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Archetypes and Branding


Alex Kroll, a former CEO of Y&R, addressed the Association of National Advertisers in October 1989. His speech “Remember, Brands Are People Too” pointed out the following idea:

“Individualistic brands have created characters that have a richness, a complexity, an authority far greater than the words ‘brand personality’ imply…they have managed to embody the kinds of conflicts, contrasts, sequences of events, odd shapes, and unpredictable ordering of events that great plays, novels, paintings, and sculpture have always contained.”

Therefore, the concept of the ‘archetype’ has been used to define that personality.  An “archetype” is the original form of anything. It is the ‘first print’ of an object that represents the essence of a category to which it belongs. Different models have been developed to group into categories, such as the BrandAsset Archetypes by Y&R that comprises twelve of them with four domains that contain sets of three.

In this model, gender essence is incorporated; therefore, some elements may have masculine or feminine nature as part of their characteristics. Also, each one has a counterpart that should be avoided in order to main the brand’s health.   

Click here to view  the complete model.

On the other hand, Jennifer Aeker developed the five dimensions of brand personality as shown below: 

The traits belonging to each one are down to earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful, daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date, reliable, intelligent, successful, upper class, charming, outdoorsy, tough among others.

Several ideas and concepts can be used to construct or redefine your brand; however, decisions must be based on qualitative research. Thorough qualitative research! Keep in mind the following points:

  • Brand personality will only be useful when the target does relate to the chosen projection.
  • Once the right archetype is defined and ready to bring into play, make sure to keep its characteristics congruent in any type of ad, and of course, in social media.
  • For the five dimensions of brand personality, do not choose a big number of traits. Only the ones that fit your target’s interest. 
 

Here is one more reason why you must know your audience. Further steps depend on this fact.

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Tidbit Saturday

By Tony Gigov

Visit blog.thoughtpick.com for more nerdy jokes on social media.

Happy Saturday!


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ID: online


Image taken from singaporeseo.org


 Constructing an identity online means not only sharing our interests, but also revealing who we are through them, through our comments, visual material and the expression of ideas. As Brian Solis, a digital analyst, sociologist and futurist in new media, defines in his blog:

“social media is a deeply personal ecosystem that I lovingly refer to as the EGOsystem. As such, there is a ‘me’ in social media for a reason. It is quiet literally a world in which we are at the center of our online experiences, a place where everything and everyone revolves around us.” (2011)

The EGOsystem…interesting term, right?

There is a variety of behaviors that can be found to the documentation provided by Brian and his friends at the JESS3 creative agency. Read the full article here.

A question might come out when reading carefully each category: what behavior does my brand actually have?

In the EGOsystem, it is necessary to stayed focus on the target instead of finding ways to make it all look like the brand is the center of the online universe. For instance, being a conversationalist would be ideal for creating content and providing feedback. Both factors may lead to build a stronger connection.

On the other hand, to spice up the content a bit, the TMI (Too Much Information) behavior may work out if it is creatively used. Yes, it is true that those who receive the update are the ones who determine whether it was too much or not. That is when intended puns may take place as an alternative motto for an online campaign.

When it comes to segmentation, this list is helpful to find new opportunities and learn what kind of content may be attractive enough to them. Challenges in social media require great efforts to set the right interaction with the right target; therefore, more questions come on the way:

How to keep a commenter’s interest? How to create an association with connectors? How to make observers join the conversation? How to make complainers post a positive impression of your brand?

Let the brainstorming begin.

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