Subaru: The Emotional Myths Behind the Brand's Growth

ABSTRACT

Savvy marketers understand that they are not in the business of selling products or services. They are in the business of building and maintaining strong, enduring brands that sell and sell and sell. The key to building and maintaining strong, enduring brands is advertising with a compelling story and a strategic focus (“strategic storied advertising”). Advertising with a compelling story and a strategic focus works to create meaning for the brand and give it an appealing identity and personality that in turn work to create an emotional connection with the consumer. We are storied creatures. Our life is a story. We communicate through telling and listening to stories. Strong, enduring brands use the power of story and/or mythic images to create (or represent) mytho-symbolic brand building worlds. These mytho-symbolic worlds are often drawn from archetypal (universal) stories, characters, beliefs, etc. that exist within our culture … and our collective psyche. Storied brands come to represent appealing mytho-symbolic worlds, with their own mythology, symbolism, and values, that work to maintain and reinforce the brand's identity, personality, and emotional connection with the consumer.