Step Aside, You’re Not the Hero

Yep. You read that right. It’s not about you. Your brand, your company, your product or even your new Tik Tok moves. It’s not about you.

In an earlier post, we walked through the StoryBrand philosophy, which unveils a marketing approach that begins with this: The Customer is the Hero, Not Your Brand. I know. This goes against what we believe. This is not what my Marketing 101 professor taught. We came into this business to sell ourselves, to sell our product, to sell our service. Isn’t that what the customer is after? Well, yes. But newsflash, putting the spotlight on yourself is not the best way to win over your clients. Recast your leading lady. The winner, the hero, the victor, the center of attention- make it your customer. And once your customer is the hero, you’ve begun their story- the one where you help them save the day.

If you haven’t seen Walk the Line, stop what you’re doing and go watch it now. Seriously. Set your Slack status to ‘walking the dog’ and cancel that Zoom meeting. This is priority. Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash is really something special. And Reese Witherspoon as June? It’s an experience you don’t want to miss.

See what he did there? No? Watch it again. You get it? With just a few words, Johnny Cash gave the stage to his audience. Scroll the clip to 00:36.

My hats off to you now, cause I ain’t never had to drink this yellow water you’ve got here at Fulsome.

And the prisoners lost their minds. They went nuts. Just like that, Johnny made them the heroes. The world renowned country star shifted the spotlight to a room full of felons. And it totally worked.

If you’re dusting off your guitar and contemplating contacting the nearest prison for visiting hours, slow your roll. That’s not quite the point. But consider just how powerful this strategy can be for your business. When your client becomes the star, they’re suddenly invited to take the stage. And who will be ready to help, backstage, holding the cue cards? Enter you.