The Seven Basic Plots and Their Use in Branding, Design, & Marketing

Christopher Booker, the famous British author and journalist, brought forward the idea that there are seven basic plots that every story fits within. Learning about these seven narratives will open your eyes and give you a feel for the direction the story is going in early on. This doesn't mean your enjoyment of going to the theatre or watching a movie will lessen, as you will still get moved by the emotions and surprised by the twists. However understanding the structure a story should follow to produce a fluff-free experience for the audience can boost your skills in creating influential video commercials, social media stories, or even written advertorials. But before we dive into the marketing side, let's first focus on the seven basic plots of storytelling.

Plot 1 — Overcoming the Monster

We've all been there, sitting on the edge of our seats, unable to pull our eyes off the screen, as the final girl is fighting for her life against evil. Only to defeat it at the last minute, saving herself (and humanity). Overcoming the monster is a narrative that has been done more times than we can count, but it doesn't mean it still won't have our hearts beating through our chests. It's the typical slasher or thriller narrative. Even most of the Marvel universe stories follow this path. Yet it still draws crowds to the cinema to watch the superhero defeat the supervillain.

How does this narrative structure go?

1. Anticipation or initial discovery

2. The protagonist slowly learns more from a safe distance preparing for battle

3. They soon fast the monster and discover it's more powerful than thought

4. The monster almost defeats the lead, and a sense of hopelessness pursues

5. The protagonist finally beats or escapes the monster

Plot 2 — Rags to Riches

You've probably seen this narrative a hundred times, from Cinderella to Slumdog Millionaire. The plot is simple. It focuses on the growth and success of the main character. The term riches isn't always about wealth or money. It can focus more on maturity and personal development. The main character starts in an unhappy situation before getting their first chance of success, such as a visit from the fairy godmother or a lucky career break. This brings on a false sense of happiness, security, and maturity. Swiftly after, they lose it all and are left in despair. Leaving you wondering. Will they find the courage and strength to fix their downfall, leading to success, growth and a happy ending? Of course, that's the direction it goes towards, leading to the classic Hollywood or fairy tale ending.

How does this narrative structure go?

1. Begins with the main character being poor (financially, emotionally, etc.)

2. The protagonist goes into the world and gets initial success e.g. a date, money etc.

3. Their initial success is stripped away

4. They struggle to get their selves back together

5. Before finally achieving success and fulfilment

Plot 3 — The Quest

If you love hobbits, elves and other mythical creatures. This narrative structure will be all too familiar to you. No story can be a better example of the quest than The Lord of the Rings. The quest plot typically focuses on an individual who discovers their hometown is doomed or they must reach a certain goal for success. So, they must head out into the wilderness with their friends or colleagues to find the solution to their problem. While they embark on an epic journey filled with trials and tribulations. Often, side stories are thrown into the mix following other narrative structures, but the overall story focuses on the quest.

How does this narrative structure go?

1. Your characters learn their initial mission

2. They start their journey where they will overcome plenty of obstacles

3. They arrive at their main goal to find out their journey isn't complete yet

4. Their final challenge or obstacle appears to complete their mission

5. They succeed in what they set out to do and return home

Plot 4 — Voyage & Return

From childhood, we have been in awe of the classic Voyage and Return stories. This structure shares similarities with the quest. However, it mainly focuses on one character following them on a journey to another society, world, or universe from their own. At first, the character is in awe of their discovery. Before discovering everything is not as it first seemed. Only to go on a journey where they must try to get home. A classic story structure for children's fairytales such as the Wizard of Oz or Alice in Wonderland.

How does this narrative structure go?

1. Introduces the character building up anticipation before their world changes

2. Protagonists are in awe of their discoveries

3. The cracks in their new world start to set in as things aren't as they first seemed

4. Evil finally arrives, tormenting the main protagonists

5. Before a thrilling escape where they return home as a new person

Plot 5 — Comedy

For those who have a soft spot for rom-coms or light-hearted watches then you probably have seen this plot more than a dozen times. Surprisingly it's less about humour and more about the character's journey towards growth and maturity or love while experiencing some form of confusion. But that doesn't mean that humour isn't often used to create confusion for the character. The fix to all the confusion tends to be a simple solution and normally is clear in one of the final scenes. Think Bridget Jones, who should she pick?

How does this narrative structure go?

1. Introduces the character and the world they live in

2. Confusion pursues this could be a destined love story getting broken up

3. Things get worse as the story spirals maybe the characters who resolve anything

4. Suddenly the confusion is lifted and the air is cleared

5. Leaving the character back in their world following a similar path as the beginning

Plot 6 — Tragedy

In a world of fairy tale endings, this narrative takes a more realistic approach and nothing beats the jaw-dropping shock of your first encounter with a tragic plot when the credits roll up and you're silent. The tragedy narrative shares its similarities of overcoming the monster with the main difference being the protagonist losing the battle. The most harrowing example is Requiem for a Dream where you watch four characters with dreams of careers and fame only spiral into the depth of addiction. Or you can look for a more horror approach with the British ending to The Descent which had to be changed for the American audience to suit a more overcoming the most style.

How does this narrative structure go?

1. The anticipation stage is when the character realises their life is missing something

2. They start dreaming and idealising their new adventure or life

3. As they start to struggle to get to their goal they feel frustrated or worried

4. The story spirals into a nightmare as they become overcome by external force

5. The story ends with the characters destroyed or worse off than they started

Plot 7 — Rebirth

Sometimes we want an upswing in the emotional rollercoaster and that's when the rebirth narrative comes into play. This could be considered as the opposite version of the Tragedy narrative. It follows the main character on a journey of destruction before they get saved by an outsider normally a lover, or younger child. The hit animation of 2013 Frozen could easily fit into this category as the main character turns evil before getting saved by her younger sister and turning back into the kind, caring, young woman she once was however with a newfound maturity.

How does this narrative structure go?

1. The character is lured into the dark side or a destructive path

2. It seems that this path isn't causing them any harm

3. Eventually, the true dangers come to light as the protagonist becomes imprisoned

4. It seems like the darkness has won due to lots of time passing

5. When all seems lost the protagonist finally triumphs over evil becoming reborn

So What's All This Got to Do With Design & Marketing?

Okay, so you now know what the seven basic plots but you're wondering: what does this have to do with marketing and design? Well, a lot more than you'd expect. Creatives, brand strategist, and marketers alike can harness these narratives to help them construct their content or campaigns. Just to give you a better idea of how to harness this we will look into three areas

Branding

When I worked at a premium food manufacturer the founders loved telling their story of how they made such a successful business. They'd explain how they once lived in a warehouse in a bad neighbourhood during the 90s, long before gentrification. They loved Mediterranean cuisine and after travelling they wanted to bring the great flavours to London. After lots of failed ideas, they gave their final shoot of using all their money to buy a big tub of olives from a supplier they met years ago, before going around to all the restaurants in London providing free samples. We fast forward 20 years and they are one of the biggest Mediterranean suppliers in London, sell products around all the supermarkets in the company and have even been bought out by a big-name brand.

If you've been paying attention this narrative follows the classic rags to riches path. While there is some truth behind the story, they've learned how to filter out all the unnecessary details and create a strong compelling story that has become the ethos of their brands. The sales reps recite this story, their website's about us section tells this story, and any big business-to-business event the founders attend will tell the audience their stories. This narrative has become a sample in the brand identity while their foodie consumers who have worked their way up the social ladder in restaurants feel a profound connection to it.

Design

Storytelling and design go hand in hand, from drafting up storyboards for animated ads or creating brand identities that will inspire consumers, knowing how to implement a strong narrative in a campaign should be a basic understanding as a designer. Great designers should also know how to bring solutions to undiscovered problems that clients or teammates present. In "Creative Direction in a Digital World" by Adam Harrell, he states that there is only one true form of marketing left and that is content marketing. Knowing how to create a strong narrative or guide your clients into creating one will only lead to increased ROIs making happy clients and a happy wallet for yourself.

If you don't believe as a designer that you have the power to create great narratives for average products. If you look at Coke, it's a fizzy drink with some cola extract one of many cola brands you will find in a supermarket. Yet they have managed to create a story, a myth, thousands flock each year to see the Christmas Coke truck when it travels to cities across the UK. While the designer who chose the brand colour red led to Santa Claus's outfit changing from red to green. Who knows maybe the next brand colour scheme you pick could lead to a huge cultural shift. Designs have a lot more impact on the direction of a story than they are typically given credit for.

Marketing

Stories move and compel so many of us as we like to see parts of ourselves in the protagonists. Good marketers understand that consumers are all following their unique paths. The book "Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing" by Douglas Van Praet. Discusses how one clever marketing tactic is to be the fairy godmother to your customers. Instead of attempting to get money from your customers, you help them achieve goals and satisfy their needs. They have a monster to overcome or a rag-to-riches journey to pursue in their life, and your product is just what they need to reach their end goal. Your only purpose in their story is to be a solution to help them achieve greatness.

One of the best marketing campaigns for creating a strong narrative is John Lewis during the Christmas season in the UK. Thousands will taught about the emotions they felt, the joy they experienced, and the story a short advertisement tells. Yet it's a department store, their advert doesn't shout about any of their products instead they focus on creating a story the audience can feel themselves in, boost brand awareness and get people talking. Sometimes marketers get so caught up in the conversion portion of a marketing funnel they often forget about raising brand awareness.

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If you enjoyed learning all about the seven basic plots and want more design, marketing, and branding knowledge. Check out my blog at jamesnealecreative.com