The Futur with Chris Do – Ep 372

Episode Title: Building Blockbuster Brands (w/ Greg Logan)
Date: August 16, 2025
Guests: Greg Logan (Founder, Narativity); Host – Chris Do

Overview

In this episode, Chris Do sits down with Greg Logan, a globally renowned brand storyteller and founder of Narativity, to unpack the science, artistry, and practical frameworks behind building “blockbuster” brands. Drawing inspiration from Hollywood and the hero’s journey, Greg shares how brands can transcend clichés, meaninglessly rational messaging, and corporate sameness—crafting emotionally engaging, memorable stories that drive business success. The episode is filled with actionable advice, live brand story demos, and a refreshingly candid tone.

Main Themes & Purpose

• Translating Hollywood Storytelling to Business: Logan explains how Hollywood’s most successful story formulas (e.g., the hero’s journey) can transform brand narratives, fostering emotional connection and engagement.
• Fixing Corporate Brand Messaging: They explore why most brands sound generic, are self-centered, and fail to resonate—and how to fix it.
• Actionable Frameworks: From the “quest formula” to defining a unique tone of voice, discover repeatable steps for organizations to create stories people want to remember and share.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Most Brand Storytelling Fails

• Self-centered messaging: Brands focus too much on themselves, not the customer.
• Reliance on facts over emotion: Facts alone trigger minimal engagement, while stories light up all areas of the brain, leading to empathy, memorability, and positive association.
• Overuse of clichés: Words like “trust,” “innovation,” and “authentic” are noise, making brands indistinguishable.

Quote:
“If you are not the hero, your business is not the hero. Your customers...are the heroes of their own lives. They have a quest. If you can stop talking about yourself and show them how you help them achieve their quest, then you become invaluable to them.”
— Greg Logan, [41:17]

2. The Hollywood Framework: Hero’s Journey for Brands

• Hero’s journey: Logan explains Joseph Campbell’s 12-step monomyth and how Hollywood blockbusters (e.g., Star Wars, Lord of the Rings) leverage it for emotional engagement and financial success ([05:03]–[06:49]).
• Adapting for brands: While businesses don’t have 2 hours to tell stories, Logan translates these story beats to websites (e.g., triggering hero’s journey beats on a homepage).

Quote:
“The most financially successful [stories] use the hero’s journey…the ones that stick in our memories, the most loved, the all-time blockbuster list.”
— Greg Logan, [06:26]

3. The “Quest” Formula: Making Your Audience Care

• Formula structure:
  • What do you do?
  • Who do you do it for?
  • What value do you add to their lives?
• Key insight: Start with the audience (“the hero”), not yourself.
• Examples:
  • “Lord of the Rings: Save Middle Earth by destroying the one ring.”
  • For a hospice: “Ensuring people have their best death possible.”
• Live demonstration: Greg helps Chris Do refine The Futur’s quest, landing on variations like:
  • “Empowering entrepreneurs to express their creative gift.” ([25:06])

Quotes:
“Imagine if you can create a quest like the movies where your audience wants to see it achieved and they’re going to hang around for it. It’s so powerful.”
— Greg Logan, [15:50]

4. Surfacing and Crafting Unique Brand Stories

• Methodology:
  • Intensive, collaborative workshops (all stakeholders present) to co-create the narrative.
  • Use of genre (27 types) to define brand story style.
  • Testing story resonance live—proceeding only if clients respond with “goosebumps, hell yeah.”
• Pitfall: Most companies are too close to their own story and need outside perspective.

Quote:
“My most difficult client is me... It’s so hard when you are close to it to see what is great about you and what is great about you in the eyes of your audience.”
— Greg Logan, [12:30]

5. Creating a Distinctive Tone of Voice

• Banished words: “Trust,” “authentic,” “solution,” “journey,” etc.
• Process:
  • Limit brands to three unique personality traits—words, not values—that can be heard in communication.
  • Metaphor-driven tones, e.g., “We pack lightly” (luxury hotel deals), “We speak with a wink” (betting), “Sound like home” (Qantas).
  • Short, sharp copy with attitude/humor/clarity.
• Example re-writes:
  • Before: “We have significantly better deals than anyone else online for your weekend getaways.”
  • After: “Five star empty beds, 80% off. Don’t overthink it.” ([35:59]–[38:22])

Quote:
“The more you use [corporate cliches], and everyone uses them, no one doubts them when they’re creating them... But as an audience, you hear them again and again... you just sound like everyone else.”
— Greg Logan, [30:05]

6. Making Brand Messaging Memorable and Repeatable

• Keep it simple, emotional, and repeatable: Overcomplicating with jargon or aspirational word salads kills memorability and shareability.
• Repeatable stories: Employees and customers should easily retell the core brand quest/message.
• Advice: Ban corporate clichés; dare to be bold, humorous, or vulnerable; use word choice for clarity and character.

7. Overcoming Common Marketing Mistakes

Three Top Mistakes:

1. Talking about yourself, not the customer.
2. Being overly rational—neglecting emotional connection.
3. Sounding like everyone else—using corporate clichés.

(See powerful checklist-style quote below)

Quote:
“The three biggest mistakes: they talk about themselves, they sound so rational, and they talk—they sound like everybody else.”
— Greg Logan, [44:07]

8. Personal Application & Vulnerability

• Logan’s own struggle: Even expert storytellers are “too close” to their own tale.
• His personal tone: “Brutally honest, engaging, and packs a punch” ([44:17]–[46:04])

Quote:
“I have a tougher time with me than anyone else. Like we all do. Because we’re too close to it.”
— Greg Logan, [46:27]

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On the hero’s journey:
  “Every movie has 12 steps, 12 beats that they are true to. It’s a proven formula to keep us engaged.” — Greg Logan [05:03]
• On factual vs. emotional messaging:
  “When you just talk facts, if you tell messages just with facts, it triggers two parts of your brain. If you tell messages with a story, it lights up all four parts.” — Greg Logan [07:19]
• On quest-driven brands:
  “The quest for Finding Nemo is Find Nemo... And I often use that with clients as well—sometimes we don’t need to fill it out because it’s so simple and big.” — Greg Logan [15:47]
• Live brand quest for The Futur:
  “Empowering entrepreneurs to express their creative gift.” — Chris Do & Greg Logan [25:06]
• On tone of voice:
  “So with this client... they are luxury hotel deals, online deals... We got to three personality traits that were worldly, witty, and unfussy... And for them... our voice sounds like we pack lightly and instantly.” — Greg Logan [33:03]
• Advice for everyone:
  “Try it yourself and see what happens, and you’ll see how difficult it is. So a lot of people get this messed up... People write long mission statements... There’s no meaning in it.” — Chris Do [26:22]
• On business books:
  “With my packs a punch tone of voice, I’ve just left in the stuff that really makes a difference. And it’s a workbook, so you come out with really tangible stuff that you can use on your business.” — Greg Logan [47:27]

Practical Frameworks Shared

1. The Quest Formula:
   • Audience first: “Who are they?”
   • Value: “What change or outcome do you deliver?”
   • Action: “Keep message big, bold, and simple.”
2. Three Trait Tone of Voice: Choose 3 distinct personality traits—make it heard in all comms.
3. Ban List: Eliminate “journey,” “trust,” “innovation,” etc.; find fresh, category-defying language.
4. Workshop Process: Real-time collaborative sessions, testing for authentic “goosebumps.”

Useful Resources & Calls to Action

• Greg’s Book: Creating a Blockbuster Brand ([47:27])
• Storytelling Quiz & Free Chapter (“Quest”): storytellingquiz.com ([48:30])
• Book Website: blockbusterbrands.com ([48:30])

Natural Flow & Tone

The conversation is witty, fast-paced, and jargon-busting. Both Chris Do and Greg Logan model curiosity, humility, and playfulness, while mixing deep expertise with practical, real-world advice. Logan’s Aussie candor and knack for snappy, human language shines, making even daunting exercises like rewriting your “mission” feel achievable and vital.

For Listeners (Takeaways)

• Ditch corporate jargon and make your customer the hero.
• Use frameworks borrowed from blockbuster movies to design brand messaging that hooks, delights, and lasts.
• Keep it simple, emotional, and radically different—test everything for resonance, not just committee consensus.
• Try Greg’s quiz or book for deeper DIY guidance.

Key Segment Timestamps

• [02:31] – How movies apply the hero’s journey and why it works
• [09:59] – Story vs. facts in communication
• [15:45] – Constructing the “quest” for a brand + live demo
• [30:05] – Banned words and what to say instead
• [35:36] – Translating tone of voice into message copy
• [44:07] – Top three marketing mistakes
• [47:27] – Book and actionable resources

This episode is a must-listen for entrepreneurs, brand builders, and marketers who want to harness the power of timeless storytelling—making their brand a blockbuster.

End of Summary