For decades, especially before the turn of the century, advertising was extremely simple. It was a hard sale with no attempt to connect a brand to the personality behind a company. This dates clear back to the early 1900′s with print advertising.
It’s a wonder that these businesses survived at all.
Granted, a lot of traditional copywriting methods and headline use are still active today because they’re effective to a point, but times are changing and so we must adapt the methods we use to connect with our audience. (social media, website copywriting, mobile marketing, etc.)
Every new change in technology – that disruptive innovation – changes the way we connect with consumers and our audience. First print, then radio, then television, and now we’re working in social media and digital marketing.
With each new leap forward, we shortened the amount of time it takes to connect with our audience and get the word out. Social media and the digital web now allow for instant dialogue, essentially putting brands and customers together for “face time” marketing.
Now think about how you feel when you have a conversation with someone and they’re not paying attention. They’re spaced out, their attention is elsewhere, and they’re not contributing to the conversation. They’re talking at you, not with you. Disconnected corporate brands with no personality provide the same kind of experience.
People demand a more social, more one-on-one experience. Here’s a simple equation to support it:
Personality = new customers + customer loyalty + customer evangelism = money + buzz = more money
It boils down to this; any brand with a compelling personality is going to attract new customers. That personality and personal attention keeps customers loyal and boosts your odds of having word-of-mouth spread in a viral way.
Remember that a happy, informed customers is the most powerful sales person in the world.
Bill Bernbach, Founder DDB, said: “If you stand for something, you will always find some people for you and some against you. If you stand for nothing, you will find nobody against you and nobody for you.” This quote accurately described the need for brands to BE SOMETHING. If you’re too cautious in branding, and provide no personality, no customer will stand for you.
Here’s a fantastic description of personality from Carl Jung
“Personality is the supreme realization of the innate idiosyncrasy of a living being. It is an act of courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that constitutes the individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal conditions of existence, coupled with the greatest possible freedom of self-determination.” -C.G. Jung
While Jung was referring to the individual, it still applies to your brand personality. People remember who you are and speak about you based on your personality. “He is funny, she is rude, he is a bastard, he can be strong willed but it sometimes emotional, etc.” Those things make lasting impressions, and a strong brand can tie their narrative and unique personality together to achieve a lasting connection with their audience.
Your personality reflects the courage of your brand to stand for something, and to stand out.