Defining Your Brand's Identity

Picture this: a room full of marketing managers are discussing the launch of a new product.

They have studied their demographics, they have the results of test panels and market research in their hands. They have formulated personas and thought up a bunch of preconceptions about who is going to buy this. And still they have no idea if their strategy will work. Why?

Because a product doesn’t choose it’s customers. It’s the other way around.

Customers choose services and products and there is an increasing insight in how this mechanism works. People have two ways in which they manifest choice, let’s say a supermarket. The first process is rational. People look and compare prices and think of recommendations from others. Pieces of advertising, a picture, a slogan, a jingle will spring to mind. This makes only for a small part in the decision making process.

The biggest part happens emotionally. Buyers simply have a gut feeling about which brands they prefer and which they don’t. They will never be in that supermarket isle thinking: “is this targeted at me?” No, they will think: “do I like this or not?” A supermarket experience is a lot like speed dating. You browse past the products and go: no, no, maybe, no, yes and no.

When is a product liked? It’s because it has added value, because it takes a stand and people can relate to it. This gut feeling is where content marketing and brand archetypes come into play. Content marketing is a very effective way to get a story across, to grab the consumers attention. Brand archetypes tap into the innate human ability to estimate values and to manage meaning. The human brain processes brands in a similar way it perceives people. In this way brands represent a subconscious set of identities and intentions. The buying process is what consumers do with the relationship to these identities and intentions. They either take products home with them, or leave them behind.

Who are you? These twelve brand archetypes are a strong foundation for content marketing. Each archetype represents meaning and evokes an emotional response. They answer very basic questions, like: who are you? What is your intention? And what is it you have to tell? The archetypes are: the Ruler, the Caregiver, the Lover, the Everyman, the Jester, the Hero, the Outlaw, the Magician, the Explorer, the Sage, the Innocent and the Creator.

Archetypes are what a room full of marketing managers should be talking about. The make for a great case of ‘Purposeful Positioning’. Which one will they pick (or combine)? What value is prominent? What meaning does it represent? What intention is featured? And will there be enough people that can relate to it?

As a brand, you want to appeal to the desires of your audience. Does that mean you create your brand personality (your archetype) by first identifying your customer’s personality, and aligning your brand with the archetype that would most appeal to a desire within your customer? Or do you identify your brand’s archetype first and then align your branding and marketing to that archetype and inevitably attract the right audience? My personal opinion is either works, depending on what your business is, what you offer and in how far your WHY is connected to your archetype. Personally, I didn’t find it very difficult to identify what my desires in life are which are inherently linked to why I do what I do and what I do best: wanting to be surrounded by beauty and joy and creating it for others, to share with the world. I desire both beauty and joy and fun in life, they make my heart beat faster, make life worthwhile and that is both of my brands personalities as well (If you didn't know, I also own this colourful company called BALLÖOM).

Archetypes are what a room full of marketing managers should be talking about. The make for a great case of ‘Purposeful Positioning’. Which one will they pick (or combine)? What value is prominent? What meaning does it represent? What intention is featured? And will there be enough people that can relate to it?

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