Brand Archetypes and Why You Should Care…

An archetype is something that is instinctual. These archetypes are already in everyone’s head, and we have an innate understanding of the personality and the benefits of that archetype to us – all without having to be told.

If you plan your brand and branding around an archetype, you have a built-in personality that everyone already understands. This means communicating becomes a hell of a lot easier if you project an archetype to your ideal customer.

The purpose of a brand is to be loved. It’s a lot easier to love something that fills an emotional need.

Let’s say I’m a bored stoner. I want someone to come and pick me up and make me laugh. The Jester promises to deliver that laugh. I know it, I expect it – and nobody has to tell me to expect it. I just DO.

Understanding your audience is CRUCIAL to this step.

Yes – you need to understand YOUR ARCHETYPE. But your brand is actually built on what the audience sees in you – not always what you see in yourself. So – this is another place to be brutally honest and a little analytical. You might want to be The Outlaw, but maybe your ideal customer or client of your brand is looking for The Innocent. Keep an open mind…

REMEMBER ALWAYS, you have wiggle room. This isn’t a hard and fast rule – but rather a good guideline to give you some clarity – and some direction on content, tone, message and all that good stuff. If something feels unnatural to you in the archetype that most closely aligns with your ideal client, try again.

And, for fucks sake – don’t try to shoehorn yourself into an archetype that doesn’t fit. You won’t be able to carry it on for very long (have you figured out yet that we’re talking about the long game when developing a brand?)

Here’s a little video of me rambling about Archetypes…