Brand Archetype

Link to Video Presentation

Goals for Today
• To understand the importance of archetypes as
they relate to brand strategy and positioning

• To provide a foundation on the MUL archetype

• So that we have a high level, in-depth, shared
understanding as a basis for moving forward

• To apply this framework on MUL with clear

principles going forward
Agenda
Part One:
Brief Overview of Archetypal Branding

Part Two:
Reprise Archetypal resolution for MUL
Dive into the essence of the Ruler
Types of Ruler brands
Examples

Part Three:
Application to MUL: Five Key Principles

Q&A
Overview

Archetypal Branding
 Archetypes

The embodiment of
timeless, universal
human needs and
desires
Principle: Archetypes are strange
attractors.

•Timeless, universal and immeasurably

potent symbols and stories

•Rooted in unchanging physiological

and psychological processes

•Command our attention and provoke

deep response

Carl Jung
Principle: Brands can become archetypal
Principle: Brands become archetypal by tapping into
the deepest truths about the human condition.

Cult “Shooting
POPULAR SYMBOLISM Brand Stars”

CULTURAL
SYMBOLISM

TRUE
SYMBOLISM

Powerhouse Enduring
Brand Brand
Archetypal Branding

• Based on the work of

Jung, Campbell,
Maslow and others

• Translated into a
practical and proven
framework
Ultimately, a single Archetype is arrived at – a
practice resulting from clear and unequivocal
empirical evidence.
• The Model was successfully tested using Y&Rs
BrandAsset Valuator
13,000 brands
33 countries
120,000+ consumers

• Researchers examined 50 brands over a course of a six

year period, to determine how archetypal identity
related to economic performance measures

Results
• The MVA of brands strongly aligned with a single archetype rose
by 97% more than the MVA of confused brands
 Principle: Archetypes are embodiments of
fundamental human needs and desires

Motivation: Stability & Belonging & Risk & Mastery Independence &
Control Enjoyment Fulfillment

Creator Jester Hero Innocent

Caregiver Everyperson Outlaw Explorer

Ruler Lover Magician Sage

Customer Chaos, poor Exile, Ineffectiveness Entrapment,
Fear: health, loss of abandonment powerlessness, selling-out,
predictability impotence emptiness
Helps Feel safe Have love/ Achieve Find happiness
People: community

Proprietary Archetypal Model:

The Hero & The Outlaw
Mark & Pearson
 Principle: Iconic brands live their archetype in
everything they do

Motivation: Stability & Belonging & Risk & Mastery Independence &
Control Enjoyment Fulfillment
Creator Jester Hero Innocent

Caregiver Everyperson Outlaw Explorer

Ruler Lover Magician Sage

Customer Chaos, poor Exile, Ineffectiveness Entrapment,
Fear: health, loss of abandonment powerlessness, selling-out,
predictability impotence emptiness
Helps Feel safe Have love/ Achieve Find happiness
People: community
Principle: Identifying the need/motivation is
the first order of business
Motivation: Stability & Belonging & Risk & Mastery Independence &
Control Enjoyment Fulfillment

Creator Jester Hero Innocent

Caregiver Everyperson Outlaw Explorer

Ruler Lover Magician Sage

Customer Chaos, poor Exile, Ineffectiveness Entrapment,
Fear: health, loss of abandonment powerlessness, selling-out,
predictability impotence emptiness
Helps Feel safe Have love/ Achieve Find happiness
People: community

Proprietary Archetypal Model:

The Hero & The Outlaw
Mark & Pearson
Principle: Determining which archetype best
intersects with the human need and the
brand’s DNA comes next
Motivation: Stability & Belonging & Risk & Mastery Independence &
Control Enjoyment Fulfillment

Creator Jester Hero Innocent

Caregiver Everyperson Outlaw Explorer

Ruler Lover Magician Sage

Customer Chaos, poor Exile, Ineffectiveness Entrapment,
Fear: health, loss of abandonment powerlessness, selling-out,
predictability impotence emptiness
Helps Feel safe Have love/ Achieve Find happiness
People: community

Proprietary Archetypal Model:

The Hero & The Outlaw
Mark & Pearson
 Example: Hero
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way”

• Goal: exert mastery in a

way that improves the
world
• Strategy: become as
strong, competent and
powerful as you are
capable of being
• Gift: competence and
courage

Shadow/Trap: ruthlessness
and obsessive need to win
 Levels of the Hero
The development of boundaries, competence,
mastery, expressed through achievement,
Level One
motivated or tested through competition

As with a soldier, doing your duty for your

Level Two country, organization, community, or family

Using your strength, competence, and courage for

Level
something that makes a difference to you and to
Three the world
Principle: Uncovering Archetypal Identity
involves the same discipline as determining
brand positioning.

Brand Brand/Internal
Equity Truth
Archetype

Brand
Positioning
Prospect Competitive
Analysis Analysis
Principle: Compatibility with internal
culture is also a key consideration.

Overarching Archetype

Internal External
Culture Opportunity
A Few Applications
Questions?
Brand Archetype
The Archetype for MUL: At the
intersection of the product & the
prospect

PRODUCT CONSUMER
TRUTH MOTIVATION

ARCHETYPE
 The Archetype for MUL: At the
intersection of the product & the
prospect

PRODUCT CONSUMER
TRUTH MOTIVATION

35+ beer-drinker who is

Legitimately better for anxious about his/her
you beer experience ability to be healthy
Stability & Control and still enjoy life
 35+ marks a shift in mind-set, from anticipating
the future to managing the present

LATE 20’s - EARLY 30’s MID 30’s - LATE 40’s LATE 40’s - 50+
(PRE-FAMILY) (YOUNG FAMILY) (GROWN-UP FAMILY)

SELF-PROGRESSION SELF-MANAGEMENT LIFELONG LEARNING

• Career Progression § Finding work-life § Learning life skills

• Saving for house/wedding balance § Planning for retirement
• Reaching peak health/ § Managing money § Maintaining health
fitness § Managing fitness/fun self/others

SPEEDING UP KEEPING PACE NOT SLOWING DOWN

35+ appears to be an age of ‘awakening’ when it comes to life perspective. It’s the
time when planning for the future starts to impact choices in the present.

Source: VBBP: Phase 1 Qual Debrief (2019)

Society’s cult of perfection creates a tension that
calls for a special form of self-management

“If I look good it’s a sign that

I’ve got my sh** together. “To get to my gym I have to walk
That’s for me as much as past my local pub. I know my
anyone else.” friends will be there, so I’ll
deliberately go the long way
around so I don’t get sucked in.
Sometimes I’ll walk back that way
though and end up joining them!”
“Living well to me encompasses
physical, emotional, spiritual,
and mental well being.”

HUMAN TRUTH: I navigate my health to

include both physical fitness and mental wellbeing
 Motivational Model

Motivation: Stability & Belonging & Risk & Mastery Independence &
Control Enjoyment Fulfillment

Creator Jester Hero Innocent

Caregiver Everyperson Outlaw Explorer

Ruler Lover Magician Sage

Customer Chaos, poor Exile, Ineffectiveness Entrapment,
Fear: health, loss of abandonment powerlessness, selling-out,
predictability impotence emptiness
Helps Feel safe; in Have love/ Achieve Self-Actualize
People: control community
Self-Governance & Alignment
MUL Re-Defines the
Conventions of Well-Being

The Ruler
Self-Governance/Alignment: Accomplish
Your Goals and Enjoy Your Life

While it includes balancing fitness and

fun, it’s a bigger, deeper, concept.
Innovation: Supporting Self-Management

MICHELOB ULTRA
RE-DEFINES THE CONVENTIONS OF WELLBEING
ADDITION OF POSITIVES

ABSENCE OF NEGATIVES
Poll #1
(refer to video for discussion)
• Which of the following captures how you feel sometimes? (Check
as many as apply, or if you prefer, check “none of the above”)

• I get a sense of satisfaction from getting things organized

• I’m at a stage of life when I’m assuming more responsibility, and
it feels good.
• I like it when people look to me for direction
• I feel like I have control over my life
• I love the moments when I feel on top of my game
• I can concentrate better when things are orderly around me

• None of the above applies to me

Deep Dive Into the Ruler
 The Ruler
Also known as….
• Boss
• Leader
• Aristocrat
• Parent
• Politician
• Responsible citizen
• Role model
• Manager
 Ruler
“Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.”

• Goal: create a prosperous,

successful life, family,
company, or community

• Strategy: exert leadership

• Gift: self-management,
responsibility, harmony
 Levels of the Ruler

Taking responsibility for the state of

Level One your own life

Exerting leadership in your family,

Level Two group, organization, or workplace

Becoming a leader in your community,

Level
Three field, or society
Shadow/Trap: Becoming maniacally rule-bound or
dictatorial
Ruler Brands
• There are two broad types of Ruler brands

• Badge: Reflective of already-existent power and control

in our prospects; or enabling them to convey that image
• Typically, about social station and power over others
• Externally-driven

• Facilitator: Activating or encouraging a sense of power

and control
• Typically, about assuming power to manage our own
selves/lives, or our close-in responsibilities
• More internally-driven
Ruler Badge

• Usually reflective of
some degree of
already-existent
power and control

• Serves as a badge of
your place at the
top of the social
hierarchy
Ruler Facilitator

• This is for you

because you wish
for more of a sense
of control

• This helps facilitate

self-governance and
personal power
What is self-governance, and
what does it involve?
Theories of Self-Governance
• Suzy Killmister puts forth a theory of self-
governance largely based on alignment…

• Self-Definition: Alignment of values, beliefs

and goals
• Self-Realization: Feeling agency; commitment
to taking action to realize those goals
• Integration – Ability to adjust if the values,
beliefs and goals are out of whack with the
action
 Maturation: Robert L. Moore

• The Ruler (King) is the centering

power that keeps the other
Archetypes in balance
• It provides a sense of wholeness
and well-being and provides a calm
confidence
• The Ruler offers a kind of practical
wisdom that enables you to make
decisions based on who you are,
what you stand for and what you’ve
experienced
I’ve got this.
 I’ve Got This

• Taking control of your life

• Able to pace yourself

• Capable of setting priorities, balancing priorities

• Assuming responsibility for yourself

• Assuming responsibility for others

The Fully-Realized Ruler
• Centered
• Cool, calm and collected – “self-possessed”
• At the center of things; surveys everything that’s
going on, soaks it all in, and takes a broad view
• Completely present
• Decisive, because they know who they are and what
they stand for
• Lives with integrity (wholeness, consistency)
• Provides order – rules, guidelines, principles
• “Blesses” others
Self-Governance & Life Issues
Physical

• Fun vs. Fitness

• Mindless, undisciplined vs. Mindful, disciplined

lifestyle/consumption

• Pleasure vs. Purity

Socio-Emotional

• Work vs. Life

• Me vs. Us
Ruler Examples
Brand Examples

• Reflecting the spectrum: From empathy

(acknowledging chaos/lack of alignment) to pure
aspiration

• Reflecting varying degrees of enjoyment/fun

• Governance only of the self, versus a larger community

Amex: Empathy & the Ruler
Amex: Balance Not Perfection
Silk: Progress Is Perfection
Allstate: Managing Chaos
Infiniti: Aligning My Life
Heineken: The Magnetism of Self-
Possession
Poll #2
(refer to video for discussion)
• While none might be exactly right, which of the following do
you find most relevant to MUL?

• American Express (Tina Fey)

• Silk (Progress Is Perfection)
• Allstate (Mayhem)
• Infiniti (Pool Party)
• Heineken (Open Your World)
As the Ruler
MUL & The Ruler

• Five key principles are being recommended for

actualizing MUL and the Ruler
Principle 1: Self-Governance at
the Core

• MUL lives at Level One of the Ruler

• Assuming control of your own self/own life
• An aspiration, not a reality, for most prospects

• Self-governance/attempting to achieve
alignment lies at the center of this brand
Principle 2: MUL as Facilitator
• MUL is primarily a Ruler facilitator
• Helping to activate, encourage and celebrate
efforts of self-governance
• Providing the aspiration to do so, via role models

• While not the primary driver or essence of the

brand, badge value plays an important role
• Premium/financial status
• Badge of self-governance

• The relative degree of emphasis (facilitator vs.

badge) may vary by region/stage of brand
development
Principle 3: Innovation Solves
Problems of Alignment

• The role of innovation for MUL (and its assets)

should be to help solve problems of alignment
in the ongoing task of self-governance
• Purely physical
• Physical and psychic/emotional
• Physical and social
Principle 4: Sub-Brands all under
the Ruler
• At the moment, MUL and Pure Gold are operating
largely as separate brands
• MUL as the Ruler and Gold as the Innocent

• While this route is an option, and something of a

convention in the category, it is an expensive one

• Ideally, all the variants would exist under one archetype,

with differing roles/points of emphasis
• A la the Ralph Lauren portfolio
Benevolent Ruler
Principle 5: Opportunity to
Enrich the Aspiration

• While the center of the brand and its assets lies

at Level One/Self-governance, there is an
opportunity to enrich the relatability and depth
of meaning of this brand
• By balancing empathy with pure aspiration
• By reaching into Levels Two and Three as
appropriate (me and us)
The Role of Empathy
• The task of self-governance is difficult for the best of us
• And we know that this prospect’s reality lies far from the pure
aspiration MUL presents
• “Balanced living seems out of reach and makes me anxious”

• MUL has the opportunity to both acknowledge that difficulty and to

celebrate the aspiration
• What do peak performers do to center/”collect” themselves?
• How do they balance the pressure with pleasure/fun?
• How do ordinary people manage to get their goals and behaviors
into alignment?

• All of this seems like fertile territory to build a deeper, more human
connection
• “Seeking balance, not perfection.”
Empathy & Humor/Fun

• Empathy also presents an opportunity for humor (a la

Tina and Amex)
• A way to communicate a spirit of fun that’s not always
dependent upon literally representing fun beer-
drinking, situations

• Fun + Empathy + Beer = an appealing alchemy for

relevant, attainable self-governance
“Us”: Levels Two & Three
• As appropriate, MUL and its assets can (and should) tap into
deeper levels of the Ruler archetype
• Governance of “us” as well as “me”
• A la the Infiniti spot
• Good governance within the larger community
Reprise: Five Ruler Principles
for MUL

• Self-governance at the core

• MUL is primarily a Facilitator of the Ruler
• Innovation should solve problems of
Alignment
• Sub-brands all under the Ruler
• Opportunity to enrich the aspiration through
Empathy and “Us”
 Revised MUL VBBP
CORE CREATIVE IDEA
”It’s only worth it, if you can enjoy it.”

FUNCTIONAL BENEFIT EMOTIONAL BENEFIT

A clean, refreshing, light beer I feel satisfied because I’m in
that doesn’t weigh me down. control and enjoying my life.
BRAND PURPOSE
Michelob ULTRA re-defines
the conventions of wellbeing.
REASONS TO BELIEVE ARCHETYPE: Ruler
No artificial colors or flavors. Self-confident, but friendly.
Fewer than 100 calories, 5 carbs. Empowered, but fallible.
Premium VBI and red ribbon. Full of energy, but not anxious.
Pioneering H&W. Loves to have fun.

CONSUMER INSIGHT
Living a balanced life feels out of reach and that makes me anxious.

CONSUMER VALUES
Health & Fitness – Making an effort to be in good physical and mental shape.
Enjoying Life – Doing things because I like them.

CONSUMER TARGET
Live and aspire to live a healthy lifestyle aged 28+ US (35+ Global).
Q&A