Powerful Brands Live in Our Minds, Rent Free.

Which Ones Are Living in Yours?

By Digital Bloom

Need new underwear? You might say you need new Bonds. Time for a phone upgrade? You might say it’s time for a new iPhone. To us as their loyal customers, these brands are consistent, reliable, and secure - cementing themselves as the go-to purchase for their own product category.

These intentional components of building a brand are layers designed with humanness in mind. To relate to people. Afterall, people have problems that need solving and are willing to pay money for solutions to said problems.

When you think of the couture powerhouse Chanel, thoughts of a woman living in a château in France come to mind, right? What about a brand like Harley Davison – a burley, leather-clad man? The reason why these figures come to mind is because they have successfully crafted an impactful brand personality.

Curating these personalities goes beyond the face or name of the person that founded the brand. Thinking about a brand as a person with unique traits just like the rest of us, allows that brand to show up in our lives in a way that connects with us, attracts us, and encourages us to be the person we aspire to be.

As humans and consumers of the world, we lean into our ability to connect with other humans, not necessarily a product or a service. Instead, we’re sold by the feelings, emotions, and sensory experiences that they evoke in us.

Identifying the humanness in your brand takes deep intentional work, it’s only once you intimately get to know those characteristics, can you implement these throughout your touchpoints. So, when someone finds your business, it feels familiar to them and connects on an unconscious level.

Driven by your brand values, start to think about the words that you want people to associate with your brand. Are you a homebased clinic in Regional Victoria where every appointment feels like an hour with your best mate? Sincerity might be your go-to. Our CBD hair studios with marble benches and Moet on ice may fall under the sophistication category.

With this in mind, knowing and embracing the human qualities behind your brand allows you to understand what it truly is about your business that your customer connects with. It gives your brand a heartbeat, a sense of humanisation, that if it were alive in some way, your customer would have some type of relationship with it.

However, defining your brand personality isn’t about neglecting reliability, hard work, or staying on trend—it’s about transcending features to resonate with your dream customers. Authenticity is key; don’t pretend to be something you’re not. Embrace your true identity and connect with customers who align with your brand.

Once you’ve defined your brand personality, the next step is to infuse it into everything you do. Your brand personality shapes your tone of voice. An exciting personality, for instance, would employ fun, humorous copy with unique taglines, pushing boundaries with cheeky text and trending topics.

The visual identity, including font and colour choices, plays a crucial role in humanising your brand. For example, a competence personality might utilise reliable serif fonts and traditional blue hues, while a ruggedness personality could opt for bold fonts in earthy greens and browns.

With a cohesive identity in place, maximise your touchpoints to create memorable brand experiences that embody your unique personality. Your brand personality is a promise—now it’s time to live up to it and become the trusted choice for your customers.

Contact Digital Bloom via their website www.digitalbloom.com.au

Sarah Garner is the Founder and Creative Director at Digital Bloom, an industryspecific branding boutique dedicated to making your hair, beauty, or wellness brand turn heads for all the right reasons.