Brand Archetypes [The Brand Personality Framework] - YouTube

What's up brand builders! Stephen Houraghan here of BrandMasterAcademy.com and in

this video you're gonna learn all about brand archetypes so you can understand

brand personality through a scientific lens and use that science to give the

brands that you build a competitive advantage.

now if you're new to this channel and you want brand strategy tips and techniques that

you can take into your business to grow your brand then click on the subscribe button and the

notification bell and you will be well on your way now throughout this video I

refer to a brand archetypes cheat sheet that I developed and I use within my

business everyday if you want to get your hands on that then I'll leave a

link in the description below or a link above and you can grab that for free now

if you're new to brand archetypes then you might find a couple of earlier

videos that I did useful as well it goes through what brand archetypes are the

history behind them the scientific relevance of them and why they're

increasingly important in building brand strategies in modern branding today so if

you want to check those videos that I'll leave a link in the description as well

now if you've come across brand archetypes before if you've done any

research into them or if you've seen any of my other videos then you'll know that

archetypes are essentially twelve personalities that we all have this

collective unconscious understanding of so essentially we have this innate

understanding of these types of behaviors and we recognize them when we

see them so each of these twelve archetypes are individual characters

that we see time and again throughout our lives thread stories throughout

movies and every day within our lives as well and as I said when you see those

behaviors and you see those characteristics you instinctively

recognize them so let's go through each and every one of those characteristics

and see if you recognize them see if you understand who these are and you've seen

these within your life before whether it's your personal life or through

stories or through movies or even through brands the outlaw now the outlaw

archetype is an archetype and a personality that we all tend to know

quite well so we might come across this archetype early within our lives in our

own family if we have a rebellious brother or sister but certainly by the

time we get to school we will have met at least a couple of outlaw archetypes

and we will continue to meet that outlaw throughout our lives and this is the

type of person who is getting into trouble in class not listening to the

teacher getting detention and generally just not following the rules now later

on in life you know some outlaws go the full mile and you know they end up in

trouble with the law or some outlaws really kind of internalize that but they

keep that within themselves they might end up getting a professional job but

then within themselves they they still have this rebellious spirit now the

common outlaw has this burning desire for freedom and for liberation and for

change and they just generally as I said they just generally don't like rules now

in film we see this character time and again an example of this would be

William Wallace in Braveheart and that's a character who just does not want to

conform to those types of rules and wants that freedom and then when this

plays out in brands we see that within Harley Davidson now Harley is a perfect

example of an outlaw archetype they don't conform to rules they do their own

thing and they really appeal to that professional with that inner burning

desire for liberation and change within them the magician has a burning desire

for power now we tend to recognize the magician more today through fantasy

stories so 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 life as well so for example in school your chemistry teacher

has this element of mystique about them because they're able to do these things

with chemicals that you know we we don't really understand what it is that

they're doing and that holds an element of mystique for us so we see them on

this higher level where they're able to do things that we don't fully understand

but we really appreciate the things that they do the magician is powerful they're

mystical and they protect their secret sauce really really carefully so they

have this power and they're able to do things that we all look at in all but

they're not quick to tell anybody what their secrets are behind what they're

able to do now one of the characters that we see in film and that

we recognize really well from this character is Gandalf from Lord of the Rings so

that is somebody who's really really mystical who has these powers

and were drawn to that type of character and when it comes to brands Disney is

probably the most magical brand there is and they really use that magician

archetype throughout their brand communication the hero archetype has a

burning desire to win and to save the day now without a doubt the hero is the

most recognizable archetype of all the twelve and there's 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 filmmakers to create stories about a hero and that hero is taken directly

from Carl Jung's archetypes now stories and film aside the hero is a very common

archetype that we see throughout our lives as well and we see every day so

this is the type of person who will do whatever it takes to win that race or to

win that game of football or to win that game of snakes and ladders or

hide-and-seek whatever game you're playing with this person they will do

whatever it takes to win and they get pretty upset if they don't win so I'm

sure you know somebody like that I certainly do the hero is typically

determined courageous aggressive competitive and they really really want

to win and we see this archetype more than any in film so an example of this

would be Maximus from Gladiator or Luke Skywalker from Star Wars when it comes

to brands no one epitomizes the hero more than Nike and we see the heroes that

they celebrate throughout their advertising so whether that's Serena Williams or

Tiger Woods back in the day and they really do put the heroes on a

pedestal the modern-day heroes today are athletes and that's what they do they

celebrate these athletes as heroes the lover archetype has a burning desire for

intimacy now we don't tend to come across the lover archetype early on in

our lives like most of the other archetypes and obviously there's a

reason for that the lover archetype is more of an adult archetype because of

the adult behaviors a lot more about seduction but behind all of this adult

behavior and seduction the lover archetype really just wants to belong

and just wants to be loved the lover archetype tends to be sensual exotic

sensitive affectionate and almost always sexy we see the lover archetype in many

stories and films and an example here would be Romeo from Romeo and Juliet or

Marilyn Monroe in Some Like It Hot when it comes to brands a very good lover

archetype here would be Victoria's Secret obviously because of the

sensuality and the seductiveness involved with that brand the jester has

a desire for laughter now without a doubt we all know this archetype very

very well essentially this is the funny man or the funny woman whoever is in the

room cracking jokes whether that's your brother your sister your funny uncle

maybe it's your friend in class whoever it is it's that person who just wants to

laugh and make light of the situation and find the humor in any situation so

that is their desire their desire is to make other people laugh and just really

enjoy themselves and enjoy life the jester tends to be full of humor

positivity excitement and this character is all across any kind of comedy movie

so whether that's Ace Ventura or Will Ferrell in The Anchorman there are many

many examples of the jester throughout film when it comes to branding the Old Spice

brand has really taken on that jester archetype and that jester personality

but it wasn't always that way that really only happened in the 90s when

they were seen as this kind of middle-of-the-road middle-aged brand and

they really took this new direction and brought the jester archetype into their

brand strategy and started appealing to a younger generation and that's really

part of their overall strategy now is to make their audience laugh and to give

them a sense of enjoyment the everyman archetype just wants to belong now there's

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 so if you have a

chat to your friend you might see them as the outlaw and yourself as the

everyman but to them they might see themselves as the everyman and see you

as the hero so it really depends on the perspective

but the everyman archetype is the most normal person they just want to be

normal they don't want to stand out they don't want to be in the limelight and

they just want to be accepted they just want to feel like they belong the

everyman tends to be humble welcoming friendly and an example in film would be

Will Smith in The Pursuit Of Happiness and when it comes to branding IKEA is a

great example of an everyman brand and they even have it in their tagline

The Wonderful Everyday and essentially what they're saying there is that we're

for everybody and we're not pretentious and if you want to belong if you want to

be one of us if you just want to be normal then we have the furniture for

you the caregiver archetype has a desire to give service so this is the

archetype that we're introduced to first in life so this is your mother or this

is your father and we have that connection with a caregiver right

throughout our lives because they are the behaviors that we first see as a

baby so we see this archetype time and again throughout our lives as well

whether it's a nurse or a teacher or you're really caring friend and this is

somebody who gives to others and you know they put others

before themselves and they are selfless kind of people and that's their mantra

that they just want to help other people they want to give and they

want to make sure that other people are safe and that's their vocation the

caregiver archetype tends to be kind warm loving caring and you really

have a genuine affection for this archetype because again this is innate

and this is your first experience and you have this bond with this archetype

and rather than give you an example of film here I think the best example would

be a historical figure and that would be Mother Teresa I don't think any

historical figure or story or character epitomizes the caregiver archetype more

than Mother Teresa who just devoted her life to helping others and a great

example of a caregiver brand would be WWF or UNICEF or any brand really that

devotes themselves to helping somebody or something the ruler archetype is

all about control they have this desire to control and to impose

their authority and you might meet this archetype early on in life if you

have a strict parent or maybe when it comes to school whether it's the Dean of

discipline enforcing the rules or maybe it's even the school bully enforcing

their own authority on you so it really depends there's different angles to this

authority but when it comes to the real world obviously the school bully is only

gonna go so far but then when it comes into the real world whether it's in your

professional life or wherever it is there is always a ruler in and around

enforcing those rules so that could be your boss or it could be somebody within

your football team your sports team whoever it is it's the person in the

room enforcing the law there's an element of intimidation about them and

an element of fear about them you don't want to cross them and they are the top

dog the ruler places a high value on success and wealth and more importantly

status they're really commanding they're authoritative and they rule by fear so

as I said before there's a sense of intimidation about them so when it comes

to movies a perfect example of the ruler is Don Corleone in The Godfather and

then when it comes to brands pretty much any high street brand here is using some

kind of ruler archetype because what they're appealing to here is they're

appealing to that level of status so a very good example of the ruler archetype

in branding would be Mercedes the creator archetype is all about

innovation and imagination now Pablo Picasso once famously said that all

children are artists but as we go throughout life most of us children lose

our artistic capabilities and our artistic expression because of the confines of

modern society but there are a few who keep that going so designers are a

perfect example of the creator archetype architects and writers these are people

who apply their creativity throughout their professional lives and keep this

creativity going throughout their lives as I said everybody does have an element of

that innovation within them and an element of that originality within them

but for some people it's far greater than others and these professions are a

perfect example of that the creator archetype tends to see things that other

people don't because they think outside the box they tend to have grand visions

and innovation and imagination and a really creative idea of what the world

could be now when it comes to film a great example of the creator archetype

would be Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and when it comes

to brands one of the most famous creator archetype brands would be Apple because

Apple align themselves with creatives and they've aligned themselves with the

idea that people who think differently change the world so that's all about

innovation and creative thinking the innocent archetype has a desire for

safety now we all know somebody who we would refer to as somebody that wouldn't

hurt a fly now I would suggest that that person would be aligned to the innocent

archetype because the innocent archetype is just somebody who wants safety they

want the world to be as nature intended they want this sense of purity their

wholesome people so you know vegans and vegetarians they tend to be aligned to

the innocent archetype but really somebody who loves nature who has an

affinity for nature who is in touch with nature and who wants things to be as

nature intended so the innocent archetype tends to be someone who's

sensible responsible and just simplistic and a perfect example of this archetype

in film would be Maria from The Sound of Music and when it comes to brands any

brand that embraces natural things or organic things or things the way nature

intended would be seen as an innocent brand so an example here would be Aveeno

or The Body Shop who really embrace sustainability the sage archetype

is another archetype that we tend to be introduced to early on in life and they

have this desire for knowledge and for wisdom so this would be your teacher or

a parent who is really responsible and really guiding or a mentor so anyone who

is really there to help you and guide you in the right direction

could be seen as the sage so they have this desire for knowledge they have this

desire for wisdom but they also have a desire to share that knowledge and to

help people on the way so anyone in a coaching role or a teaching role

or a mentorship role where they're helping somebody to guide the way

forward to teach them the path that they've been on or that they know to

help them to where they want to go they would be seen as a sage so they're seen

as wise knowledgeable they have this wisdom and again they just want to help

they want to pass on that knowledge so when it comes to movies a perfect

example of this would be Yoda from Star Wars who's teaching Luke all about the

force and when it comes to brands any brand really that provides answers and

provides the way forward could be seen as a sage brand so a perfect example of

that would be Google the explorer archetype has a desire for adventure now

me personally I really resonate with this archetype because I have a desire

for exploration and adventure and you know to just get out there get out there

into nature and see something that I haven't seen before so this might be you

and you might have been introduced to this archetype early on in your life or

it might be someone that you know it might not necessarily be your personal

archetype but you would definitely know somebody like this so anybody who is out

there exploring whether it's exploring the back garden exploring the city or

exploring the world so travelers and backpackers will definitely be aligned

to the explorer archetype so the explorer archetype tends to be

adventurous independent and even daring they have to try new things all the time

so there's an element of this unknown so they have to challenge themselves to do

something different all the time now when it comes to movies a great example

of the explorer archetype would be Indiana Jones because he's always out

there exploring something new on some wild adventure and in the branding world

any brand that really kind of explores the outdoors or you know celebrates the

outdoors or provides tools to go out and celebrate the outdoors would be

considered or could be considered an explorer archetype so an example here

would be Patagonia or Jeep now I've no doubt that when you saw all of those

archetypes you felt more attracted to one or two than the rest and there's a

reason for this it's because your personality makes you more attracted to

those characteristics and regardless of which characteristic you're attracted to

regardless of which archetype you're most attracted to you will

have certainly recognized each and every one of those because they're in your

innate understanding of other people's behaviors and that's called your

collective unconscious so this is what Carl Jung uncovered through archetypes

and this is why they're so effective when it comes to building strategic

brands because the brands today that connect with their customers are brands

that do that through personality through human connection and through emotion so

if you are building brands if you are building brand strategies for your

clients are for your own brands then you definitely need to understand brand

personality and in order to understand brand personality you need to have a

good grasp of archetypes now just to remind you if you want to start using

brand archetypes and you want to grab that cheat sheet that I've been using

throughout this video then head on over to BrandMasterAcademy.com I'll leave

the link in the description below you can head right to that landing page and

you can download that for free but I would love to hear from you what your

experience is when it comes to brand archetypes are you building brand

personalities for yourself or for your clients do you have any challenges

around applying brand archetypes please let me know in the comments below

if you like this video please give it a thumbs up and hit that subscribe button

as well and the notification bell it'll let you know when I've got new videos

coming out if you want more tips techniques and exclusive content like

this whether it's got to do with brand psychology or brand science or brand

strategy in general head on over to BrandMasterAcademy.com and get

yourself signed up for that newsletter it is free and I do keep some exclusive

tips and techniques for that list so get yourself signed up but again I just want

to hand it over to you let me know what your challenges are what your

experiences are in the comments below I'll do my best to answer all of those

questions until next time brand like a master and I will see you in the next video!