Every book lover knows the feeling of connecting to a protagonist so deeply that they seem human to you. It’s often the case that certain characters feel more “real” to the audience than others. While some are simply characters, others become our friends or foes who are capable of feeling more "real" than even the person sitting next to us.
Characters aren’t just in books and movies, they can also be used in marketing. It’s just as important to make the main protagonist of a brand story relatable to the audience as it is the main character in a book. They also need to have brand personas in order to have human traits, so people feel they can emotionally connect to them as more than just as customers.
The case of making a brand persona seem human is a little more complicated than your average storybook character. Not only are you making a character seem human, but you are also making a non-human character seem human. A process called anthropomorphism. Another major difference is the lack of a character arc.
While in book and movie storytelling it’s important to develop your character over time, for brands it's best to have a consistent brand persona that’s demonstrated through the narratives you choose.
Finally, brand personas are created with a specific goal in mind, namely to make your brand easier to engage in a positive way. While flaws are a big part of making a human character, with brand marketing, you don't want to highlight those. Despite the added complications, I wanna know your general techniques which can be applied for making your character feel real to your audience.
Usually, some authors themselves act like the character in their stories. They try to perform the part out of a dialogue they have written with great acting skills, (or even with poor acting skills) in order to make their character feel more realistic. However, in my case, I think reading Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is better than writing garbage characters. Oh well, you probably shouldn't be reading this in the first place. Hahaha.
This is one I've picked up from watching studio Ghibli but I imagine the characters bed room.
Example : The character has block colored sheets on the bed, they look unwashed, strong smell upon closer inspection.
Or
Bookshelf with books stacked upright, colours in rbg order, no dust, hard wood bookshelf, all books are the same height.
Then I ask myself, what does this tell me about the character.
Example.
Littered on the bedroom walls are posters of motorcycles.
Question? Is there a helmet in the room, bike keys,
Answer? No keys to be found, lots of surfaces covered by clothes and things that look like food.
Deduction of the character: Leaning to someone who like thrills, probably working a job to save up for a bike or has an old bike that is being fixed up somewhere.
Question; How did he get the bike?
Answer: Let's say he granddad gave to him, and you'll find a picture of him inside the characters wallet.
