Your brand identity encompasses everything about how your company is perceived – from your logo and tagline to your tone of voice and overall personality. As you look to shape and refine your brand identity, one framework that can provide useful guidance is brand archetypes. 

Brand archetypes are essentially the underlying motivations that inform a brand’s identity. Aligning your brand with a particular archetype allows you to tap into very human desires and needs that connect deeply with your target audience.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore what brand archetypes are, how to uncover your brand’s archetype, and how matching your identity to your archetype can benefit your branding and positioning. We’ll also look at how and when you may need to pivot your archetype as your brand evolves over time. 

Let’s get started.

What are Brand Archetypes?

Brand archetypes originate from the psychology and storytelling traditions. The concept suggests that just as people embody certain personality traits and motivations, brands also express archetypal identities through their positioning, personality and values. 

There are many different brand archetype frameworks out there, but generally 12 core archetypes are cited: 

The 12 Major Archetypes

– The Innocent – motivated by simplicity, goodness

– The Explorer – motivated by freedom, independence

– The Hero – motivated by mastery, strength, courage

– The Outlaw – motivated by rebellion, disruption

– The Lover – motivated by intimacy, passion

– The Creator – motivated by innovation, vision

– The Caregiver – motivated by compassion, generosity  

– The Ruler – motivated by prestige, leadership 

– The Jester – motivated by joy, humor

– The Sage – motivated by knowledge, introspection

– The Magician – motivated by transformation, unlocking potential

– The Everyman – motivated by belonging, down-to-earth values

These 12 archetypes represent very human motivations and desires. So when brands align themselves with a particular archetype, they tap into deep customer emotions and values that foster strong connections.

Let’s look now at how you can uncover your brand’s archetype. 

How to Discover Your Brand’s Archetype

Pinpointing your brand archetype takes some reflection on your target audience, motivations, personality, values and overall brand story. Here are some areas to analyze:

Analyze Your Target Audience

Who are your target customers? What desires, pain points and values do they have? See if you can map their primary motivations to particular archetypes. This can reveal which archetypes you should align with.

For example, if your customers are freedom-seeking explorers who crave new experiences, then positioning your brand as an Explorer could deeply resonate. 

Identify Your Motivations 

Why does your brand exist? What purpose and motivations underpin your company? Your reasons for being can help uncover archetypes that align with your brand motivations.

For instance, if you aim to make complex things simple and accessible, then the Innocent archetype may suit your ethos.

Look at Your Brand Personality

What personality traits describe your brand? Is your brand: courageous, disruptive, prestigious, compassionate, innovative, rebellious, down-to-earth? Your brand personality indicates what archetype you likely align with.

Consider Your Values 

What values define your brand – simplicity, mastery, freedom, belonging? Your core values directly link to motivations associated with particular archetypes. Clarifying your values helps reveal your archetypal alignment. 

Examine Your Brand Story

What themes and arcs feature in your brand’s origin story and ongoing narrative? The struggles, motivations and resolutions in your brand story can provide clues about your archetypal identity. 

For example, archetypal stories of courage and overcoming adversity indicate a Hero archetype.

Review Your Visual Brand Identity

Look at your logo, fonts, color scheme, imagery and other visual branding. Do some elements reflect particular archetypes? 

For instance, prominent use of natural, earthy visuals may signal alignment with the Innocent archetype. Let’s look now at aligning your brand identity to your archetype.

Matching Your Archetype to Your Brand Identity

Once you’ve determined your brand archetype, you can infuse it throughout your branding and messaging for consistency that deeply resonates with your audience. Ways to align your identity include:

Your Messaging

Craft messaging that taps into the motivations and values of your archetype:

– The Explorer – “Venture off the beaten path and discover new horizons with us.”

– The Ruler – “Take your ambitions to the next level and dominate your goals.”  

Your Tone of Voice

Adopt a tone of voice that fits your archetype:

– The Innocent – Simple, warm, nostalgic

– The Rebel – Disruptive, bold, anti-establishment

Your Visual Branding

Incorporate archetypal themes into your visual identity: 

– The Hero – Bravery, strength 

– The Caregiver – Warmth, compassion

Your Content Strategy 

Develop content aligned to your archetypal motivations:

– The Sage – Thought leadership content, expert advice and insights

– The Jester – Fun, humorous, entertaining content

Let’s look now at the key benefits of anchoring your brand in an archetype.

Benefits of Using Archetypes  

Aligning your brand identity with an archetype offers these advantages:

Resonates With Your Audience

Tapping into deep human motivations fosters stronger emotional connections with your audience. Customers are drawn to brands that embody archetypes they identify with.

Provides Brand Consistency 

Having an archetypal framework streamlines your identity across touchpoints. Customers recognize your unified brand more easily. 

Informs Your Positioning

Archetypes guide your brand positioning around motivations that differentiate you in the marketplace. Your archetype shapes your competitive edge.

Guides Your Evolution

As your brand grows, archetypes help you expand your offerings while retaining your core identity. New products and content still align with your archetypal motivations.

Now let’s explore adapting your archetype as your brand matures. 

Adapting Your Archetype Over Time

While archetypes provide powerful branding guidance, you may find your brand evolves beyond its current archetypal identity. Certain shifts in your business warrant pivoting to a more fitting archetype. Here’s how to adapt your archetype effectively:

Know When to Pivot

Signs it’s time for an archetypal change include needing to appeal to a new target audience, expanding into significantly different offerings, or current events impacting brand perceptions.

For example, major societal issues may necessitate pivoting from a lighthearted Jester archetype to a more compassionate Caregiver. 

Making a Gradual Shift 

Avoid radically reinventing your archetype overnight. Gradually introduce new archetypal elements into your messaging and visuals. This retains connection to your roots while signalling change.

Maintaining Authenticity

While archetypes help shape perceptions, ensure you adapt in an authentic way that aligns with your core motivations. Don’t just force a new archetype that misaligns with your brand values.

Adjusting your archetype should stem from genuine evolution versus superficial trends. Anchor in your purpose.

Conclusion

Aligning your brand identity with archetypes taps into deep motivations that profoundly resonate with target audiences. Archetypes provide powerful branding guidance through informing your positioning, visual identity, content and more. While archetypes offer useful frameworks, maintain flexibility to pivot your archetype as your brand naturally evolves. Focus on authenticity when adapting your motivations. Overall, archetypes give brands meaning that transcends products and establishes memorable connections. Let these enduring human narratives guide your identity.