In this article you are going to learn all about brand archetypes and why they are increasingly important in the realm of brand strategy and specifically building a brand personality. Now I have written an article related to this (Brand Personality) but I didn’t complete it. So let’s say this is a complete version of that article. So let’s dive in.
What are Brand Archetypes?
Brand archetypes are collection of 12 personalities. Each one of these personalities represents a certain collection of behaviors and they are personified within these characters called ARCHETYPES. Each one of these archetypes will raise a certain core desire within us depending on the characteristics that they display. Below is an archetype wheel I added to help you see what these archetypes are. You can see from the wheel we have; the outlaw, The Magician, The hero, the lover, the jester, the everyman, the caregiver, the ruler, the creator, the innocent, the sage, and the explorer.
Before I go through the 12 archetypes let’s look at where brand archetypes come from.
Where Did Brand Archetypes come from?
Brand archetypes came about in the early 1900 when a psychiatrist Carl Jung came about them. He applied them in the form of personalities. They are already useful ways to understand other people and they have been used throughout movies time and again we see these characters coming up again in movies like Will Ferrell as a gesture in the Anchorman.
How does that translate into branding? To put it simply, brands are becoming more human. We have this transition of consumer power when the millennia came about and social media came about and the consumers just had so much more power after that transition. It force brand to become more human. Now we see brand adopt a lot more human personality, human characteristics, then we look into brand archetypes to act as the brand foundation to build those personalities for brands.
Brand archetypes are really useful tool within brand strategy itself but specifically with the development of your brand personality. If you are developing brand strategies for your client or your own brand, it is really important to have a good grab of what archetypes are and how you can use them.
If you’ve come across any brand archetypes before or you’ve done any research into them then you will know that archetypes are centrally 12 personalities that we all have this collective unconscious understanding of. Each of these 12 archetypes is individual’s characters that we see times again throughout lives, stories, movies and everyday within our lives and as you see those behaviors or characteristics, you instinctively recognize them.
The Outlaw
The outlaw archetype is an archetype of a personality that will all tend to know quite well. We might come across this archetype early within our lives, in our family if we have a rebellious brother or sister but certainly by the time we get to school we would have met at least a couple of outlaw archetypes and we will continue to meet that outlaw throughout lives and this is a type of person who is getting into trouble in class, not listening to the teacher, and generally not following the rules. A common outlaw has this burning desire for freedom, liberation and for change. They just generally don’t like rules. One of the brands that play the outlaw archetype is Harley Davidson. They don’t conform to rules, they do their own thing and they really appeal with that burning desire for liberation.
The Magician
The magician has burning desire for power. We tend to recognize the magician more today through fantasy stories. We see them more in stories that have been passed down from generation to generation or in the fantasy genre. But we also see the magician in everyday lives as well. For example, in school your chemistry teacher has this element of mystic about them because they are able to do this things with chemicals that we don’t really understand what they are doing and that holds an element of mystic for us. So we see them on this higher level where they are able to do things we don’t fully understand but we really appreciate the things that they do. The magician is powerful, mystical and they protect their secret source really carefully. They have this power to do things that we all look out in all they are quick to tell anybody what their secret are behind what they are able to do. One of the brands that have this character is Disney.
The Hero
The hero archetype has a burning desire to win and to save the day. With a doubt the hero is the most recognizable archetypes of all of the 12 and there is a reason for this as well. An author by the name of Joseph Campbell wrote a book called The Hero with a Thousand Faces and that book became the framework for storytellers and film makers to create stories about a hero and that hero is taken directly from Carl Jung’s archetypes. The hero is a very common archetype we see throughout our lives as well. So this is a type of person who will do whatever it takes to win. The hero is typically determined, courageous, aggressive, competitive, and they really want to win. One of the brands that have this archetype is Nike. We see the heroes they celebrate throughout their advertising. Most of the heroes today are athlete and they celebrate this athlete as heroes
The Lover
The lover archetype has burning desire for intimacy. We don’t tend to come across a lover archetype earlier on in our lives like most of the other archetypes and there is a reason for that as well. Lover archetype is more of an adult archetype because of the adult behaviors, a lot more about seduction. But behind all of these adult behavior and seduction, the lover archetypes really just want to belong and just want to be loved. The lover archetype tends to be sensual, exotic, sensitive, affectionate and almost always sexy. We see lover archetype in brands like Victoria's Secret. Obviously because of the sexuality and seductiveness involved with their brand.
The Jester
The jester has a desire for laughter. Without a doubt we all know this archetype very well. Essentially this is the funny man or woman, whoever is in the room for cracking jokes. Their desire is to make other people laugh. The gesture tend to be fully humane, positivity, excitement, and this character is all across any kind of funny brands like The Old Spice brand.
The Everyman
The everyman archetype just wants to belong. There is an old saying in branding “you can’t read the label from inside the jar” and everybody tends to see themselves in some kind of way as the everyman because we all use ourselves as the basis for what’s normal. The everyman archetype is the most normal person. They everyman tends to be humble, welcoming, and friendly. Example in brand will be Ikea.
The Caregiver
The caregiver archetype has desire to give service. This is the archetype that will introduce you first in life. So this is the mother or the father. We have that connection with the caregiver right throughout our lives because they are the behavior we first see as a baby. We see archetype throughout our lives as lives whether it’s a nurse, teacher or the really caring friend. This is somebody who gives to others and they put others before themselves. They are selfless kind of people. The caregiver archetype tends to be kind, warm, loving, and caring. Brands with this archetype are WWF, Unicef or any brand that devote themselves to helping somebody.
The Ruler
The ruler archetype is all about control. They have this desire to control and to impose their authority and you might meet this archetype earlier on in life maybe your parent or the dean in school. When it comes to the real world there is always a ruler enforcing rules. The ruler places a high value on success, more importantly status. They are really commanding and authoritative. An example of the ruler in brand is the Mercedes.
The Creator
The creator archetype is all about innovation and imagination. Pablo Picasso once famously said “All children are artists”. Designers are perfect example of the creator archetype, writers and architect these are people who apply their creativity throughout their professional lives. Everybody does have an element of that innovation within them. For some people it is far greater than others. Creator tends to see things that most people don’t because they think outside the box. One of the most famous creator archetypes for brands would be Apple.
The Innocent
The innocent archetype has a desire for safety. They want the sense of purity, wholesome people. The innocent archetype tends to be someone who is sensible, responsible, and simplicity. An example would be Aveeno or The body shop.
The Sage
The sage archetype is another archetype that will tend to introduce earlier on in life. They have this desire for knowledge and wisdom. An example of the sage archetype brand would be Google.
The Explorer
The explorer archetype has a desire for adventure. They tend to be adventurous, independent, and even daring; they have to try new things all the time. An example of the explorer archetype brand would be Patagonia and Jeep.
Please if you like this, kindly leave a like and comment what you think about all this archetypes and which one suits you. Thank you❤
Nice one