It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Generally meaning that a single visual can convey so many and multiple ideas. Good visuals can speak to your heart, while words will speak to your mind. A great visual can attract a customer by bonding emotionally. Great print advertisements by KFC, Pedigree, Burger King and many other brands proves this over and over.

But how can you determine what sort of visuals will work best for your brand and your customers? One of the best ways of identifying that is by finding out your brand's personality. Every brand should have a distinct, unique personality, very much like a person. And similarly, having an authentic personality helps to set you apart from the competition, easier to like and approach, and much more recognizable.

Jennifer Aaker's Brand Personality framework is the best tool for this job.

According to Aaker, there are 5 brand personality dimensions. They are sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, ruggedness. Every brand will either belong to 1 or a combination of these personality dimensions. And each personality type will be accompanied with a set of attributes or traits (e.g.: honesty is an attribute of sincerity, charming is an attribute of sophistication).

Let's explore these dimensions with examples.

You can determine which personality (or personalities) your brand connects most with. You can do this by giving a score between 1-5 for each attribute under a personality, where 1 being your brand has no connection to this personality whatsoever, and 5 being your brand connects 100% with the personality attribute.

Sincerity

Attributes of Sincerity: Down-to-earth, Honest, Wholesome, Cheerful.

Sincere brands are genuine and committed to their customers. They avoid ambiguities and has transparent communications. Their advertising is family oriented and sentimental. These brands are grounded, well-liked and are easy to trust.

Many ethical and sustainable brand are sincere in their personality. Best examples of this would be TOMS, The Body Shop and Everlane.

Let's talk visuals. When representing sincere brands, color psychology plays a key role. White and pink colors are largely associated with sincerity. Green color is considered eco-friendly and down-to-earth. At the same time, yellow and orange colors exhibit feelings of cheerfulness and wholesomeness. If your brand strongly connects with sincerity, then colors such as white, pink, green, orange and yellow will be good to connect with your customers.

When it comes to typography, sincere brands can adopt serif fonts that are easy to read and fonts that are familiar to customers. Recognition and familiarity can establish trust between the brand and customer. Similarly, to establish honestly and trust, when using imagery, its always a good idea to use realistic imagers that are not heavily edited or too "posed". Sincerity should show within photography and brand illustrations. It's always a good idea to go with an organic look and feel. TOMS is a great example of this.

Everlane’s radical transparency and their brand identity goes hand in hand

Excitement

Attributes of Excitement: Daring, Spirited, Imaginative, Up-to-date

Brands that identity as exciting brands are energetic and often appeal towards a younger demographic. Exciting brands use contemporary and lively mediums for communications, and their advertisements are inspirational and very exciting (just take a look at a RedBull advertisement). These brands are usually known for being free-spirited, daring and adventurous.

Best examples for exciting brands are RedBull, Nike and Coca-Cola. From their brand voice to PR strategies, these brands are all about energetic lifestyles.

One of the best color to represent excitement is RED! Red is bold, and grabs attention fast. Red also exhibits confidence and causes people to react fast upon sight (isn't that a handy trick). Other than red, orange and yellow tones are also great at representing imagination and spirit.

Exciting brands prefer to stick to bold, strong typefaces that are usually sans-serif, and script fonts that shows movement (eg: Coca-Cola). Their imagery and brand visuals are focused on introducing inspiration and excitement to the viewers. Nike advertisements. Nike (even though they don't associate with the color red) works with bold, strong typography, and daring, exciting imagery for their marketing.

Ruggedness

Attributes of Ruggedness: Outdoorsy, Tough

Rugged brands have a strong, muscular personality appealing mainly towards the male audience. Construction, automobile, hardware and outdoor brands tend to be more rugged in their personalities. Their advertisements are focused on showcasing their products or services in outdoor or extreme scenarios.

Great examples of rugged brands would be Jeep, Timberland, Marlboro.

Some of the most used colors to indicate ruggedness in brands is brown. Brown is generally accepted as a masculine, outdoorsy color. Dark, muted greens are also associated with rugged brands. Red, being a strong color that represents power, is also used occasionally.

When it comes to typography, sans-serif fonts may be a good fit for rugged brands that are straightforward and modern (Jeep), while vintage fonts might be great if your brand prefers a western, masculine angle. Lee, Timberland and Marlboro are great examples of brands preferring to use vintage typography. Imagery are generally of those that show extreme situations and outdoor scenarios, while grungy, distressed or monotonous visuals are used to represent their brands.

Competence

Attributes of Competence: Reliable, Intelligent, Successful

Competent brands focus on the trustworthy and reliable qualities of their brand. Their brand behavior is that of an intelligent and successful person. This makes the customers trust these brands, and view them as stable and professional at their services. In order to achieve this, their advertising is focused on showcasing their proficiency.

Great examples for competence brands would be Intel, Volvo, Visa.

Trust and confidence are the key emotions that needs to be invoked through competent brands' identity design. Because of this, blue is a great choice of color for competent brands. Generally purple is a color associated with authority. When used correctly, purple can also be a good choice for your competent brand. Black and white are colors that shows neutrality and often viewed as powerful. If you think your brand is competence in its personality, blue, purple, black and white are good color choices.

Best fonts for competent brands are minimal, no-nonsense fonts. They are associated with trust, formality and authority. Using clear serif or sans-serif fonts in your visuals can convey that your brand is established and reliable. Competent brands often stick to imagery that are clear and highly professional. They would often steer clear of photography that are generally in motion, vivid colors and casual.

For example: Volvo's typography in their visuals and logo are minimal fonts. Paired with a dark blue color and formal imagery, Volvo perfectly visualizes proficiency and trust.

Sophistication

Attributes of Sophistication: Upper-class, Charming

Sophisticated brands are tasteful & elegant, focusing mainly on a high-income demographic. Their products are luxury and highly priced, and their advertising is based on visualizing luxury lifestyles and elegance in their products. Sophisticated brands use their brand voices and visuals to represent themselves as refined and graceful.

Examples for sophisticated brands include Gucci, Chanel, Mercedes.

Black is a color thats strongly associated with sophistication and luxury. People often describe this color as powerful and mysterious. Along with black, pink is associated with feminine and charming brands. Purple is also a color that shows sophistication. Fun fact: purple has been associated with royalty and elite for centuries. Original purple dye was so expensive that only the wealthiest could afford purple fabrics. Using purple colors in your visuals will still convey that elite and upper-class statuses.

Sophisticated typographies are a mix-bag. San-serif fonts are the best fonts if your brand is sophisticated yet modern and cutting edge. However, if your brand learns more towards whimsical and feminine, script fonts will be the best pick. And if your brand is sophisticated and traditional, serif fonts can be great for your visuals. You need to understand your overall brand personality and the atmosphere you want to create before selecting typography.

In regards to imagery, sophisticated brands prefer to focus on their high-income demographics and their luxury lifestyles. Their visuals are tend to me minimal and muted and generally formal.

Find your brand personality

You can find the brand personality that matches your business by,

Giving a score from 1 - 5 to each attribute of these personalities.
Select the personality (or a combination of personalities) that has the highest score. Just like people, brand personalities are multidimensional too! Understand the attributes of each dimension and come up with your own unique combination for your brand.

Aaker's Brand Dimensions Model is one of the best ways to craft your brand personality. An authentic, consistent personality can improve customer perception and build loyalty. Here are some ways how a brand personality can benefit you:

Emotional connection - A brand with a strong personality is a lot of like a person, and its easier to form a connection with the person than an unknown entity thats after your money.
Sets you apart - A clear brand personality can set you apart from the competitors through a set of personality traits more appealing to your target audience.
Create a brand story - A personality is a result of experiences, and a brand story can give your customers a reason to believe in your message and your mission in a more emotional level.
Precise brand tone and voice - A brand voice that reflects the brand personality is more human and approachable. When brand's way of communicating is what is preferred by the target customers, it becomes easier to communicate your brand's values and message in a way thats more heartfelt and sincere.

I help businesses to stand out authentically by developing fleshed out brand identities that are backed by strategy If you want to collaborate and design a brand that stands out and builds loyalty, reach out!

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