Brand Personality Definition,

Frameworks & Examples to Inspire

You ~ PLUS Free Exercise + Quiz!
LAST UPDATED ON January 4, 2020
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What is brand personality and why should you care about it?

Brand personality is what makes your business human in the eyes of your
potential customers. It’s communicated through tone of voice, visuals, and
even customer service policies. Anything you do to inform your audience
what the experience is like to be your customer can benefit from conveying
consistent personality traits. 
If your brand doesn’t have a defined personality, people will have a much harder
time reaching the conclusion that you’re the one for them.
Consider this:
People purchase things from brands they like and relate to–it’s really just that
simple. If people don’t have a clear sense of you, they’re just gonna keep on
scrolling.
Inconsistent, generic brand messages with no real strategy or intention behind
them aren’t going to get you anywhere–there’s just too much noise competing for
your dream clients’ attention.

To put it plainly, when you define your brand

personality, you give people a reason to choose you.
Here’s the good news:
This is one of the most FUN aspects of branding and it’s quite simple too! So let’s
define what brand personality is and then dive into the frameworks you can use
for defining yours.
Table Of Contents

 Brand Personality Definition

 Why Brand Personality is Important
 How to Define Your Brand Personality – 3 Frameworks
 Embrace Your Brand Personality
 How To Communicate Your Brand Personality
 Brand Personality Examples
 Brand Personality Definition
Brand personality refers to human characteristics associated with a brand.
They’re expressed as adjectives that convey how you want people to perceive
you (e.g. cheerful, youthful, dependable, friendly, responsible, sophisticated and
so on).
It can also refer to demographic characteristics like gender, age, and social class.
For example:
 If Harley Davidson were a person, it would be a man. Victoria’s Secret, a woman.

 Apple would be a young, hip, creative and Microsoft would be a mature

professional.

 Chanel would live in a mansion and TJ Maxx would live in a low-rent apartment.

If you think about your brand as a person with unique personality traits, you can
begin to show up in a way that allows you to connect with your humans (the
clients you want to attract) on an emotional level.
And that’s important because emotion is what drives decision-making, and that
includes purchasing decisions.
Think about Apple customers. You know there’s no point in arguing the merits
and benefits of purchasing a PC — for them, there is no substitute. Buying an
Apple product says something about them. 
Apple’s brand personality enables its customers to
express themselves–the ideal version of themselves–
through the use of their brand.
Who do your dream clients aspire to be? How does your brand help them?
Further Reading: Understanding Customer Needs

Why Brand Personality is Important

Drives Customer Preference and Differentiates
Your dream customers have infinite options for things to pay attention to
Each and every day they’re scrolling through social media and bombarded with
thousands of brand messages–meanwhile, they’ve got to run to the grocery
store, drop the kids off at soccer, and schedule an appointment for Lasik surgery.
Busy, overwhelmed, and distracted, they simply can’t pay attention to everything.
A differentiation strategy is crucial if you want to break through the noise.
 When you have a clear and consistent brand style and voice — which starts by
defining your brand’s personality traits — you shorten the time it takes for people
to recognize, remember, and pay attention to you.
And you have a lot of direct competition, too
Your dream clients are also comparing you to what your competitors have to offer
and if they can’t tell the difference, they’ll probably choose the one with the lowest
price.
Humanizing your brand is one way for you to distinguish yourself from your
competitors as something more special and valuable than what others are
offering.

WE HUMANS LIKE TO THINK WE'RE LOGICAL, BUT NEVER

FORGET THAT IT'S EMOTIONS THAT DRIVE YOUR
CUSTOMERS' DECISION TO CHOOSE YOU.CLICK TO TWEET
Enhances Your Brand Story
At the core of your brand story are the reasons why your customers should care
about you.
 What do you stand for?

 What are you here to contribute to your tiny corner of the world and the people in
it?

 How do you do business differently than your competition?

 What is the experience like to work with you?

The personality characteristics you choose to focus on must be rooted in your

larger brand strategy.
Humans (and brands) all have underlying beliefs, values, core principles that
guide them. Personality traits — the things we perceive on the surface — give us
insight into who people are deep down.

Brand personality is really about personifying your brand

in a way that has meaning to the people you wish to
attract
If you’re not crystal clear about who your dream clients are and what they need to
hear from you, I recommend working through the exercises in The Brand Story
Blueprint as a first step.

How to Define Your Brand Personality – 3

Frameworks
 There are two main approaches to defining your brand personality, and a third
method that combines the first two. There is no right answer — choose the one
that makes the most sense for you.
Personally, I use the first method but many of my branding colleagues use the
second.
The important thing to remember is your goal: to create a consistent tone of voice
in your messages and to create a visual identity that’s in alignment with your
personality. If you can do that, how you approach it doesn’t really matter.

Framework #1: Aaker’s Brand Personality

Dimension Framework
I always find it’s helpful to use a framework and luckily for us, a Stanford
researcher named Jennifer Aaker in her paper Dimensions of Brand
Personality created one for us and it’s a great starting point.

Brand Personality Framework

Aakers’ model groups brand personalities into five broad categories:
 Sincerity

 Excitement

 Competence

 Sophistication

 Ruggedness

You want to pick 3-5 adjectives (personality traits) you want to “own” when
somebody thinks about your brand.
The adjectives (traits) you choose will fall under one of these five personality
dimensions. For example, daring or adventurous go under excitement. Charming
and feminine fall under sophistication and so on.
This simple framework can help you distinguish you from your competitors
For example, if you’re a virtual assistant, your main competitors may focus
on competence — they’re all about reliability, hard work, and responsibility.
You might position yourself as the one who’s sincere – cheerful, casual, and
relatable.
Yes, of course, you’re also reliable, hard-working and responsible… it’s about
choosing specific traits you’ll put forward and lead with.
Choosing specific qualities to focus on (rather than every trait you possess, the
complex human creature that you are), allows you to create a powerful value
proposition:
“I’m the one that’s __________.”
Being able to fill in that blank means you’ve provided your potential customers
with a clear and easy-to-understand differentiator and they’ll be able to base
their choice on the qualities they feel more attracted to and aligned with.

Brand Personality Quiz

Want to have a little fun? I’ve created a free quiz to help you determine which of
Aaker’s Brand Personality Dimenions you belong in: Take the brand personality
quiz here.

You’ve chosen your brand personality traits… now what?

Rather than brand personality traits, I like to call these helpful adjectives “brand
anchors.” I’m a visual person and this helps me burn it into my subconscious
that I’m supposed to actually do something with these words:
Everything you do, say, write, share and even how you
present yourself (your brand visuals) should be “anchored
by” these adjectives.
This is what goes on in my crazy head. The graphic below represents the way I
approach branding my business and how I anchor these characteristics to
everything I say, create, and do. This little metaphor helps me to be consistent.
Brand Personality Anchors

Brand Anchors Example

Using Aakar’s framework, I clearly fall under the “sincerity” category. I’m not wild
and zany, or tough and rugged, unfortunately I’m not glamorous or fancy, and
while I like to think of myself as intelligent and hard-working, I don’t quite qualify
for the “competent” category — which doesn’t mean I’m not competent, it’s that I
don’t lead with this quality.
Because a lot of my clients have described the process of working with me
as fun, I wanted to convey friendliness in my branding. For example, rather than
corporate blue — appropriate for a ‘competent’ brand — I use bright, playful
colors in my brand visuals. Cheerful, but not so over-the-top as to spill over into
the “excitement” category,

Framework #2: Brand Archetypes Framework

Another way to personify your brand is to choose an archetype. This is a model
based on Carl Jung’s theory that people tend to use symbolism to understand
concepts. He defined 12 archetypes that represent different groupings of
characteristics, aspirations, values, and attitudes.
The question to ask yourself is, which one of these identities will YOUR dream
clients relate to most?
Brand Personality Archetypes
The Social Types
want to connect with others
THE REGULAR GUY/GAL
Goal: To fit in
Wants their customers to feel a sense of belonging
Traits: Casual, down-to-earth, folksy, guy/gal next door, supportive, solid virtues,
real, democratic, equality, community, lack of pretense
Famous examples: IKEA, Visa, Levi’s
THE LOVER
Goal: Intimacy
Wants their customer to find love and connectionTraits: Romantic, sensual,
passionate, warm, intimate, giving
Famous examples: Chanel, Victoria’s Secret
THE JESTER
Goal: to enjoy life
Wants their customers to have more joy and laughter in their daily lives
Traits: Fun, light-hearted, quirky, zany, irreverent, humorous, enjoyment, never
boring
Famous examples: M&Ms, Skittles
The Order Types
want to give the world structure
THE CREATOR
Goal: To innovate
Wants their customers to believe in what’s possible
Traits: Imaginative, creative, artistic, entrepreneurial, inventive, non-conformist,
visionary, innovative, non-conforming
Famous examples: Adobe, Crayola Lego
THE RULER
Goal: Control (in order to lead)
Wants their customers to feel more organized, stable, secureTraits: Organized,
leader, role model, responsible, controls the chaos, boss
Famous examples: Microsoft, Mercedez-Benz, Rolex
THE CAREGIVER
Goal: To serve others
Wants their customers to feel understood and protected
Traits: Maternal, generous, compassionate, caring, nurturing, parental, empathy,
selfless
Famous examples: UNICEF, Johnson & Johnson, Heinz
The Ego Types
want to change the world
THE MAGICIAN
Goal: Power (to make magical things happen)
Wants to make their customers’ dreams come true
Traits: Inspirational, idealistic, charismatic, visionary, imaginative, spiritual
Famous examples: Apple, Disney
THE HERO
Goal: Mastery (in order to make the world a better place)
Wants to help their customers: by rescuing them from their troublesTraits: Bold,
honorable, confident, strong, courageous, inspirational
Famous examples: Nike, FedEx
THE REBEL
Goal: Liberation
Wants to help their customers break free from the status quo, overturn what’s not
working Traits: Wild, change-maker, rebellious, rule-breaker, revolution, edgy,
misfit, outrageous, radical, free, disruptor, shocking
Famous examples: Harley Davidson, Virgin
The Freedom Types
want to find paradise
THE INNOCENT
Goal: Happiness Wants to help their customers feel great on the inside
Traits: Positive, kind, good, pure, simple, young, loyal, optimistic, trustworthy,
moral, reliable, honest, good virtues, nostalgic, sees the good in everything, faith,
does the right thing
Famous examples: Coca-cola, Dove
THE EXPLORER
Goal: Freedom
Wants to help their customers have new experiences, adventures,
discoveriesTraits: Adventurous, independent, pioneering, individualism,
wanderlust
Famous examples: REI, Corona, The North Face
THE SAGE
Goal: To understandWants to help their customers by sharing knowledge
Traits: Wise, visionary, knowledgeable, intelligent, trusted source of information,
thoughtful, mentoring, advisor, guru
Famous examples: Oprah, Google, NPR, Quora

Framework #3: Combo of Personality Dimensions &

Archetypes Frameworks
By now you’re probably wondering if you can combine these two methods. It just
so happens that some researchers set out to do just that! In Advertising between
Archetype and Brand Personality, the authors combined Aaker and Jung’s work
and the result turned out like this:
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Bechter,
Clemens & Farinelli, Giorgio & Daniel, Rolf-Dieter & Frey, Michael.
(2016). Advertising between Archetype and Brand Personality.  
The personality traits and dimensions they chose were subjective, so this means
if you want to use an archetype and combine it with some brand anchors, you
can create your own framework to follow. Just use your best judgment when
choosing the traits that fit your archetype.
 Embrace Your Brand Personality
An important thing to remember is that these exercises intend to help you create
a consistent voice and style so people can understand what you’re about and
connect with you on a deeper level.
But it’s not about strategizing ways to trick people into believing something about
you that’s just not true and that’s not necessary anyway. Your greatest
competitive advantage is there’s only one YOU. It’s just that people tend to see
their personality traits as “flaws” and they downplay them.
Want a winning brand personality? Be who you actually are.
What do they do instead? They look around at what everyone else is doing and
copy it. This tendency is called social compliance and you must resist
following what everyone else is doing if you want to stand out. (See: What
This Experiment About Murder Teaches Us About Branding).
Maybe you’re…
 Adventurous and spirited but you’re a financial planner, so you think you need be
corporate, responsible, dependable.

 Sophisticated and feminine but you work in tech so you think you need to be
tough and masculine.

 Down-to-earth, warm, and laid-back but you’re in fashion so you think you need
to be glamorous and refined.

Branding is not trickery. It’s about showing up as authentically as you can so

people know what to expect.
Now let me ask you this:
 Who do you think adventurous and spirited people would rather work with when
they need a financial planner?

 Who do you think sophisticated women will want to work with when they need
technical expertise?

 Who do you think laid-back people will choose when they need fashion advice?

The beautiful silver lining about having so much competition these days is that
you have a huge opportunity to get narrow and worry only about finding your
people. They notice us when we’re showing them exactly who we are.
PEOPLE LIKE TO WORK WITH PEOPLE THEY LIKE AND
RELATE TO. YOUR PEOPLE WILL GET YOU, SO DON’T TRY
TO BE SOMETHING YOU’RE NOT -- THAT’S ONLY GOING TO
BACKFIRE AND ATTRACT THE WRONG PEOPLE TO YOU.CLICK
TO TWEET
 How To Communicate Your Brand
Personality
Now that you’ve chosen your personality traits, you need a strategy to
communicate that personality with consistency. You’ll do that in three ways:
1. Visual Identity: This is your logo, your fonts, your color palette, and the
image and design style used in your marketing materials.
2. Brand Voice: This is your tone of the language you use–how you say
things; the words you use and the ones you don’t.
3. Actions: Basically, everything you do contributes to your customers
perceiving you in one way or another, make sure your actions are intentional and
in alignment with the personality you define.

Visual Identity
Once you have your brand anchors, you can make choices about your visuals–
your graphics, brand colors, and so on—so they’re in alignment with the traits you
want to become known for. They include…
 Your Logo
 Color Palette

 Fonts
 Visual Style Rules

 Image Style Rules

 Design guidelines

(Check out my Font Personality Swipe file with 75 Google Font combinations and
a brand personality exercises to find the perfect fit for your brand!)

Brand Voice
Your brand anchors can also help you create a consistent tone of voice in your
brand copy and marketing messages, including…
 Naming strategy

 Tagline

 Tone of Voice

 The words you’ll use and the ones you won’t

 Editorial guidelines
 Actions
This is where people fall off when it comes to branding–thinking that their brand
visuals and voice are all that’s required. But keep in mind that people’s
perceptions of you are largely based on experience. Your actions are brand
promises fulfilled. How will you walk the walk in your…
 Customer service policies

 Product and service offerings

 Processes — onboarding, offboarding, etc.

Your brand personality is the promise, but you must live up to it in everything you
do. The idea is that when your work together is through, people will automatically
describe you with the same personality characteristics you defined in your brand
strategy.

Brand Personality Examples

Let’s take a look at the Aker’s Brand Personality Dimension exercise to see some
famous brand personalities in action.

SINCERITY
When you fall under the sincerity dimension, you’re down-to-earth, honest,
cheerful and genuine. People appreciate your generous, helpful, and caring
nature.
This happens to be MY brand personality dimension. I wish I had fallen under
“excitement” (ha!) but the reality is, the way I am with clients is more in alignment
with qualities like empowering, friendly, unpretentious and “no bs” — that’s based
on feedback they’ve given me, not just some adjectives I pulled out of a hat.
That’s why this exercise can be so helpful… sometimes we don’t always
recognize our own strengths and qualities and how others perceive us the
frameworks give us a starting point.
Oh, and another famous brand that falls under this category is APPLE. You may
think they belong in the “excitement” category with the visionaries and change-
makers, but they’re actually all about empowering their customers to unleash
their creativity. HELPFULNESS is the more dominant characteristic.
EXCITEMENT
If you’re a change-maker and a visionary, chances are you fall under the
EXCITEMENT category. Excitement brands are daring, charismatic, spirited,
imaginative, passionate and creative.
When you. think of creative vision and imagination, you can’t help but think of
DISNEY!

Or how about TESLA? Tesla is a brand that’s out to disrupt the car industry to be
the “world’s first genuine green car brand.”
COMPETENCE
When your brand dimension is COMPETENCE, you’re the one people depend
on. You get things one and you’re reliable. We want our doctors, lawyers,
plumbers and car mechanics to be competent and dependable above all else.
One of the most famous brands that falls under this category is Microsoft.
SOPHISTICATION
Sophisticated brands inspire a sense of luxury, prestige, femininity and high
class. Many personal brands fall under “sophistication” — think lifestyle bloggers,
beauty gurus, and even graphic designers who have an elegant aesthetic. Think
Audrey Hepburn
The famous brand that first springs to mind in the sophistication category is
Chanel.
RUGGEDNESS
Being from Alaska originally, I know ALL about rugged brands. These are the
outdoorsy, adventurous, masculine and sporty brands. While usually reserved for
B2C brands, you’ll also see personal trainers, life coaches and other consultants
with a rugged personality. It’s definitely a great way to set yourself apart!
Think JEEP, Harley Davidson, or REI… I ADORE that one of their biggest
campaigns is to promote the CLOSING of their business on Black Friday to
encourage their customers to get outside.
In Summary
The real magic happens when you convey a consistent personality in your
branding — your brand voice, visual identity, and even your actions. WIth
consistency, people start to “get to know you,” which leads to trusting and
choosing you.
Having a distinct personality means you’re not just some anonymous, generic
company offering the same things a lot of other companies are offering. You
become known and remembered as the one that’s ________[insert personality
traits here].