Brand Archetypes: amplifying your impact with personality
How do you build a strong brand? And how do you ensure you reach and engage the right audience? Of course, a brand must be distinctive. And reliable. Consistency is key to achieving this. What impression do you leave, and do you meet expectations? Brand Archetypes can help you with that.
The importance of experience
First and foremost, it’s essential to understand what a “brand” truly is. It’s not simply the company or product itself. A brand is what the audience thinks, feels, and experiences when they interact with a company or organization. It’s all about experience. This experience is closely tied to the set of human traits attributed to the company. So: what does the company value, how does it present itself? Can I identify with it, or does it feel completely out of reach? Just like choosing friends and partners, people naturally seek that emotional connection with brands too.
Think about it: you can probably name a few brands you find likable and feel loyal to. They resonate with who you are and what you value. If the brand has a relevant mission they communicate in clear, relatable language, it might just make you willing to pay that little bit extra.
In short: showing character pays off!
Show who you are and what you stand for. That character, that brand personality, isn’t something you can just conjure up—it’s who you are. Yet, expressing it clearly and consistently can be challenging. That’s where putting a literal face to your brand can help. At gr8, we turn to Carl Jung’s archetypes: 12 personality types, each with unique values, desires, and fears. Each archetype ultimately traces back to a core need, driving everything you do.
Caregiver: “Caring for others”
Sage: “Continuously gaining wisdom”
Lover: “Creating a deep connection with others”
Hero: “Making the world a better place”
Everyman: “Seeking connection and belonging”
Rebel: “Breaking the rules”
Explorer: “Finding inspiration in new experiences”
Creator: “Conceiving new, inspiring ideas”
Ruler: “Gaining status (or giving status to customers)”
Magician: “Turning dreams into reality”
Jester: “Bringing joy through humor and fun”
Innocent: “Spreading happiness and optimism”
Everyone identifies with multiple archetypes, but there’s often one that stands out—the personality you feel truly represents who you are.
The same applies to brands. Aligning your brand with one of these 12 brand archetypes will undoubtedly help sharpen and maintain consistency in both content and tone of voice. For example, a “Sage” is focused on teaching the reader something valuable, using that as a guiding principle for content creation. In contrast, a brand identifying with the “Rebel” archetype expresses itself with a non-conformist, perhaps even slightly provocative style. Defying norms, ignoring rules—that’s the spirit. It’s something the unconventional broadcaster Powned understands perfectly.
Archetypes can also help position your brand for potential new employees, as they instantly convey the essence: this is who we are and what drives us.
‘No one will follow you if you don’t know where you’re going’
—a well-known quote from marketing guru Jack Trout that we love to reference at gr8. In other words: stand out, show what you stand for and what you value, and be consistent about it. Because if you don’t choose, you won’t be chosen. Defining your brand’s archetype is already a big step in the right direction.
Curious where the key to consistency lies for your brand? What is your organization’s Archetype, and what does this mean for its personality and customers? We’re here to help! So feel free to stop by and explore that one essential question with us: what’s your story?