Mastering Brand Personality: A Guide for Marketers
The article explores the importance of brand personality in marketing efforts distinguishing brands into five core dimensions. In each dimension, we provide several examples and explain how you can create a brand personality with ease by using a 6-step framework. Lastly, we incorporate the world of storytelling with the brand personality to show the best way how you can translate your brand to the world.
What is brand personality?
Jennifer Aakar, a marketing professor at Standard Graduate School of Business, defines brand personality as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand. In her research in the Journal of Marketing Research, she concluded that there are five core dimensions. These are sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness. While a brand may be categorised into two different dimensions, the ones that stand out have one carefully crafted brand personality that has been developed and reinforced through various marketing efforts.
To master the art of brand personality, we need to start by identifying what each dimension means with examples of well-known brands for ease of reference.
Sincerity
Associated with being honest, trustworthy, and authentic, brands with sincerity personality tend to be associated with family values. It’s perceived as wholesome and cheerful giving feelings of warmth and comfort to show that they are dependable and reliable.
Examples include:
Dove - The brand's wholesome and authentic personality is reflected in its "Real Beauty" campaign that celebrates women of all shapes, sizes, and skin types.
Patagonia - The outdoor clothing and gear brand is known for its honesty and trustworthiness with its commitment to sustainable and ethical practices.
Excitement
Exciting personalities are seen as daring, imaginative and adventurous. Characterised by boldness, risk-taking, passion and enthusiasm, they appeal to consumers who are looking for new and different experiences.
Traits that relate to excitement:
Red Bull - The brand's daring and adventurous personality is reflected in its extreme sports sponsorships and events.
GoPro - The brand's adventurous and daring personality is reflected in its rugged, waterproof cameras that capture action-packed experiences.
Competence
Competent brands are perceived as industry leader who is successful, dependable, intelligent, conscientious and successful. Audiences that look for quality and reliability choose these brands to feel confident in their purchasing decisions.
Traits that relate to competence:
FedEx - The brand's dependable and intelligent personality is reflected in its reliable and speedy delivery services.
BMW - The luxury car brand's success and principled personality is reflected in its innovative engineering and commitment to sustainability.
Sophistication
Elegance, composition and worldly is what sophisticated brands are described as. Their association with being refined and cultured appeals to the luxury industry with high-end products or services.
Traits that relate to sophistication:
Apple - The tech giant's elegant and confident personality is reflected in its sleek product design and minimalist branding.
Chanel - The luxury fashion brand's sophisticated and elegant personality is reflected in its iconic black-and-white branding and timeless designs.
Ruggedness
Brands that are rough, athletic, outdoorsy and reliable are known as rugged. Their no-nonsense approach appeals to consumers who look for durability and want to feel prepared for any challenge.
Traits that relate to ruggedness:
The North Face - The outdoor clothing and gear brand's sturdy and reliable personality is reflected in its durable and high-performance products.
Harley-Davidson - The motorcycle brand's rugged and dependable personality is reflected in its iconic design and community of riders.
Why should you care about your brand personality?
Differentiation: Brand personality helps you stand out from you and your offering stands out from competitors allowing you to attract the right audiences and create lasting impressions.
Consistency: Integrated multichannel marketing is a constant effort that required consistent messaging and branding across all channels. Defining your brand personality helps your marketing team maintain this allowing you to build on your brand recognition.
Emotional Connection: People buy values, not just the product or service. A brand personality helps build trust with your audience allowing them to remain loyal to your brand.
Target Audience: Understanding your brand personality allows you to better resonate with your ideal customer persona. This creates a feeling that you understand their desires and needs, which in turn results in a strong loyal customer base.
Customer Experience: The way you present your brand to the world shapes your customer experience, which is critical to building your audience. A brand personality helps create a memorable experience across all channels leading to higher engagement.
How to create a brand personality
Our 6-step VABEMA framework allows you to create a brand personality with ease.
V - Values: Define your values to showcase what your business stands for.
A - Audience: Identify your target market’s values and characteristics.
B - Brand book: Develop a corporate brand identity.
E - Explain: Train your team to ensure consistency across all channels.
M - Measure: Measure the effectiveness by talking to your customers.
A - Analyse: Analyse room for improvement to remain relevant.
Storytelling is a brand’s best friend
Storytelling allows you to humanise your brand and build a stronger emotional connection with your audience. This allows your brand to communicate its values, mission and unique selling proposition in a more memorable way.
People like to be part of a community and storytelling helps create a sense of belonging around the brand. That said, these stories should remain authentic in order to effectively build brand loyalty and advocacy allowing your customers to recommend it to others.
By crafting stories that are meaningful and relevant to your audience, brands can create a personality that sets them apart from the competition and resonates with their customers on a deep level.
Brand Personality in Our Key Industries
Tashi Hati specialises in three key industries, these are Hospitality and Real Estate, Insurance and Retail. In this section, we provide examples of brands that have defined a strong brand personality for ease of reference.
The Hospitality and Real Estate Industry
Moxy Hotels: Moxy Hotels by Marriott are known for its playful and stylish brand personality that is geared towards younger travellers. They often have fun amenities like game rooms, unique decor, and lively social spaces.
CitizenM Hotels: CitizenM Hotels have a modern and tech-savvy brand personality that attracts younger travellers as well. They often have cutting-edge technology, like self-check-in kiosks and in-room tablets, that appeal to younger guests who value convenience and innovation.
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts: Four Seasons is a luxury hotel brand with a sophisticated and elegant brand personality. They are known for their impeccable service, luxurious amenities, and upscale design.
The Insurance Industry
GEICO: Known for its humour and quirky advertising, GEICO has created a brand personality that is friendly, playful, and a little irreverent.
AIG: AIG's brand personality is sophisticated and international, emphasising the company's global reach and expertise in a variety of insurance products.
Prudential: Prudential's brand personality is focused on empowerment and financial security, with an emphasis on helping customers plan for the future.
The Retail Industry
Nike: A brand known for its innovation and athleticism, with a strong focus on empowering its customers to be their best.
Apple: A brand known for its sleek and innovative products, with a strong focus on design and usability.
Ikea: A brand known for its affordability and stylish furniture, with a strong focus on simplicity and functionality.
The Wrap Up
To finalise, brand personality can truly help define your brand to stand out from an ever-growing marketplace. With Aaker’s brand dimension framework, you can help find direction with your positioning and take inspiration from the examples above. Ultimately, your brand identity should tie in with your messaging to create overall brand alignment.