The Brand as Person

A brand identity with the brand as person perspective is more versatile and more interesting than a brand identity which is based only on product attributes. For example, a brand can be perceived as fun, active, casual, formal, humorous, “upscale”, competent, trustworthy, im-pressive, intellectual, or youthful, similar to a real person. For instance, a brand can have the personality of a reliable friend. (Aaker 2002, 83)

A brand personality can enable to create a stronger brand in many different ways. It can, for instance, help create a self-expressive benefit through which the customer can express his or her own personality. A brand personality can be the basis of a relationship between the brand and the customer, in the same way as human personalities can be the basis of a relationship between people. For example, a Mercedes-Benz car can be seen as a high-class and admired person. A brand personality can also help communicate product attributes and therefore con-tribute to a functional benefit. A renowned example of this is the Michelin-man character of Michelin tyres: The Michelin-man has a strong and energetic personality which suggests that Michelin tyres are also strong and energetic. (Aaker 2002, 83 - 84)

David A. Aaker has defined a brand personality as the set of human characteristics that are associated with a given brand. These characteristics can be for instance age, gender, socio-economic class, warmth, sentimentality, concern, feminine or masculine. In general, the same vocabulary used to describe a person can also be used to describe a brand personality.

However, there are some particular features by which a brand can be described: demograph-ics, such as age, gender, social class and race, lifestyle including activities, interests and opinions, or human personality traits, such as extroversion, agreeableness and dependability.

As an example, a consumer research made of soft drinks revealed that Coca-Cola was seen as real and authentic, whereas Pepsi was seen as young, spirited and exciting, and Dr. Pepper was seen as unique, fun and nonconforming. Several brands have chosen authenticity or genu-ineness as a core identity and describe their brand as genuine to respond to private-label competitors. Similar to a human personality, a brand personality is both distinctive and en-during. When consumer research is made concerning brand personalities, it is common that there are differences between groups, such as users and nonusers. Users will often perceive the brand to have a strong personality whereas nonusers may not perceive a strong personal-ity. These differences are often rational and they can provide useful insights.

(Aaker 2002, 141 – 142)

A brand personality can be measured. A large research made in the US involving 60 world-famous brands, developed and tested the Brand Personality Scale (BPS), which is a compact group of features designed to measure and structure brand personality. Out of 114 features, five personality factors – sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness emerged more than others. These five factors were termed “the Big Five”. Like a real person, a brand can have a personality which is complex and ranges across different personality fea-tures. The Big Five explain more than 90 percent of the observed differences between brands. Each of the Big Five factors can also be divided further into facets (see Table 1 be-low). (Aaker 2002, 141 - 145)

A brand personality can be created in many different ways. For instance, product related characteristics can be primary drivers of a brand personality and even the whole product class can affect the personality, as well as factors such as a package, a feature, or price. Often product attributes affect the brand personality and correspondingly, the brand personality can reinforce and represent an attribute. There are still many non-product-related character-istics which can affect the personality including company image, country of origin, advertising style, celebrity endorsers and CEO identification. Other brand personality influences include user imagery, sponsorships, age and symbols. A brand’s user imagery, which can have a pow-erful effect on the brand personality, means either typical users as people who are using the brand, or idealized users as people seen in the advertisements. Sponsorships, such as events sponsored by the brand, affect the brand personality. The brand’s age, meaning the time it has been on the market, can affect its personality. Newer brands tend to have younger per-sonalities than those brands which have been on the market for decades. However, these issues can be actively managed. The symbol of the brand also affects the personality, which is discussed in detail below. (Aaker 2002, 145 - 148)

There are many reasons to use brand personality. It can help brand strategists to understand more of people’s perceptions and attitudes towards the brand and contribute to a differenti-ating brand identity. It can also help by guiding the communication effort and by credifferenti-ating brand equity. The brand personality metaphor can help to gain a more in-depth understanding of consumer perceptions of and attitudes towards the brand. People can be asked to describe a brand personality and by this method, their feelings and relationships can be identified.

This can often provide more insight than questions about product attributes only. A brand personality can serve strategically as the foundation for differentiation, particularly in situa-tions where various brands have similar product attributes. It can define the brand itself and also the product class context and experience. A brand personality helps guide the communi-cation effort. The brand personality concept can tactically communicate the brand identity with diversity and content. It is important to consider the advertising style and other aspects and also packaging, promotions, which events to be involved with, and the style of personal

interactions between the customer and the brand. A brand personality statement provides more depth and structure, making it easier to keep the communication effort on target.

(Aaker 2002, 150 - 151)

Sincerity - Down-To-Earth: conventional, family-oriented, small town - Honest: ethical, real, sincere, caring, thoughtful

- Wholesome: classic, genuine, original, ageless, old-fashioned - Cheerful: friendly, warm, happy, sentimental

Excitement - Daring: exciting, provocative, trendy, flashy - Spirited: young, outgoing, adventurous, lively, cool - Imaginative: surprising, fun, unique, humorous, artistic

- Up-To-Date: innovative, contemporary, independent, aggressive

Competence - Reliable: secure, efficient, trustworthy, careful, hardworking - Intelligent: serious, technical, corporate

- Successful: influential, leader, confident

Sophistication - Upper Class: sophisticated, pretentious, glamorous, good-looking - Charming: smooth, gentle, feminine, sexy

Ruggedness - Outdoorsy: active, athletic, masculine, Western - Tough: strong, rugged, no-nonsense

Table 1: The brand personality scale: The Big Five (Aaker 2002, 144)

When summarized, a brand personality can be seen as a sustainable advantage and it can help a brand in several ways. First, brand personality provides a way for customers to express their own identities. When a brand has a strong personality, self-expression is often more vivid.

Second, a brand personality metaphor helps suggest the relationship that customers have with the brand. This means a relationship which is modelled after person-to-person relationships.

Brand personalities also serve to effectively represent functional benefits and product

attrib-utes. A brand personality is mostly an important element of differentiation. When it is unique within a product class, it provides a powerful means to develop an identity and a whole mar-keting program. It is very difficult and often ineffective for competitors to copy a personality.

Brands without any personalities are often defenceless and exposed to competitors. Thus those companies that have a brand with a personality should consider enhancing it and utilise it as leverage within a brand identity. (Aaker 2002, 173 - 174)