Unlocking the Secrets of Brand Personality – Building a Strong Identity

Whether you are a small start-up, a well-seasoned enterprise, or a personal brand, having a distinguished personality is essential to creating a strong identity. Just like human personality, brand personality is a set of characteristics that people can relate to on an emotional level. It plays a vital role in shaping how consumers perceive and connect with your brand.

The Power of Brand Voice & Tone

Brand voice is how you use language and tone in a unique way to capture your identity. When you create a compelling brand voice across blogs, email, video, and website content, your brand’s character will shine brighter than everyone else’s. Take Urban Daddy, for example. This lifestyle media company masterfully employs a brand voice that is equal parts funny, stylish, and sophisticated. Their copy is succinct, yet filled with witty analogies, current event references, and genuinely helpful tips. Urban Daddy’s brand voice feels like talking to a cool new friend you always want to be around, and their helpful tips on where to nosh, chill, and party keep readers craving more.

To implement a captivating brand voice:

Define your brand’s personality traits and values.
Understand your target audience and tailor your language and tone to resonate with them.
Infuse your brand voice consistently across all communication channels.

Creating an Impactful Visual Style

Humans have extremely short attention spans. For companies that want to be remembered, unforgettable visual brand and style elements are absolutely essential. Logo design, color, typography, and overall brand look and feel can have immense impacts on people’s emotions — if done correctly.

The Honest Company, which creates natural, non-toxic cleaning and personal products, relies on design to connect to consumers in a crowded industry. Their butterfly logo communicates themes of transformation, freedom, nature, and sustainability. Meanwhile, the brand’s packaging design is filled with whimsical illustrations, playful shapes, and cheery pops of color that echo natural forms. This visual language appeals to the young, eco-friendly mom while steering clear of overused eco-friendly and baby-centric branding trends.

To create an impactful visual style:

Understand the emotions and associations you want to evoke with your brand.
Develop a cohesive visual identity, including a memorable logo, color palette, and typography.
Consistently apply your visual style across all brand assets, from your website to packaging materials.

Defining the Brand Essence:

To sum it up in a few words, the brand essence is the emotional heartbeat of your brand. It’s everything your brand means and stands for. From how consumers feel when they use your product to what values they associate with your brand, your essence pulses through every single consumer touchpoint.

Poler Stuff, an outdoor apparel brand, proves that small, consistent elements can add up to create an unforgettable brand essence. Their brand slogan “camp vibes” is laid-back and simple, yet it’s used consistently across all consumer touchpoints. In addition to using this slogan across t-shirts, hats, and mugs, Poler Stuff has created a powerful online community that rallies behind the spirit of the brand. The hashtag #campvibes is used to create brand engagement on Instagram, where users are encouraged to upload their adventure photos using the hashtag and join the community.

To define a compelling brand essence:

Identify the core values and emotions that align with your brand.
Consistently communicate and reinforce these values across all touchpoints.
Create opportunities for your audience to actively engage with and participate in the brand essence.

Inspiring Brand Culture Statement:

Brand culture statements are important for informing the daily work of employees and inspiring your organization on an internal level. By being transparent and open about your brand’s culture, your customers will better understand and appreciate the motivations behind everything you do.

Moz, a B2B software brand, uses its culture code to inspire internal team members, loyal customers, and prospects. They have dedicated an entire page on their website to TAGFEE, an acronym that stands for “Transparent & Authentic, Generous, Fun, Empathetic, and Exceptional.” This culture code page offers an intimate view of Moz’s brand personality. Moz smartly defines their dedication to customers throughout the core code, making it clear that their culture code transcends every part of their brand, including their corporate culture, product offering, and relationship to customers.

To create an inspiring brand culture statement:

Define your brand’s values and principles.
Develop a clear and concise statement that embodies your brand’s culture.
Communicate and integrate this statement into your internal operations, customer interactions, and public-facing materials.

Consistency as a Key Element:

By now, you know that consistency is a core component of building a brand that consumers remember. Likewise, upholding a consistent brand personality can encourage customers to select your brand. Even if your brand is just starting out, making consistency a key goal can attract your lions (loyalists) early on.

Fabletics, a relatively new brand, proves how powerful a consistent brand presence can be. They fill their Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook accounts with quick workout videos, inspirational quotes, colorful product shots, and envy-inducing lifestyle imagery. While all of this content is strategically varied, it upholds the same inspirational and powerful brand values. Fabletics’ consistent posting delights their audience and reinforces the same brand personality day in and day out.

To maintain consistency in your brand personality:

Develop brand guidelines that outline your brand’s personality traits, visual elements, and messaging.

Train your team and partners on the importance of consistency and how to implement it.

Regularly review and assess your brand’s touchpoints to ensure they align with your desired personality.

Conclusion:

Unlocking the secrets of brand personality is an ongoing process that requires careful consideration and consistent effort. By defining your brand voice, creating an impactful visual style, embracing a strong brand essence, inspiring a brand culture, and maintaining consistency, you can shape a brand personality that resonates with your target audience and sets you apart from the competition.

Remember, brand personality is not just about the external perception of your brand but also about aligning your internal culture and values. When you unlock the secrets of brand personality, you unlock the potential to create a lasting and meaningful connection with your customers.

Now it’s time to apply these strategies and let your brand’s personality shine through every interaction, leaving a lasting impression on your audience.

Stay tuned for more insights and tips on building a successful brand identity.