Schitt’s Creek: How to Write Relatable Characters into Your B2B Marketing Campaigns

It’s easy to think of the people in your ad as characters that exist in those 15 seconds alone. But you can create a stronger bond with your brand by focusing on what those characters are like outside those fifteen seconds. But creating multi-dimensional characters is easier said than done. 

This week, we’re taking a page out of “Schitt’s Creek.” We’re exploring the roles of relationships, flaws, and real-life experiences in relatable character building for your B2B marketing.

About “Schitt’s Creek”

“Schitt’s Creek” is a Canadian TV sitcom created, written and executive produced by Dan Levy and his father Eugene Levy. The show aired from 2015 - 2020 and starred Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Annie Murphy and Dan Levy.

The story follows the wealthy and privileged Rose family, who suddenly find themselves broke after their business manager was convicted of fraud. The IRS stripped the Rose family of all of their assets, except one: the small town of Schitt’s Creek, which they had only purchased as a joke years earlier.

What B2B Companies Can Learn From “Schitt’s Creek”: 

• Find inspiration from real-life experiences. “Relatability” is a subjective term – some people might relate to certain things, while others might shudder at them. But there’s no better shortcut to capturing your audience’s attention than drawing from actual experiences. Schitt’s Creek was inspired by the lives of the ultra rich, particularly families like the Kardashians. They even drew inspiration from actress Kim Basinger, who once bought a small town in Georgia – only to go bankrupt. But the emotional core of “Schitt’s Creek” was something very personal to Dan Levy: his own personal experience of coming out. When describing writing the show, Dan puts it better than we ever could: “I just wanted to write something that I had experienced, and that people could relate to.”
• Reveal your characters’ flaws. Don’t make them too perfect. Exposing the full spectrum of human traits makes it that much easier for your audience to say, “Oh, I’ve done that before,” or “I’ve felt that way before.” Like how self-absorbed the Roses are, the sibling bickering between David and Alexis, and Moira’s detachment from those around her. But it’s also balanced by authentic emotional journeys for each one of them through the six seasons. So by the end of the show, they’re all much closer, much more likable human beings. A complex, real person includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. 
• Develop relationships between characters. Give them depth by exploring the dynamics with other cast members. Close characters may have nicknames for each other while others may have unsettled drama. By giving them a past and a future, you’re extending their believability past the ad itself. From David and Stevie being frenemies to Alexis and Mutt’s romance, the ever-shifting interpersonal ties explore universal themes like love and friendship that anyone can relate to. Look at how Zendesk highlighted their customer relationships  through this ad styled like the couples interviews in When Harry Met Sally. Or at how Adobe showed the relationships among people in their supply chain. By doing so, the characters and world they exist in feel a lot more realistic and multi-dimensional.

Key Quotes

*”[The Roses] exaggerate and accentuate some of the traits that we can find in ourselves. Like some of the things they say are the things we do. We're like, ‘Ooh, I've done this before.’ In a way they're very human. And I think you see all their flaws and how they interact with each other, like the brother-sister relationship, the mom-son relationship. I think we can relate a lot to those moments and it makes it funny.” - Gwen Lafage

*”When David Rose becomes friends with Stevie and they have this frenemy relationship, you're just like, ‘We have all been there,’ where you're a stranger in a new place and you need to make a friend, and there's one other person who, it turns out, is kind of like you, and maybe you don't like him at first, and then you grow to be friends together. And I feel like it's just such a part of the human condition to be an outsider. And they've never been outsiders in their entire life. And so when you are an outsider and you just get that first friend, it matters so much. You can see those friendships matter more to them than all the money that they used to have.” - Ian Faison

Time Stamps

[1:32] Tell me more about Schitt’s Creek

[3:06] How did Dan Levy come up with the idea for Schitt’s Creek?

[5:37] What makes Schitt’s Creek characters relatable?

[9:35] How does the planning behind the six seasons set up the characters for an authentic emotional journey?

[15:58] How do you make B2B content relatable through your characters

[20:34] Examples of relatable characters in B2B marketing campaigns

[28:06] How to build out a character’s story to make them feel real

[30:58] What have we learned about using relatable characters in B2B marketing?

Links

Watch Schitt’s Creek

Look at how Zendesk highlighted their customer relationships

Check out how Adobe showed the relationships among people in their supply chain

About Remarkable!

Remarkable! is created by the team at Caspian Studios, the premier B2B Podcast-as-a-Service company. Caspian creates both non-fiction and fiction series for B2B companies. If you want a fiction series check out our new offering - The Business Thriller - Hollywood style storytelling for B2B. Learn more at CaspianStudios.com. 

In today’s episode, you heard from Ian Faison (CEO of Caspian Studios), Dane Eckerle (Head of Development), Colin Stamps (Podcast Launch Manager), Anagha Das (B2B Content Marketing Manager), and Meredith O’Neil (Senior Producer). Remarkable was produced this week by Meredith O’Neil, mixed by Scott Goodrich, and our theme song is “Solomon” by FALAK. 

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