Have you ever met someone who seriously lacked personality?
If so, you know that it makes it hard to connect with them and interacting is not much fun.
Well this isn't only the case for people talking to people, it applies to businesses too! In order to be successful in business, you need to create a connection with your target audience.
How do you do this?
By crafting the perfect brand personality.
What is a brand personality?
Brand personality is all about the personification of your brand. Simply put, it is the process of assigning human personality characteristics to your brand in order to differentiate it from the rest of the competition. It is the way a brand 'speaks' and 'behaves'. It evokes positive emotions and builds brand equity.
It is worth noting that a brand personality is different from a brand image. The latter is a reflection of the brand's physical and functional attributes, while the former is the characteristics and emotions evoked by the brand.
If your brand is associated with certain personality traits, your target audience will find it more relatable.
For instance, Dove is a brand that champions wholesomeness, feminism, and body positivity. Lonely Planet is seen as a daring and independent brand. Brands such as Apple, Pixar, and Lego are praised for their originality, creativity, and vision.
What is a brand personality?
A strong brand personality builds a strong emotional connection with potential customers, allowing you to gain their business especially if you share the same values. It develops long-term relationship and builds loyalty among existing customers.
How to ensure your brand has personality
Research brand personalities
Check the brands you admire and look up to. What is it about them that stands out, and what makes them unique? What do you admire about them?
What qualities does your company have that people would admire?
Identify the personality for your brand.
If you get asked by people what your business is all about, what are the first words that come to mind? Create a list of adjectives that describes your business and build a plan around the set of identifiers. Improve on the original list further by associating each adjective with a brand archetype, and come up with more adjectives based on this. Define the core adjectives that best encompass your brand.
Create a guide outlining your desired personality
Create a style guide in order to keep things consistent. Consistency is king.
Read: Does Your Business Need a Style Guide? Four Questions To Ask Yourself
Read: What Are The Key Elements You Should Have In Your Company's Style Guide?
There is more to branding than having a great logo; rather it is a combination of all the elements put together such as color, typeface, copywriting style, use of imagery, and much more. Having a guide in place is essential in order to achieve a consistent brand personality across all channels.
Coordinate your brand personality with your brand identity
The personality of your brand should be a reflection of your mission, vision, and values as a company. If there is a disconnect between the two, your audience will be able to detect it.
For example, McDonalds wouldn't want to promote a personality of being responsible and wholesome because their brand is more about instant gratification. Instead they have chosen a personality that is fun and happy which is in line with what they offer.
Implement the personality in all communications
Use the guide mentioned earlier and implement it in all aspects of your business to create a harmonious and consistent brand personality.
Tips when creating a brand personality
Tell a story
More than a narrative, your brand's story should tell your mission and vision with the personality intertwined. It should inform the audience of the reason why you are in business and should be specific enough to be credible but universal enough to be relevant. Look at Coca Cola as an example. Their tagline "taste the feeling" and their marketing materials show people enjoying life while drinking Coke.
In this video, they convey their fun and people-oriented personality with powerful shorts from the Olympics about what gold feels like. Of course, Coca Cola is integrated throughout with references to good feelings. This is a great example of a brand with a clear personality telling their story through a commercial.
Be consistent
Consistency prevents brand confusion and conveys the impression you are focused and serious at what you do.
Make it a team effort
You don't have to go at this alone. Ask staff, friends, and family to lend a helping hand when crafting your brand's personality. They can provide a different perspective and fresh insight about your brand's personality that you might not even recognize.
Give your brand a face
Focus on how your product or service is going to be relevant to the lives of actual people. Provide a humanized element to your brand story and make it empathetic to your potential customers as in the Coca Cola example above.
Find, don't invent
Rather than inventing a personality out of thin air, you can find your brand's personality within your immediate surroundings. It should be a reflection of the values of your employees, as well as a reflection of your customers' lifestyle, wants, and needs.
The Takeaway
In order for your business to be successful, it needs to have a brand personality that is emotionally compelling, accessible, and relatable.
Once you find the personality that defines who you are as a business, make sure to be consistent with how you implement it so that your target audience can get behind your brand. In doing so, your business will be more like the magnetic person that walks into a room who everyone wants to talk to, and that’s going to make your marketing efforts much more effective.
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Written by Jessica Walrack on Monday, February 13, 2017
Jessica Walrack is a professional freelance writer with a background in sales and marketing. After 7 years in the corporate world, she stepped into the online sphere and has now been freelancing for 4 years. She specializes in helping businesses to create a stellar online experience for their audience in order to build industry authority and increase profitability. In her spare time, Jessica enjoys traveling all over the world with her family.
