Brand Archetypes and How it can Massively Change your Brand
Brand Archetypes are a great way to give our brand a strong personality. It helps us give form to their vision and help with making decisions at each crossroads for our businesses.
Archetypes help build up the philosophy that many companies struggle with called branding. They involve a lot of aspect like design, brand purpose, brand strategy, messaging, logo and anything connected with branding. It may seem simple and easy to grasp, but the more we understand it, the more our eyes are opened to a discovery of human interaction.
There are a total of 12 archetypes. Each of which is very different characters.
Creator
3M — Science, applied to life
Sony — Make, belief
Lego — Building the builders of tomorrow
YouTube — Broadcast Yourself
The creator is the inventor. They solve problems through the creation of their innovation. They are authentic, and they believe that if you can imagine it, creating it is possible. However, they are often stifled by their desire for perfection. They need to express themselves through their creation and are passionate about the things they create.
It always increases its artistic skills longing for perfection. With its creativity and imagination, Creator goes for self-expression, real innovation, and beauty.
Approaching your Creators customers
The inspiration for the creative process and self-expression is what appeals to most Creators. The Brand should vocalise the importance of creativity and nurture innovation by providing relevant tools to do so, allowing their customers to express them to the best of their ability.
Caregiver
Johnson and Johnson — For all you love
Allstate — You’re in good hands
Unicef — For every child
WWF — For a living planet
The name states it all; Caregivers are simply mothers to their customers. They want to protect and make them feel comfortable and safe. Their strong maternity instinct drives them to nurture and grow their audience selflessly.
Approaching your Caregiver customers
Caregiver customers want to be recognised for their efforts with the brand without being forced. Aggressive or in-your-face promotions are a huge no-no. The appropriate way to target these Caregivers is using heart-tugging and emotionally driven advertisements.
Ruler
Budweiser — The King of Beers
Rolex — A Crown for Every Achievement
Mercedes Benz — The best or nothing
HSBC — The World’s Local Bank
The Rulers are market leaders that are driven by control and power. They often spread the idea that they are the leaders in their field and their actions make order out of chaos. Therefore, they are responsible, confident and authoritative in their communication. Like Kings and Rulers, they often believe they have to defend their top-of-the-food-chain position aggressively.
Approaching your Ruler customers
Ruler customers want the best of the best. They want to feel exquisite and like the V.I.P of the club. They thirst for exclusivity and carry or using the Brand will allow them to make statements. Remember not to water-down the Ruler brand when approaching these customers that is the last thing they want.
Everyman
Muji — Lower Priced For A Reason
Ikea — The Wonderful Everyday
Levis — Quality Never Goes Out Of Style
Volkswagen — People’s Car
The Everyman or your Neighbour, are Brands that wish not to make you feel like they are a distant apart. They want to be on the same level as their customers with no barrier or boundary. They tend to blend into the crowd and not wish to stand out. Humbleness and unpretentiousness are their most prominent attraction.
Approaching your Everyman customers
Be real and honest with your customers. Do not fluff things up because it is a huge turn off for the Everyman. Businesses that tend to have products or services whose objective is to blend into people’s everyday habits are best suited for this Archetype. The greatest gift Brands can give these customers are a sense of belonging.
Lover
Alfa Romeo — Beauty is not enough
Victoria Secrets — The Perfect Body
Magnum — For pleasure seekers
Durex — Love Sex Durex
Lovers are like mistresses. They desire to be desired. They believe in having a connection and a relationship. They have a sensual personality and is passionate in pleasuring the senses of their customers — Food, looking beautiful or smelling good. They often have the power to magnetise and strongly attract people, but if mismanaged, will be seen as shallow and obsessive.
Approaching your Lover customers
Lover Brands should focus on how the product will make people feel. The tone and visual imagery play a vital role. It has to be captivating, targeting the senses of the audience. Lovers are more likely to be drawn to the colour red and products or services that will make them seem glamorous. Similar to the ruler, try not to come across as cheap.
Jester
M&M — Melts in your mouth, not in your hand
Dollar Shave Club — Our Blades Are F — ing Great
Old Spice — If your grandfather hadn’t worn it, you wouldn’t exist.
Dominos — It’s what we do
Jesters are the joker of the group. They create a real light-hearted mood in the atmosphere and live in the moment. They love to use their sense of humour as their strategy in their advertisements, even teasing both their competitors or customers affectionately. Internally, Jesters also make sure that they are driven with fun and believes that the value of play, often sparks outrageous ideas and innovation. Contrary to not being afraid of bending the rules, Jesters are fearful of being boring and stagnant.
Approaching your Jester customers
Jesters are the masters of brainstorming. There is no end to their problem solving as they believe that the journey is more important than the solution itself. To appeal to Jesters, avoid having a dull or ‘templated’ advertisements. Weird, unusual and high-energy marketing strategies tend to be more attractive to Jesters.
Outlaws
Jack Daniels — Once You Go Jack, You Never Go Back
Harley Davidson — American By Birth, Rebel By Choice
Apple — Think Different
Virgin — Changing business for good
Outlaws are the rebels of the World. They love bending the rules in their favour to test the system and break boundaries all in the name of ‘freedom and revolution’. They bravely sound out traditional methods and is motivated by changing the status quo. These rebels are the expert in developing radical ideas, products or services. Successful Outlaw Brands create a tight knitted cult-like following that has lost faith in traditional approaches and is attracted to the new progressive mindset. However, the moment when the Brand starts giving in to conformity and ignores their initial vision, these Outlaws will move on and leave the Brand.
Approaching your Outlaw customers
I am sure you have heard this before — “My respect is not given, it is earned.” To appeal to an Outlaw, Brands must show them that they have the same mindset as them. Empowering or leading a revolution will give you an edge to get into the good books of these Outlaws. Avoid formal communication and coat your tone with an attitude.
Magicians
Disney — The Happiest Place On Earth
Dyson — Making it happen even though it appears impossible
Xbox — Jump in
Redbull — Red Bull gives you wings
As the name states, Magicians are the ones that bring people on a mystical journey. They are the gate to transformative experience and are great advocates of customer experiences. They have a thirst for knowledge and wisdom, and they never limit their imagination. Magicians are motivated to transcend reality, tap unto what is unreal then after, try to make it a reality.
Approaching your Magician customers
This group of individuals are motivated and attracted by imaginative and inspiring advertising. These customers are looking for an experience that no other Brands will make them feel. Dive deep and fully understand this segment of the audience, get hold of their inner desire or dreams and make it a reality for them. Give them an experience they will never forget, and they will be your biggest promoter.
Hero
Nike — Just Do it
Guinness — Made for More
Adidas — Impossible is nothing
Snickers — You’re not you when you’re hungry
Heroes are basically the honourable role model. They have a strong motivation to prove their worth and make an impact big enough to leave a mark in the World. They are determined to inspire, motivate and help others feel the same. The Hero often uses strong imagery and colours depicting their superiority and better quality products or services to their competitors.
Approaching your Hero customers
Hero customers want to feel inspired and empowered to achieve beyond and more. They look for quality products and will likely believe that their consumer choices will put them ahead of everyone else. Try staying away from funny or cute advertisements as they might seem as flippant and untrustworthy.
Innocent
Coca Cola — Taste the feeling
Dove — You’re more beautiful than you think
Macdonalds — I’m lovin’ it
Evian — Live young
The Innocent archetype is the very caring HR lady in your office. They are an eternal optimist who always sees the good in people and life. Their biggest goal is for themselves and everyone to be happy. This Brand archetype often tries to stay away from anything negative. They are sincere, honest and have no ill intention towards anybody. Their strength is seeing the inner beauty in someone that others do not. These brands have everything to do with making people happy.
Approaching your Innocent customers
Innocent customers are drawn to simple, honest and most importantly, positive communication. They strive for goodness, are very often trusting, and have a great deal of faith in others. They are a traditional lot and do not seek change. Try sticking to concise, clean and simple imagery to carry out your message.
Explorer
Johnnie Walker — Keep Walking
The North Face — Never Stop Exploring
Land Rover — Go Beyond
Discovery Channel — The World Is Ours
Explorers are the Platos of your group. They have a strong need to find meaning and purpose. As the name suggests, they love discovery and exploration as they believe this brings them answers. Unlike Heroes, they do not seek to prove to others, as self-discovery comes in as first on their priority list. They are adventurers who create products that promote individuality, excitement, and a way to experience new things. They aim to make people feel free and nonconformist, helping people express their individuality.
Approaching your Explorer customers
Explorer customers are trying to find a place in this world, so to approach these consumers, Brands have to have clarity in their thoughts. With that clarity, challenge and motivate them to go on a journey outdoors to seek answers. Try staying away from being rigid or coming across as ‘Corporate’; That will be their biggest turn-offs. Give them answers (but not ‘answers’) in your communication.
Sage
Google — Do The Right Thing
Wikipedia — The Free Encyclopedia
BBC — Nation Shall Speak Peace Unto Nation
TED — Ideas Worth Spreading
Sages are the Teachers of the world. They are the wise owls that believe the path to happiness is paved with knowledge and wisdom. They are motivated to continually seek out the truth and share it with others, making the world a better place. The Sage brand is a natural fit for any company that emphasises research and development, the acquisition of knowledge, or disseminating information. Sages are the “Rafiki” to the “Simbas” of the world.
Approaching your Sage customers
Trust that your customers will be able to grasp complicated ideas and understand intellectual in-jokes as Sages are likely to be drawn in by advertising that challenges them to think in a completely different or new way. Be well-researched and factual in your information and try staying away from dumbed-down communications.
So which Brand Archetype does your Brand seem to be closely connected? Better still, do YOU feel like you connect with any Brand Archetypes? Alternatively, you can take a quiz here to better facilitate your identification of the right Archetype for your Brand.
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