What Is Your Brand Archetype? Find Out Here.

Let’s Talk About Brand Archetypes

What is your brand’s personality? What are its character traits, the way it speaks, the way it serves, and the persona it exemplifies? Whether you’re aware of it or not, your brand falls into one of twelve brand archetypes. Knowing which one yours falls into is essential when it comes to crafting an effective marketing strategy. Ready to learn more? Keep reading to learn all about the twelve brand archetypes and how you can maximize your brand’s archetype with specialized marketing.

What are Brand Archetypes, and Why are They Important?

Brand archetypes are human-like character traits that best represent your brand. It uses human psychology to dive deep into building valuable relationships, loyalty, trust, and comfort between you and your customers.

Knowing your brand’s archetype can help determine many things when it comes to your marketing, such as:

• Tone
• Imagery
• Determining your target audience
• What channels to use when marketing

Your brand may go through several brand archetypes before it finally lands on the one that sticks. Perhaps your goal of being The Jester didn’t sit well with your target audience, and being The Sage is what they really wanted from you all along. Or, you may be thriving off being The Innocent, but through the growth of your company, you have found a way to become The Explorer.

Find Your Brand Archetype

Your brand falls into one of the twelve brand archetypes: The Innocent, Everyman, Hero, Outlaw, Explorer, Creator, Ruler, Magician, Lover, Caregiver, Jester, and Sage. Many brands can exemplify more than one archetype, but there is always one main driver. Not sure what yours is? Let’s keep digging!

The Innocent

If your brand aims to simply make people happy, your archetype is likely The Innocent. This archetype is reliable, sweet, comforting, optimistic, and wants to always do the right thing. People turn to you when they want comfort and optimism and want to see the glass half full. You’re always there for them during their times of need and, even though it is small, want to make their day better.

Examples of companies that fall into The Innocent archetype are McDonald’s, Pampers, and Cottonelle.

Everyman

Is your company unpretentious, approachable, and makes people feel comfortable? Connecting with others is The Everyman’s goal, helping people be better in a community-type way. You understand your target audience 100% and speak to them directly. You understand their pain points and empathize with them. You also understand exactly what they want and make it as easy as possible for them to get it because you’ve been there, too. You’re unpretentious and not here to cause waves—you’re just here to be as helpful as possible.

Examples include Home Depot, Target, and Amazon.

Hero

Does your company meet challenges with no fear; head-on? Willing to do anything to overcome an obstacle, exemplifies hard work, and is up for any challenge? Do words like courage, motivation, strength, and hard work come to mind when people think of your brand? If so, you’re The Hero! People turn to you when they want something they know will work. You never let anyone down, and your performance is always flawless. People never have to worry about you; you’re always there to count on.

Examples include Nike and Duracell.

Outlaw

When you’re The Outlaw, disruption is the name of your game. Rip that rule book in half; you’re out to do things a different way! Taking risks, doing something unique, and thinking freely are all things your brand love to do. If someone tells you that you can’t do something, you work ten times harder to do it anyway. You confront your nay-sayers by doing what you do best: Being you and liberating others! You’re independent, ready to shake things up, and willing to start a revolution. Hey, rules are made to be broken, after all!

Examples of The Outlaw include Uber, Tesla, and SpaceX.

Explorer

Is your brand like The Outlaw, but not as bold? Rather than ripping up the rule book, you’re finding new ways to use it. More of an explorer (hence the name) than a disruptor, The Explorer is always seeking fulfillment, excitement, and new challenges. Rather than starting a revolution like an Outlaw, you’re looking to pioneer and explore a new path. You invite your customers to explore that path with you, and together your goal is excitement and fulfillment. Exploration, adventure, discovery, and freedom of discovery are all words that you live by.

Examples of The Explorer include Jeep, National Geographic, and NASA.

Creator

As The Creator, you have a huge desire to solve a problem by creating its solution yourself. You have a product you feel strongly about that can improve people’s lives, and you are always pushing the boundaries with your creativity. A visionary, you see the big picture and want to make the world a better place. Innovation, expression, creativity, and design are what your company revolves around. You’re a dreamer, an artist, and you love to express yourself. Who knows what you might think of next? That is what keeps your audience at the edge of their seat, and they love to buy into it every chance they can.

Examples of The Creator include Apple, GoPro, and Adobe.

Ruler

Confident. Expert. Leader. Rule maker. Success. These are all words that describe The Ruler. Your brand is the status quo of your industry; the one people strive to achieve. You’re the best of the best, and you know it. You exemplify wealth, status, and confidence, You might even be a little cocky and arrogant, but you don’t care. You’re cemented in, and you call the shots. You’re the authority people look to, which is what gives you your power. A status symbol, people are impressed by you and work their whole lives to achieve you.

Examples include Rolex, Louis Vuitton, and Mercedes Benz.

Magician

As The Magician, you want to dazzle your audience. You want nothing more than to take them to another world, give them magical moments they will never forget, and be as imaginative as possible. You’re a visionary and want to make everyone’s dreams come true. Forget reality; take your audience somewhere else to forget about all their problems. You’re a charismatic leader who is humble yet a visionary who also loves to be mysterious. Your audience never knows what you might dazzle them with next, and, as such, you have quite the cult following.

Examples include Disney, Dyson, and Sony.

Lover

Your brand exudes sexy confidence, romance, and passion. As The Lover, you’re looking to light a spark in your customers and let them feel the same way you do. You’re sensual, seductive, and inspiring closer relationships. You want your audience to attain intimacy and pleasure through their senses. Special indulgent moments with loved ones, or even alone, are what you’re after. If your brand promises sexual appeal and would be Marilyn Monroe if human, you’re The Lover.

Examples include Victoria’s Secret, Godiva, and Chanel.

Caregiver

There is absolutely nothing in the world more important than taking care of people (or animals!), and you want to inspire others to do the same. You’re nurturing, protective, and motherly. Your brand has warmth, is reassuring, and is completely selfless. You want to make others feel safe and secure with you. You don’t care if your acts go unnoticed, but you want people to know you’re there for them. If you help people or animals in need, are a non-profit, or are in the education sphere, chances are pretty good that you are The Caregiver.

Examples include Unicef, Toms, and World Wildlife Federation.

Jester

As The Jester, you thrive on being the class clown! You want people to smile, laugh, and be as light-hearted as possible. No matter what industry you work in, you want to capture people through your humor, wit, and charm. The more playful, the better! You hate being boring, sterile, or lifeless. You want people to think of your industry differently and have fun living life. It doesn’t matter what industry your brand is in; there is always room for a Jester to grab your attention!

Examples of The Jester include Old Spice, Geico, and Ben & Jerry’s.

Sage

Your brand is a wise, helpful mentor—think Yoda. You’re the expert, the scholar, and the one who has already done all the work. You are ready to share your knowledge with everyone else and let them rely on you and your expertise. You’ve researched it as much as it can be researched, and you’re the one people should turn to when they need an answer. You take your role seriously as The Sage, doing everything you can to ensure everything you put out there is correct and thorough. You believe that knowledge is power, and you want to be number one.

Examples include Google, The Discovery Channel, and TED Talks

Maximize Your Brand Archetype with Navazon Digital

If you aren’t sure what your brand archetype is, feel it falls into more than one, or know exactly what yours is, we want to hear from you. We’re here to help you maximize your brand’s potential, including nailing down your archetype and crafting a marketing strategy around it.

Navazon helps businesses increase profits through data-driven marketing that expands opportunities and reduces risk. As marketers and entrepreneurs, we understand the value of developing a memorable brand through creativity and consistency. This is accomplished through targeted graphics, videos, and websites that reflect our proven, time-tested methodologies and detailed analytics. It is an approach that’s proven effective for companies of all sizes, from start-ups and medium-sized businesses to large firms with an international presence.

We are content creators who listen to our clients so that we can formulate ideas and strategies based on your unique goals and philosophies. Thinking through those goals with our analytics-based approach, we study not only your tendencies but those of your competition and the market as a whole.

Equipped with this knowledge, we develop a powerful plan, test it and then roll it out on a modest scale. Once we arrive at the winning formula, we can scale up rapidly to meet even the most optimistic growth projections.

At Navazon, we do not believe in “one size fits all.” Every part of the marketing plan is customized to address your unique niche and positioning strategy. It’s how we excel. It’s why we succeed.

Schedule a free consultation with us now! Visit us at navazondigital.com for more information.