Daredevil gets this right. Does your marketing?

Daredevil is on fire.

Marvel’s newest superhero show is the top-rated series on Netflix.

Unlike The Avengers and Marvel’s other movie epics, the small-screen Daredevil isn’t out to save the entire world.

He is out to save his world — Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.

The series uses small settings to deliver high emotion. We see Matt Murdock’s emergence as a superhero, and the challenges he and his friends Karen Page and Foggy Nelson must take on as they try to bring down the local crime boss, Wilson Fisk.

As I watched Daredevil I thought of The Sopranos, because that’s how good Marvel’s show is.

Like The Sopranos, the stories are dark and emotional. Also like The Sopranos, the violence is gratuitous, though Daredevil uses more hand-to-hand (and foot-to-head) violence than Tony and his cronies, who often preferred the lethal efficiency of a gun.

But Daredevil does something The Sopranos never did, and it’s a reminder to marketers as we craft the stories about our companies and customers.

Daredevil is filled with characters that reflect the best parts of ourselves. We can like and root for them because, we can see our best selves in the characters’ story arcs.

Murdock, Nelson, and Page are flawed. They are realistic. And they inspire with their ideals and willingness to take on a noble struggle.

In contrast, was there a single character in The Sopranos you would want to hang out with? The characters were either narcissistic psychopaths, or if not, they were sad hangers-on. Characters who were not committing violent crimes, like Tony’s wife, Carmela Soprano, lived in denial in the name of creature comforts. They ignored the horrific realities of mob life so they could enjoy the fruits of the evil acts of others.

That always bothered me. No one fought for a noble cause. There was no one to inspire me or to root for. Not even the FBI agents.

The Sopranos reminded us about the worst in ourselves. Our abilities to hurt, to live in denial, to be selfish.

I believe the writers crafted the characters that way on purpose, as a statement about living a life of crime and violence.

We see plenty of negative messages and scare tactics in marketing messages. As you tell your marketing stories, as you craft your sales message, can your customers see a better version of themselves? Can they see themselves as the hero in your story?

Those are the marketing stories that shine.

Tell stories that inspire. Make sure customers can see the best of themselves, a better story arc for their future, in your message.

Help customers believe in themselves and they will believe in you.

Originally published at www.linkedin.com on May 28, 2015.