Seth Godin posted Brand as Mythology the other day to explore what makes certain brands more important to people than other brands. Seth asks…

 "..Why do Santa and Ronald McDonald have a mythology but not Dave at Wendy's or the Burger King?"

I thought about this for the last day.  According to Seth Godin:

"…So, if I were trying to invent a mythic brand, I'd want to be sure that there was a story, not just a product or a pile of facts. That story would promise (and deliver) an heroic outcome. And there needs to be growth and mystery as well, so the user can fill in her own blanks. Endorsement by a respected ruler or priest helps as well.

The key word, I think, is spiritual. Mythological brands make a spiritual connection with the user, delivering something that we can't find on our own… or, at the very least, giving us a slate we can use to write our own spirituality on.

People use a Dell. They are an Apple"

We get back to the story …. if the story is heroic enough and presented well - it can become a story people care about, like Google.

Almost sounds like marketers can concentrate on the "story" and forget about marketing and promotion till they get the the story of the product/service they're hired to promote - right.