2. What is brand personality?
• Brand Personality is a set of human
characteristics associated with a
brand
• Personality is how the brand behaves
• Gender, age, socio-economic class,
psychographic, emotional
characteristics
3. Some examples…
• Marlboro is ‘masculine’ while Virginia
Slims is ‘feminine’
• IBM is ‘older’ while Apple is ‘younger’
• India Today is ‘old-fashioned’ while
Outlook is ‘trendier’
• Coke is ‘conforming’ while Pepsi is
‘irreverent’
4. About brand personality
• Brand Personality, like human personality, is
both distinctive and enduring
– Both are built over a period of time
• Refers to the outcome of all the consumer’s
experiences with the brand
• In other words, the brand’s personality is the
weighted average of previous impressions
• In consumer’s mind, these impressions merge to
form an overall concept of what to expect from
brand
5. More about it…
• Brand Personality is eagerly searched by
brand strategists and researchers
• Differences in responses by different
consumers provide useful insights
• For example, users of a product will
perceive a brand different from non-users
9. Why use brand personality?
Enriches understanding
• Helps gain an in-depth understanding of
consumer perceptions of and attitudes
towards the brand
• Can provide more insight than is gained
by asking about attribute perceptions
• For ex., Microsoft, IBM etc.,
10. Why use brand personality?
Contributes to a differentiating identity
• Can differentiate brands especially where
brands are similar in product attributes
• In fact, it can define not only the brand but
the product class context and experience
• Mercedes Vs BMW; Clinic Plus Vs
Pantene
11. Why use brand personality?
Guides the communication effort
• Communicates the brand identity with
richness and texture
• If the brand is specified only in terms of
attribute associations, very little
meaningful guidance is provided
– Is Nike shoes or sports, performance and
attitude?
12. Why use brand personality?
Creates brand equity
• Builds long-term brand equity
• Differentiates the brand and makes it
distinct from other competitive offerings
• Serves as a powerful relationship device
13. How to create brand personality?
• Personality of a person is affected by
everything associated with him – friends,
neighbourhood, activities, clothes etc.,
• So too is a brand personality
14. Product-related characteristics
• Product-related characteristics can be primary
drivers of a brand personality
– Even the product class can affect personality
• Banks, Insurance etc., tend to be Competent,
Serious, Masculine, Older and Upper-class
• Athletic shoes tend to be Young, Lively, Rugged,
Outdoorsy, Adventurous etc.,
15. Product-related characteristics
• Product attributes can often affect brand
personality
• A ‘light’ beer would largely be classy,
sophisticated etc.,
• A high-priced brand will be considered
wealthy, stylish and perhaps snobbish!
16. User imagery
• Can be powerful driver of personality
because user is already a person and so
conceptualizing the personality is reduced
• User Imagery can be people who use the
brand or those portrayed in advertising
17. Sponsorships
• Activities such as events sponsored by the
brand will influence its personality
• Pond’s sponsoring Femina’s ‘Miss India’
contest
• Budweiser sponsoring the blimp in
American sporting events
18. Age
• How long a brand has been on the market
can affect its personality
• New entrants like Apple, Outlook etc., tend
to have younger brand personalities than
IBM, India Today etc.,
19. Symbol
• A symbol can be a powerful influence on
brand personality since it can be
controlled and can have extremely strong
associations
• Some examples…
– Apple’s bitten apple
– Nike’s swoosh
– MetLife’s Peanuts character
20. How it creates brand equity?
The ways brand personality can create brand
equity are summarized by 3 models:
1. The Self-Expression Model
2. The Relationship Basis Model
3. The Functional Benefit Representation Model
21. The self-expression model
• The basic premise is that for some customers,
some brands become vehicles to express a part
of their self-identity
• This self-identity can be their actual identity or
an ideal self to which they might aspire
• Apple is perceived as friendly, unpretentious,
irreverent and willing to go against the grain
– This is because Mac is easy-to-use and also due to
its symbol, advertising, user groups etc.,
– The use of Apple expresses a personal identity of
being non-corporate and creative
22. How brand helps express personality?
Feelings engendered by brand personality
• There can be a set of feelings and
emotions attached to a brand personality,
just as there are to a person
– The use of such brands can cause feelings and emotions to
emerge
• Feelings, when using a Harley-Davidson
or Apple would not emerge when using a
Honda or Compaq
23. How brand helps express personality?
The brand as a badge
• A brand could serve as a consumer’s
personal statement
• Cars, cosmetics, apparels lend
themselves to personality expression
because their use occurs in a social
context with relatively high involvement
24. How brand helps express personality?
The brand becomes part of the self
• The ultimate personality expression occurs when
a brand becomes an extension or an integral
part of the self
• The executive who wears Allen Solly on a Friday
feels semi-casual and waiting to welcoming the
weekend!
• The potential to create this oneness with some
people can represent a significant opportunity for
a brand
25. The relationship basis model
• Some people may never aspire to have a certain
personality trait but would like to have a
relationship with one who has that
• A trustworthy, dependable, conservative
personality might be seen boring but sought
nevertheless, from banks or financial products
• The concept of a relationship between a brand
and a person provides a different perspective on
how brand personality might work
26. The Relationship Basis Model
• To see how this model works, consider
personality types of people with whom we
have relationships and the nature of those
relationships
• Spirited, young, up-to-date, outgoing
– Pepsi
– On a weekend evening, it might be enjoyable
to have a friend who has these personality
features
27. The Relationship Basis Model
• Two elements affect individual’s
relationship with a brand
1. Relationship between the brand-as-person and
the customer
– Which is analogous to the relationship between two
people
2. The brand personality
– The type of person the brand represents
28. Functional benefit representation model
• The previous two models provide contexts
in which brand personality can be the
basis for a brand strategy and a link to the
customer
• A brand personality can also play a more
indirect role by being a vehicle for
representing and cueing functional
benefits and brand attributes
29. Functional benefit representation model
• Marlboro’s personality of a macho,
freedom-loving, adventurous person
suggests that the product is strong
• Harley Davidson’s personality of a rugged,
macho, I-am-different-kind suggests that
the product is a powerful, liberating vehicle
30. Functional benefit representation model
• When a visual symbol or image exists that can
create and cue personality…
– …the ability of the personality to reinforce brand
attributes will be greater
• The Energizer rabbit is an upbeat, indefatigable
personality who never runs out of energy
– Just as the battery it symbolizes runs longer than
others
31. Functional benefit representation model
• A brand personality that represents a
functional benefit or attribute may be
relatively ineffective if it lacks a visual
image established in the customer’s mind
• A country or region of origin can add
credibility to an identity
– It can generate a strong personality that
provides a quality cue and a key point of
differentiation
32. To sum up…
• A brand personality can help a brand in several
ways:
– It can provide a vehicle for customers to express their
own identity
– A brand personality metaphor helps suggests the kind
of relationship that customer has with brand
– Brand personalities serve to represent and cue
functional benefits and product attributes well
• Importantly, brand personality is often a
sustainable point of differentiation
– Sustainable because it is very difficult to copy a
personality
