12 archetypes that you must understand as a marketer
Let’s start with a marketing case: Who are the target customers?
I was currently handling a marketing case with a total amount of several million yuan. The product was related to Hello Kitty. I casually asked the company’s marketing staff:
Me:
“Who is our target customer for this case?”
Marketing:
“Obviously they are consumers who like Hello Kitty.”
Me:
“Please define what is <Consumers who like Hello Kitty>”
“Does it count as a favorite if you buy related products once within a year?”
“I haven’t bought anything but I go to a convenience store to collect some points and exchange them for Hello Kitty merchandise. Does that count?”
“What kind of behavior can be called a consumer who likes Hello Kitty?”
If we are not even sure about the definition of target customers, how can we come up with a feasible marketing plan?
It is difficult to change the worldview, marketing should follow the trend
You have your worldview (values), for example:
You believe that “hard work can change your destiny.” This is your belief. Is it possible for me to change you through marketing activities and make you believe that environment and probability are actually the most important factors in determining your destiny?
Of course it’s impossible!!
It is extremely difficult to change a person’s worldview. Unless there is an event with great impact on life, such as life and death, it is possible to change the way a person views the world. Usually our marketing activities are impossible to achieve such an impact. This means that you should not easily guess what kind of people your consumers are, and then directly plan marketing activities to contact them. So what should you do?
You should think based on what values and worldview consumers your products or services are suitable for. Going back to the hello kitty example above, from this point of view, who are our target customers?
Use prototype theory to find accurate customer groups
If we look at it from the perspective of “prototype”, the answer will be the consumers of the “naive prototype”. (Please refer to the picture below)
The naive consumer’s worldview is to believe that a perfect and innocent life exists or once existed (the Garden of Eden). They hope to reach the promised land in their dreams one day, but usually real life is not as perfect and simple as imagined. At this time, they will be attracted by services or products that can temporarily or partially satisfy them to meet their desire for purity, kindness and simplicity.
As marketers, we are “storytellers”. We must design and plan a voice consistent with the prototype, and spread it through advertising, channels, packaging, the product itself, the Internet, public relations, etc.
To find the most suitable and effective single prototype for your brand, goods, and services, rediscover the basic motivational needs of your brand prototype, and then start describing your story.
The virtue of the innocent is “faith”. If Hello Kitty’s advertisement is placed in the “News Tornado” program…is it okay?
If your products or services are Hello Kitty-related peripherals, your marketing methods, publicity channels, advertising design and public relations activities, etc., must be planned according to the values and world view of naive people.
Design your marketing plan based on consumer behavior, rather than trying to use your marketing plan to change consumer behavior.
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Author: Lin Wenjie
Further Reading and References
Reference books:
A long time ago. ． - Created with mythological prototypes and deeply rooted in people’s hearts
• Author: Margaret
• Translator: Xu Jinfu
• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Publication date: 2002/2/8
• ISBN: 9789574934942
Everyone loves to hear stories. How to make your brand a brand that everyone dreams of owning is the only focus of this book.
Psychologist Jung said that everyone has a set of archetype concepts in their hearts. These archetypes have a common essence. They appear in the form or image of mythological elements all over the world. They are also products of the individual’s subconscious mind. How to unlock the subconscious desires of human beings and trigger people’s desire to satisfy this archetypal desire is the basic concept of using mythical archetypes to create a brand that is deeply rooted in people’s hearts.
Further reading
The origin of brand strategy: meaning
