The 5 Types of Brand Personality — Which Ones Fit Your Business?

Just like every person has a personality, so does every business.

An individual’s personality naturally influences how others will view them and interact with them. Your brand’s personality has the same impact on your audience—it directly determines if a customer will bond with (and use) your business.

How can you create a brand personality that is relatable to your target audience and drives customer acquisition?

What is a Brand Personality?

Brand personality is the part of your brand that your customers will most identify with and build a relationship with. It is a collection of emotional, intellectual, and behavioral traits that are unique to your brand and should remain consistent over time. Brand personality is largely visible in the most important aspects of your business’s marketing strategy: brand messaging (slogans, website copy, mission statements) brand imagery (logos, fonts, colors, designs), brand storytelling, and content (blogs, email campaigns, podcasts, videos, social posts).

However, brand personality is more than a collection of adjectives. It personifies your brand into a near human entity—to the point that when your customers “meet” your brand on social media, in search engine results, or in their inbox, they’ll immediately know if they have found a kindred spirit or not.

Customers are more likely to purchase from a brand or work with a business if the brand’s personality is similar to their own. Learning your customers’ core personality traits, hobbies, behaviors, values, mental outlooks, and lifestyle choices will help you build a highly-effective, relatable brand personality that attracts your audience.

Asking yourself questions like—Are my customers introverts or extroverts? Optimists or pessimists? Spontaneous or planners? Outdoorsy or homebodies? Old fashioned or trendy?—will help you identify core personality traits to incorporate in your branding and market positioning.

Why Define Brand Personality?

Brand personality plays a large role in brand positioning and driving competitive differentiation. In a competitive marketplace, your business must stand out. Thankfully, the same product or service can be marketed in distinct, memorable ways depending on your brand’s personality. Every business has the opportunity to find their niche and stand out in the crowd.

Not to mention, brand personality gives a face and voice to your brand, allowing your customers to effectively interact and engage with your business. As a result, your business will strengthen brand awareness, improve engagement, increase customer acquisition, and secure customer loyalty.

The Five Types of Brand Personality

If your business were a person, your brand personality is how you would describe it. Where does your business (and your ideal customer!) fit in? These five dimensions of brand personality were first defined by marketing expert Jennifer Aaker in 1997, and they remain a popular marketing model today.

Sincerity

When you think of this brand personality, people think of the terms: honest, heartfelt, cheerful, and genuine. Sincerity is a down-to-earth brand personality that usually emphasizes family values, honesty & openness, wholesomeness, sentimentality, family ownership, handmade craftsmanship, or small town roots.

Excitement

Does your business pride itself on its daring, imaginative nature? Excitement is a spirited brand personality that best appeals to those who love innovation, originality, and imagination. It is progressive, passionate, energetic, cutting edge, trendy, daring, and has a particular appeal to youth. For example, this brand personality is often seen in sports apparel marketing.

Competence

Is your business branding its experience and competency? Competence is a dimension of brand personality that focuses on intelligence, success, and expertise. It also emphasizes trust, security, and reliability. This is an ideal brand personality for businesses that want to be viewed as capable, knowledgeable, successful leaders that can be depended upon.

Sophistication

Charming, refined, and elegant! Sophistication is a brand personality that appeals to luxury, exclusivity, and class. These brands evoke upper-class glamour, femininity, and sophistication. Contrary to its initial impression, this brand personality doesn’t always mean a higher price, but a more stylish, refined brand experience. It is worldly, polished, and minimalist. This brand personality is commonly seen in makeup, personal care products, and luxury vehicles.

Ruggedness

Does your brand prize all things outdoorsy and active? Ruggedness is a brand personality that emphasizes the outdoors, toughness, masculinity, strength, bravery, and brawn. This type of personality is often used to play up the durability and quality of products or services in extreme situations.

Can your brand be identified by one or more of these personalities?

Add Dimension to Your Brand Personality

Is your brand personality authentic to your organization and relatable to your ideal customer? Does your ideal customer look at your brand and think, “We have a lot in common”? Your brand should mirror the characteristics your target audience values the most—as well as the values they hope and aspire to develop.

Authentic, consistent brand personality builds a strong foundation for your brand identity and clear direction for your marketing strategies. Need help focusing your brand? Contact Sun Sign Designs for a consultation today.