It was a fantastic opportunity to give the students a different point of view on connecting brands with their customers and ways to position a brand that plays to its strengths.
Alex ran through each of the archetypes with the students, who were looking to gain knowledge ahead of their upcoming capstone project in which they are required to position a brand and determine a target audience and engagement strategy. There were examples of well-known brands and their alignment to certain archetypes, as well as specific examples of brands who had successfully integrated archetypes into their corporate identity through working with Brandonian.
Feedback from the students and tutors was positive, with a number of ‘Jung’ people clicking with the archetype theory immediately and asking some inquisitive and thought-provoking questions for their projects.
One such question, and something we often get from clients as well, is whether a brand can have two (or more) dominant archetypes?
While this seems plausible in theory, there can only be one dominant prevailing archetype that a brand leads with. Brands are able to utilise elements from opposite and adjacent archetypes to create cut-through, but their identity must be grounded in one solid archetype.
Another question that stood out was whether people themselves fit into archetypes, and therefore whether the owner of a business influences the brand archetype? Again, yes and no to varying degrees. Most people are lucky enough to have or know a Lover at some point in their lives, many can think of Caregivers or Heroes within society and we all know a bit of a Rebel. The type of person that a business owner is definitely impacts the business as a whole, but does not necessarily determine the archetype. Our own director Belinda, for example, has part ownership in a number of businesses; all of which harness different elements of her personality without relying on her own dominant archetype. What that is? You’ll have to meet with her yourself to find out!
It’s always a great opportunity to share archetypes with new people, and a humbling experience for Alex to stand at the other side of the lectern for a classroom he was sitting in only a few years earlier. Experiences like this really validate the power that academics and brands alike put in Brandonian’s practices and results.
For more information about archetypes or to learn Brandonian’s #1 rule for customer engagement and retention, simply contact us or take our free archetype test below.
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