What is Your Brand Personality?

Everyday we interact with brands just as much as, if not more than, we interact with people. From advertisements and social media posts to the products we use and see others using, branding infiltrates our lives, whether we’re always aware of it or not. Each one makes its own distinct impression, no matter how briefly. So how do we curate the impression our brands leave? To answer this, we need to first have a solid understanding of our brand’s personality. 

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What is Brand Personality? 

Simply put, brands have personalities the same way we do. It’s a collection of traits that define a company or product; their image presented to clients. Branding for products generally tells the consumer about what the product is, and promotes how they will feel when using the product. For corporations, branding is a little more broad. Your personality will often need to encompass various companies, while still promoting a unified brand. Corporate branding is more focused on a set of values and the overall mission of your business. To define this, think about your company’s biggest goals and accomplishments. Are you focused on philanthropy? Innovation? Technology? What type of projects do you take on? 

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Personality is what sets your brand apart from competition, what makes you recognizable and familiar to an audience. This is how your brand takes on a life of its own. 

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How Does Brand Personality Engage Your Consumer Audience?

A large part of consumer culture involves choosing brands and products that reflect their own interests. Consumers who value luxury will likely go for high-end brands, while someone who prioritizes eco-friendly practices may choose to align with companies who do the same. Your brand’s personality should speak to your target audience. Think about what matters most to the groups you are marketing to. Where does that overlap with your company mission or product? Clients who feel connected to the personality you promote will be more likely to have brand loyalty and generate positive buzz for your brand. 

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Developing Your Brand

So you have a good understanding of the personality you want to portray, but how do you actually incorporate those traits into your brand? The key three elements are look, sound, and action. Each of these make a brand come to life. Keep these in mind when promoting your brand and generating content across different platforms. 

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Look: Colors, graphics, aesthetics, and layouts all contribute to the energy and ambiance of a brand. Your “look” will be highlighted in aspects from product packaging and advertising to website design and social media posts. Brands with high energy personalities that promote an active lifestyle might use bright, bold colors; Brands looking to portray sophistication will want a more minimalist aesthetic with clean designs. 

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Sound: Sound is all about the language you use and how you communicate with your audience. Messaging generated by brands with eclectic, quirky personalities are often stacked with buzz words and references to current trends. If your brand is all about professionalism and efficiency, then the phrases you use should be too. One way to emphasize sound is through a company tagline or mission statement. 

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Action: Just like with people, the actions of a brand can reveal its personality. Who your company partners with, how involved a company is in its community, or the level of media presence a company has are just a few behaviors that your audience can draw assumptions from and connect to your brand personality. 

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Maintaining Brand Personality

Remember that your brand personality is reflective of your company as a whole. A brand personality can be anything, but it should form a cohesive message and set you apart from the crowd. The traits that define your brand are already established, the goal is simply to vitalize and promote that personality! As long as the image you are presenting is true to your brand, the rest will fall into place. 

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What is your brand’s personality?