In the book “A Billion Wicked Thoughts”, a couple engineers decided to analyze internet search data to discover what we really desire.

They came up with 5 archetypes that show up in feminine fantasies:

  1. Surgeon
  2. Pirate
  3. Billionaire
  4. Vampire
  5. Werewolf

The idea is that they all represent a form of untamed masculinity.

I think they also represent 5 brand archetypes.

Consider this quote from Sahil Lavingia (founder of Gumroad): “Every job will be automated until four remain: engineer, entrepreneur, investor, artist.”

Add in the athlete, and you’ve got the modern brand version of the fantasy:

  1. Surgeon = Engineer
  2. Pirate = Entrepreneur
  3. Billionaire = Investor
  4. Vampire = Artist
  5. Werewolf = Athlete

But what makes them brands? In my head, I picture Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “come with me if you want to live, but adapted to each of these as brand promises:

  1. Engineer: “come with me if you want solutions.”
  2. Entrepreneur: “come with me if you want freedom.”
  3. Investor: “come with me if you want compounding value.”
  4. Artist: “come with me if you want beauty.”
  5. Werewolf: “come with me if you want protection.”

Leaning in to your brand promise means less process, and more product.

  1. Engineer: less tech talk, more “my product/service solves X”
  2. Entrepreneur: less hype, more new possibilities available
  3. Investor: less percentages, more legacy
  4. Werewolf: less gym sessions, more bradley.thor chopping wood

(Artists don’t need this advice, because they already get it: go to a musician’s page, and you won’t see them posting practicing with a metronome or Zoom sessions with their coach or page 23 of their music theory book. Just clips of the beauty of their finished work.)

So, what’s your brand?