Let’s throw a dinner party, and let’s imagine you are hosting dinner for another brand. If Mercedes is your guest of honor, chances are there will be an air of sophistication and luxury to your execution. You’ll pull out your finest china and white-glove service for a multi-course sit-down meal. If it were REI, you’d likely take a more casual approach. Alfresco dining under bistro lights where guests can smell the open fire and the day’s freshly caught fish. A farm-to-table menu with sustainable place settings to align with the brand. It’s earthy, raw, and the complete opposite of Mercedes.
Each party would have a different flair to align with the brand. But regardless of who the guest is, it is easy to envision and embody the personalities of each. This is what we call brand personality.
As humans, we connect with our friends and colleagues through our personalities — how we think, feel, and behave. Similar to how we connect with other people, we connect to brands.
Branding is significant in its ability to distinguish your business from your competitors. It communicates your value and defines your business’s unique properties to attract and gain a loyal audience. Getting your audience’s attention takes more than the visual components to set you apart. It takes personality.
What is brand personality?
Brand personality is a set of human characteristics and qualities we assign to a brand. It works in conjunction with your brand identity and shapes the public perception of your brand through your messaging, style, and how you show up. It supports your color palette, font choices, and the visual and verbal components you put out to the world.
Certain types of personalities attract us – impactful, positive, and strong, to name a few. They’re memorable, and when they resonate with us emotionally, they can make us feel and act a certain way. This strategic tool makes your brand feel relatable. It helps you engage with your customers personally and can be an emotional connector between you and your audience. When done well, it highlights what makes you valuable and different.
As a catering company with similar offerings as your competitors, utilizing your brand personality can be one of your biggest strengths when trying to stand out. No two people are the same, and neither are two brands.
To draw your customers in, have a deep understanding of your audience and who you are communicating with. If they relate and feel at home, they’ll likely choose you.
If a company neglects to define its brand personality intentionally, it still will emerge organically. However, it will then take on how its audience feels about the brand, creating miscommunication and inconsistency among your audience. At Alfa Charlie, we help our clients identify the characteristics of their brand early on in the branding process. Establishing these ket traits gives you control to shape how your brand shows up and provides a guide for your company on how to communicate to the world.
Knowing and communicating your brand personality helps your brand show up consistently in front of your audience. According to Forbes, “consistent brand presentation across all platforms increases revenue by up to 23 percent.” Understanding what attracts people to your brand allows you to build upon those things and make them fall in love with your brand. So go ahead, and show the world who you are.
Alfa Charlie is an award-winning creative agency based in San Diego, California. We use design as a tool to build meaningful connections between brands, people, and the planet. We work with clients who value the importance of human well-being and believe a brand can be a catalyst for change. Through strategic practice, we help clients navigate a clear path to building relationships with their customers while staying true to what they stand for.