BRANDING WITH ARCHETYPES

DISCOVER THE POWER OF brand archetypes & UNLOCK THE SECRET TO strategic branding

With more than 33.2 million small businesses making up 99.9% of businesses in the U.S. today, now more than ever, brands need to connect with their audience in a deep and meaningful way in order to provide authenticity, loyalty and trust. Brand Archetypes provide a framework based on human psychology to help your small business build a brand with beauty AND brains.

THE ORIGIN OF ARCHETYPES

THE HISTORY OF BRAND ARCHETYPES

An archetype is defined as "a very typical example of a certain person or thing" or "a recurrent symbol or motif in literature, art or mythology."

Back in the early 20th century, 1919 to be exact, a psychiatrist named Carl Jung termed the phrase "Archetype" in his paper, "The Instinct and the Unconscious." He stated that there is a patter of instinctual behavior that seem to be in humanity's collective unconscious, meaning there are common personality types that represent different characters and personalities that appear throughout different origin stories, mythology, and even in our day-to-day lives, which transcend language, culture, and time. As individuals, we all inherently recognize and relate to them.

UNDERSTANDING ARCHETYPES

Have you ever noticed that there are characters that show up again and again in movies, books, legends, pop culture and our everyday lives? Think Ursula (the villian) from The Little Mermaid, Gigi Phillips (the hopeless romantic) in He's Just Not That Into You, Maximus (the hero) from Gladiator, or Chris Gardiner (the boy next door) in The Pursuit of Happyness.

These characters are archetypes - universally recognized personalities that we recognize, understand, and either connect or clash with. They are the personalities we see time and time again in everything we consume and everyone we deal with on a daily basis.

Take a moment to think through your day - who did you come in contact with? Your mom, husband, kids, a co-worker, someone at the grocery store, a parent at your kids school, the nurse at the doctors office? They all have very specific characteristics that make up their personalities. Whether they are refined and all business, outgoing and bubbly, caring and gentle, rambunctious and silly, or innocent and kind - each one has a personality trait that draws you in or repels you.

The same is true for the brands we come in contact with every day as well. Think about the brands or stores you purchase from most often - there is something about them that you connect with. You have an affinity for them - it's hard to put your finger on it, but you just feel comfortable with them, you trust them and know what you'll get - it's almost as if you know them.

These are brand archetypes.

Although businesses are places we have transactional relationships with, we can feel a connection with them, a loyalty or trust in them, sometimes even a love or affection for them. We connect with them on a deeper level. The brands that are built with a solid alignment to a brand archetype tend to develop relationships with their audience on a deeper level.

Nowadays, people want authenticity and sustainability. They want to know a brand at it's core. If a brand builds a data-driven brand strategy with a solid alignment to an archetypal foundation, it will have an impact on the right people that they are meant to serve - and repel all the rest.

ARCHETYPES IN BRANDING

WHY THEY MATTER

Archetypes are grounded in decades of psychological research. Famous Psychologist Carl Jung, who coined the term "Brand Archetype" in the early 20th century, stated,

"We all have basic human desires that we're born with. They are intrinsic and primitive, and make our heart rate increase for certain desires more than others. They allow us to connect to personalities or behaviors more than others."

Archetypes are a personification of these behaviors and enable us to accurately understand a personality and either connect with it or clash with it. He believed that our core innate mission in life is to discover and fulfill our deepest potential.

Brand archetypes can be a useful tool in helping guide and strengthen a brand's story. They can help us to clearly convey who we are and what we stand for. They help us to create deeper emotional connections with our audiences. They help us to tell our story in an authentic way and encourage brand loyalty. And they can be a driver of product and/or service development.

Discover Your Brand's Unique Personality

Take the brand archetype quiz & unlock the power, unique strengths and psychological triggers that will captivate your audience and connect on a deeper level.

Archetype Quiz

The Brand Archetypes

Click the links below to learn more about each brand archetype.

Brand Archetypes

THE PURSUIT OF SAFETY & SPIRITUALITY

Today's consumers have some recollection or experience of a wonderous moment when the good life seemed possible. They seek to fulfill their longing for the ideal place where they can feel truly themselves and at home. This desire to experience safety, which is why archetypes that provide a road map for self-actualization are more relevant than ever before. These three archetypes provide different strategies for the pursuit of fulfillment, the need for a free and happy life, a promised land, and the wisdom & consciousness to enhance our lives.

The Innocent

The Explorer

The Sage

A LONGING TO LEAVE A LEGACY

The Hero, the Maverick and the Magician are rarely spoken of in the same breath, but they are in fact, powerful archetypes cut from the same cloth. They are all often the powerful & fearless protagonist who realize their own special power and take great personal risks in order to change their reality. They provide structure that can release the ability of ordinary people to risk to the challenges, take risks, and transform their lives. They are each dynamic and magnetic because they are all about change.

The Hero

The Maverick

The Magician

THE PURSUIT OF COMMUNITY & CONNECTION

From the early gatherings of cavemen and tribesmen to today's most popular chat rooms, people's desire to connect, interact and belong has been a primal urge embedded in our very nature. These archetypes help us to fulfill this need by providing a model for connection. They trigger behaviors, outlooks, a need for intimacy, and the ability to live in the moment and enjoy interacting with eachother.

The Guy/Girl Next Door

The Lover

The Entertainer

A NEED FOR STRUCTURE & ORDER

In medieval times, walls were built around villages and moats around castles in an attempt to maintain order and protect against vandals. While today, the threat to our wellbeing may be less dramatic, we still have an innate urge and desire for security and order. We crave stability, control, and the ability to make life as predictable and stable as possible.

The Creator

The Caregiver

The Royal

DISCOVER YOUR BRAND'S unique PERSONALITY