In the telling of tales, there is a common thread that has been told over and over since we humans first began to tell stories. This thread is the monomyth, which is more commonly known as the Hero’s Journey. You may not think you know it because maybe you know nothing about writing stories, but you probably do. It is the journey of every character who goes on an adventure, from Luke Skywalker in Star Wars to Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz to Link in The Legend of Zelda to even the titular Jane in Brontë’s Jane Eyre. These are all heroes and heroines who have ventured forth from their previous life to go on a journey, be victorious, and come home changed.

Now, “why,” you ask, are we talking about the Hero’s Journey? Let me explain. Wait, first, let me sum up.

Our culture point “Growing the Client” is very much the Hero’s Journey. Here’s how.

Guiding the Hero’s Journey

In the framework of what we do, we – Vitality South – are not the hero. No, we are the Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Glinda the Good Witch, the Old Man, and the Miss Temple. We are the mentor that guides the hero’s journey and gifts them with the equipment or resources that they need to succeed in reaching whatever their goal may be.

As the marketing agency for a client, we can’t make the campaign about us or our own cleverness in design. Then we are trying to be the hero in the tale and we aren’t the hero: the client is. We are here to give the client the tools (designs) that they need so they can make their way forward and claim the victory.

This also means that we don’t leave a client fumbling in the dark if there is a crisis. We make use of the variety of tools that we have at our disposal in order to light the way out of the dungeon.

However, we also – as the mentor – need to be able to gently push the client forward sometimes. Even when that is outside of their comfort zone. Like the titular hero in a tale, taking the scary leap is often the very thing that is needed to move the client forward in the direction that they need to go. Having that conversation can be tough, but it must be done to grow.

Crafting the Client’s Monomyth

There are classically seventeen steps to the Hero’s Journey – as originally put forth by Joseph Campbell in his The Hero with a Thousand Faces – but those have been more modernly shortened to twelve by Christopher Vogler. It is also important to remember that whether we go by seventeen or twelve, not all of those steps will be a part of our hero client’s journey. These steps are merely guidelines and the monomyth that we are crafting with the client can take many different paths. There is a further grouping of these steps into three zones: Departure (or Separation), Initiation, and Return. We will look at these three zones more than the exact steps in the journey.

Act 1: Departure

This start when the client realizes that their current marketing strategy isn’t working. Maybe a competitor is pulling ahead of them, their website looks dated, or they just aren’t getting any new leads. They know they need to move forward but aren’t sure how, so they come seeking the help of Vitality South – their mentor. We step in as their guide and don’t just sell them services. No, we take a look at the current state of their business and then hand them a clear plan for moving forward. Once the contract is signed, the hero client is now stepping out onto their adventure.

Act 2: Initiation

This is the messy middle of the story where the real meat of it begins. As with the hero where they may have to go through several rounds of trial and tribulation, we and the client work through rounds of revisions to reach the final perfect product. Once those revisions are done and everything is in place, everything goes live so the new replaces the old. The first real victory is when the website traffic spikes or the client closes their first new deal or gets their first new client who came in because of the work done.

Act 3: Return

This is the finish line. The grand return home to cheers and glory. Now, we take what we learned from that first victory and we all keep building upon it. Whether it’s increasing ad spending, expanding into a new target market, or adding a few new pages to the website, it gets done. Now, the hero client is no longer struggling to keep up with their competitor, now they have “returned” as the clear leader in their field. We have successfully guided them through their journey from beginning to end. The cycle is complete and the journey is over…until the next one.

The Next Chapter

Now that we’ve gone on this journey together there and back again, what have we learned? That the hero client can’t go on their journey alone (it’s dangerous to go alone, after all), they need an agency mentor to help them along the way to their ultimate end goal.

We strive to be a partner to our client in everything that they do. And the hero needs a partner that can build their weapons, help map their strategy, and then is willing to get out of the way so that they alone can claim the victory. Vitality South is that partner. When our hero client wins, we also win.

Now…are you ready to start the next chapter in your hero’s journey?