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Research has shown that brands who take on a human personality are more relatable, and therefore more appealing.  Without a personality, brands can feel lifeless and lack focus and uniqueness.  Big brands like Levi’s, M&M’s, Coca Cola, etc., have known this for a long time and use personalities to bring their brands to life.  These personalities are officially called archetypes – there are 12 of them, and they stem from mythical characters.  The concept of using archetypes for branding purposes was developed in 1919 by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychologist.  He realized that these 12 personality types are universal and could be globally understood.  Nearly every character that you see in movies, books, TV shows, etc., embodies one of these 12 personalities, and thanks to Carl Jung, that has extended to brands as well.

Here is a brief summary of the 12 personality types.  Each of them has specific traits that include desires, strengths, weaknesses, and fears (not all listed here).  You might think of different brands or characters in stories that you know as you read through them.

The Caregiver: Compassionate, trustworthy, warm, inviting  (Brand Example: Campbell’s Soup)

The Comedian: Enjoys life, lighthearted, playful, lives in the moment (Brand Example: M&M’s)

The Creator:  Uniquely creative, cultured, inspirational, imaginative (Brand Example: Crayola)

The Explorer:  Trailblazer, adventurous, ambitious, wants to take you somewhere (Brand Example: The North Face)

The Girl/Guy Next Door: Down to earth, humble, friendly, wants to be everyone’s buddy (Brand Example: Levi’s)

The Hero:  Warrior, strong, courageous, saves the day (Brand Example: FedEx)

The Innocent: Calm, desires simplicity, peace, and well-being (Brand Example: LaCroix)

The Lover: Desirous, indulgent, passionate, cherishes pleasure and relationships (Brand Example: Godiva Chocolate)

The Magician: Makes dreams come true, transforms, inventive, is a visionary (Brand Example: Disney)

The Outlaw: Bold, unafraid, seeks revolution, not a follower (Brand Example: Harley-Davidson)

The Ruler: Sophisticated, quality, wants power, wants to be the best (Brand Example: Mercedes Benz)

The Sage: Wise, analytical, impactful, giver of advice (Brand Example: TED)

It might seem that with only 12 characters for every single brand or story in the world to use that brands would start looking alike, however, the ways that each character can be portrayed are endless and unique to each brand!  Example: Victoria’s Secret and Godiva Chocolate both utilize the Lover as their brand’s character.  You can sense some commonalities in the characteristics, but they each portray the archetype in very different ways.

So why is it important for your brand to have a personality?

1. Because there is competition. Chances are that you aren’t the only one out there doing what you do.  Think of the many chocolate brands out there.  How is it possible that they can all survive doing basically the same thing?  When you boil it down, (pun intended), they’re all just making and selling chocolate.  But add some personalities to the mix, and things get really interesting!  M&M’s utilizes the Comedian personality…look how that spin takes them from basic chocolate to something really fun and unique!  Godiva’s personality is the Lover; this makes the way that they create and market their chocolate completely different from M&Ms!  The list could go on and on.

2.  Giving your brand a personality is a guide to help you stay consistent. Consistency in branding is crucial!  Nobody likes that person who acts a certain way one day, then is completely different the next day.  You never know what to expect from them, and you and you feel like you can’t rely on them.  You don’t want anyone feeling that way about your business!  People need to understand your brand, be able to engage with it in an effortless way, and know what they can expect from it.  Every time.  Using a personality is one of the major things that guides a brand on how to look, act, speak,  etc.  This helps to take the guess-work out of how you should approach everything from design,  marketing, growth, and more, and keeps you on a consistent track.

3.  It establishes emotional connection.  People don’t connect with packaging or products or services.  You can’t establish an emotional connection with a lifeless item, but you can with a person!  When you give your brand a personality, it gives your customers and potential customers something to connect with, and believe it or not, that connection is an emotional one.  Emotions are actually what drive purchase decisions.  There are countless studies that reveal how purchase decisions are made from the emotional part of the brain and that when people are emotionally connected to a brand, they are more likely to stay loyal to it.  Maybe someone isn’t weeping at the thought of your product or service (hopefully not), but I think we can all relate to making a purchase decision due to a “gut instinct”, or that feeling we get about whether we want something and how it can improve our lives.

When working with clients to develop their business’ personality, we give careful consideration to what is the best fit for them both now, and for future growth.  If you want to make sure that you have a solid brand foundation, stand out from your competition, and look appealing to your clients and potential clients, send me a message, I would love to hear from you!

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It takes just 7 seconds for people to form an impression of your brand.  (Forbes)  If you have a business that customers visit, this is often one of the first interactions they have with your business.  Visual assessment is a primary way that we gather impressions about people, things and places.  Just like when you first meet someone, their appearance can tell you a lot about who they are, the same is true for businesses. Learn Why Your Business Needs a Human Personality.

 

One study revealed that bad brand aesthetics caused 52% of consumers not to buy from a company.  (Venngage)  There is far too much competition in today’s world to let bad aesthetics be the reason that someone doesn’t choose you.  If you are excellent at what you do, that level of excellence should be communicated in every area – including the visual.

So, how do you design for who you are as a business?  Camilla & Co.’s strategy is to first uncover your business’ personality, then bring that to life in a way that best represents the values and goals of your business.  Here are a few things to consider:

What do you want people to know about you?  You absolutely communicate things about who you are as business through your environment.  People are going to form impressions about you through your environment whether it is intentionally designed or not, and whether you want them to or not.  Therefore, it is important to pay attention to and evaluate what message your environment is sending.  Is it orderly or chaotic? Quiet or loud? Bright or dim? What do you want to be known and remembered for?  Doing a discovery of your business personality will help to guide you on what this should look like for you. See What is a Brand to learn more.

How do you want someone to feel when they interact with your business? This should be directly tied to your business goals.  The design of your space can be powerful enough to influence people toward or away from using your services or purchasing your product! In addition to the way you treat your customers, your business design can evoke various feelings in people.  How does an environment that is quiet, loud, orderly, bright, dim, warm, or cool make people feel? None of these are necessarily right or wrong, it all depends on who you are as a business and what your goals are.  If you own a fitness center where you want people to feel energized and empowered, then bright, loud and bold may be good choices for your space.

Medical facilities have been progressing over the years in the design of their clinics and hospitals, to help patients feel more comfortable and to increase feelings of well-being.  There are even studies that show how healing can be accelerated in patients in a less-sterile and more calming and nature-focused environment.  Color, lighting, wall art, window size and placement, fabric choices, and more, can all contribute to the way that someone feels in any given space.

Things to avoid: Implementing personal styles into your business environment is usually not ideal.  Unless your personal brand is exactly the same as your business’ brand/personality, implementing your or anyone else’s personal taste, most likely isn’t going to further your brand.  Often times with small businesses, an owner, spouse, or maybe an employee with a “nack” for such things ends up selecting the color palette, furnishings, etc., and whether intended or not, the result can end up looking like a living room, and often reflects that individual’s style and goals, rather than the business’ goals.

Another thing to look out for is simply not being intentional enough about your design.  Sometimes businesses move into a space and put some paint on the wall because it needs to be painted, furnish it because it needs to be furnished, and put in place the items that they need in order to run their business.  It is easy to do this because it’s what needs to be done in order to get your business up and running as soon as possible, yet the consequence of not being intentional enough about how your space is going to make people feel can result in an incohesive look, and one that could hinder your reputation and not promote positive buying decisions.

A great way to further your business goals and avoid pitfalls is to design for who you are as a business.  At Camilla & Co., we design with your business goals in mind.  We do a business personality discovery, and use that as the foundation for your design.  This will strengthen your business and your brand!