 1: RECOGNISE THE NEW REALITY
INTRODUCTION
Covid-19 has unleashed a new reality across the world. Our comfortable, familiar and taken-for-granted life has been taken away, leaving us perplexed and in a prolonged moment of contemplation. The pandemic given rise to a realization that we are all part of a grand and complex system which has turned out to be unexpectedly fragile.
It seems to have challenged systems and institutions, that have till now have been pillars of trust and authority. It is our belief that in such periods of heightened uncertainty, people instinctively look for keys to unlock patterns that resemble the familiar, giving them a map to navigate disorder and arrive at a semblance of congruency.
At this juncture, it is imperative for businesses & brands to create this bridge between chaos & order. In specific, they must ask these crucial questions:
- How might brands address crises for people living in this new reality?
- What can brands do to resolve new Covid-led tensions?
- How to reinstate a sense of stability in an unstable world?
PART 1: RECOGNISE THE NEW REALITY
As consumers visualize a new reality during & post Covid-19, their aim is to create new thought patterns & behaviours that make sense of disruption and provide new ways of engaging with this unfamiliar but here-to-stay reality. Brands have always played mediator between consumer aspirations & their anxieties, by resolving key pain points through products & communication. How must brands respond at this juncture?
INTRODUCING ARCHETYPES
Archetypes are a collectively inherited set of unconscious ideas, that are universally present in individual psyches. The concept of Archetypes originated in Plato’s concept of ideals and patterns. In the mid-1900’s psychologist Carl Jung took Plato’s thinking a step further and developed “psychological archetypes” defined as: “characteristic patterns that pre-exist in the collective psyche of the human race (regardless of the culture or historical period) that repeat themselves eternally in the psyche of individual human beings and determine the basic ways that we perceive and function as psychological beings.”
The premise being, people come into the world with patterns of instinctual behaviour waiting to be developed, awakened and explored.
CHALLENGE AND ARCHETYPAL RESPONSE
When we examine the 12 archetypes, we discover that they cluster in sets of three to fulfil four basic human needs. This is represented in the chart below:
| Archetypes | Creator Caregiver Ruler | Regular guy/gal Jester Lover | Hero Outlaw Magician | Innocent Sage Explorer |
| The need it addresses | Stability and control | Belonging and Enjoyment | Mastery and Risk | Independence & Fulfilment |
| How does the archetype act | Restores control | Builds intimacy | Empowers | Release |
| Desired state of Archetype | Order | Community | Achievement | Liberation |
| Key Fear of the Archetype | Chaos | Loss of belonging | Loss of power | Loss of freedom |
Brands operate as heuristic devices that lead to effective decision making. Despite an indication of this relationship between brand and consumer being mostly transactional, there is merit in considering that long term brand building must also focus on crafting an Ethos & personality that feeds into the consumer’s psyche in a meaningful manner.
In order to strengthen this brand – buyer relationship, there is a need to tether communication & brand narrative to a source point that is fundamental to how consumers think and behave. Archetypes are useful when considering their mythic qualities and possess an ability to tap into deep spiritual & mystical connections. Successful brands, intentionally or not, are ascribed with certain attributes, values & visuals that fit within the archetype grid.
For example: Who would not think of Apple as the epitome of Mastery and their ecosystem as all powerful.
It is our belief that in times like these, the importance of the archetype becomes more pronounced because there is a need for people to cling to what is instinctively familiar. There is an eternal and enduring quality within archetypes which businesses must leverage when addressing consumers.
There is a tendency among marketers to assume that only a few archetypes might be relevant during this crisis. It is assumed that the crisis the consumer faces can only be addressed by archetypes such as the Hero, Sage, Caregiver, Ruler or Magician.
However, it is our view that archetypes represent eternal human truths and values that are timeless and reside in our unconscious mind. All twelve archetypes would help to restore meaning, but differently. Thus, for the same crisis the voice and manifestation of each archetype would be different. This can be amplified by inviting consumers to appreciate the unique perspective each archetype highlights to resolve tensions.
It is important to remind ourselves that a brand’s archetype has the potential to create the brand’s purpose in a deeper manner versus applying it purely to the brand’s personality. Brand personality when informed by archetypal values can be coherent and ring true, but when imbued more deeply, it is likely to survive for generations and even travel across cultures.
This is part one of a 3 part piece – watch out for Part 2
