Brand Positioning 101

Earlier, I discussed the unique value proposition (UVP) concept, ie a special aspect of your offering that provides true or perceived value (emotional and functional benefits) to consumers. However, this post will extend that discussion to consider how your brand's UVP fits or is positioned within the context of your competitive market landscape. When measured properly, brand positioning aka benchmarking can even allow you to plot your and competing brands on a single graph using each brand's score where each score is based on consumers' perceptions of UVP. The scatter plot graph will therefore allow you to see the relative position of each brand. To further clarify; the graph would represent said 'market landscape' and the UVP score of each brand would be positioned as a plot point (perhaps using the brand's logo) on that graph.

On that basis, can you now see how 'brand positioning' may be understood to be the strategic process of creating competitive advantage in consumers' mind, especially at the 'evaluating alternatives' phase of their buying decision? Continual horizon scanning and proactive brand positioning or repositioning are the cornerstones for creating and maintaining a premium brand.

Why is brand positioning important?

The point of brand positioning is answering the question 'What value proposition sets (or can set) you apart from the competition?' Let's face it! If a brand is to be competitive to enjoy high income streams from an appreciative market, it needs bragging rights, about something.

Just imagine how, if your brand positioning makes you a clear outlier, your brand will be more 'recognizable' or better yet, can be 'recalled' (the 2 measures of 'brand awareness'). In turn, a brand with greater brand awareness is one that is sought after more.

As discussed previously, de-commoditizing, aka differentiating your product, even if it is an otherwise boring commodity allows you to communicate value and justify your price. 

Brand positioning is the sine qua non for effective market communication. It is afterall a means of using your bragging rights to establish your brand as a leader its unique way within the collective consumer mind. 

Differentiate on the basis of attributes that your customers use  for measuring significant value 

When customers compare brands, they do so on the basis of single variables (at a time) that are meaningful to them. For instance, legal customers may use the extent to which lawyers listen to them analytically, a form of customer service. A car buyer would not have the same criteria for a car salesman, even if he is concerned with customer service. In short, the positioning must be customized for each industry, segment, brand, product, etc.

Some attributes that are commonly used for brand positioning include the following. 

• product quality
• customer service
• convenience
• price
• differentiation

To illustrate, the quality-based positioning approach, companies may highlight their superior quality through product performance (perhaps in resolving a pain point), compliance with well established industry standards for quality (like ISO certification), exceptional craftsmanship, raw materials that meet well esteemed specifications, sustainable practices, small-batch production, ... in short, whatever it is that defines 'quality' in their industry. 

What attributes are important in your industry? How does your brand offer something that feels like a breath of fresh air to customers? For instance, if your industry offers a product  or service whose implementation or use are renowned as being complicated, does your brand offer strong customer support that makes the process much easier? 

Think insurance policies and their tedium! This is arguably the reason why Geico selected their famous 'grunt test' campaign. They wanted to show the world how their sign up process was so easy, that even a grunting cave man can understand it.

Attributes of focus should also change with emerging market trends. However, attributes can be anything that really matters to your consumers. Was your brand the first of its kind which is a fact that your customers value? Are you just the most popular? Are you the only one that responded to certain events that are near and dear to the hearts of your target market? Have you done a SWOT analysis of your competition and want to use a campaign to directly call out a competitior's weakness?

Most industries have multiple key attributes that can be simultaneously represented on 'perceptual maps' like below. Like in this example, consumers rate each key attribute so that brand managers can observe the relative position of all competing industry players. Each brand manager then contemplates "Do I like my current brand position?" "Is there a gap in the market that I can fill?" 

In the example above, taste and being natural are the 2 key attributes for 3 key players in the sugar industry. A gap exists in the quadrant for more tasty and less natural, which would be better than Equal's current position of low ratings on both attributes. Should Equal fill that gap? However, the brand manager may also consider shifting the brand's positioning to the right if trends emerge in which consumers are happy to sacrifice taste for more natural products. If Equal's brand manager wants to respond to that trend, that brand may produce a variant that is more natural, perhaps only to a marginal extent to perhaps offer a natural option that is likely more affordable than Truvia. 

The SWOT analysis of industry players (ie strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) can provide many attribute ideas. 

Repositioning

Repositioning is brand risk management. Brand managers must continuously scan the horizon for changes that warrant significant branding response. Common prompts include changing target market (perceived) needs, improvements in your competitors' UVP, new product substutes and waning consumer interest. 

Case study: Perceptions of the Old Spice brand changed over time. Specifically, the brand was unable to attract younger male demographic because it was associated with 'old men'. To counteract this, the brand changed its image. It appealed to younger men by changing its personality with style elemnts like younger very masculine male models and campaign slogans like 'Smell like a man, man!' are cases in point. This not only changed the brand's demographic by raised sales by 27% within only the first 6 months of the campaign's launch in 2010 but also emerged its category leader as a consequence.

Case study: Starbucks lost over 28% profits over 2 years following the 2008 economic crisis. In the face of economic hardship, consumer attitudes changed. They began to see coffee as a commodity - an ostensible existential nightmare for a brand that built on presenting coffee as a luxury. Consumers were opting for cheaper options like McDonalds coffee. In response to this risk management 'white swan', the brand hired BBDO, an agency that specializes in branding to reconvince the market that their coffee was worth the extra cost. Its campaign included slogans like "If your coffee isn't perfect, we'll make it over. If it still isn't perfect, you must not be in a Starbucks." and "Beware of a cheaper cup of coffee. It comes with the price". In short, the brand used the quality positioning strategy. 

Case study: McDonalds recognized that consumer perceptions were becoming disfavorable. Specifically, consumers began to perceive it as unhealthy. The brand improved this reputation with healthier options like salads.

The brand positioning statement. 

A brand positioning statement briefly 1) identifies the target market, 2) describes benefits / value to the target and 3) implies current relative exploitable weakness in your competition or industry. This statement can be used for recreating mission statements for internal and or external customers. 

Examples.

• For serious athletes, Nike gives confidence that provides the perfect shoe for every sport.
• To cultured millenials, Starbucks is a premium coffee house that adds an intimate and valuable experience to a consumer's life style by integrating caffeine with a comproftable environment.

Steps: How to establish your brand positioning

• Know the key industry attributes and how to measure them.
• In most cases, a variable is simply a contiuum of the same thing. For instance 'price' is either low or high or range in dollar values. 
• In footwear, one key attribute is a categorical scale that has 'performance' and 'fashion' on either of its extremes. ('Correspondence analysis' is used for statistically for mapping categorical variables).  
• Determine your current brand positioning. This can be an informal 'back of an envelope' exercise and or part of a formal beta testing survey. 
• Analyze your compeitition; identify them and perform SWOT analyses for them (while also incorporating into them considerations of the PESTLE analsyis). In addition to this simple video, see the other more comlex discuss at the end of this post.  
• Analyze your industry for weaknesses that you can resolve. 
  • When Geico realized that an inherent weakness in its (insurance) industry was that consumers found the standard application process upsettingly difficult, they differentiated the brand by providing the value of convenience with an application process that was uniquely so much simpler that it could even pass a cave man's 'grunt test'.  
• If any, know your industriy's inherent shortcomings.
• Know your UVP
• Create a positioning statement for a promotional campagin. 
• Establish a suitable positioning strategy. This is particularly important when your attribute-related market positioning is similar to that of competing brands. In such cases, select a strategy as the basis of differentiation. Strategies may be one of the other attributes like one listed above; price, convenience and so on. The price-quality trade-off is very common. 
• M&Ms emphasized the product quality by stressing the product's durability, safety, reliability. Its tagline "Melts in your mouth, not in your hands" is consistent with that. 

                   

• Integrate your brand's differentiating qualities throughout your brand's organization, especially into all elements of the front line including brand personality like brand style, a 'differentiating tagline' and so on.
• Constantly evaluate how well your positioning is working.
• Scan the horizon for emerging trends that can change the nature of the market landscape and, by so doing, present new risks (opportunities or threats). 
• Reposition to adapt to emerging trends and circumstances. This often involves changing key brand elements like the product (qualities), price and even brand personality. 

     

• Avoid brand extensions that are generally unsuccessful and, over time, may even dilute the power of your brand position in the mind of consumers. Line extensions may include extending the product mix to include other types of products. The risk appears to occur when brands attempt to do something contrary to the key characteristic  that helped to gain its position with clarity in the minds of consumers. Examples include the following. 
• Bayer's was a leader as a pain relieving medicine because of 'Aspirine'. However, a subsequent attempt to use the well established name to introduce an alternative non-Aspirine pain reliever 'Bayer Migraine' failed.
• Dial was a well established brand for soap. However, when it introduced deodorant, the deodorant failed.
• My gag reflex is still strong every time I remember the case of Colgate, a well established brand renowned for clearn dirty mouths that then attempted to use their name Colgate for food products. Am I the only one that has this strong a reaction? Possibly not because the new food product was unsuccessful.

You can use perceptual mapping not only for single brands against others but also for different iterations (formulas, colors, etc) while doing new product development. Furthermore, you can make the graph three dimensional to include the variable of unassisted brand recall if respondents needed to name the competing brand. The plot for each brand will not be a dot but a circle whose size reflects the number of times it was recalled.

CONTENT RELATED TO BRAND POSITIONING

• Positioning is very important in the 'evaluating alternatives' phase within the customer's buying decision process.
• 'De-commoditizing' aka differentiating your product,
• Unique Value Propositions (UVP)
• Branding 101
• Brand core values
• Brand personality
• Brand mascot
• Brand awareness & brand awareness srategy
• Emotional marketing to emotionally engage your target market.
• Industry analysis
• Ansoff Matrix: Market & Product Development Strategy
• Porter's 5 Forces of Competitive Threats is an ideal accompaniment to a SWOT analysis.
• Packaging design strategy
• LIfestyle branding strategy
• SWOT analyses of key players in different industries.
• When completing your SWOT analysis, pay special attention to the strengths of your competitors, especially the leaders. Those strengths should not be the basis on which you should try to compete with them. You will need to find some alternative.
• Protecting your intellectual property
• Product demand matrix is essentially another type of brand positioning tool. However, its two variables are price and number of customers demanding the product. It therefore plots sales channel locations where your and competing brands may enjoy demand that corresponds with your product offering based on its level of high endedness and price. It is useful for figuring your more direct competitors and provides an opportunity to know which competitors to observe for inspiration for packaging, pricing and so on.
• Perceptual maps. When analyzing your perceptual map, see if the plots exist in all or most quadrants. This is favorable to a straight line. For instance, in simpler plots, price and quality are commonly used as the 2 attributes, However, since these variables are often highly correlated in the minds of the market, the plot essentially measures only 1 (and not 2) variables. In such a case, all of the plots form a clear straight line, often a diagonal one. This type of result is not ideal as it suggests that the research process was not designed to get maximum value from the data. To counteract this issue, it is advisable to use variables that are not as highly correlated. Having said this, note that patterns with wide gaps do not necessarily indicate this issue. In some cases, they suggest a gap that can be exploited or one tjat is undesirable. Examples of undesirable gaps include cases in which manufacturers will not make expensive products to be sold cheaply .... or customers won't buy expensive products that are low quality.
• The other way. Can you plot how you perceive key characteristics of your target market personality type? ... If your target's problems are special or outlying somehow, you might have the opportunity to personalize your messaging even further. For instance, Skinny-fat solution, a muscle building plan might signal to its target by saying, "It's hard enough for regular guys to build muscle. But us; the skinny-fat guys? It's impossible with the typical advice ..." Notice how this brand is making a very clear distinction between the regular segment and its own. It also shows how the competition is failing this niche. "... This is why I don't follow typical advice. Instead, I use my own 3-step system. Want to learn 
• Abovementioned case studies in other content
• Bayer's
• Colgate
• Dial
• McDonalds
• Nike
• Old Spice
• Starbucks
• Internal links: brand position statement;

Brand Voice - Taglines

Brand voice refers to the brand's comunication style that helps to evoke ideas of a brand's personality. It encompassesevery conceivable element; from word choice, level of formality to cultural slant and so on. Just like other external brand elemnts, it has its own special place in the brand style manual. The 'brand voice' complements other external elements (like the name and logo) in delivering the human-like brand persona so consistently that it is memorable. This post will exclusively discuss taglines, which is one way in which 'brand voice' is expressed. 

A tagline is a simple, concise phrase that is reiterated after a brandname, at the end of every advertisement or other marketing material. 

Ideally, it is used strategically, often communicating a brand's unique value proposition, competitive advantage (or why the market should select your brand over others and or what a business does. In other words, the focus of a tagline should not be to sound catchy if a catchy expression is not very meaningful in any of these ways. As modern consumers grow wary of stiff corporate language, taglines need to sound more and more like the voice of a familiar person with a personality the target finds attractive. 

Types of Tagline & Their Application

The following are among the most common types of tagline. Notice how they stress the brand's competitive advantage. 

• Differentiation tagline. Use this when you need a rallying cry to the public about why they should join your tribe over the competition. This tagline can be very useful for exclusivity marketing or brand positioning. For branding positioning, you stress that your brand is 'the only one that does __X__' or 'can render y results' (within the context of industrial conditions that make those results otherwise unachievable).
• Example: Apple - "Think different" because the Apple tribe is 'more creative' and therefore different from PC users who they consider to be mundane. This tagline is a rally cry to other 'rebel' and 'creator' personalities; essentially calling to them to step away from the uncreative, normal plebes and into their exclusive tribe.
• Example: The nature of its business sets the expectation that Tampa Gemeral Hospital has a naturally 'caregiver'  personality, a personality one might expect to have a sweet voice about caring the most. However, this brand differentiates itself unlike others with such bold language that it is hard not to notice it when it says that it 'Other hospitals practice medicine. We define it.' Contrast this with the softer voices of other 'caregiver' hospital brands like 'keeping you\ well', 'exceptional care close to you' or the Salvation Army's 'caregiver' tagline of "doing the most good". 
• Example: L'Oreal - "Because you're worth it". Having the 'lover' brand personality archetype, this brand meets esteem needs (see Maslow's Hierarchy of needs) and appeals to the vanity with hints of prestige. It is unapologetic about how its higher-than-usual price and unnecessarily fancy packaging. This language will resonate with those of like mind, people who think they deserve the 'finer' things. 
• Value-creation, results-oriented tagline. Use this tagline if you want to stress what the product will surely accomplish, especially if this is your brand's competitive advantage. I find that brands with a 'wizard' personality traits speak like this because they promise transformation, they present themselves as the catalyst to 'make things happen'.
• Example: These taglines are often used for products whose competitive advantage is related to high levels of hard and measurable performance. This is evident in cases like; Energizer's "Keep going and going" stresses performance; Tide's "Tide's in, dirt's out"; Good Year's "More driven"; Volvo's "For life" which is likely backed up by strict compliance with health and safety requirements that ensure good life-saving qualities.
• Example: Geico's '15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance/' 

• Literal tagline. This tagline is not as emotionally exicting. Rather, it simply describes the brand's function or what it does, literally. It is ideal for situations in which the brand name on its own is not sufficiently descriptive of the business and or the brand is new in the market. 
• Examples. I think this voice reflects the sober nature of the 'sage' brand personality very well. It appears a good fit for situations in which the consumable product changes with each customer, thereby requiring a promise of the brand's work ethic. Illustrations include the following.  
• New York Times' "All the news that's fit to print" which suggests that it is a serious brand that only prints quality content. 
• Use taglines that are appropriate to your brand's stage within its life cycle. Specifically, resist the temptation to imitate the catchy and often vague nature of world famous brands. Remember that they are so well known that their voice no longer needs to inspire brand awareness. Literal taglines are more suitable than vague taglines like IBM's 'Think' are more suitable for a startup. Nike's 'Just Do It' would mean nothing for a startup but has great meaning for Nike. Literal taglines must use keywords to raise brand awareness. Examples: This type of tagline is useful for new businesses, especially when the brand name alone is not sufficiently descriptive of the offering. Illustrations include the following.
• Theresa Caputo, the Long Island Medium.
• By using the keyword 'car insurance, this example is include here. However, Geico's, '15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance' is also a great results-oriented tagline that can be emulated by even very new brands. This is such a winner tagline because it concisely says so much; what they do, the results you can expect and it contains keywords (car insurance). It is such a winner that it likely made sales. If prospective clients not knowing it alongside competing brands like Statefarm or Allstate, it delivers much more useful information. For instance, Statefarm's tagline is 'like a good neighbor, Statefarm is there'  and Allstate's is 'you're in good hands'. While both acceptable, they rely on prior brand knowledge.
• Janes Doe, on-call baby sitters in Charington Towers

TIPS TO RECAP

• Keep it simple, short and easily digestible for your target market.
• Use power words that forms your message's 'rhetorical appeal'-related trigger / brand positioning differentiator, whether the most powerful one emotion (pathos) or logical (logos) or ethics (ethos / principles). Rhetorical appeals are methods of influencing others as defined by Aristotle. Power words should resonate with your target. Research 'power words' for your industry if you need help.
• Experiment! For instance, associate the tagline with your target's frequent habits. This is the basis for the success of Kit Kat's 'Have a break, have a Kit Kat' because pretty much everyone takes (snack) breaks throughout the day.
• Reflect the tone of voice of your brand personality. The vocabulary and other stylistic choices shoould reflect the personalities of the target market and brand. If you sell gardening gear, talk like a gardener (NOT a banker). If you are talking to tweens, loosen up your language accordingly and so on. Here are some examples.
• The  'rebel' personality has a tone that is more harsh, direct and blunt than normal. It is unapologetic.
• Harley Davidson - "Screw it, let's ride" is consistent with the brand's personality. Its target feel that, when life is stressful, they should all go riding.
• 
• Apple - "Think different"
• Keep and follow a brand style manual. For  instance, have templates that reflect how to respond to different circumstances.

MORE CONTENT RELATED TO EXPRESSING A BRAND VOICE WITH TAGLINES

• Brand voice & Tone 
• Social media content management
• Emotional Marketing
• Brand Positioning, Strategy
• Brand personality
• Emotional marketing to emotionally engage your target market.
• Branding 101. See where this step fit into the process of brand strategy management.
• Unique Value Proposition (UVP)

• Packaging design strategy

• Brand mascot
• Examples of taglines of famous brands. 

• Food &/ Drink
• Burger King - "Have it your way"
• Cadbury - "Tastes like this feels"
• California Milk Processor Board - "Got milk?"
• Cheetos - 'Dangerously cheesy' (formerly 'It ain't easy being cheesy', 'Hail cheeesar' and 'Cheese that goes crunch'. 
• Coca Cola - "Open Happiness!"; "Taste the feeling!"
• Dunkin' Donuts - "America runs on Dunkin'"
• Gatorade - "Is it in you?"
• KFC - "Finger lickin' good"
• Kit Kat - "Have a break, have a Kit Kat"
• Lay's - "Betcha can't eat just one"
• McDonald's - 'I'm lovin' it"
• M&M's - "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand"
• Red Bull - "Red Bull gives you wings"
• Skittles - "Taste the rainbow"
• Snickers - "You're not you when you're hungry"
• Starbucks - "Start the day with great taste"
• Subway - "Eat fresh"
• Tesco - "Every little helps"
• Wendy's - "Deliciously different"
• Skin care
• Asepxia - Experts in deep cleansing / "Expertos de la limpieza profundo"
• CeraVe - "Developed with dermatologists"
• Eucerine - "We believe in the life-changing power of dermatological skincare"
• L'Oreal - "Because you're worth it"
• Maybelline - "Make it happen"
• Proactiv - "Be proactiv"
• Technology
• Apple - "Think different"
• Audi - "Advancement through technology"
• BMW - "Designed for driving pleasure"
• Energizer - "Keep going and going ..."
• GE - "We bring good things to life"
• Good year - "More driven"
• Honda - "The power of dreams"
• IBM - "Think"
• LG - "Life's Good"
• Mercedes-Benz - "The best or nothing"
• Nokia - "Connecting people"
• Panasonic - "Ideas for life"
• Samsung - "Imagine"
• Sony - "Make. Believe"
• Volkswagen - "The car"
• Volvo - "For life"
• Services (financial, insurance etc)
• American Express - "Don't leave home without it"
• Citibank - "because the Citi never sleeps"
• HSBC - "The world's local bank"
• MasterCard - "There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard"
• Robinhood - "Democratize finance for all"
• Apparel & Other Personal Adornments
• Adidas - "Impossible is nothing"
• Nike - "Just do it"
• Kay Jewelers - "Every kiss begins with Kay"
• Experience
• Disneyland  - "The happiest place on Earth"
• Information
• The New York Times - "All the news that's fit to print"
• Housekeeping
• Tide - "Tide's in, dirt's out"
• Other
• Garnier - "Take care"
• IMAX - "Think big"
• Lufthansa - "Nonstop you"
• Philips - "Sense and simplicity"
• Verison - "Better matters"

Brand Personality Building for Competitive Advantage

Previously, I discussed 'branding 101' and a brand's core values which involves the ideals that guide your brand's decision making from within the hidden corners of your brand manager's mind. In contrast however, this post on brand personality relates to what the outside world sees and perceives when it encounters your brand (ie as a consequence of those otherwise hidden core values). Attaching a personality to your brand is a matter of humanizing it. Consequently, a top brand has worldviews, attitudes that become clear by the way it communicates, behaves, presents itself physically or visually, the music that accompanies it and so on. It may even evolve.

In other words, personifying your brand appropriately is a strategy that can trigger an emotional response from your target market to see your brand, to bond with it as they would another human, to seek out a relationship and so on. Ultimately your customers will not simply buy an object. Rather, they will buy into a relationship, knowing that you are a friend that understands his or her needs and to whom he or she can always go whenever a problem arises. So if your product solves their problem, they always come to you. Your product is somewhat secondary. Specifically, it is the tool your give to resolve the immediately identified problem ... which often meets a strong underlying subconscious motivation. 

Essentially, your demonstrations of atunement to their needs and then your personality's delivery on the promise to 'wipe away your customer's proverbial tears' to meet your customer's deepest needs makes your customer feel closer to you.

Products that you market 'come and go' without ending the brand - customer relationship. I often speak not of a 'brand that has a personality' but a persona, ie a virtual person, a humanized emotion-evoking entity with which kindred spirits have a relationship.

What's the Point of Brand Personality?

Any strong personality, whether loved or reviled, is memorable and will have its following of likeminded persons that the brand wants to have around. When the connection is sufficiently strong, others will be able to remember, recognize and even seek out the brand. 

Why do some people repeatedly buy Starbucks coffee or Coco Cola when they can buy the same or similar drinks for much less elsewhere? The answer extends beyond coffee or a nutrition-devoid sugary drink and into the realm of psychological triggers like experience, an associated feeling (albeit manufactured), social image and lifestyle choices that resonate with consumers. Successful brands have shown that these non-product triggers are powerful. 

Furthermore, today's consumers are tired of promotional marketing that masks a sole economic purpose. They are shifting their preference towards brands that have a purpose greater than its financial gain.

How can your brand have a strong personaility?

Emotional marketing suggests decisively aligning your brand with especially one or just a few of the 12 personality archetypes.

The key to doing this successfully is consitency and clarity. Specifically, a well defined brand personality consistently features a specific set of traits at every touchpoint (point of sale displays, email marketing and so on). Consistency makes it easy for the personality to be strong and recognizable. The personality can therefore attract the target and hopefully repel unsuitable segments, gain the market's trust and present itself as the best or among the best buying options much more easily than otherwise. For instance, as with human pesonality, brand personality determines how your brand will communicate (like level of formality), 'dress' (like colors and visual atmospherics), behaves (like causes into which it invests), reacts to events and so on. 

To form a deeper understanding of the concept, consider a country's culture as its personality. On that basis, how would you describe the personality of different countries like the US, UK, France and so on as if they were people? For instance, you might say that the US personality has traits that include open & direct communication about otherwise taboo issues, idealistic, loud and so on. As you can see, the brand personality should NOT be confused with your product because your product is purely the result of a personality type's imagination, as is the case with human personalities and what can be expected of them.

Remember that the ultimate goal of building a brand personality is to encourage consumers to perceive your brand as a friend with whom they want to have a friendship. Your brand's personality should essentially be like that of the friends they know, love, trust and invest in in some way (perhaps regarding spending time, going into business partnership for success, etc).

12 Brand Personality Archetypes 

Each archetype has a set of personality traits. Identify which among the 12 following archetypes your brand relates most. It may help to consider the following 4 key motivation factors into which the archetypes are sometimes grouped. 

As with humans, brands usually have one dominant personality archeype, often accompanied by other secondary ones. Furthermore, archetypes may change in prominence in response to the climate within your industry. For instance, as in the case of Apple in the computer industry, a brand may do well by counteracting the noisy market place by (also) adopting the simple and minimalist style of the archetype named 'innocent'. 

Deepest motivation: Wants to provide structure to the world. 

1. Ruler
   (aka boss, leader, aristocrat, king, politician, role model, manager, administrator). Key motivator(s): control and stability. Motto: "Power is not everything. It is the ONLY thing!". Goal: to create a prosperous successful family or community. Greatest fear: chaos and being overthrown. Weakness: Unable to delegate powers to others. Talents: responsibility and leadership. Other associated ideas: authority, exclusivity, higher status and even intimation by ruling with the use of fearmongering. Very persuasive, glamorous, prestigious. These brands usually feature Hollywood celebrities that can exude an air of refinement. 
• The father Don Vito Corleone in the film 'Godfather'
• Mercedes Benz vehicle brand
• Rolex
• IBM
2. Creator
   (aka artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer, dreamer). Key motivator(s): to create things of enduring value. Motto: "If you can imagine it, it can be done!". Goal: to realize a vision. Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution. Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions. Talents: creativity and imagination. Other associated ideas: They see what others do not. They retain their childhood creative skills that others lose over time. 
• 'Apple' computer brand
• Leggo.
3. Caregiver
   (aka saint, altruist, parent, helper supporter). Key motivator(s): to protect and care for others. Motto: "Love your neighbour as yourself!", "Our actions show we are authentic and care", "I want to listen to and really understand you", "I want to be there for you", "I exist to care for you". Goal: to help others. Greatest fear: ingratitude and selfishness. Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited. Talents: compassion, generosity, empathy. Other associated ideas: service, selflessness. This personality promotes ultimate customer experience (above customer service). Superior customer experience is often a major competitive advantage. Real care may include 247 contact service, 2-way communication channels that are manned by competent representatives, responding to customers' concerns and so on. This personalisity also discourages the idea of of withholding help and welbeing from some people. People and their needs are the main focus of promotional material. Brands with this personality often tackle world problems like war, disease and environmental problems.   
• The Robin Hood character who stole from the wealthy to give to the poor.
• Doctors Without Borders
• UNICEF
• Uber offers superior customer experience by having proactively tackled every conceivable pain point (from safety, tracking to payment issues).
• Jobs related to nursing and caregiving

Deepest motivation: Wants to connect with others

1. Everyman
   (aka good old boy, regular guy, person next door, the realist, working stiff, solid citizen, silent majority). Key motivator(s): belonging, connection with others. Motto: "All men and women are created equal!". Goal: to belong. Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd. Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships. Talents: realism, empathy, lack of pretense. Other associated ideas: friendly, unpretentious. These brands appeal to the ordinary person who is not in the luxury group. It is often associated with families. I have found that brand personalities that are very strongly aligned with other archetypes that involve consumers being somehow extraordinary like Dove regarding beauty or Nike regrding athletic greatness, tend to align themselves to some extent with this archetype to socially include the average consumer. 
• Ikea whose tagline is 'the Wonderful Everyday'
• KFC 
• Toyota is a brand for 'everyone' and contrasts with Ferrari.
• Home Depot
• McCain is a food brand whose ads feature ordinary families living non-luxurious lives. 'We Are Family' ad.
2. Lover
   (aka partner, spiritualist, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.). Key motivator(s): endulgence (sensoral, spiritual and otherwise), intimacy (spiritual, familial, romantic, companionable, self-love), and experience. Motto: "You deserve to be pampered", "I treasure you", "You’re the only one!" Goal: to have a closer relationship with who or what really matters like people, pets, work and surroundings they love. Greatest fear: being alone and unloved. Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity. Lacking boundaries; Becoming carried away to the the extent that one is unable to analytically assess his or her circumstances. Talents: appreciation, gratitude, commitment. Other associated ideas: decadent pleasure that focuses on making consumers feel special; ultimate levels of personalization, exclusivity. Exclusivity marketing is likely to work well with this personality type. Products associated with this personality are often very high end in nature. Brands whose products do not relate to amorous intimacy (like perfume and chocolate) often use its allure in advertising anyway. This archetype does not allow for much room for others, ie without risking the losing the relationship. For instance, while Dove can make political issues like Black Lives Matter an integral part of their campaigning without confusing its following, other cosmetic brands (like perfumes) can not. 
• Haagen-Dazs, a high end icecream brand
• high end chocolate brands
• 'Victoria Secret' brand
• fine dining
• pet grooming brands
• The Dodo YouTube channel features stores of loving rescue animals that find loving homes.
• high end experiences like spas
• some cause marketing brands
• High end personal care products like perfumery and cosmetics 
3. Jester
   (aka joker, trickster, comedian). Key motivator(s): pleasure, to live in and fully enjoy the moment. Motto: "YOLO / You only live once / You have only one life to live!", "Don't worry, be happy!". Goal: to lighten up the world, to enjoy oneself. Greatest fear: boredom, appearing boring to others. Weakness: frivolous, wastes time Talents: joie de vivre. Other associated ideas: play, making jokes. The jester suggests living life from the innocent and carefree perspective of a child. As it relates to other competing brands, this archetype does NOT relay messages of market disruption or strong positioning. Brands with this personality usually offer products that are used for simple enjoyment. 
• Oreo  
• 'Old Spice' brand. This brand featured comedic Terry Crews to make several advertisements that were funny in a slapstick way. 

Deepest motivation: Yearns for paradise

1. Sage
   (aka expert, scholar, philosopher, thnker, advisor, academic, researcher, mentor, teacher). Key motivator(s): knowledge, to find truth, to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world. Motto: "There is a lesson in every experience", "The truth will set you free!". Goal: to find truth. Greatest fear: being duped and being ignorant. Weakness: can suffer analysis paralysis. Talents: intelligence and wisdom. Other associated ideas: understanding, one who guides others. This personality always seeks out emerging major trends, studies and materials that can enhance undersanding. This personality is also interested in providing lessons so that those lessons can change lives.
• Ted Talks at the end of which usually provides a lesson.
• Journalist brands; '60 Minutes', 'David Pakman', 'StormCloudsGathering', 'African Diaspora News Channel' and many other YouTuber channels. 
• Google website that answers questions
• Yoda from Star Wars that mentors Luke
2. Innocent
   (aka Utopian, naive, traditionalist, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer). Key motivator(s): to get to a state of safety / bliss / Utopia / perfection. To achieve happiness. Motto: "Life could and should be so simple", "Trust us; we use best practices and best ingredients (an innocent way)", "I could make you really enjoy the present moment", "I transport you into a fairytale life or other parallel universe of bliss", "Freedom to all to be themselves!", "I offer happy endings", "If you do the right things, everything will be OK", "I will share purity and joy in this cynical world". Greatest fear: This personality is so obsessed with doing the 'right' thing so as to prevent something 'bad' (like pollution of natural environment, illness from toxic ingredients, etc). Weakness: boring because of their naive innocence; Live in their own bubble in denial of real challenges and conflict in the world. Strategy: to do the 'right' thing. Talents: faith and optimism. Other associated ideas: transparency in decision making, perceptions through the lens of a child, motivation, safety, harmony, simplicity, authenticity, optimism, wanting things to be as simple as nature intended, trustworthiness, simple product solutions, non-jargon language. Like any other archetype, this one is not a cooie cutter. The same personality manifests in ways that vary slightly according to brand offering. For instance, for personal care products that clean, brands tend to use minimalism and symbols of purity with lots of white space. For food products, brands like McDonalds and Coco Cola tend to portray 'happiness' with bright colors like red and yellow.   
• Dove's brand triggers women and girls to meet the deep subconscious need for high self esteem. Dove encourages them to feel 'beautiful'. The company placed 2 doors at its entrance from which the entering public can select . One is labeled 'average' while the other 'beautiful'. Footage suggests that most women selected the 'average' door. The jarring experience is certainly deeply thought provoking and emotionally triggering. The video transitions and editing feature strong elements of minimalism, white light and purity. (Arguably in an 'everyman' way,) the brand attempts to be all-inclusive by encouraging ordinary women who are not model-types and who come in all shapes, sizes and colors to enter through the 'beautiful' door. The video ends asking the viewing audience "and you, which would you have chosen?"     Dove 'stays in character' at EVERY touch point. For instance and as pictured below, the home page of this cosmetic giant's website does not feature the erstwhile blonde haired, blue eyed standard of beauty. As changes towards more economic and social inclusivity come face ever stronger attempts at re-division along conventional norms, Dove's stance is also embracing qualities of other archetypes like the 'hero' (in ways that are reminiscent of how Nike featured Colin Kappernick) and arguably even the revolutionary 'outlaw'.  
   

          

  
  
• Maria in the movie 'Sound of Music'
• Food and drink brands mostly have 'innocent' personalities, at least as the main personality. They require the consumer's trust. Their brands always exude happiness. Evian water stresses its purity with its snow-covered mountains.
• Personal care products for cleaning stress cleanliness, purity and tidiness. Their websites have a distinctly minimalist look. 
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• Sustainability- and nature- oriented brands
• Fairy tale innocence invites the inner child into fantasy, often using characters. 
• Coco Cola's Santa Claus encourages consumers to enter and live in a happy fairytale bubble.
• Frosted Flakes' ads feature Tony the Tiger, the quintessential motivational friend, encourging young consumers, nicknamed his 'tigers', to bring out the tiger in themselves in their activities. His role is to encourage the bravery and confidence in children to tackle whatever activities they face. So after eating his cereal and sometimes drawing the tiger's stripes on their cheeks, the children's audacity rises so they can perform well. Rather than assume an austere lecturing style, he is one of the children, doing things they want to do. Ultimately, he is a friend they want to have. The brand covers all of its bases in that, it also ensures fussy children know in a reiterated mantra manner that, regarding the taste, the cereal is "not just good, they're GRRReat!". In short, this brand brings happy endings.
• ForestGump feels he can bring love and joy to the world 
• Johnson's. 
3. Wanderer
   (aka pilgrim, explorer). Key motivator(s): freedom. Motto: "Do not hold me back!". Goal: freedom to self actualize through unrestricted exploration, to experience authenticity. Greatest fear: being trapped, conformity (to the rat race and unauthenticity), and inner emptiness. Weakness: aimlessness, becoming a misfit. Talents: autonomy, being true to oneself.
• Intentional tourism
• The classic 'Land Rover'  safari trucks that are build for exploring rough terrain; Indiana Jones' film

Deepest motivation: Wants to make a mark on the world

1. Rebel
   (aka wild person, market disruptor, misfit). Key motivator(s): revolution, revenge. Motto: "Rules are in place to be broken!". Goal: to change what is not working. Greatest fear: to be rendered powerless. Weakness: criminality, dark side. Talents: radical freedom. Other associated ideas: resistant to authority and the norms, rebelliousness, breaks through established cultural and other barriers, gets in trouble with authority figures.
• 'Diesel' clothing company is unapologetically nonconformist and rebellious. True to their unconventional nature, they even created a 'knock-off' of their brand by intentionally mis-spelling their name on the label. The product was authentic however but priced like a knock off. This competed directly with knowck off manufacturers. 
• Apple. Apple revolutionized the way in which society perceived personal computer ownership and use by creating its own segment, a faithful tribe following. Apple's tagline "Think different" is consistent with this dimension of its personality. (It also has a 'creator' personality).
• Julian Assange, Wikileaks 
• Harley Davidson. This brand is a good example of lifestyle branding strategy
2. Hero
   (aka winner, soldier, warrior). This is the most recognizable archetype. Key motivator(s): mastery that can solve a public problem. Motto: "I have the bold solution to your problem", "I will overcome obstacles. Nothing will get me down!" "Where there’s a will, there’s a way!", "Reach your full potential"  "Achieve!", "I will change the world!", "With due effort and dedication, anything is possible!". Goal: to prove his worth. Greatest fear: fearfulness to act. Weakness: arrogance. Continually seeks new battle to tackle. Talents: competence, courage. Other associated ideas: determination, audacity, drive, aggression, triumph in the face of adversity, blood sweat and tears. Products are made to be transformative devices that help people to achieve their full potential and or put them ahead of the pack.
• Ex  Nike when they celebate top athletes. 
• Ex Nike ads also tells its ordinary, non-celebrity member of their market to 'find your greatness'.
• President Barrack Obama's presidential 2008 campaign
• Red Cross
3. Wizard
   (aka Magician, catalyst, inventor, shaman, healer). Key motivator(s): power, desire to realize dreams and to understand how things work. Motto: "I make things happen!". Greatest fear: unplanned negative outcomes. Weakness: manipulating others. Talents: Finding mutually beneficial solutions. Other associated ideas: They are very protective of their secrets. They are regarded with awe by others because of their mysterious work. mystic, desire for and have power. They hold some amount of social power because they do things in a way that others can not understood. Transformation, mystery, enigmatic. Bright colors (like orange) are often used for this brand. I believe that, when this archetype relates to a product or brand that is very new and exciting (like a superfood, cosmeceutical and so on), its magical power can wane over time when or if the novel wears off. In such cases, your plan should be to have another more long lasting archtype.
• New superfoods offer the new promise to transform the health of its consumers. 
• New phytonutrients used in cosmeceuticals that promise to transform physical appearance.
• The 'Disney' brand, 
• Psychics
• Brand Master Academy offers a few examples of how these brands are transformational: Coca Cola (to bring out the happiness of a moment), Disney (to bring imagination to light) and Dysan. 

Other Case Studies of Brand Personalities

 

Brand Personality Building Tips  

• Know your customer's worldviews and attitidues. Afterall, brand personality development is about matching compatible personalities. To this end, use your Customer relationship marketing (CRM) system.
• Ask your target market 
• to identify your brand personality in a touchpont (like product, packaging, correspondence, logo or store front). How consistently did customers identify a personality across touchpoints? (Close-ended questions)
• identify the traits which they (will) like and trust the most. Do or can you fulfil these traits?
• to identify trait(s) that best describe your brand. (Open-ended questions)
• Develop a 'Brand Style Guidelines' manual (aka 'Brand Style Guide' for all parties acting on your brand's behalf. This document specifies the look and feel of the brand like how images are photographed, font styles & sizes, color palettes, tone of voice (funny, serious, etc) and so on. 
• Audit your touchpoints for compliance wth your 'brand style guidelines'. Identify non compliance issues that need to be addressed. 
• An extension of personality is 'voice'. Learn more about brand voices that align with brand personality. Examples include Harley Davidson, an outlaw personality uses a rough voice and even uses expletives.
  
  

Consistency is everything for brand recognizability!

CONTENT RELATED TO BRAND PERSONALITY

• Be clear about your target market's profile or avatar. After all, you are attempting to create a 'friendship' between the personalities of your customer and brand.
• Consider well does your brand personality match your customer / buyer personality type?
• Customer personality types include 'assertives', 'analyticals', 'amiables' and 'expressives'.
• Emotional marketing to emotionally engage your target market.
• LIfestyle branding strategy
• Customer relationship marketing (CRM).
• Branding 101. See where this step fit into the process of brand strategy management.
• Establish the right brand voice that complements your brand personality. Read how to design a winning tagline.
• Brand mascot
• Brand style guidelines