Brand Personality

A brand personality is a comprehensive concept, which includes all the tangible and intangible traits of a brand: beliefs, values, prejudices, features, interests, and heritage. A brand personality makes it unique. Just like people, all brands have a personality. Whether it is shallow and instrumental or deep, emotionally charged and carefully managed. This personality is crucial. Why? Personality is a key issue in our society. Look at politics: the popularity of politicians and government leaders is personality based. It is not about their identity, it is not about their views, which are elements of the overall concept that matter most. Is Barack Obama so successful because of his identity, his views, or his overall personality?

To give an example of how this works is to point out the brand personalities of a few very well known and popular brands. Harley Davidson: rugged and macho with a sprit of adventure and freedom. TSN: an authoritative passion for sports, knowledgeable with a bit of irreverence.

A Brand’s personality must also reflect the perceptions, motivations, and values of its target audience. For example, loyal users of American Express (according to Marketing Magazine) view the brand’s personality as sophisticated dignified, and educated. On the other hand, those outside the brand tend to see American Express as sophisticated, classy, snobbish, and condescending

Two of the biggest advantages of brand personalities are based on their distinctive personalities; consumers are able to differentiate between brands. Another advantage is that the consumer can interpret the brand’s image in such a way that it is personally more meaningful. Brand personality encourages more active processing on the part of the consumer. Thus, the consumer puts more effort in creating the using the brand personality.