In service of the myth

David Letterman interviewed Shahrukh Khan for Netflix in an hour long special. And the one thing I took away from watching that was this line from King Khan: ”I’m an employee in service of the myth that is Shahrukh Khan.”

This one sentence pulls all our thoughts on myth and brand building together and neatly wraps them up with a bow. I’d like to look at three ideas around this, ideas we have implemented at Stories time and again:

1. Build a myth, consciously. Myths and legends around brands gather organically over time, but left undirected, they either take too long to form into a coherent shape, or form into shapes you don’t necessarily agree with. Being conscious about myth building, in the way you conduct yourself online and off, is key.

2. Know that all of your employees are in service of the myth that is your brand, not just you.

3. Find ways to step away from the myth every now and then, to evaluate yourself from a distance. Once you’re married to your story, all objectivity dies.

Further, if we circle back to the specific phrasing of Khan’s quote, a few other interesting notes emerge, especially for personality-based brands:

1. He’s not the brand himself: the brand is a mythical construct that exists outside of him and is distinct from who he is. It’s the persona, not the person.

2. He’s not the brand himself: he’s merely the first employee at this enterprise. And with this understanding comes all the responsibility and all the rigour you’d expect of a first employee — hold yourself to that (high) standard.

I find that there’s interestingness and lessons hidden everywhere we look, if we’re looking for them in the first place. Happy myth-building :)