Developing a Brand Personality Is a Key Component of a Marketing Strategy  

What is a Brand Personality?

Brand personality is the personification of a brand. It is the process of incorporating human characteristics into the branding of a business so that consumers can feel as if they relate more to it. This is both created by those who represent the brand and its characteristics, as well as the brand’s style and packaging. For example, the brand of some skincare products release packaging and television advertising with the characteristics of a delicate and kind person. On the other hand, a new clothing brand with original styles may market their brand with the human characteristics of someone who is independent, likes to stand out, and is different from other people.

The brand ‘Dove’ advertises its products with individuals from diverse backgrounds and different body types. This has led to their brand personality having characteristics of inclusion of all people and inner beauty.

The brand personality dimensions by Jennifer Aaker divides the traits and personalities of brands into 5 different groups.

• Sincerity – This relates to traits such as being down to earth, honest and cheerful
• Excitement – This may be daring, spirited, imaginative and up to date
• Competence – This relates to being reliable, intelligent and successful
• Sophistication – Being upper class and charming
• Ruggedness – Characteristics such as outdoorsy and tough

Why is it So Important?

When carrying out a marketing strategy, performing market research is important for success. Giving a brand a personality can allow the business to focus on the chosen target market. Researching into the target audience’s personalities, traits and values can help build the brand personality to help appeal to the target more.

Individuals in that target market will be more likely to be drawn towards a brand that matches their traits and emotions. An exciting brand will likely attract daring or imaginative people. Knowing the kinds of people that you want to attract to your business is essential.

Brand personalities attract the target by evoking a feeling of comfort and familiarity and it makes the consumer want to be a part of the business. That’s especially important for small businesses, because that it’s the best option to hire professionals such as Bizop.org to help you start.

Incorporating into Your Marketing Strategy

There are many ways you can create a brand personality with various marketing approaches.

• Using brand ambassadors or representatives

Some businesses have brand ambassadors year-round. A lot of the time these are celebrities. This is because brands want people to relate to the personalities of the ambassadors and be involved in the business, such as buying products or following their platform. Having a celebrity ambassador also creates a sense of trust in the brand. Consumers then feel as if they can buy from a business as well-known people represent it. The ambassadors often look happy and excited to be a part of the brand, so the target group also wants to feel that way also.

• Gain some marketing experience

In order to gain experience in marketing and be able to produce a great brand personality, as well as actively learn how to market this in a variety of different ways, try a course in marketing. You can find a great online course in marketing here, with a brand management course which would be relevant and useful for this topic.

• Incorporate the personality into the advertising

Advertising of a brand could include television adverts, social media content, billboards, and so on. You need to ensure that the advertising reflects personality. For example, you want your brand to appear sophisticated, you would, therefore, ensure the advertising is charming or upper class. This could be done by dressing the individuals presented in the article in smart and luxurious clothing or using sophisticated voices.

It is important to be consistent with the brand personality across all areas of marketing. The advertisement must match, for instance, with the packaging. Using colors and product names is a great way to do this. Some brands that give themselves a playful personality often give their products humorous names to attract those who also share those characteristics.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Brand Personalities

Advantages

• They can create long time users and customers.

Building personalities into a business often creates a sense of belonging between the consumer and business. They are then more likely to continue purchasing from the business.

• It makes brands easier to remember

When customers are drawn to specific brands, they are more likely to remember their products or services. They will then tell others about the brand and specifically search for that brand in the future.

• Consistency of personalities means consistency of similar products

If done right, the personality of the brand will increase the consistency of the products and services. Consumers will be more likely to choose a brand if they are consistent and do not change their ideas drastically. If changed drastically, they may become uninterested or confused.

Disadvantages

• Choosing the wrong personality for a brand may result in confusion

If the brand personality you are trying to portray is entirely different from the products and services provided, it can create confusion and in return a loss of potential customers. Research is key to the effectiveness of this technique.

• If you narrow the target audience down too low, you may not gain enough customers

When choosing the personality, you need to ensure that it is one that broadly represents a large number of customers. It should not be too specific that it only appeals to a small number. It would be advisable to research the target first and ensure that your business will reach the right people. You may be unintentionally limiting your brand by using ambassadors which only have appeal in one country or area. Some brands use ambassadors who have a presence all over the world such as Olympic medal winners or music artists who tour worldwide.

Conclusion

Creating a brand personality is a key component of marketing that should be incorporated into a business. It is shown to increase loyal customers and create emotional responses. However, it needs to be professionally researched and conducted effectively so that it does not have the opposite effect and exclude potential customers.