How to establish the personality of your new business?

When we are in the initial stages of an entrepreneurial project, we have many elements to consider: the product or service we will offer, the employees or partners required, the physical premises or website from which we will be selling, and of course the location that will serve as our base of operations. In fact, there are so many things that it is best is to take things one step at a time. According to Gananci, the most useful first step is preparatory training.

As part of this training, it is necessary to take care of the intangible assets of your company. One of them is its personality. Every major brand has one, it is what makes an audience relate to a brand and is also what sets it apart from the competitors.

I once heard someone ask the following question at a workshop: “How do I interpret the personality of the brand I want to create? If I created the brand, should I give it my own personality?” This is something I had never considered, and the response from the person delivering the workshop struck me as being very wise: “It’s not about you, it’s about the customer—and if they match, that’s a fortunate coincidence”. If you have the same doubts as this person, keep reading.

1. The personality of the brand is determined by the target audience: the personality is the soul of the brand, if it does not have one, then its goals are not very clear. This is a problem, because if the goals are not clearly defined we are left floating in the wind like a leaf.

One of the first things you need to consider when defining your brand’s personality is your target audience. The people whom your business is aimed at should find its personality attractive. If the personality of your company does not fit—approximately—what your target likes, it will be disconnected from reality.

The personality of an organisation is the combination of its defining elements, the things that make it stand out from the crowd. Personality is not a colour—it is what a colour conveys.

For example, if you want to launch a clothing brand for babies, the personality of the brand must be aimed at mums so it appeals to them and not to the babies themselves, as they have no buying power. The features you could emphasise include safety, empathy and durability, to name just a few that parents (in this case, the buyers) will relate to.

Think of a brand you like. Now try to define its personality. This should be easy to do, which means that the company is very well positioned in your mind, and that is what you should aim to achieve.

2. The fact that you created your brand does not mean it should have your personality: it may happen that way, but it is not a sine qua non condition. To ensure that the personality of your brand is strong and consistent, it is important to look at the fine details and preserve them so they can be widely recognised.

This does not mean that personalities cannot change over time, quite the opposite. The personality of a brand will most likely need to evolve to adapt to its customers, who will also change. But as it is one of the most important assets of a company, it must be defined.

When you set out to define the personality of your brand, you can start by answering the following questions on behalf of your company:

Who would be buying my product or service? (Complete description of the target including age, sex, location, social status, level of education, interests).

What do I want to convey?

Which elements do I want to be associated with?

What are my main qualities/values?

What is my mission and vision?

A well-defined brand personality will make your life as an entrepreneur considerably easier, and will also help you to build loyalty with your future customers. If you are interested in this final point, you can learn about other loyalty-building strategies here.

 

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Tags: brand|marketing|Personality|Strategy|Target