We live in a society today where quickly and efficiently getting a job done is the key to success. This means that we are often short on time which can cause us to cut corners while completing tasks, including branding. In this article we discuss How To Add Personality To Your Brand
“If you want your brand to stand out amidst the tons of different brands online or even offline, then adding personality is an essential step you need to take.”
Table of Contents
What is Brand Personality?
Brands have a personality just like people do. A brand can be friendly or snooty, boring or fun. Once your brand has a personality it will become more relatable to your target audience and will attract more customers.
What Makes a Brand Personality Successful?
A successful brand’s personality must align with the product that is being sold. If a business is selling ice cream then its logo should not have a serious tone since ice cream isn’t considered a serious type of product.
The color palette for this logo should also be lively and bright colors since ice cream should make you feel happy and playful inside! The text in the logo design could maybe include some cute sprinkles around letters to add even more cheerfulness.
Choosing the right colors will help you connect more with your target audience. When selecting which colors to use for your brand personality remember that there are some feelings and emotions more than one color can evoke so it is important to choose them carefully.
Below is a list of some common feelings or moods each color evokes:
- Red – Passion, Anger, Love, Danger
- Blue – Calm, Trustworthy, Responsible
- Yellow – Cheerful, Positive, Energetic
- Black – Power, Sophistication
- White/Grey – Cleanliness
Choosing fonts for your logo design will also play an important role in how well your brand personality comes out. Be careful when choosing your font!
You don’t want to choose too bold of a font since it can take away from the design itself and sometimes consumers get annoyed by this. A more subtle way to add words to your logo without putting too much strain on the eyes is to use cursive or script fonts.
These types of fonts are usually very easy on the eyes and enjoyable to look at.
Let’s face it, your brand doesn’t have a personality without having someone to portray that personality!
If you are just getting started with building your brand then this area might be a little difficult for you but if you have some sort of following already on social media or newsletters then using the faces of people who are already following you is an excellent way to boost your brand’s personality.
Showcasing exactly what sets your business apart from others in your industry can help attract more consumers to get on board with your brand.
Finally, keep in mind that having a strong business image means keeping everything consistent throughout all channels including your website, social media pages, and any other type of advertisement materials.
Keeping things simple by choosing one font for headings and another for your body of text will make everything flow together much easier.
Another way to incorporate your personality well is by using the same color palette in all your materials; this will help with brand recognition when people see you elsewhere which is a great thing!
It’s important to remember that having fun with your brand’s design can really help boost its success, so go ahead and have some fun! Sometimes the most simple designs are the best ones.
We recommend seeking help from a professional logo design specialist, by doing this you will get a multitude of different ideas and concepts presented to you.
Considering these tips on how to add personality to your brand should give you a good start in designing an amazing brand personality that sets you apart from your competition.
Today we are going to show you how to add personality to your brand so it stands out from the masses.
1. Show Consumers What Separates You From Other Brands
When branding your product or service, one of the most effective things you can do is make sure that your brand personality design leaves an impression on consumers and separates you from your competitors.
Once you know what makes a great brand personality and how you can establish one of your own, we recommend taking these six steps to design your own.
Give people a reason to choose you, and not just any other company offering what you’re offering. It is important that consumers see what separates you from other brands and why they should be doing business with YOU rather than them, whatever industry you’re in or whatever business you run.
This isn’t always an easy task; many brands try too hard sometimes and it comes off as fake or obnoxious (a subject we’ll touch on later), but if done tastefully it can make all of the difference in growing your customer base and increasing sales.
Here are a few examples of brands that have been successful in this area:
The Dollar Shave Club. The brand is known for its humorous and slightly crude commercials, but they’ve hit their target audience right where it counts – serving men who want a dependable shave at a price they can afford.
Airbnb. They provide an amazing service by allowing people to host others in their homes or properties around the world, but what sets Airbnb apart from other options is the feeling of adventure and discovery you get staying with locals as opposed to staying completely anonymous in a hotel. Who can resist that?
Missoula Children’s Theater Company. If you’re not familiar, MCT puts on performances for children using child actors as well as live music and lively choreography.
This is a great example of a business not only creating their brand personality but also showcasing it through using child actors who can fit seamlessly into that vision and bring the company to life in a way that children connect with.
2. Choose Colors That Evoke the Right Feeling
The colors you choose for your brand play an important role in making your brand feel “alive.” You don’t want to do something too wacky or try-hard though, because if you come off looking like the purple monkey dishwasher then people will start rolling their eyes before they’ve even read your message.
Here are a few examples of brands that have been successful in this area:
Taco Bell. One of the most successful fast-food franchises in history, Taco Bell has made their signature bright yellow and use of the color redwork for them.
Not only does it represent Mexican culture through which this restaurant gets much of its inspiration (hence the name), but it also gives off a sense of excitement that makes people happy to eat there.
GoPro. GoPro is probably one of my favorite examples on this list because you can tell they put so much thought into what each color represents for their brand personality.
Black represents strength, tenacity, boldness, power – all qualities that come across when watching or reading anything about this company’s mission or philosophy.
White stands for purity and neutrality while orange symbolizes energy, enthusiasm, determination.
The reason these colors work so well for them is that they chose to stick with what was working (the black and orange combo) rather than switching it up when GoPro became more mainstream in the public eye.
3. Don’t Miss Your ‘About Us’ Section
One thing that all these examples have in common is that they’ve included a section on their website called “about us” or something similar where you can read about who they are as a company and what they stand for.
Even if you’re a small business, this information is key to making your brand more relatable and memorable so don’t be afraid to include it!
Whether you think you need an about us page or not, make sure you’ve got one. This isn’t just a chance for you to talk about your company philosophy or mission statement; it’s also an opportunity to display your brand personality through storytelling which is why this section should be considered just as important as any other part of your website design.
Here are a few examples of brands that have been successful in this area:
IKEA. The about us page for IKEA is light and humorous, and also includes a section that breaks down who they are as a brand in the form of an infographic.
Does this make IKEA super special or anything? No, but it does give them that human touch that allows customers to connect with these iconic Swedish furniture designers on a different level.
Intel. One of the biggest names in computer processors has done great by using their about us page to showcase what makes each Intel employee special beyond just being really good at what they do.
Featuring all kinds of Intel employees from around the world, this gives potential customers insight into what kind of people work there rather than just having some boring text on a webpage full of technical terms.
4. Put A Face On Your Business
There are plenty of successful companies that don’t follow the rule about putting a face to your business, but many still do it anyway because you can tell that they did their research and knew how important this would be in establishing their brand personality.
Here are a few examples of brands that have been successful in this area:
Nike. You probably noticed on Nike’s website that there are all kinds of photos of athletes wearing Nike gear while surfing or skating or being super active. Because they know what kind of lifestyle their customers lead, these images give people an inside look at what works for them so they’ll feel more inclined to buy Nike products without even knowing why.
Pixar. One of my all-time favorite movie studios, Pixar’s website design is a perfect example of showing their audience how they put a face to their business by giving us a look at the people behind some of our favorite films.
Not only does this give the feeling that we’re part of what makes Pixar so special, but it also shows new visitors how everyone from the janitor to the CEO contributes to making this company as amazing as it is.
5. Keep Your Personality Consistent
If there’s one thing that these five brands have in common with each other, it’s that they’ve kept their brand personality consistent throughout their website designs and marketing messages.
Whether you think your brand should be more playful or serious than anything else, pick one and stick to it. Here are a few examples of brands that have done this successfully:
Red Bull. If you’ve ever seen an action-packed Red Bull marketing campaign or even just their logo, then you know they’re all about having fun and living life to the fullest.
The same kind of energy can be found on their website where they don’t hold back at all with the playful colors and vibrant images that give anyone who visits there instant access to feeling like they can do anything as long as they got wings…
Starbucks. Starbucks’ brand personality definitely leans toward being more serious than Red Bull’s which might seem like the opposite of what we should expect from a coffee company (although I guess Starbucks is more of a coffee shop than just a coffee company, you get what I mean).
What’s so amazing about Starbucks’ brand personality design is that they are able to do this while still being incredibly relatable. Don’t be surprised if you walk away from their website.
Conclusion
Adding personality to your brand is a very unique process and what you do for your brand will vary from other brands based on the target customer type, tone of voice, etc.
That being said, if you want a professional look at your brand, make sure that whatever methods you use don’t slip into making it tacky or overly casual.
You want people to take you seriously so they will become customers and come back again in the future. And once all this is done? Well, congratulations on creating your successful business!
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Author Bio
Khurshid Alam is the founder of Pixel Street, a web design company. He aspires to solve business problems by communicating effectively digitally. In his leisure, he reads, writes, and occasionally plays a game of table tennis.