Does your brand or company have a personality? The importance of having a brand personality.

Have you ever found yourself gravitating towards someone? As though every time they’re around you feel at ease? And if so, do you remember what it was you liked about them? Were they bubbly, friendly, thoughtful, caring, considerate or approachable? If so, then it’s a good chance that you liked their personality, and because of their personality the memory of them has stayed with you.

Brands and businesses are exactly the same. The ones that really stick out are the ones we find a connection with, or something to like about them. But what is ‘Brand Personality’?

It is a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a brand name. The aim of developing a brand personality is to give consumers something they can relate to on a personal level, something beyond the price or the features and benefits of the product.
One of the most iconic companies to champion brand personality is Virgin. 

Established in 1970 by (now) Sir Richard Branson, the brand itself is synonymous with customer service, a friendly and open nature that’s also quite adventurous. In fact, on their ‘Our Brand’ page it states:

“ Whether in banking, travel, entertainment, health and fitness or communications the Virgin Brand has become one of the most desirable brands in the world. The Brand's backbone is its values; providing heartfelt service, being delightfully surprising, red hot, and straight up while maintaining an insatiable curiosity and creating smart disruption."

It's pretty hard to argue they don’t deliver on that statement. But it’s true, the Virgin personality is that of someone who will go out-of-their-way to help you out or resolve a matter, but in a delightfully surprising way.

Staff at Virgin spend 4 weeks training to live up to the persona of the Virgin brand. For a call centre for example, the focus is not how much time spent on the phone, but how many problems we solved and customer satisfaction. If supervisors feel they could offer the customer a better experience, they would call back the customer to see if they had any further questions or issues. They actively embraced the brand’s persona of providing heartfelt service.

Another brand that has one of the most recognised brand personalities in the world is Nike.

The iconic ‘Just Do It’ slogan was born in 1988 during a meeting, and Nike have never looked back. The phrase itself speaks to the competitive nature of their customers. It challenges them to be better than they are by getting out there and just do it. These three “simple” words have shaped the company and how it communicates to their consumers for the last 30 years.

Not all ‘brand personalities’ will be as iconic as the ones above, and they don’t need to be. Your brand’s personality just needs to resonate with your target audience and their what they are looking for in your brand or business.
The importance behind the personality is that it can be the driver for many facets of your business, like the way you communicate to your customers and the channels you use to communicate. It can drive processes you have in place to better serve your customers needs, making things more efficient or affordable.

Having a brand or business without a personality means you will only ever be able to compete on two things; quality and cost.

But if your company has developed a personality that resonates with your customers, your product could be more expensive than your competitors and your customers would still choose you over them.

Customers are after more in a brand than just a product, they want an experience they can boast about and tell their friends.

At Icon, we can help your brand develop its own personality through getting to know your target audience and give them another reason to choose your company and your products.
Feel free to call us on 1300 138 984, or fill out our Online Enquiry Form and we will respond to you as soon as possible.