Creating such a strong emotional connection is what defines branding. It is your gut feeling, and it is NOT your logo or website. How can you create this powerful emotional consumer drive for your brand? Building a strong brand bond for your consumers and potential prospects happens way before you start creating your logo and website. First and foremost, you begin putting a brand strategy together, that then will dictate your logo and website design, your social media campaigning and public relations connections.
Having a distinctive personality, a brand has an ability to assist consumers to express themselves in different aspects of their lives. Brand personality is defined as “the set of human characteristics associated with a brand” (Aaker 1997). You don’t say what your brand is, you say WHO your brand is.
People who have a very vibrant and distinctive personality and style become their own brand. To name a few: Michael Jordan, an American former professional basketball player, created his own Jordan Brand with Nike; Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, a fashion designer, has become the Valentino high-end fashion brand; Karl Lagerfeld, a fashion designer, has become its own brand Karl Lagerfeld.
Michael Jordan, Valentino, and Karl Lagerfeld are people with individual characteristics that are very enticing to people, so that consumers want to imitate them. The Jordan brand has the personality of its founder—a leader, someone who takes charge of his life. Valentino has a sensual and feminine personality that easily translates into his designs for women which are described as elegant, flowing, and timeless. Karl Lagerfeld has the strong personality of a trendsetter and has a defined and timeless look, which is reflected in all his collections he designs for a high-end fashion Chanel brand.
To identify your brand personality is not an easy task. It is a process. This process implies homework for an entrepreneur. We conduct a series of questionnaires, surveying a business owner, and his/her existing customers if applicable.
At SULÉY Group we have developed a strategic brand plan that assists an entrepreneur in finding and determining his/her brand message, and therefore market positioning, which in turn formulates a brand development and management plan in the long run.
References:
Aaker, J.L. (1997). Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of Marketing Research, 34 (8), 347-356.
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