Do you know your brand archetype? There is a wealth of information online about Brand archetypes, including here.

There are twelve brand archetypes: The Innocent, Everyman, Hero, Outlaw, Explorer, Creator, Ruler, Magician, Lover, Caregiver, Jester, and Sage. The different archetypes were developed by Carl Jung in the early 20th Century based on his extensive psychology research. They form a part of the collective unconscious, which is a concept that says that, while we are all individuals, all humans share a set of common ways of understanding the world.

So which archetype most closely resembles your brand? Moat brands exhibit traits of two or more archetypes, but usually there is one that dominates the others. This is an important exercise, because, like defining your target customers, you should remain consistent in your brand voice, always aligning with your brand archetype(s).

Back to Carl Jung, he describes archetypes as being a part of the fundamental underpinning of human existence, part of our collective set of normative behaviors and attitudes. By aligning your messaging, imagery, and other sensations like sounds with your brand archetype, you are really helping your target customers understand who you are in a way that is comforting to the human brain. Cognitive dissonance just distracts the brain and potential customers move on.

By choosing to work with the human brain, versus against it, you are doing yourself a favor, every time.