Jung’s 12 Brand Personality Archetypes

Personality, previous experiences, and other people’s opinions can influence a consumer’s decisions to buy your product or use your service. Although quality and benefits are equally important, these may hold little value in a saturated market -where everyone is doing the same business (–starting a new blog in 2020). Establishing a brand identity is crucial, but it needs to have a “personality” to be more effective. A business or brand personality represents the human aspect of a business that helps your brand reach out to its consumers. Having a brand personality will guide you in choosing and aligning the elements of your brand identity. Just as your personality influences your lifestyle and choices.

Marketing Model: Brand Personality Archetypes

An archetype refers to the recurrent patterns, styles, or forms that are common to a group. Carl Jung, a prominent psychiatrist, introduced the 12 Personality Archetypes. Businesses, especially marketers, adopted the idea and use it in their branding efforts.

Each brand has characteristics associated with them. Each brand has a core personality archetype. A brand’s personality includes the tone and voice used in communicating to the audience or customers, as well as the images, colors, typography, and strategy they implement.

THE INNOCENT

Voice: Concise, Accepting, Optimistic/Cheerful, Unpretentious/Straightforward, Nostalgic
Wants/Makes you: feel safe, natural
Ideals: Simple, Pure, Loyal
Fear: Punishment for breaking rules, Cannot fulfill a promise, Being tainted
Strategy: Do what is morally right, Create a feel-good spirit
Weaknesses: Can be Boring, Naive,
Talents: Faith, Optimism,
Motto: Do right. No worries.

The Innocent Canva Fonts: Parsienne, Blogger, Helveticish

THE SAGE

Voice: Guiding, Factual -fewer emotions
Wants: to understand and find the truth
Ideals: Intelligence, Authority/Expertise, Calm,
Fear: Ignorance, Confusion, Being wrong, Misinformation
Strategy: Seek information and provide practical advice
Weaknesses: Indecisive, Obsession with detail, Overthinking
Talents: Decisive, Influence, Objective, Life-long Learner
Motto: Knowledge is power

The Sage Canva Fonts: Dosis Semi Bold, Special Elite, Nautilius Pmpelius, TT Moons

THE EXPLORER

Voice: Exciting, Daring, Encourage
Wants: to be free and live a life worth living
Ideals: Independence, Self-Discovery
Fear: Conformity, Feeling Trapped, Incarceration, Immobility
Strategy: Rise up to the challenge, explore alternatives,
Weaknesses: May not fit in; aimless;
Talents: Adventurous, Risk-taker, Free
Motto: Life is an adventure.

The Explorer Canva Fonts: Helveticish, Mr Dafoe, Archicoco

THE OUTLAW

Voice: Disruptive, Rebellious,
Wants: to liberate and start a revolution -change the status quo
Ideals: Liberation, Independence
Fear: Dependence, Servitude, Conformity
Strategy: Destroy then rebuild
Weaknesses: Can pursue negative ways, too unorthodox ways
Talents: Inspiring, pave the way to change
Motto: Rules are meant to be broken

The Outlaw Canva Fonts: Germania One; Bebas Neue; Anaktoria

THE MAGICIAN

Voice: Mystical, Reassuring
Wants: to have power
Ideals: Transformation, inspiration, dynamics
Fear: Stagnation, uncertainty, unforeseen negatives
Strategy: Pursue a vision and transform reality
Weaknesses: manipulation
Talents: Simplifying things,
Motto: Make things happen

The Magician Canva Fonts: Berkshire Swash; Lancelot; Kaushan Script

THE HERO

Voice: Candid/Direct, Challenging/Motivational,
Wants: to master
Ideals: Honesty, bravery, focus
Fear: Incompetence, deterioration, vulnerability
Strategy: Become stronger and better
Weaknesses: Arrogance, always seeking competition
Desire: Prove one’s worth
Motto: No excuses, find a way to make the world a better place

The Hero Canva Fonts: Sports World; Rajdhani Bold; Racing Sans One

THE LOVER

Voice: Empathetic, Romantic, Warm and Sensual, Appreciative
Wants: intimacy and feel desired
Ideals: emotions, affections, pleasure
Fear: Rejection, Isolation, Loneliness
Strategy: be the most attractive, reaffirm positive traits, provide red-carpet treatment
Weaknesses: Too selfless and idealistic, may create unnecessary drama
Talents: Fully committed and passionate
Motto: Beauty cannot be ignored

The Lover Canva Fonts: Sensation Light; Bodoni FLF; Libre Baskerville

THE JESTER

Voice: Fun, Optimistic, Playful, Mischievous, Humor. Sarcasm, Easy-going
Wants: to bring enjoyment, enjoy life, and have a great time
Ideals: lighten up the world,
Fear: Boredom, Gloom,
Strategy: Add humor and appreciate life,
Weaknesses: wasting time, frivolous, can be disrespectful or unsuitable
Talents: bring laughter, being the center of attention
Motto: Live in the moment

The Jester Canva Fonts: Poetsen; Hero; Alice

THE EVERYMAN (REGULAR GUY)

Voice: Friendly, Authentic, Relatable, Act as a peer
Wants: to belong, inclusion
Ideals: humility, hard work, building connections
Fear: To be left out, Be judged
Strategy: create a community, provide comfort
Weaknesses: losing oneself, lack of distinctive character, not like to lead
Talents: Authenticity, Realism
Motto: Everyone is equal

The Everyman / Regular Guy Canva Fonts: Agrandir Tight; Charukola Unicode Bold; Granaina

THE CAREGIVER

Voice: Selfless, Encouraging, Considerate
Wants to/Makes you: serve and care for others
Ideals: Nurture, Protect, Benevolence
Fear: Ingratitude. Helplessness, Taken for granted,
Strategy: Provide. Do things for others
Weaknesses: taken advantage of, exploited, Cannot say n
Talents: Compassion, Generosity
Motto: Love thy neighbor

The Caregiver Canva Fonts: Niconne; Roboto; Josefin Sans Bold; Rounded M+

THE RULER

Voice: Commanding, Confident, Refined, Simple but Sophisticated,
Wants to/Makes you: feel in power, control, secure, and important, good taste
Ideals: Success, Wealth, Dominance, Luxury/High-Standard
Fear: Chaos, Weakness, Failure, Poverty, Losing control
Strategy: Show superiority and exclusivity, Lead others to success,
Weaknesses: Can be too controlling; inability to delegate
Talents: Organized, Leader, Responsible, Goal-oriented
Motto: Power is the only thing that matters

The Ruler Canva Fonts: Cormorant Garamond Bol; Ibarra Real Nova; Nunito Sans Bold

THE CREATOR

Voice: Descriptive, Visual, Expressive
Wants/Makes you: innovate; create things with value
Ideals: Originality/Unique, Vision, Aesthetics
Fear: Stagnation, Poor execution/results, Criticisms
Strategy: Enhance skills, encourage originality and DIY solutions, and creative thinking
Weaknesses: Perfectionism. impractical solutions
Talents: Creativity, Imagination, Curiosity, Craftmanship
Motto: You create your reality -uncover potentials; if you can think it, you can do it

The Creator Canva Fonts: Coiny; Eczar SemiBold; Courgette

Takeaway

Determining the identity of the brand first will help you narrow down the brand’s core personality archetype. Conversely, if you wish your brand to display a particular archetype, Jung’s 12 personality archetypes can help or give you ideas. Note that your brand may have more than one brand personality, especially if you have products or services that cater to other audiences. However, the core brand archetype should be consistent.

Please write in the comments what you think your Brand’s Personality Archetype is and why?

Are you Innocent or an Outlaw? Are you a Hero or an Everyday man? Your brand’s core personality can fall under the Explorer archetype but may also exhibit a secondary archetype. Ideally, having one or two secondary archetypes is enough. More than that will make your brand too cluttered, which might seem like having no clear direction.