The Quest for a Great Brand-How to Discover Your Brand Personality, Part Two

THE QUEST FOR A GREAT BRAND PART TWO

H O W TO

D I S C O V E R

YO U R

BRAND.PERSONALITY

CONTENTS 3 4 8

PART TWO OF THE QUEST DEFINING BRAND PERSONALITY ——Why it is Important ——What Makes Engagement Meaningful ——Emotion Helps Us Remember

THE 12 MAJOR ARCHETYPES ——Archetypes Wheel ——The Archetype for Your Company

ATTRIBUTES 14 —CORE —Two Real Examples VALUES 16 —CORE —Two Corresponding Examples MESSAGING AND VOICE 18 —BRAND —How to be Irresistible

2

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

PART TWO OF THE QUEST FOR A GREAT BRAND In our first ebook, we described the merits of Brand Positioning.

Brand Positioning focuses on understanding your company in relation to your marketplace through Seven Core Features and developing a strategy to maximize your performance.

The next step, which we will uncover in this ebook, is discovering your Brand Personality.

Br a

Value Prop + Points-ofDifference

Typography

nd Target Market + Stakeholders

Color Palette

Key Products or Services

YOUR BRAND

Style

ing ion sit Po

Bran d Id en tit y

Mission + Vision

Key Competitors Logo

Core Attributes

Tone + Messaging Values

Personality

Brand Personality 3

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

BRAND PERSONALITY IS IMPORTANT...

Brand personality is how a company expresses and represents itself in its interactions with employees and customers. While a company is not a person, it has a distinct character and culture, as well as a unique voice and tone in its communications.

You may have seen how great advertising appeals to a customer’s values and makes an emotional connection with the buyer. Well, not only is brand personality significant in figuring out which customers to target in a business-to-customer (B2C) relationship, but it is also vital in business-to-business (B2B) success.

Honing in the customers’ values that parallel with your brand personality builds trust and appeal.

Today, companies are increasingly being defined by their interactions, how they represent themselves, and their relationships, whether it is with customers or other businesses.

4

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

...IT INFLUENCES THE CUSTOMER What makes an engagement meaningful and memorable is accessed through the power of a clear, strong and unique brand personality.

When a customer walks into a grocery store or a mall, hundreds of options are immediately vying for attention. There might be 10 kinds of allergy eye drops or 20 kinds of olive oil, all with similar ingredients, packaging and promises. The sheer amount of choices is something that all of us are used to.

The question is, what makes us decide which to grab off the shelf?

Memorable brands are what helps us narrow down our choices.

We often make split-second decisions based on things we’ve heard or remember about a brand. Memorable brands are those that resonate with our own sensibilities. We relate to the product or service through the brand voice and personality.

When it comes to professional services, especially A/E/C, their offerings are often commoditized. It’s imperative that these service companies define a true brand personality to distinguish themselves from competitors.

5

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

EMOTION HELPS US REMEMBER Studies have shown that our memories are deeply interconnected with our emotions; strong emotions help us remember significant events in our lives.

Tapping into the emotional aspects that a product or service plays into the buyers’ choice can be powerful.

Whether it is “this service is the most reliable” or “this product will make me look terrific,” buyers will assign subjective and perceived traits to brands based on their memories, which accounts for a significant part of the buying decision.

“The emotion behind the ’why’ is often more powerful than the actual business idea.”

—Ann Rimmer, UppB2B

6

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

PERCEIVED TRAITS OF A BRAND CAN ACCOUNT FOR A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE BUYING DECISION.

7

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

AN INTRODUCTION TO:

12 MAJOR ARCHETYPES So how do you create a personality for your brand? As a person, we don’t necessarily make a conscious choice for our personality, but as a brand we get to choose.

Surveys of hundreds of thousands of people have shown that all the strongest and most memorable brands (Nike, Intel, Disney, Apple and many more) all have personality traits and adjectives associated with them.

Smart brand strategists draw from the 12 major archetypes created by Carl Jung, a well-known Swiss psychotherapist who studied human consciousness. Jung isolated the 12 archetypes to represent all basic human motivation and behavior. Each of us has at least one of these 12 archetypes in our personalities.

By knowing which archetypes best represent your target customers, you can determine what motivates them to purchase your product or service.

8

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

12 Archetypes Details & Brand Promises INNOCENT

REBEL

REPRESENTS: sense of renewal, lack of deception or corruption, optimism

REPRESENTS: social change/revolution, new perspectives, fresh awakening

CORE DESIRE: be free, happy, uncomplicated

CORE DESIRE: be different, reject status quo

BRAND PROMISE: inner peace, acceptance, virtuosity, openness, clarity

BRAND PROMISE: fresh, unconventional, bold, aspirational, alternative

SAGE

HERO

REPRESENTS: discovery of information, openmindedness, growth through enlightenment

REPRESENTS: struggle to overcome the odds, courage, triumph over adversity

CORE DESIRE: search for knowledge, truth

CORE DESIRE: prove worth through self-sacrifice

BRAND PROMISE: learning, cognitive fulfillment, wisdom, understanding, thought

BRAND PROMISE: bravery, determination, aim for success, overcome challenge, inner strength

EXPLORER

MAGICIAN

REPRESENTS: embrace new experiences, risktaking, push boundaries

REPRESENTS: understanding of the world through different lenses, inspire/influence others

CORE DESIRE: discover new things, adventure

CORE DESIRE: make dreams into reality

BRAND PROMISE: freedom, embark on a journey, new experiences, self-discovery, autonomy

BRAND PROMISE: imaginative, transformative, clever, dynamic, charismatic, influential

CREATOR

EVERYMAN

REPRESENTS: passion for exceptional work and innovation, achievement-oriented

REPRESENTS: “regular guy,” dependability, down-to-earth relatability and integrity

CORE DESIRE: authentic self-expression

CORE DESIRE: be a part of something, fit in

BRAND PROMISE: experimental, inventive, innovative, unique, tasteful

BRAND PROMISE: neighborly, fair, responsible, community-oriented, unity, accountability

RULER

LOVER

REPRESENTS: leadership, responsibility, need for order/stability

REPRESENTS: appreciation for beauty, devotion, passion and attraction

CORE DESIRE: feel powerful, in control

CORE DESIRE: experience pleasure

BRAND PROMISE: royalty, privilege, dignity, quality, status, tradition

BRAND PROMISE: closeness/intimacy, aesthetic, passionate, blissful, luxury, sensual

CAREGIVER

JESTER

REPRESENTS: altruism and compassion

REPRESENTS: embrace of the moment, surprise, lightheartedness

CORE DESIRE: care for others BRAND PROMISE: nurturing, caring, service, generous, protective, safe, optimistic, sympathetic, patient

9

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

CORE DESIRE: enjoy life, seize the day BRAND PROMISE: carefree, mischievous, joyful, entertaining, playful, irreverent, humorous

Archetypes Wheel

O R ER L P EX

tri

HE u

sup port

REG

ful i belong

ng

am gl

N IVER EVERYMA

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

LO

wi t h e th r s a g an ro d up

E

play

r

CA

ili spo R ty n to sib th ilit ew y o r an d ld

10

er

ou

po

L RU

R

O it , b b ha sta t, or ng mf idi Co rov p

ER

D

JES TE R

ion ovat

simpli city

inn

ry visiona

OR CREAT

t

w

re

AN GICI MA

ph

k n ow

e dg e l

dom revolutio n free

m

INNOC EN T

SA

Pe r

E

RO

G

REBE L

N UN a G IT tio sing IN Y ns o G

w es t t

r

qu

fo

VE R

IN A D C so na H IV a n l g IE d ro

h

e sir de ld E G nd or N re s a t h e w tu o n k ar

R is k to -tak CH lea in A ve g, a m ven

L T ce UA EN ndenl ID EM epe dea V , ind the i

M M O CO EL s, ple c B t ie n e n ial co c So king ma

HOW DO YOU DETERMINE

YOUR COMPANY’S ARCHETYPES? On our archetype wheel, the 12 archetypes are placed on the Four Cardinal Motivations, which define the four basic drivers of each archetype. For example: A Ruler is most motivated by the need to establish power through exercising responsibility and providing stability.

Determining the archetype can be challenging, especially if the leaders of the company have different ideas of what the company should ideally be. An open discussion about the 12 types of archetypes and emphasis on a few of the company’s most important traits can help focus the personality of the brand and narrow down the choices.

While it’s best to centralize your company around one or two archetypes, personality traits can be taken from multiple archetypes to best define your company’s attributes.

This information will help determine your customer base.

Essentially, your company’s archetype will fit your customers’ archetype.

Determining which archetype(s) your brand represents will have a powerful effect on your brand’s relatability and influence in the marketplace.

11

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

INVESTING YOUR TIME TO DEFINE

ARCHETYPES PAYS OFF The book, Archetypes in Branding by Hartwell and Chen has wonderful succinct explanations of how archetypes can help build your brand.

Archetypes will…

☑

define company personality

☑

focus communications

☑

improve company cultural integrity

☑

uncover previously unidentified roadblocks

☑

enhance trust with customers

☑

create emotional bridges with the customer

☑

facilitate authenticity in interactions

“A 2000 study by Y&R and Stern Stewart showed that the strength of a brand identity’s archetypal association positively influenced the company’s real asset valuation by 66%.”

—Hartwell and Chen

12

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

A BRAND’S ARCHETYPAL ASSOCIATION POSITIVELY INFLUENCED A COMPANY’S REAL ASSET VALUATION

13

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

CORE ATTRIBUTES Core attributes are adjectives derived from the 12 archetypes and are used to describe your company and their employees.

The core attributes of a brand are features that highlight the positive qualities of your company, its characteristics and basic nature. They anchor your business behind commonly held beliefs and commitments.

Core attributes should be formed with these following characteristics:

☑

match brand positioning

☑ relevant ☑ consistent ☑ sustainable ☑ inspirational ☑ appealing These behavioral traits guide how the organization approaches everything it does.

On the next page are two samples of core attributes from prominent companies that can help you form your own.

14

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE: COMMERCIAL GENERAL CONTRACTOR INTEGRITY: We take responsibility for all of our actions.

HONESTY: We have the courage to always face the truth.

DEDICATION: We put our clients’ objectives first in our minds and actions.

COLLABORATIVE: We have a genuine desire to share our knowledge and experience with those who want it.

COMMITMENT: We honor our values and live by these core attributes.

PRODUCT MANUFACTURER: PROBIOTIC INDUSTRIAL CLEANERS PIONEERING: We believe we are forward-thinkers and dedicated to paving the way for advancing the “new clean.”

ETHICAL: We are honest in all of our dealings. We treat each other with courtesy and respect.

INTEGRITY: We do what we say and say what we do.

INNOVATIVE/TECHNOLOGICALLY-DRIVEN: We use our experience and intelligence to find the best solutions for our customers.

COLLABORATIVE: We share our knowledge through open communication between our team and our customers.

COMMITMENT: We honor our values, are dedicated to our company’s success and stand by our core values.

15

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

CORE VALUES Values are what differentiate your company and serve as underlying themes for all your communications. They are key beliefs and definitive actions that your company takes in its interactions and relationship. Values are different from attributes in that they are actions that drive your company, instead of merely describing it.

Nowadays, employees are increasingly looking for a deeper sense of meaning in their careers. Values are able to unify a company by encouraging employees and giving them something to stand by and take pride in.

“Gallup researchers studied the differences in performance between engaged and actively disengaged work units and found that those scoring in the top half on employee engagement nearly doubled their odds of success compared with those in the bottom half.� —Gallup

16

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

These same two companies shown below have clearly defined values.

• SAFETY • LIMIT RISK • HIGH STANDARDS/QUALITY • HONESTY, INTEGRITY, HIGH MORALS • OPEN MANAGEMENT • EMPLOYEES

• ETHICAL (HIGH) • HONEST/INTEGRITY (HIGH) • LOYALTY/TRUSTWORTHINESS • INTELLIGENCE • SENSE OF HUMOR • FAMILY • SUSTAINABLE • EXCELLENCE • PASSION

17

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

BRAND MESSAGING AND VOICE Your brand personality is reflected primarily by your brand messaging, which consists of the voice and tone you use to connect with your target audience. Your ideal brand messaging is created at the intersection of your archetypal association, values and attributes must align well with your target audience’s archetype.

BRAND VOICE Your voice is the consistent and purposeful expression of your point-of-view and your values, all of which forms the personality of your brand.

Archetype

BRAND TONE If messaging is WHAT you say, then tone is HOW you say it — your style and attitude. Tone is to messaging what design and color are to visual branding.

Values + Attributes

18

Brand Personality

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

Messaging

HOW TO CRAFT YOUR BRAND VOICE After picking the archetype(s) to personify your brand, you’ll end up with a number of adjectives to describe its personality.

Dig deeper, or brainstorm with team members to come up with more words and phrases that further clarify those personality traits. Draw from your core values, attributes, mission, vision and value proposition.

Your target audience determines the style of messaging that most resonates with them. Are they more likely to respond to witty, sarcastic, serious, authoritative, playful or reflective messaging?

Think of the celebrity or fictional character who would be the perfect spokesperson for your brand—who would it be and why?

This exercise helps you narrow the style and attitude that will connect well with your audience.

19

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

BE IRRESISTIBLE. When your brand messaging is crafted correctly, it will make your target audience’s ears perk up, they will sit up and take notice.

When you have determined your archetype and understood your ideal customer’s archetype, you will be able to compose messaging that attracts them to your brand.

For example, if your brand’s archetype is the Everyman, your brand would benefit from messaging that is down-to-earth, welcoming, neighborly and inclusive.

On the other hand, if your brand’s archetype is the Ruler, your voice would instead express stability, tradition and dignity in every correspondence.

customer brand

20

The connection of like-mindedness is the first step to a lasting and meaningful customer-to-brand relationship.

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? Over halfway there! Now that we’ve gone over Brand Positioning and Brand Personality strategies, you’ll be able to set the stage for the final step in getting A Great Brand.

Our next ebook will show you how to utilize all the behindthe-scenes brainstorming you’ve done into creating your unique Brand Identity.

Ready to explore how to personify your brand?

Get a complimentary consultation from our brand experts. Just call us.

760-729-8205

Contact Us

21

The Quest for a Great Brand Part 2: Brand Personality

Our success is built upon a foundation of brand strategy, marketing and creative design that helps B2B companies reach their business goals. Located near the Pacific Ocean, we stand as a beacon of intelligent design, where creativity is right at home.

2 0 5 5 We s t w o o d D r i v e , C a r l s b a d , C A 9 2 0 0 8 76 0 . 7 2 9. 8 2 0 5 | h e l l o @w e a r e c o m e t . c o m wearecomet.com san diego

|

los angeles