Consumers connect with archetypes. Consciously or unconsciously they attach a persona to people, places and things. If you are an expert brander, you know that, left to one’s own devices, your brand could end up speaking to consumers in a language that hurts sales, lead generation and consumer attitudes toward your product, service or company. So it is crucial that the sales & marketing team reassess your brand archetype yearly. One bad story, one negative hiccup and your brand could end up like the big banks, going from from the “Sage” archetype to “Hedonist” and not many people want to turn over their nest egg to a hedonist.
AT&T has done a great job recently by shifting their brand archetype from “Ruler” to “Seeker.” According to
Margaret Pott Hartwell & Joshua C. Chen, authors of Archetypes in Branding eBook: A Toolkit for Creatives and Strategists, “the Ruler represents power and control and is motivated to lead.” Alternatively, “the Seeker, epitomizes the call to find meaning and is on a path to find wisdom and truth, wherever it may be.”
Focusing in on a specific archetype is one of the best ways to brand a product across multiple platforms seamlessly.
Prior to Dos Equis’ launch of the extremely popular “Most Interesting Man in the World,” modeled after perhaps the “Adventurer” archetype, known as an “intrepid traveler whose quest for meaning is characterized by bold, dynamic, risky and adrenaline-charged challenges.” Their ads espoused the “Companion” archetype, a trusted support who can be relied upon to lend a helping hand.”
The shift proved to be genius for the import. According to Adage’s Jonathan Goldsmith, Dos Equis “gained 15.4% in U.S. shipments last year, vs. 2.7% average growth for the top 10 imports, according to Beer Marketer’s Insights.”
AT&T has also benefitted from the new “It’s Not Complicated” campaign since it began last November. Says Ted Marzilli of BrandIndex in Forbes, “Ad-awareness which stood at 37% at the beginning March, rose over the course of the month peaking at 49% on March 25th. Similarly purchase consideration, which asks consumers whether they would consider buying from AT&T, was up 5 percentage points for the month, from 22% on March 1 to a peak of 27% on March 30.”
Archetypes in Branding have 60 different personas to browse giving an overview of strengths and challenges associated with each archetype. For just $29.25 (35% off), this incredible book will provide you with all you need to effectively brand a product.
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