7 STORYTELLERS: WHAT’S IN A NAME
Born 1863, author Sir Thomas Quiller Couch suggested that there are seven plot lines, all beginning with “man against”, whether himself, God, nature, or man, etc. This hypothesis has been widely embraced but we thought that for the purposes of marketing/branding and to modernize we would revise:
- Ascension (from nothing an individual or a company rises up, sometimes against all odds, to achieve greatness, often for the benefit of others – rags to riches)
- Survival (overcoming extreme adversity — including a business that pivots to a different mission in order to make it)
- Heroism (Doing what no one else will do, regardless of how that move might affect business or personal comfort)
- Redemption (after falling down and being out of the race, an individual or business rises out of the ashes to reestablish a dynamic presence)
- Rebirth • Mission (with an eye on a prize, a target, a mountaintop, the individual or team puts forth an unprecedented effort in order to win the day)
- Spiritual (Sometimes financials statements and revenue projections can’t capture the essence of a story that is born of heart, spirit, will, passion)
- Comedy (sometimes a good, light-heated story has enough value to move others to )
YOUR STORY IS SOMEWHERE INSIDE YOUR BRAND…LET US HELP YOU FIND IT, TELL IT AND HELP YOU SELL IT.
I saw the Angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. – Michelangelo