Using Brand Archetypes to Connect with Your Desired Audience
Brand archetypes, first introduced by psychologist Carl Jung, are universal patterns in the collective unconscious. Each archetype is a character profile that a brand can fit into. There are 12 archetypes, each with its own unique set of personality traits, principles, and goals.
By aligning your brand with a specific archetype, you can create a solid emotional connection with consumers and a consistent, recognizable brand identity that speaks to the customer’s needs and values. These archetypes showcase the relationship between an audience and a brand.
What are the 12 Archetypes?
The Innocent Archetype
Description: The Innocent archetype represents goodness, purity, and simplicity. It embodies the optimistic and naive side of human nature.
Emotional Connections: Trust, optimism, happiness, safety.
Fears: Being punished for doing something wrong, being corrupted or harmed.
Targeting: Brands that want to appeal to families or offer a safe, trustworthy product can align themselves with the Innocent archetype.
- Marketing to the Innocent archetype involves using bright colours and emphasizing simplicity and nostalgia.
The Hero Archetype
Description: The Hero archetype is all about bravery, courage, and strength. It represents overcoming obstacles and achieving greatness.
Emotional Connections: Achievement, success, respect, admiration.
Fears: Failure, weakness, cowardice.
Targeting: Brands that want to inspire their customers or help them overcome a challenge can align themselves with the Hero archetype.
- Marketing that targets the Hero archetype often highlights themes of victory, achievement, and overcoming obstacles, using language that speaks to their courage and ability to make a difference.
The Magician Archetype
Description: The Magician archetype is about transformation, change, and magic. It represents the ability to make the impossible possible.
Emotional Connections: Inspiration, wonder, imagination, mystery.
Fears: Stagnation, limitation, conformity.
Targeting: Brands that want to offer their customers a transformative experience or a sense of wonder can align themselves with the Magician archetype.
- A common marketing trick used to target The Magician archetype is to create an aura of mystery and transformation, using symbols and visuals that evoke a sense of awe and wonder.
The Regular Guy/Girl Archetype
Description: The Regular Guy/Girl archetype represents being down-to-earth and relatable. It is the archetype of the “everyman.”
Emotional Connections: Authenticity, relatability, simplicity.
Fears: Being seen as different or “too good” for others.
Targeting: Brands that want to connect with the everyday person or offer a product that is practical and straightforward can align themselves with the Regular Guy/Girl archetype.
- A common marketing trick used to target The Regular archetype to Using UGC, influencers, emotional storytelling, humor, discounts, and simple messaging
The Lover Archetype
Description: The Lover archetype represents passion, sensuality, and intimacy. It is the archetype of romantic love.
Emotional Connections: Love, intimacy, passion, pleasure.
Fears: Rejection, being alone, loss of love.
Targeting: Brands that want to appeal to people’s desires or offer a product that brings pleasure can align themselves with the Lover archetype.
- Marketing tricks used with the Lover archetype are to use of Romantic imagery, emotional appeals, personalized messages, sentimental gifts, and experiences.
The Sage Archetype
Description: The Sage archetype is about wisdom, knowledge, and insight. It represents a deep understanding of the world.
Emotional Connections: Wisdom, insight, understanding.
Fears: Being wrong, ignorance, foolishness.
Targeting: Brands that want to offer knowledge or insight to their customers or appeal to those who value learning can align themselves with the Sage archetype.
- Marketing tricks used with the sage archetype involve Positioning your product or service as an educational or informative solution to solve problems.
The Jester Archetype
Description: The Jester archetype is about humor, playfulness, and irreverence. It represents joy and the ability to lighten up any situation.
Emotional Connections: Fun, humor, playfulness, joy.
Fears: Being boring or dull, not being taken seriously.
Targeting: Brands that want to add an element of fun or humor to their product or appeal to those who value lightheartedness can align themselves with the Jester archetype.
- A marketing trick used with the Jester archetype could be a Quirky social media campaign with humorous memes or witty one-liners to engage and entertain the audience.
The Outlaw Archetype
Description: The Outlaw archetype represents rebellion, freedom, and individualism. It is the archetype of the rebel.
Emotional Connections: Freedom, individualism, rebellion.
Fears: Conformity, losing freedom.
Targeting: Brands that want to appeal to those who value individuality or offer a product that is unconventional can align themselves with the Outlaw archetype.
- A marketing trick used with the Jester archetype could be a Quirky social media campaign with humorous memes or witty one-liners to engage and entertain the audience.
The Caregiver Archetype
Description: Embodies compassion, nurturance, and empathy.
Emotional Connections: Care, love, and support.
Fears: Fears being seen as selfish or uncaring.
Targeting: highlights the brand’s caring and supportive nature, evoking a sense of trust and reliability, and appealing to customers who value kindness and social responsibility.
- A marketing trick used with the caregiver archetype is Show empathy, share stories of care and support, and highlight social responsibility in your marketing messages.
The Explorer Archetype
Description: Represents adventure, discovery, and curiosity.
Emotional Connections: include wanderlust, excitement, and curiosity.
Fears: Fears of being trapped or stuck in a routine.
Targeting: Targeting focuses on promoting the brand as a gateway to new experiences, adventures, and discoveries, appealing to customers’ sense of exploration and curiosity.
- A marketing idea for The Explorer is Highlight adventure, discovery, and independence in your marketing messages, and offer unique experiences to appeal to the explorer archetype.
The Ruler Archetype
Description: Embodies authority, leadership, and control.
Emotional Connections: Embodies authority, leadership, and control.
Fears: Fears losing control or being overthrown.
Targeting: Targeting positions the brand as a leader, a symbol of authority and control, offering products or services that provide customers with a sense of control, stability, and status.
- A marketing must is to Emphasize authority, control, and exclusivity in your marketing, and showcase how your brand can help customers become leaders with the ruler archetype.
The Creator Archetype
Description: Represents innovation, imagination, and originality.
Emotional Connections: Emotional connections include inspiration, creativity, and expression.
Fears: Fears mediocrity or lack of uniqueness
Targeting: Targeting emphasizes the brand’s ability to inspire and empower customers to express their creativity, offering innovative and unique solutions.
- Marketing must Highlight innovation, originality, and artistic expression in your marketing to resonate with the creator archetype.
Great but why use archetypes and how in Marketing?
Brand archetypes are character profiles that a brand can adopt. There are 12 archetypes based on personality traits, principles, and goals. A brand may align with one or blend two or three, with one archetype as dominant and the others as supporting.
Successful brands connect with consumers on a human level, forming loyal bonds with their audience. Understanding the audience’s desire and aligning the brand with a specific archetype, fuels that connection. Each archetype has a goal that relates to the audience, forming a deeper level of connection.
Identifying the archetype helps create a consistent and authentic visual solution that showcases the brand’s personality, gaining the audience’s trust. Brands that connect emotionally with their audience through archetypes have a massive advantage over their competition.
WHAT IS YOUR BRAND ARCHETYPE?
Once you have identified your brand archetype, it’s time to start developing your brand messaging and visual identity. This includes your brand voice, tone, and messaging, as well as your logo, color palette, and overall design. Your brand messaging should speak to the desires, needs, and emotions of your target audience while staying true to your brand archetype.
Your visual identity should also align with your brand archetype. For example, a brand aligned with the Ruler archetype may use rich, bold colors and luxurious imagery to communicate their authority and power, while a brand aligned with the Explorer archetype may use natural colors and adventurous imagery to communicate their curiosity and desire for new experiences.
In conclusion, understanding brand archetypes and how to use them to connect with your desired audience is an essential part of successful branding. By aligning your brand with a universal archetype that speaks to the desires and emotions of your target audience, you can create a consistent and recognizable brand identity that fosters deep emotional connections and builds lasting customer loyalty. So, take the time to explore the 12 archetypes, identify the one that best represents your brand, and start crafting a brand identity that resonates with your target audience on a deep and emotional level.
