If you were to define your brand to a total stranger, what would you say? Odds are, you’d start talking about your brand identity and what your company offers its customers. But your brand is so much bigger than its marketing components. Your brand is a collection of beliefs, values, emotions, expectations, and guidelines that you follow in every business decision. Your brand dictates how to connect with your audience. It dictates what kind of employees you hire and customers you target. Essentially, if your company were a person, your brand would be that person’s core values.
What is Brand Personality?
Your company cannot stand on core values alone. Every great brand has a strong brand personality. This personality attracts customers to your business over other similar businesses. To get a solid understanding of what is meant by a brand personality, let’s look at Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Both companies have very similar brands. They offer similar products at similar price points. The biggest difference between the two brands is based firmly in their brand personalities. Coca-Cola is traditional and classic. If you close your eyes and think of Coca-Cola, you might imagine polar bears or classic glass bottles being popped open by a jolly old St. Nick. Pepsi, on the other hand, is young, vibrant, and fun. Pepsi is far more likely than Coca-Cola to use celebrity endorsements or modern music in their commercials. In recent years, Coca-Cola has been inching toward Pepsi’s brand personality, but it’s still considered the “classic” choice. Coca-Cola’s personality is reserved, classic, quiet, and professional, while Pepsi is outgoing, fun, and energetic. These personalities dictate everything from their marketing to their customer base.
How To Identify Your Brand’s Personality
Once you have a firm understanding of your brand’s personality, you’ll be better able to target the market you want and drive sales to your ideal audience. The easiest way to determine your brand’s personality is to imagine your brand as a person and then identify their individual personality traits. One way to do this is to get a blank piece of paper and write opposite traits on the left and right sides. For instance, write “outgoing” on the left and “reserved” on the right. Fill the page with as many conflicting personality types as possible. Be careful not to vilify any traits. For instance, don’t say “nice” and “mean.” If you want to express that your company is nice, you could use the opposing terms “friendly” and “quiet.”
Once you have a complete list, rate your brand on each contrasting trait. Do you fall on one side of the spectrum or are you in the middle? Are there any traits that fall squarely in the middle that will be less important to your brand personality and story? Pay attention to these traits, as they may be your strongest brand personality traits.
How to Use Your Brand Personality
Once you are familiar with your brand personality, use it to your advantage. Here are some ways your brand personality can enhance your marketing efforts.
Build Brand Connections: Your brand personality likely matches the personalities of many of your customers. If you are able to adequately show off your brand personality in your marketing, you can instill loyalty in your audience and make them feel more connected to your brand.
Enhance Product Features: Energizer found a way to personify its brand personality with the Energizer Bunny. Not only does the bunny adequately represent the personality of the brand, but it offers a tangible expression of Energizer’s battery life and stamina.
Help You Understand Your Customer: Instead of spending money on focus groups to find out who is attracted to your brand, you can look to the brand itself. Analyze the brand personality traits you want to personify and use them as the basis for your marketing campaigns.
Make Your Company Memorable: Just like a friend with a quirky laugh, a business with a strong brand personality is memorable. Being the brand with the best offering is not enough in a crowded market. You also need to be memorable. Shout your brand’s personality from the rooftops and you will certainly be remembered.
Telegraph Stability: A consistent brand personality that is integrated throughout your website, social media channels, marketing, and other outlets shows your audience that you have thoroughly developed your brand and you are not going anywhere. This stability may be the deciding factor when choosing your company over another competing business.
Regardless of how you define your brand’s personality, it’s essential to have one. Simply having a brand identity is not enough when it comes to scaling your business and establishing yourself as a strong, stable company in your industry. Want to learn how brand ambassadors can help establish your brand’s personality or raise brand awareness? Call Auctus Agency today.
