There are endless ways companies develop, implement and improve their marketing strategy. What they all have in common is building the strategy on a well-put-together plan that includes the company’s characteristics, their target audience, and the type of services or products they provide. But there’s something not every company takes into consideration, which can elevate their marketing strategy: the brand persona.
Stemming from psychology, the persona is a term that defines the mask/the face we show to the outside world. It’s a combination of personality traits, overall characteristics, values, and ideas, and it can be similar to our personality or completely different, in which case it accentuates the way we want to be perceived. The brand persona is the same thing but applied to a company’s brand.
1. Why Is a Brand Persona Important for Your Marketing Strategy?
Branding your company helps you define the core personality of your business, what makes it tick, and what differentiates it from other companies. More easily put, it helps you bring out the authenticity of your brand.
And creating a brand persona for your business allows you to show the human side of your company to the outside world. It then helps you reach out to your target audience in a way that they can relate to your products and services at a much deeper level. Having said that, it helps elevate your marketing strategy. In fact, if you have a brand persona, you can easily build your whole marketing strategy starting from it.
Metaphorically speaking, think of the brand persona as both the business card and the resume of your company when it comes to marketing. But keep in mind that the way you create and present your brand persona to the world can have both positive and negative outcomes.
Before getting into how you can create your brand persona, let’s dive into psychology once more to see brand persona examples based on archetypes and what they mean.
2. Brand Persona Examples Based on Psychology
Before creating your brand persona, it’s important to find out how you want to connect with your customers, and what is the core provider of your brand. To help you, we’ll look at brand persona examples based on 12 archetypes.
1. The Hero
- The hero brand shows courage, honesty, and mastery. Nike is an example of a hero brand.
2. The Magician
- The magician brand has the power to make things happen, it’s reassuring, informative, and can take a mystical tone. Disney and Coca-Cola are two examples of companies branding under the magician archetype.
3. The Lover
- The lover brand relies on and creates intimacy by being soothing, empathetic, and sensual. Chanel and Victoria’s Secret are two lover brands.
4. The Ruler
- The ruler brand is in control and commanding while being refined and articulate in its message to reward your achievements. Ruler brands include Mercedes and Rolex.
5. The Jester
- Playful, hedonistic, full of optimism, and always ready for fun, the jester brand relies on life enjoyment and pleasure. M&Ms and Old Spice are examples of jester brands.
6. The Caregiver
- The caregiver brand’s core mission is servicing others in a caring and warm way. UNICEF is a caregiver brand.
7. The Innocent
- Conveying safety, and cozy nurturing, the innocent brand is humble and honest, offering a feeling of pureness. Dove is one of the innocent brands.
8. The Sage
- Wise and knowledgeable, the sage guides and educates with the truth. BBC and Google are examples of sage brands.
9. The Outlaw
- The outlaw brands are disruptive and demanding, the rebels that portray revolution. Harley-Davidson is an outlaw brand.
10. The Everyman
- Humble, showing its authenticity, and friendly, the everyman brand helps people find a sense of belonging and relatedness. IKEA and Target are brands that share this archetype.
11. The Creator
- Set out to innovate, inspire and provoke, the creator brands see and use the potential in everything using imagination. Iconic creator brands include Apple and Adobe.
12. The Explorer
- The explorer brand is fearless, always striving for attaining freedom while being exciting and adventurous. The North Face and Jeep are examples of explorer brands.
3. How to Create a Brand Persona
Now that you know these categories of brand personas, it’s time to start creating the persona for your business. Keep in mind that while you want it to feel as natural as possible, it also needs to be strategic and with a clear intention. Follow these steps to get started and adjust as you feel fit as you go along:
- Choose your brand archetype. Where do you see your brand in the aforementioned categories? What is the message and vibe you want your brand to show to the public?
- Think of your products/services in terms of your persona. What traits from your products/services fit the persona category you selected? You need to group everything in the way you present your business to the persona. This is the part where you can also come up with ideas for new products to launch. Launching a new product at the same time with your brand persona is a golden move in marketing.
- Who is your target audience? Think of your customers, current ones, and the types you’d like to attract next. You can create your brand persona by analyzing your customers so their personalities and behaviors can help you find the right persona. Or you can do it the other way around and find a new target audience based on the brand persona you’ve chosen.
- What are your brand’s traits and qualities? This is the most creative step of building your persona and the one where you need to humanize your business. Think of your brand as a human being: what does this person look like? What are this person’s qualities? What are their achievements, and how can they help others?
You can take this step as far as you feel comfortable, you can even create a mascot for your brand, re-brand your business, relaunch your website and show your company’s authenticity to the world like never before.
Creating a brand persona has tremendous marketing effects on your business. It helps you not only stand out in a vast ocean of diverse brands but also better communicate with your customers and meet their commercial needs. If you want to create a brand persona for your business, we’re here to help you elevate your marketing strategy to the highest level. To learn more about how to elevate your brand as well as other specific strategies that will help you grow your business, schedule a Double Your Sales Strategy session.
