Brands Have Personalities

When developing a branding strategy, envision first the personality you want your brand to convey. Is it funny or serious? Is it tough or tender? Sexy or sweet? These are a just a few of the brand characteristics that go into a brand image. And if you think that all this is hogwash, here me out for a second and consider these questions: Does a Mcdonald's Big Mac taste better than any other burger? Is Pizza Hut really better than a Pepe's Pizza? Is RE/MAX superior to the realtors down the street? No to all three!

These products are leaders because they're leading brands. The actual product or service is of secondary importance to many. Instead, consumers want to do business with a product they identify with and most importantly a product they can trust-and that gets back to the brand image.

What do you want your company's brand image to be? If you find this question a little troubling to answer, try comparing your brand to a famous person. Do you want it to be Lucille Ball? Audrey Hepburn? Missy Elliott? Venus Williams?

Do you want it to be more like Lance Armstrong? Silvester Stallone? Tom Hanks? 50 Cent? Choosing a celebrity can help you zero in on your brand's characteristics. For example, if you seek a brand personality that's big, strong and rugged, it's probably like Silvester Stallone. If it's cute, wacky and charismatic, it's probably Lucille Ball.

Once you've chosen a complimentary personality, try to analyze those characteristics that made you associate your company's image with that person. Once identified, these same characteristics will create the basis for your brand image.