Be the Donkey
Everyone wants to be the hero. But in any great story, there’s only room for one. And in the story your brand tells to your customers, you get to choose who the hero is. You? Your brand? Or your customers?
The answer should be obvious.
And the good news is this: every hero has a sidekick. And the sidekick isn’t some throwaway character or comic relief. Look closely at any great story and you’ll realize the plot literally doesn’t move without them. Success doesn’t happen without that supporting force right next to the hero.
Samwise carries Frodo when he can’t keep going. Hermione holds the entire mission together while Harry reacts to everything. And Shrek would still be sulking in a swamp if Donkey didn’t drag him—emotionally and physically—into the journey.
Different characters, same dynamic: the sidekick is the one who carries the story forward. Branding works the same way. You can either be the hero brand or the sidekick brand.
A “hero brand” is the one yelling: “We’re disrupting everything!” “We’re the game changer!” “We’re reinventing the universe!”
They write themselves into the center of the narrative. But people don’t want brands to be the hero. They want brands that support their story. Because everyone is the protagonist of their own life. Our brains filter the world through our own goals, our own challenges, our own arc. When a brand tries to take up that space — to be the hero in the room — it reads as competition. It feels like someone hijacking your scene.
Sidekick brands do the opposite. They show up consistently. They focus on usefulness. They speak like humans instead of billboards. They help the customer succeed. They keep the work grounded in reality.
A sidekick is trusted because it isn’t trying to steal the narrative.
They assist. They enable. They make someone else’s arc possible.
Brands get in trouble when they cast themselves as the protagonist. Everything begins to orbit around their greatness. Marketing becomes performance instead of help. Sidekick brands ask a different question: What weight can we carry that actually helps someone else move forward? That’s where a story gains traction. That’s where trust builds. That’s when people feel seen instead of sold to.
You see it in honest case studies, practical content, user-first UX, customer-led narratives, and messaging that focuses on outcomes instead of ego. Good storytelling isn’t self-celebration. It’s self-positioning. And the smartest place to stand is beside the hero — not in front of them.
Be the donkey. Not the hero. Not the headline. Be the one who carries the story forward.