Brand Archetypes are Gold for Your Business and Here’s Why

If you’ve ever done any work on your brand identity, chances are that you’ve heard of brand archetypes. But what exactly are they, and why are they so important?

Think of someone you know well. Maybe a good friend, a family member, or someone in your community who has an important role in your life.

Chances are, when you think of that person, you’ll connect with how they make you feel. Do they inspire and challenge you to overcome your woes and believe in yourself? Do you feel an incredible sense of belonging when you’re together? Maybe they bring out your playful side and when you’re with them, you know you’ll laugh like a pair of hyenas on crack over things that no one else finds remotely amusing.

Brands are no different. Although you may not love your trainers as much as you love your best mate (or maybe you do; there’s no judgement here), good brands will invoke in you some kind of overall feeling. Friends, I bring you the Brand Archetype.

Originally outlined as a therapeutic tool by Carl Jung, the twelve personality archetypes provide a workable map of the human psyche, with each archetype having an overarching drive. This concept was eventually developed for branding purposes by Margaret Mark and Carol S Pearson in their book The Hero and the Outlaw: Building Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetype.

Note: I said that Jung outlined the archetypes. He didn’t invent them because, to put it bluntly, this s**t is primal. I guarantee that if you look at some of those ancient cave paintings from around the world, you can be sure that you’re looking at a mixture of prehistoric lovers, jesters, innocents and more.

The Twelve archetypes and their drives are:

 ·      THE OUTLAW (LIBERATION)

·      THE MAGICIAN (POWER)

·      THE HERO (MASTERY)

·      THE LOVER (INTIMACY)

·      THE JESTER (ENJOYMENT)

·      THE EVERYMAN (BELONGING)

·      THE CAREGIVER (SERVICE)

·      THE RULER (CONTROL)

·      THE CREATOR (INNOVATION)

·      THE INNOCENT (SAFETY)

·      THE SAGE (UNDERSTANDING)

·      THE EXPLORER (FREEDOM)

When it comes to your own business, defining your brand archetype will mean the difference between a decent marketing strategy and a brilliant one. Why? Because a brand archetype informs how you want your customers and clients to feel, and that will make a big difference when creating any kind of marketing plan- from the language you use to talk to your audience to the brands that you partner with and the promotions you offer.  

For example, if your business is an innocent archetype, you’ll want to avoid being contentious or controversial in your comms because your MO is to encourage people to see the beauty and goodness in life. If you’re a rebel, on the other hand, these tactics can be deployed wisely to make a really strong brand. After all, rebels are always inspiring people to push back against the norm, so to practice what they preach can only be a good thing.

When you’re starting out in business, defining your brand archetype is like arriving at the party in Gucci rather than Gap. And if you’re rebranding, the chances are that the designer clothes are already there; you just need to take off your raincoat. I hope you enjoyed that hideously laboured metaphor…

It’s not just your brand that has an archetype, either; your customers will have one too. It may or not be the same as yours, but it’s obviously very important to know! I’ll talk more about that one in my next blog post.

Curious about your own brand archetype? I offer a free one hour ‘Discover Your Brand Archetype’ call. Please click the button below to get started.