Imagine for a moment your brand came to life and had a personality of its own. What kind of person would it be? What would it look like? Would you walk past it on the street, or be interested in starting a conversation?
While it may sound far-fetched to make that assumption, it’s actually not that far from the truth. In the real world consumers do project personalities onto brands and give them personal attributes.
Don’t believe us? Here’s a simple exercise you could do to prove the point. Imagine a corporate executive in his late 40s, greying hair, black suit, blue tie. Now ask yourself, if Apple were a person would this be him? Or would this be Google, or facebook? Chances are the image you pictured didn’t correlate to any of these brands.
The truth is, consciously or unconsciously, we do project personalities onto brands depending on our impressions of them. It’s just one of the ways we simplify things so we can deal with an increasingly complex world. And if consumers are doing this on a regular basis then as a marketer or brand manager you’d better be thinking about this too.
Ask yourself: If my brand came to life, who would it be? Who would I like it to be? Yes, brands aren’t human. But people do project human qualities onto brands. And brands have real humans to help them speak and act on their behalf.
So what kind of person would your brand be?
Would it be the friend you take for granted? The one you say hello to and go out for a couple of drinks with. You like him or her well enough, but if more interesting company showed up, you’d have no hesitation ditching your friend and accompanying the new person.
Or would it be the sort of brand you really, really like. You’d happily go out to dinner with this brand, in fact you’d go out of your way to make it to dinner with this brand. And new company on the block still wouldn’t change your mind about this brand.
Or would your brand be the kind you want to take home to meet the parents?
The kind of brand you’re happy to commit to and spend the rest of your life with? If that sounds crazy, just remember, people get Harley Davidson tattoos done,
so yes brands can create emotions that powerful.
No matter what your brand’s personality, knowing what it represents currently, and knowing who you’d like to be, can be a powerful tool in shaping future marketing initiatives and engagements.
The growth of social media and digital marketing makes it more important than ever to define your brand and identify what it represents and stands for.
If differentiation is the cornerstone of marketing, then what better way to differentiate your brand than to let it come to life and be the person your customers would love to spend a lifetime with.
If you would like to obtain a FREE copy of Understanding Branding, then please download our Ebook below:
Source: sparksheet.com/What Kind of Person is Your Brand?
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