Brand Archetypes: Why Sephora is a lover and Charmin is a jester
If you were making a film and your two main characters had to embody Adobe and North Face’s personalities, what would those characters be like? Perhaps one would be a creator and one would be an explorer.
In 1919, Swiss psychologist Carl Jung invented a list of twelve brand archetypes, or personality trait categories. When an audience can easily identify a brand’s personality type and connect with it, the brand is more likely to resonate. The archetypes can inform how companies approach messaging, advertising, and product development.
Jung’s twelve brand archetypes are the innocent, everyman, hero, rebel, explorer, creator, ruler, magician, lover, caregiver, jester, and sage.
There is a great blog that describes these twelve archetypes and provides examples of them, but I decided to play with this idea and come up with my own brand archetype examples:
The 12 Brand Archetypes with Examples
Innocent: Fiji Water
Fiji Water claims its H2O comes from “Fiji’s sustainable ancient artesian aquifer.” It’s all about purity. It also has built its brand around its environmental responsibility actions to “enable positive change.” Their narrative is pretty innocent sounding, even if they have a record of harm.
Everyman: Starbucks
Who hasn’t been to a Starbucks? With 32,646 stores worldwide, it’s literally everywhere. And you’ll find all types of people inside its cafes. It’s designed so you feel comfortable in its armchairs whether you’re doing a job interviewer, meeting your grandma, or getting a caffeine fix before a marathon.
Hero: Black Diamond
The climbing and skiing company represents top notch gear for top notch adventurers. Black Diamond’s sponsored athletes inspire us to be like them. To go where they go. To embody their courage and boldness.
Rebel: Patagonia
Patagonia has never followed the rules. It lives to defy the status quo and is willing to fight for what it believes in, especially if it means revolutionizing how things have been done.
Explorer: National Geographic
For the past 133 years, Nat Geo has been pushing the boundaries on science, conservation, and exploration. It has a way of opening your eyes to places and people and ideas you never before imagined. It makes you feel awe and yearn for discovery.
Creator: Canva
Canva is all about unlocking your creativity. With them, you become a creator.
Ruler: Cartier
The ruler is viewed as the authority. It’s la crème de la crème of its industry. Cartier has convinced the world that diamonds really are a girl’s best friend and that a proposal isn’t a proposal without a diamond.
Magician: Hallmark
Without Hallmark, would Valentine’s Day or Mother’s Day even feel special? Hallmark promises to create meaningful moments that turn can otherwise mundane interactions with your family and loved ones into memorable ones.
Lover: Sephora
Sephora exists to make you love how you look so you can feel attractive and beautiful.
Jester: Charmin
Their bathroom jokes are on point. Charmin knows how to be charmin-gly silly with endless toilet puns. Just take a look at their Twitter.
Caregiver: Oxfam
When people think of humanitarianism, Oxfam is often at the top of the list. They help lift people out of poverty and ensure their essential needs are met. They make the world a better place.
Sage: WebMD
For better or for worse, WebMD makes everyone feel like they have the power to diagnose and treat their symptoms. Who even needs medical school when WebMD is at your fingertips?