Case study: Using Archetypes and AI to build a brand

Archetypes can be a powerful tool when you're launching your brand.

Frances Fogel, Business Storytelling Strategist, loves the Storyteller Tactics and Archetypes cards so much she’ll be using them with founders and leaders to help them to better articulate their own vision, mission and sense of purpose in the world... to themselves, their families, their teams, their customers and their communities.

She joined Steve Rawling, Author of Storyteller Tactics to talk about how she combined the power of archetypes with the wizardry of AI to help her launch her brand.

Archetypes in content creation

We've seen how you can use Archetypes to inform the tone of voice you use in content creation, and to help you ensure a coherent brand tone of voice (however many people are writing your content).

But it's possible to take things a step further. When given the direction of an archetypal voice, generative AI (such as ChatGP) can create content for you. Frances asked ChatGPT to write copy inspired by each of the 12 Archetypes. For example, she asked it to:

'Write rallying cry to a despondent team', inspired by The Rebel.
'Pen a love letter to a disillusioned Founder', inspired by The Lover.
'Win round team mates who don't want to be there any more', inspired by The Companion.

Frances already had a pretty good feel of what her own brand character might be. The Archetypes cards confirmed her suspicious: she combines The Ruler and The Caregiver; in her words: 'The Compassionate Strategist'.

So she asked ChatGPT to tell the story of how a compassionate strategist helps companies, with some additional social media posts based on the story. It turned out some real gems, worth developing:

"Ready to punch above the 'big boys'? Well, you are sitting on a goldmine."
"Meet the hero in your business story - YOU!"

Next, Frances wrote cues from the Build Your Brand recipe card (pictured) into Chat GPT and asked it to write a mission statement for her compassionate strategist.

The 'align your values' section of the Build A Brand card

ChatGPT responded with:

"As a compassionate strategist, I believe that making a positive impact on people's lives and the world is possible through making money and using it for good."

Frances also found a way to use archetypes to get closer to her customers. She asked Chat GPT to write a questionnaire for potential clients, inspired by The Caregiver's characteristics. One that really caught my eye:

"How can I help you without any obligations or commitments?"

What a great question to ask a potential customer! Inspired by The Caregiver's desire to give, with no strings attached.

Finally, Frances asked ChatGPT to design a workshop agenda based on the character of 'the compassionate strategist', and others based on The Jester and The Artist.

By the end, Frances had over 30 pages of ideas. Here's the mission statement she went with on her relaunched website:

"You need not fear leaving a legacy of unfulfilled potential. Today is an opportunity to celebrate humanity through your work by sharing your experiences - building a positive future for the world and being part of the system."

And when you scroll down the page, you'll see this section, inspired by the "We would never..." and "We hate it when..." sections of the Build Your Brand recipe.