Your Brand Has a Personality

NOTE: This is an update of my blog post from March 2019 titled, “Would You Date This Brand?”

Would you swipe left or right on Nike? Starbucks? Netflix? Seems like a silly question but think about it. We all have deep and meaningful long term relationships with our favorite brands. I personally will not get out of bed unless there is the possibility of Starbucks in the very near future. My evenings are made more enjoyable by Netflix and I count on my Apple iPhone to connect me to the world. Nike, meh. All of these actions are triggered by emotions and hopefully you can see how they reflect what you may feel about a significant other. When we are loyal to a brand, we are in a committed relationship with them. Gulp! Right?!?! But how did you get there? What attracted you to make the commitment? That was, in a large part, due to the brand’s personality.

Every brand has a personality, built on the foundation of mission, purpose, values, and product. Smart brands understand that a brand is more than a logo and a tagline. In order to build a committed relationship with customers, smart brands create a very deliberate brand personality or a set of human characteristics associated with that brand. It sounds farfetched but think about it. If someone said a common brand name to you in a conversation, you would have an immediate reaction, a feeling, a word, a thought or description. That’s the brand personality. Try it. Here are some brand names. What are your first thoughts or feelings when you hear the name. I’ll add mine below.

What do you feel when you thought of these brands? Was it positive? Did you want to think more or run away? Can you equate that feeling to a person you know or wish you knew? That’s your response to a brand personality. That response colored your perception of the brand.

So, how does a brand build a personality? An easy place to start is to imagine you were setting a brand (your company) up on a blind date with a friend, who is looking for a product like yours. How would you describe the brand to your friend? What adjectives would you use to get that friend excited to meet you? Think about personality characteristics as well as physical details. Is the brand a women? How old the brand or is it ageless? What kind of car would the brand drive? What kind of clothes? Is the brand honest, sensitive, fun, thoughtful, or dynamic? Is the brand scientific, smart, set in your ways, or faithful? All of these qualities can be attributed to a brand. It’s the list of your attributes that makes your organization unique.

Next, ask important stakeholders how they would describe your organization. This includes customers, employees, partners, collaborators, friends, and even community members.  Ask them to be as specific and honest as possible. It is ok to be negative. These are traits you’ll learn to downplay, change or debunk.

A note here, while it is not a good idea to exaggerate or be untruthful when describing a friend you are trying to set up on a date, it is ok to be somewhat aspirational when crafting a brand personality. After all, your organization’s brand personality is a perception and can be changed over time. Just don’t be so aspirational that the personality is not authentic. Your customers will see right through that.

If it helps, try to think of your brand as an actual or made-up person. If you were casting a television or radio commercial, who would you choose as your brand spokesperson? Some companies actually end up using their brand personality in ad campaigns. Think of KFC’s Colonel Sanders or The Marlboro Man. When you have a comprehensive and authentic brand personality, you’ve got a clear foundation to develop an impactful brand message. Who would best represent your brand? King Lear? Michelle Obama? Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory? The characteristics of that person could give insight into your brand personality.

Once you have a list of characteristics in place, this brand personality becomes your bible for messaging strategy. Your personality affects the tone and words you use in all communications, both internal and external. It’s critical a brand is consistent in using its personality across every form of communication. Your brand should not be curt and short in email but chatty and breezy in social media. That type of disconnect will confuse and alienate those critical customers you are trying to build relationships with.

In our competitive marketplace, brands need to compete for attention and wallet dollars every day. If you take the time to discover your brand personality, you’ll be one step closer to elevating your value and creating long-term customer relationships with those who understand your brand’s worth.

If you’d like help in discovering your brand’s personality, contact me today for a free discovery call. I will never swipe left on you!