Too many companies understate the importance of a strong brand identity and narrative. Your brand might have grown organically throughout the years and lost touch with its core values. Or changing conditions require a shift in your brand story to continue to be relevant and compete in a challenging market.
In a dynamic environment where brand loyalty is rapidly diminishing, not having a clear brand voice will make you unexciting and forgettable. It's not uncommon that a brand’s message gets watered down and swept up in a whirlwind of advertising clutter, but luckily there is a rather simple fix.
“In a dynamic environment where brand loyalty is rapidly diminishing, not having a clear brand voice will make you unexciting and forgettable.”
Jan Gevers - Digital Strategist
If you are:
We have just the thing to take your brand out of the twilight zone and into the spotlight!
Think of brand archetypes as a magical hot sauce. They add some spice to your brand strategy and blend all flavors together in a harmonious whole that your audience will find irresistible.
Read on to find out more or download our eBook in which we have compiled detailed information on the various brand archetypes, especially for you!
Today’s marketplace is characterized by stiff competition, rapid technological advances and significant developments in how customers experience and respond to brands. These changing conditions can be quite overwhelming and many businesses struggle to adapt. In their attempts to keep up, they could end up diluting the brand identity with incoherent strategies and brand elements.
In this blog post, we'll discuss how a brand archetype will help you establish a clear brand personality with a voice that cuts through the clutter.
The word ‘archetype’ is based on the Ancient Greek ‘archien’ or original, and ‘typos’, meaning pattern or model. Renowned psychologist Carl Jung suggested that symbolism is key for humans to understand complex concepts. It is therefore not a coincidence that stories worldwide include the same symbolic elements.
For instance, the hero who undertakes a perilous quest and overcomes many obstacles but is eventually triumphant. Or the trickster who possesses secret knowledge but uses it to defy convention. According to Jung, these universal, timeless archetypes are unconscious foundations to be colored in by an individual’s own life experiences.
“Branding is about signals — the signals people use to determine what you stand for as a brand. Signals create associations.”
Allen P. Adamson, Co-Founder Metaforce
Jung’s archetypes help discover what a brand really stands for. They reflect the brand personality and character traits. As archetypes are universal images with a set of associated behaviors, it's easy for your target audience to relate to them and understand them.
More importantly, an archetype unifies all brand elements into a coherent whole. It takes the business in a well-defined direction, hence paving the way to establish a clear strategy. It also provides your brand with a unique voice in order to communicate consistently and to do away with any unnecessary noise.
Finally, once your brand has obtained an explicit identity, voice and strategy; you'll be able to differentiate yourself and stand out from the competition.
Jung defined 12 archetypes to describe human motifs, combined in four main groups on the archetype wheel. The middle is your point of departure: is the main purpose of your brand to provide structure, seek paradise, build a connection or leave a mark? Once you have established your main purpose, you can then get more specific and select the archetype that resonates most with your brand.
It's also worth noting that your brand will often have a primary as well as a secondary archetype. Your brand personality, like a person’s personality, is after all not one dimensional.
Moreover, if one day your company should need a revamp or freshening up of the brand, you may not have to carry out a full rebranding. If only a small shift has taken place, you could easily reposition your brand e.g. from the Explorer to the Outlaw or from the Caregiver to the Everyman. However, a shift from Creator to Outlaw is too large a change and will require a full rebranding.
In our blog posts, we will give you a comprehensive overview of each brand archetype, their personality traits, including merits and flaws, and examples of brands that successfully use these archetypes to embody a brand personality that is familiar and relatable to their audience.
Curious to find out whether your brand exerts control like the Ruler, seduces your prospects like the Lover or displays the cheeky attitude of the Jester? Download our eBook or read on to discover which archetype best expresses your brand.
The Creator, Ruler and Caregiver create a structure and take responsibility. Think your brand might be best represented by one of these archetypes? Read our blog posts to find out:
The Innocent, Sage and Explorer archetypes seek a spiritual experience. Discover how they achieve this using different approaches:
The Outlaw, Magician and Hero archetypes leave a legacy. Does that sound like your brand purpose? Click on the archetype to read more:
The Everyman, Jester and Lover archetypes seek a better connection. Discover how these brand personalities connect with their audiences, each in their own unique way:
In the current marketing landscape, your business will be able to reap real benefits from using an archetype to personify your core identity. Don’t let your brand turn into driftwood, lost in the marketing maelstrom. By giving your brand a human face and a voice, you'll be able to connect with your target audience, stay true to your narrative and take up a strategic position in today’s business landscape.
Ready to find out which archetype embodies your brand? Take our brand archetype quiz and uncover your unique brand personality.
