HARRY POTTER STORYTELLING: JK ROWLING MASTERCLASS

Morning!

The sun is screaming through the window. Lewis Capaldi is softly playing in the background. I’ve got my headphones on, noise cancellation switched on, but Lewis Capaldi… he somehow still creeps through.

I’ve spent the last few hours studying one of the best storytellers to ever live.

I’ve been obsessed with storytelling for the last 3-4 years. Not because I want to be the next Stephen King, but because I want to be the next David Ogilvy.

I think the best way to get better at marketing is to study the greats in every field, then come back and apply it to marketing.

And storytelling happens to apply very very nicely.

So get your tea brewed and your legs up, because you’re about to get a storytelling masterclass from JK Rowling.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the audio version of the breakdown HERE

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO VERSION

BREAKING DOWN THE STRATEGY

I recently read a line from Morgan Housel that has haunted me for weeks…

Oof.

That line sits deep in my brain and constantly reminds me how important storytelling is in marketing.

Over the last 3 years, I’ve spent 1000s of hours honing my storytelling and applying it to business & marketing. Yet still, I feel like there is an endless amount more for me to learn.

So this Saturday, I sat down to study one of the best storytellers of all time - JK Rowling.

Few people know this, but JK Rowling has a full 3-part video series where she breaks down her writing process and gives some amazing storytelling tips.

I was shocked when I found it.

I’d never heard of it before and I’m not sure many people have - they literally only have 60,000 views.

This is a woman who:

• Sold 600M+ copies of her books.

• Made billions from her stories.

• Hooked an entire planet.

Yet everyone is overlooking these.

So, I spent a few hours working my way through them. Absorbing the key points, then mapping out how they apply to marketing.

Here are 4 lessons on storytelling from JK Rowling:
(Plus, how you can apply them in marketing)

Lesson 1: Craft Around Characters

JK Rowling obsesses over characters. It’s what she bases her entire books around.

Not on what happens in the story, but WHO is in the story.

When she does character development she says she, “Pulls on the thread” until their whole life story unravels.

She will map out:

• Their upbringing.

• Their relationships with family.

• How they feel in certain situations.

All before even writing a word of the actual book. That’s how much emphasis she puts on her characters.

And the same emphasis should go on the characters in your business stories.

Just think about any major organisation right now, they all have key characters that drive the brand story:

• Steve Jobs → Apple

• Elon Musk → Tesla

• Mark Zuckerberg → Meta

• Ben Francis → GymShark

• Steven Bartlett → Social Chain

These aren’t just founders or operators - they are characters that people love or hate the company for.

This is why using founder stories is so key in marketing nowadays.

Would anyone know Social Chain without Steven? No.

That’s because characters make stories - just like JK Rowling said.

Lesson 2: Build A World, Then Craft The Story

Too many people sit down to write business or founder stories, without ever mapping out the world that business or founder sits in.

They expect to sit down and write this beautiful transformation story from scratch. Then they’re confused when it flops on social media, or doesn't hit home with their audience.

The reality is, if you want to write a great story, you have to build a world first.

In one of her interviews, JK Rowling says that for one of the characters in her new crime thriller books, she has written “An entire backstory” on his mother that she will probably never use in the books.

She even described it as a “Biography” - which is crazy to think that she wrote a book on one of the characters’ mothers (who is dead in the story).

But she didn’t write this biography to use in her story, it’s solely there to help her craft the wider story.

It sounds like a long way of doing things, but you should follow the same concept when writing business stories.

When we take on clients at RB, we sit down with them and record a 1 hour-long interview. We dive deep into the low points of their journey, their biggest wins, and the people affected by their success (or mistakes).

Many clients get emotional during those calls, but they are so key to craft any great story.

Because without the back story, without that world that they build - it’s impossible to pick out the key moments to craft a story around.

Lesson 3: Focus On Conflict & Resolution

One of my favourite quotes on storytelling comes from the writer of ‘The Social Network’ - Aaron Sorkin, he said:

He says that the best stories start with a character who has an intention and the story should be about them trying to get around the obstacle in their way.

Rowling talks about this more simply as “Conflict & resolution”.

There is some sort of conflict (i.e. Harry Potter Vs Voldemort) and everyone tunes in to see how that conflict will get resolved.

But this doesn’t just apply to fiction stories, again it perfectly applies to our marketing too.

Some of the most effective ads of all time follow this formula.

Take Nike’s “Dream Crazier” ad for example.

It currently has 1.8+ million views on YouTube and 10s of millions of views across other channels.

How does it start?
↳ With conflict.

The first scene is a woman crying with the narrator saying, “If we show emotion, we’re called dramatic.”

It establishes conflict - people pushing women down.

Then the rest of the ad captures athletes overcoming (resolving) that conflict.

The same storytelling tricks used by Rowling, applied to create one of the most-watched Nike ads of all time.

Lesson 4: Use The Hero’s Journey

Where most people go wrong when it comes to using storytelling in their marketing is they forget they are not the hero.

In JK Rowling’s case, for example, the hero in her Harry Potter books is of course… Harry Potter.

We watch how Harry goes on this journey from getting called to action and told he is a wizard, to finding mentors, honing his craft and eventually defeating his enemy.

All while becoming an entirely different person and going on this transformation journey.

Beautiful storytelling.

The issue is, most brands think they are the Harry Potter of the story.

But what you need to be doing, is using that ‘Hero’s Journey’ formula to describe the journey your customers will go on while working with you.

Dove does this perfectly with their “Real Beauty” campaign.

They position their customers as the heroes who start by struggling with the way they look. Then by using Dove (the guide) they develop self-acceptance and become more and more confident.

They copy how JK Rowling develops a hero, but make that hero your customers.

You should do this too.

 🌱 THE GREENHOUSE

Things I’ve saved this week that are worth seeing:

• JK Rowling On Writing. (See here)

• My new favourite storytelling pod. (See here)

TL;DR

Lesson 1: Craft Around Characters
Lesson 2: Build A World, Then Craft The Story
Lesson 3: Focus On Conflict & Resolution
Lesson 4: Use The Hero’s Journey

I am still in shock that more people haven’t come across those JK Rowling videos.

She’s easily one of the best storytellers of all time and it’s almost sad that no one cares enough to go and watch them.

But hey, hopefully, this breakdown brought you the key lessons from them - while also giving you some marketing gems.

If you did find this interesting, why not send this to a friend?

I appreciate it :)

Until next Sunday.

— Niall

WAIT… BEFORE YOU GO

If you’ve read this far, why not see how else I can help you:

• Follow me on Twitter for more marketing stuff.

• Connect with me on LinkedIn to follow my business journey.

• Want to work with me? Start HERE.

THAT’S ALL!

This has been a breakdown of JK Rowling’s Storytelling. I hope you have learned something and can implement a similar strategy in your business!

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