WHAT ARE BRAND ARCHETYPES? (and how to use them)
Have you taken my free Brand Archetype quiz?
It is the first quiz I ever created for my business. And more importantly, it’s what helped me crack the code to start attracting the right people to my email list, generating leads, and creating things people actually want.
But I’ve been receiving some questions about how you can use your brand archetype in your marketing and business. Plus - what if you get more than one archetype in your results?
So, let’s run through the archetypes and the categories and talk about four easy ways you can leverage your archetypes in your marketing and your brand.
And particularly if you’re a solo entrepreneur or small business, how to differentiate yourself and create a really clear position and personality for your brand.
WHAT IS A BRAND ARCHETYPE?
It all starts with the twelve personality archetypes, categorized originally by Carl Jung in about 1919.
He posited that there are 12 different characters or social stereotypes throughout life. And each of us tends to default to one (or potentially two) of those archetypes more than the others.
Now, we do also sometimes pull on others as a texture for our personality. But in most situations, we will default to one way of being.
Understanding this is really useful in branding and marketing because at the end of the day, people like people. We want to connect on a human level.
So, many big brands use archetypes to create a personality and a character for their brands. They want to create that human element and appear as a person with a personality that will connect with the hearts and minds of their customers.
Here’s the good news! It’s actually much easier to do this as a small business or solo entrepreneur because essentially you're selling yourself.
USE YOUR BRAND ARCHETYPE TO DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF & YOUR BUSINESS
Your brand archetype makes it easy to differentiate yourself from your competitors and others with a similar business.
Let’s say you’re a business coach or consultant. There are most likely others in the same market who may be promising the same basic results to their clients as you do.
But the way you connect with your customer will be completely different from those others, and that is how you get the result your customer is looking for.
So knowing what your Brand Archetype is can make it much easier to connect and communicate with your potential clients.
THE 12 BRAND ARCHETYPES
There are 12 Archetypes in total, grouped into 4 categories.
CATEGORY 1: THE LEADERS
At the top, you've got:
the Creator Archetype
the Queen Archetype
the Caregiver Archetype
In this category, you’ll find brands like Apple and Lego - both creator brands looking to lead and create something of difference. And both have achieved market leadership.
An example of an entrepreneur in this category would be someone like Rachel Rodgers from We Should All Be Millionaires (Queen Archetype), who’s all about achieving wealth, leading you to greatness, and doing that by example.
CATEGORY 2: THE MENTORS
3 archetypes that fall into the Mentors category are:
the Explorer Archetype
the Sage Archetype
the Innocent Archetype
Explorer brands are about unravelling and learning more about themselves and the world around them, check out Tammy Guest and how she uses the Explorer brand so beautifully in her brand messaging. For the Sage, it's all about a quest for knowledge. And the Innocent is about understanding more and passing on that knowledge.
So in this space, you’ll find brands like Deepak Chopra, Dove, and Harvard University. Their core desire and driver is to grow their own knowledge and also to help you grow your knowledge.
CATEGORY 3: THE FACILITATORS
In this category, you’ll find:
the Warrior Archetype
the Renegade Archetype
the Alchemist Archetype
These archetypes are all based around change. Think of brands like Nike or Instagram, and people like Ash from The Middle Finger Project, Arianna Huffington, or Seth Godin.
In this space, it's about creating change for your client, whether that’s through a product or a service.
And the role that we play as an entrepreneur with one of these archetypes is facilitating the change, helping our clients get to their desired outcome.
CATEGORY 4: THE CONNECTORS
Finally, we’ve got the Connector archetypes, which are:
the Jester Archetype
the Lover Archetype
the Girl Next Door (aka the Everyman) Archetype
This category is all about connecting. For the Jester, it’s about using humour to connect (a great way to connect with other people!).
Someone like Elizabeth Goddard fits the Jester Archetype, she injects playfulness and fun into all elements of her programs and brand.
The Everyman/Girl Next Door is an archetype I often get questions about because people aren’t sure how they identify with that one.
This may be your archetype if you reach many people. Plus, the Girl Next Door really doesn't have any pretences. A brand I think of in the online space for this category is someone like Amy Porterfield.
When you look at her communication style, you’ll see she's very open, very grounded, very down to earth. She shares her entrepreneurial journey from start to finish with warts and all and does not position herself as above anybody else, but rather as one of the community.
That's a really important element of all the archetypes in this category.
HOW TO USE YOUR BRAND ARCHETYPE IN YOUR BUSINESS
So when you look at each of these, you may find you identify with one specifically more than others. Or you may find you have a couple that go hand-in-hand. Potentially, they might even be from opposing quadrants! And that's okay.
#1 - CORE DESIRES
When you look at the Archetype Guide (free on my website), you’ll see that each Archetype has a core desire. And this can be really useful for your brand.
Because when you put your Why and Purpose front and centre, when you tell people what you believe - and they believe the same - they're more likely to connect with you and come along on your journey.
So, look at your archetype and the associated core desire and belief.
For example, as I mentioned, the Explorer is about unravelling and learning more about the world and getting to the truth. Why is that important?
Well, if you're an Explorer Archetype, you may potentially think that by understanding more about the world, we can change the world. That's a really good, strong purpose - or core desire - you can put front and centre in your brand to attract others who feel the same way.
#2 - COMMUNICATIONS
You can also use your archetype to guide you in how to talk and connect with people, and how to build your communities.
People tend to be attracted to people who are like themselves or who they aspire to be like. So, with the Renegade Archetype, for example, a lot of people secretly wish they were a bit of a rebel.
If you're a Renegade Archetype, you won't just attract people who are like you, you'll also attract people who wish they were a bit more like you. That rebellious message you put out there will attract those kinds of people.
The Lover Archetype is driven around connection, belonging, and creating love and beauty in the world. So the people who will connect with the Lover would very much think and feel the same or aspire to think and feel the same.
#3 - OFFERS & PACKAGES
Another great way to use your Archetype is to guide your packaging.
Whether you are a service or product based company, what I mean by “packaging” is how you put together what you offer.
This is an area where I found Archetypes extremely helpful in my own business.
Being part of the online marketing space, there's a tendency to think we should create something just like everyone else is doing.
When everybody is doing online courses, retreats, or digital products - it’s easy to think “I should do that, too.”
Instead, look at your Archetype, what your core desire is, and what your strengths are. You can shape your business model around that.
LET’S USE THE ALCHEMIST AS AN EXAMPLE.
This Archetype is all about transformation and change. Alchemist archetypes tend to attract people who are looking for a deep connection and transformation.
So, if you’re a service provider with an Alchemist archetype, your engagements will potentially be a lot longer than, say, an Explorer archetype, which is about adventure, freedom, and wanting to move on to the next thing more quickly.
When you put together a package or offer, you need to think about how it relates back to your Archetype. Should you:
Package your services in 6-month blocks?
Or do escapes, retreats, or something that's a bit unique?
Another example would be the Girl Next Door or Everyman Archetype. This Archetype is great at attracting many people, building communities, and making people feel like they belong.
So if this is your Archetype, you might look at having a lower price point but reaching far more people.
#4 - MESSAGING
Another way to leverage your archetype is in your messaging.
There are specific words (this is in the Brand Archetype Guide, as well) that each of these Archetypes tends to connect with.
For a Warrior, it would be words like ‘courage, results, hero.’ A brand like Nike fits in with that.
So, when looking at your …
… marketing communications
… copy for your website
… how you talk to your audience
… social media
Think about how you can use the brand words that really connect with your own personality and your Archetype. These words can communicate and forge a very strong relationship with your ideal audience.
DISCOVER YOUR BRAND ARCHETYPE
Want to know what your brand archetype is so you can start attracting your ideal audience and leads?