The 12 Brand Archetypes: Finding Their Vibe for Your Business
Using brand archetypes in business isn’t new.
Neither are the 12 brand archetypes overall.
But using the brand archetypes and finding their overarching vibe for your business – could be the difference between a cohesive and consistent brand versus shots in the dark when it comes to communicating with your aligned audience and most ideal customers.
“Archetypes”, first coined by psychoanalyst Carl Jung in 1919 as personality types, were then later described as the patterns of behavior that could be attributed to the “unconscious images” of our instincts. (Paraphrased from his paper Instinct and the Unconscious 1919)
There are 12 brand archetypes: The Caregiver, Creator, Explorer, Hero, Innocent, Jester, Lover, Magician, Outlaw, Regular Gal/Guy, Ruler and Sage.
And while there are some similarities between a few of them, the undercurrent and what motivates their behaviors creates the nuance that fuels priorities and decision making for companies and their brands across the board.
Yes, this includes personal brands as well.
They will influence your brand identity, and play a key role in your brand voice, the words you use throughout your brand messaging and brand guides, and in your content and marketing strategies as well.
Mastering your brand archetypes, their essence, the vibe that they are and that they create, can be the difference between PR heaven and being wildly profitable and creating massive impact or ruining a brand and its image due to carelessness and mixed messages.
This happens when one doesn’t understand their brand archetypes and then go against all they’ve built and stand for up until that proverbial point of disaster.
But it doesn’t have to be that way. Understanding the vibe of your archetype can help you start to do the things within your business, your content and your marketing, that fuel brand affinity and keep missteps at bay.
And our understanding, embodying, defining and refining of them over time add to our overall brand experience and evolution.
What follows are the an overview 12 brand archetypes’ vibe, based on my experience working with business owners and their brand strategies for the past 6 years.
Caregiver Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
A hot cup of warm cocoa after playing in the freshly fallen snow
The time-saving technique you didn’t know you needed so that you can get back to what’s important
The literal foundation of humanity…
And the figurative as well.
The bridges built betwixt those who didn’t know they needed to be connected
Warm apple cider on a fall day with the autumnal leaves
Kisses on boo-boos
Summer parties with Yoohoos
And the knowing that your hopes, your dreams, your joy in giving… always have somewhere to serve.
Creator Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
Seeing the art in the everyday
Knowing that even in things that are devastating, there are things that are devastatingly beautiful
Looking at the world through a different lens
Capturing the ordinary and the extraordinary in a new way
Seeing the wisdom of the ages in an aging face and preserving it for all time
Capturing the words on a page or a stage
Knowing that art, in all of it’s forms, is a form of immortality
Putting to words what others can only feel
Taking bits and bytes and creating something that travels across the world. wide. web
Understanding that art means to live, and that living is nothing without your art – even when others don’t quite “see” it yet.
Explorer Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
The road less traveled…
And the one more…
So long as it’s traveled.
Wanting to find the hidden treasures…
Both external… and within.
The need to roam…
The mountains…
The seas…
The landscapes…
Of the world…
Of the mind…
And sometimes, both.
They are the living and breathing embodiment of… “not all who wander are lost” – J.R.R. Tolkien.
Hero Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
Doing the right thing even when no one is looking…
And not thinking about who’s looking when they are because the action is the more important piece.
It’s YOU, even when you’re thinking it’s that trinket, that talisman, that piece that helps your bravery rise to the surface from WITHIN you…
And wondering why you’re getting credit for that amazing action you’ve taken – because you and your brave, courageous heart thinks everyone would do it.
It’s knowing where things are so you know what to grab…
Organization…
Wide open heart and sharing of your beautiful brain, insights, and daring brilliance…
Community connectors and caretakers…
Preservers of freedom…
Persevering and persistent in deed and integrity…
Lemonade on a hot summer’s day….
Electrolytes at the 20-mile mark…
And running the rest of the race WITH you.
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” – Christopher Reeve
Innocent Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
Wide-eyed wonder and curiosity at all that could go right…
Naiveté as refreshing as the spring breeze through the trees…
Faith in humans and humanity are instantaneously restored when you’re around for those who have started to lose theirs.
The smell of fresh washed linens…
The feel of a warm sweater on a cold winter’s day…
With hot cocoa, a cool spoon, and marshmallows… yes please…
And a positive spirit that puts you at instant ease.
Jester Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
Savageness that makes you howl instead of cry…
The telling of the joke while also being willing to be the butt of it…
Smiles and laughter that lift the heavy-hearted and heavy-headed…
E-N-T-E-R-T-A-I-N-I-N-G
Brightness in a sea of sameness…
The delivery that only YOU can bring that makes others HOWL with laughter…
Exuberant joy…
Unending humor…
With the uncanny ability to bring brightness and laughter to any situation!
Lover Brand Archetype Vibes Are:
Lazy Sunday afternoons…
Ripe juicy peaches (the orange not the white), their softness, their particular brand of sweetness…
Warm fires and intimates looks, touch, and chocolate covered strawberries with champagne.
The exquisite feel of luscious silk against your bare skin…
The way your hand makes ripples in the water as you float looking the type of beautiful that comes straight from your soul.
“Any real ecstasy is a sign you are moving in the right direction.” – Teresa of Avila
Magician Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
Creation from the ethers
Mad-scientist energy
Einstein meets Merlin meets Nostradamus meets Hildegard von Bingen.
It’s the Universe contained in the iris of your eye…
Conjuring and Constructing…
The vision of things transformed and transcended
Infinite potential and possibility
Time and space suspended and the now stretched out beyond measure
Cooking up carefully curated ingredients for a delectable delight of the mind and the senses
And those who cross your path are forever changed by it.
Outlaw Brand Archetype Vibes Are:
Quarter-mile street races…
We don’t follow the rules, we break them – unless they’re the rules WE made – then you’d best abide or step aside…
The inability to feed into the hypocrisy of broken systems that swear to know better…
Dismantling what doesn’t work, come what may, because you KNOW it’s got to get better and it will, if you burn the ships and refuse to bow down and back pedal.
It’s dressing YOUR way – f*ck the dress code – so long as you feel at home in your being – even while the injustice you’re fighting is making your skin crawl…
It’s saying “NO MORE” while the majority are saying “please Sir may I have some more” [Oliver]…
And being willing to walk the drafty alleys that most won’t, to serve a world that often refuses to see the value in what you do.
You and Johnny Cash and Sinatra – all doing it your way.
Regular Gal/Guy Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
The Cheers Theme Song – 🎶 ‘where everybody knows your name…
And they’re always glad you came” 🎶
If you’re not everyone’s first choice to ride out the zombie apocalypse – you were only beat out because the person they picked was sitting right. next. to. them (or it’s family, but hey, same-same right?)
Taco Tuesdays and margaritas on point
The best party planners (you make everyone feel included in the best possible ways)
Unicorn plushies
Tastee-Freez
Sweet Teas
Picnics in the breeze
There’s always an extra seat at your table…
And if not, you’ll build a longer one.
Ruler Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
Establishing, curating and proliferating…
An abundance of resources, assets, and assistance…
For the good of the realm.
Knowing the buck stops with you – always, no matter what.
Putting long-term success ahead of short-term gains.
Sustainability over short cuts…
Abundance over acclaim…
Creating cohesive culture…
And the wielding of influence for impact that matters.
Sage Brand Archetype Vibes Are…
Curated books with the best knowledge…
Dog-eared copies of the greats…
A cuppa tea to go with that pen and notebook and the most recent tome…
An early life of “sitting at the feet” to having others want to sit at yours…
Never without a book…
A smile or a furrowed, concentrated brow while searching the annals of the mind…
And wise words that help on a fundamental level for those willing to listen.
“Wisdom is not a product of schooling but the lifelong attempt to acquire it.” – Albert Einstein
The key to remember is that we have all 12 archetypes inside of us and some are more pronounced than others.
But if you can identify the one MOST like you, the one that is most effortless for your behaviors, for your decision making, and how you run things, you’re THAT much closer to knowing what it is that makes you, and your brand personality, tick.
These brand archetype vibes were first published over on my Facebook Page which you can find HERE.
I’d love to hear which one sounds most like YOU! Join me there and let me know.
If you’re contemplating whether or not it’s time for a re-brand or to freshen up your existing brand, you’ll probably enjoy this post on the 4 Signs It’s Time to Re-Brand.