Understanding Brand Personality

Brand personality is a blend of characteristics that form unique character of a brand. These characteristics draw the attention of customers towards the brand and make them explore, buy, consume and know that how and why the brand is different from its competitors. 

One of the most acknowledged and widely used models for defining brand personality is the "Aaker Model" created in 1997 by Ms. Jennifer Aaker for a journal of marketing research and even after 23 years this model has somewhat stood the test of time.

Every brand has a distinct personality. It doesn’t matter how big or small is the size of a business or a company, but creating and defining brand as a personality does matter. It’s a vital step towards having a unified, well-structured brand. Even if we don’t invest time in creating and defining the brand, definitely some brand personality shall automatically take a shape due to people’s perception which is not at all good indication for any business. Therefore, it’s imperative for every business, small or big, to know what exactly is a brand personality, and how it’s created and defined?

Aakar’s five dimensions of brand personality

As per Aaker, there are five different dimensions of a brand personality (based on “Big Five” dimensions of a human personality), each divided into a set of traits.

1.    Sincerity (down to earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful)

2.    Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date)

3.    Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful)

4.    Sophistication (upper class, charming)

5.    Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough)

As each of the dimensions is meant to serve as a benchmark for a cluster of similar personality traits, these dimensions are meant to work together to create a generalized scale of traits that a business can use to help determine its brand’s personality.

1. Sincerity:   Those brands which are dominated by sincerity would always want to be seen as honest and straightforward. Their business activity revolves around providing a transparent customer experience. A brand having such personalities doesn’t use marketing gimmicks to increase sales. It relies on the facts about the company and its products and shares all the relevant information with the customers to meet their needs and clear their doubts. Traits associated with this personality are - down-to-earth, honest, real, genuine, pure, cheerful, and friendly.
2. Excitement:  Those brands which are dominated by excitement would always desire to provide their customers with an unforgettable experience. Brands with such personality typically look for diversity in their customers because their goal is to provide them with an experience everyone can relate to. Such brand personality relies on a balance of something constant, that doesn’t change (the brand’s ability to deliver) and something new, that isn’t predictable (the customer’s experience). Use of action words is common with excitement brands because they encourage their customers to allow them to take them on journey and discover something new. Traits associated with this personality are - daring, trendy, spirited, imaginative, and playful.
3. Competence: Those brands which are dominated by competence would showcase their commitment to quality and the impact they’ve made on the relative industry. Brands having such personality would like to be seen as industry leaders in the minds of their target customers. They would focus on producing products and services that retain quality that is reliable.  Such brand personality revolves around innovation and new ideas. Traits associated with this personality are - intelligent, successful, reliable, innovative, inventive, and experienced.
4. Sophistication: Those brands which are dominated by sophistication accompany a lifestyle their customers aspire to have. Brands having such personality combine luxury and performance as they are the brands that customers would choose if they could afford it. They also represents a certain level of success, and a status symbol. Such brand personalities revolves around an established reputation and aren’t built overnight. Traits associated with this personality are - upper class, glamorous, timeless, smooth, refined, and elegant.
5. Ruggedness:  Those brands which are dominated by ruggedness emphasize their power and strength to their customers. Brands having such a personality focus on encouraging their customers to stand strong against obstacles and showcase their ability to outperform their competition. Traits associated with this personality are - upper class, glamorous, timeless, smooth, refined, and elegant.

Knowing how to define brand personality

Knowing how to define the brand personality helps us to deliver a brand experience that shows our potential customers how similar we’re to them ultimately leading to long lasting business relationship – brand association with them.

To know the brand personality, study how the brand interacts with the customers, how it conduct the business, how it deals with the employees and handles the stake holders,  what are its core values, its achievements,  its future goals, vision and mission.  These are very essentials to every business or organisation, as they set the agenda of business and a direction to consumer preferences because majority of the consumers want to do business with brands that are good at maintaining harmonious consumer relations based on facts, reliability and integrity.

So, what brand personality are YOU as per the “Aakar Model”…Think and write in comments column. 

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Thank you for sparing your time.

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