The first post in this 3-part blog series on Brand Personality, looked at how to identify your brand’s personality. The second installment looked at how to develop your brand’s personality. In this third and final installment, we’ll look at how using brand personality effectively can help your business grow.
To recap, brand personality is a set of identifiable, customer-facing characteristics that are associated with human traits, attributes and behaviors. It encompasses emotional, thought, and behavioral patterns unique to a brand that are consistent over time. It is developed and honed during the brand strategy process and has value in helping a brand make a deeper and richer connection to an audience.
When brand personality is thoughtfully considered and expressed through all branded consumer touchpoints, the results are overwhelmingly positive. Here are three positive outcomes that can be identified.
Authenticity
As noted in part 1, misaligned brands come across as disingenuous to consumers who crave realness and transparency. A well-conceived, genuine brand personality affords a brand authenticity. Authenticity comes from aligning what you say (message) with what they (market) see and experience. If a brand personality feels forced or fake, consumers, especially millennials will struggle to support this brand.
Brands themselves are not people, but because they are made by people and for people, it makes sense that they often possess some of the same intangible qualities as people. We relate to brands in a similar way that we relate to people. As such, it is helpful to begin tackling this question about brand personality by thinking about real people and real relationships.
Just as it is hard to like or trust someone who says one thing publicly, but behaves differently in a personal interaction, brands lose resonance with people when their brand presence in the marketplace is misaligned with their brand personality. No one likes a phony person, and consumers denounce brands that they perceive as inauthentic. Statistics support the idea that brands that are perceived as authentic fare better. In a 2013 study conducted by the Boston Consulting Group, customers identified authenticity as one of the top qualities that would attract them to a brand.
Authority
A well-conceived and properly-aligned brand personality also allows your business or organization to have authority, that is, to speak through its marketing communications in a way that customers expect and respect. Consider how a trusted friend can speak to you in ways that a mere acquaintance cannot, because this person’s awareness of your life and worldview affords them a connection with you that permits them to speak more candidly to you. A close friend or family member knows you. Brand personality, cultivated and expressed consistently, affords brands this level of connection to their customers and allows them to message into their lives in ways that other brands cannot do as well.
Brands say essentially, “we know you and you can trust us. Trust us, our product or service is the solution to your problem.” A brand that has gained this level of trust with a consumer are in a good spot. They are able to push the appropriate emotional and psychological buttons and bring forth your brand’s message clearly and as intended to consumer who already trusts them. Authenticity and Authority act together. As humans, we act and decide based on emotion. How things make us feel helps drive our decisions. A brand that has leveraged personality to build rapport and trust is perceived as authentic and therefore trustworthy to share advice or call to action.
Advantage
A final positive outcome is competitive advantage. Brands that have utilized their brand personality to enhance authenticity and have attained a position of authority in the consciences of their consumers have a distinct upper hand in terms of awareness and affinity. These brands don’t have to spend as much time or money gaining that real estate in the hearts and minds of their customers, they already lay claim to it, having become known and trusted. They start out ahead of the game and in great position to build, turning those supporters into advocates.
How Brand Personality Affects Growth and Revenues
In summary, it is worthwhile to define, develop and utilize a strong brand personality, because it helps a business gain position and perception that puts it in a strong place of familiarity and approval for key customers. In closing, here are three things brand personality allows your brand to do that directly relate to the bottom line (growing your business to become more profitable):
Be more congruent. This means that you say the same things across all modes of communication. This saves a business time and money, which can be put into the other areas that will bring in more revenue.
Be more consistent. This means that you are saying the right things more often. This “buys” you trust, which also saves time and money from being wasted on advertising and wins over new consumers more quickly, as your brand and its key selling points become more embedded in the market conscious through constant exposure.
Be more connected. This means your customers are emotionally attached to your distinct, differentiated brand presence. Your brand’s ability to market to them is easier because you speak not as a stranger or acquaintance, but as a trusted advisor and familiar friend. You become so familiar in fact, these consumers become your advocates and brand ambassadors. They defend you from attacks and declare your praises to all who will listen. This is where every business wants to be.
