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Writer's pictureCatherine Carr

Finding the Emotional Focal Point of Your Brand: Determining Your Brand Archetype in 5 Steps

Updated: Nov 13

This is a continuation of my deep dive on brand archetype analysis—check out Part 1  here!

 

In Part 1, we considered why having a clear emotional focal point for your brand is critical, why brand archetype analysis is an especially useful tool for pinpointing it, what many brand archetype models miss, and why it’s important to go deeper than the archetype names as you explore opportunities. Here, we’ll walk through a step-by-step process I have developed over many years to help you find the right archetype for your brand.


STEP 1: CONSIDER THE CATEGORY CONTEXT


Remember how in Part 1, I had such a hard time with Cranium, the beloved brand we had poured our hearts into for years, being categorized by Hasbro’s archetype “expert” as a Jester? I think what was really bothering me was that board games, as a whole, kind of take you to Jester. It’s the easy answer. It didn’t take into account how hard we had worked to do something different in that space.  


Now, whenever I take a team through archetype analysis, we start by considering what implicit, or functional, associations are baked into their brand. This category context is critical to keep in mind as you determine your brand’s emotional focal point, and I created this map to show some examples of how certain brands and products naturally evoke particular archetypes.  


Colorful archetype map showing how different categories have archetype associations baked in: baby products (Caretaker), art supplies (Creator), desk accessories (Ruler), eco-friendly products (Innocent), educational products (Sage), outdoor equipment (Explorer), black leather jackets (Rebel), beauty products (Magician), tools (Hero), chocolates (Lover), khakis (Everyperson), games (Jester).
Some products and categories have archetypal associations baked in.

For example, if you’re making art supplies, you’re naturally going to conjure up Creator. The same is true for beauty products promising a dramatic before-and-after transformation (Magician), fancy chocolates (Lover), or eco-friendly products (Innocent). Essentially, you get these archetypal associations for free. 


As you think about your brand and your category, you can decide whether you want to stand out by doing something different, or double down to meet an unmet need.

 

STEP 2: FIND THE WHITE SPACE


This is why you also need to consider your competitive context. Are your competitors clustering around the “expected” archetype for your category, or is there some interesting white space that gives you an opportunity to stand out?


This is a map I created for one of my clients, Blackbird Health, who specializes in virtual-first mental health for kids and young adults.


Colorful archetype map showing the LIttle Otter next to Lover, Bend next to Caretaker, Brightline next to Innocent, and Cerebral next to Sage.
Mapping out your competition illuminates where you can stand out—the white space.

There are some emerging players in this space, and you can see how they map out—in this case, the competitive set we identified is scattered across three of the four quadrants. 


Little Otter is all about making it fun and playful and emphasizes therapy as together time (Lover). Bend taps into the Caretaker archetype. Cerebral aligns with Sage in name and intent, and Brightline with Innocent—simple and hopeful.


The same map as before, now with Blackbird Health placed next to Hero, with a pink star.
Blackbird Health recognized that kids and young adults who are struggling need a hero.

The clear opportunity for our client was to rise to the challenge and address this very, very difficult societal issue, the mental health crisis for our young people. 

They had a really big vision, and the passion and commitment I heard from the team aligned strongly with Hero. 


So, in this case, the white space aligned with an unmet need in the category: Addressing the really tough challenge of getting diagnosis and prescription right the first time. To help as many kids as they possibly can.


STEP 3: ANALYZE MESSAGING AND KEY THEMES


The next step, messaging analysis, often shows teams that they’re literally all over the map—which is extremely common as companies grow and evolve. 


In this case,  Blackbird Health had some natural resonance with the Hero, but also in some of the areas that their competitors were claiming.

Colorful archetype map showing messaging themes cataloged to Caretaker, Sage, Explorer, Hero, and Everyperson, with the other archetypes grayed out.
Mapping out the themes that appear in messaging can identify areas where you have natural resonance

When you do the same exercise, mapping out the themes that bubble up in stakeholder and customer feedback, it starts to become really clear where things are aligning, and where they’re not.


Colorful archetype map with stakeholder themes cataloged to Caretaker, Creator, Ruler, Sage, Explorer, Rebel, Hero, and Everyperon. Jester, Loer, Magician, and Innocent are grayed out.
Analyzing key themes from stakeholder interviews indicates where the vision is aligning, and not.

At Blackbird Health, analyzing the stakeholder themes demonstrated strong resonance with Hero, Sage, and Explorer. This helped us focus our discussion on what we wanted Blackbird to be known for above all else—data and continual learning (Sage), pioneering a new approach (Explorer), or solving a pressing challenge (Hero).


Colorful archetype map with customer themes cataloged to Caretaker, Sage, Explorer, and Hero, and the other archetypes grayed out. Hero has significantly more themes than the other archetypes.
Seeing how customers viewed Blackbird Health as a Hero helped the team embrace their archetype

When we analyzed the key themes that bubbled up in customer interviews, Hero resonated even more strongly. I’ve observed that many teams shy away from the Hero. Somehow it feels arrogant, a little too “main character energy” or something. But in this case, it was truly justified. In fact, a shockingly high percentage of Blackbird Health’s customers credited the team with saving their kids’ lives. That’s a Hero in my book!


STEP 4: NARROW DOWN AND PICK ONE


Going through this kind of systematic process makes it much easier to rule out archetypes, or even whole quadrants, and narrow down to a short list of two or three that you can analyze more deeply.


Colorful archetype with X’s covering six archetypes, and stars next to four archetypes.
Exploring through different lenses makes it far easier to rule out and narrow down

There’s a lot of detail and texture and nuance behind every archetype, which is helpful for evaluating a short list of potential archetypes. In the case of Blackbird Health, we considered Sage, Explorer, and Hero as the most promising territories, but aligned around the Hero fairly quickly.


A deep-dive on the Hero archetype’s core desire, strategy, gifts, fears, traps, progression, and brand fit, with brand examples (Nike, Impossible, American Red Cross, Postmates)
Going deeper helped the team embrace their role as a Hero for kids and young adults

We were especially inspired by the highest levels in the Hero’s Progression, where the Hero is using strength, competence, and courage to make a difference in the world. And the trap, the thing to be careful of, is arrogance, or being ruthless. These insights helped shape the type of Hero Blackbird Health wanted to be.

 

STEP 5: MAKE IT YOURS


I also love the process of helping teams figure out how they’re going to bring their archetype to life. For Blackbird Health, we highlighted all the best and most resonant specs of the Hero archetype to make it specific to their brand and their business, and to be highly motivating to their team.


Your archetype can operate on multiple levels. It’s not just how you’re showing up as a brand, but how you’re making your customers and team members feel. We mapped all this out for the Blackbird Health team, so they could think about how the Hero shows up for different key audiences.


A chart summarizing Blackbird Health as the Hero, with specific points for the team, kids and families, and partners (pediatricians, health plans, and investors)
It’s valuable to think through how your chosen archetype can come to life for different audiences

Here are four examples of brands I’ve worked with, in very different industries—everything from underground power cable rejuvenation to video game analytics—and how we brought the Hero to life in unique ways, with different points of emphasis and unique personalities.

A chart showing four examples of Hero archetypes, with themes and personality descriptors Blackbird Health (mental health for kids & young adults), Novinium (underground power cable rejuvenation), Coopersmith Law + Strategy (professional services), and Archon (video game analytics).
You can choose what kind of Hero you want to be

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER


The thing I will leave you with is how important it is to activate your archetype across every single touchpoint! 


Earlier we touched on Nike as the Hero earlier, and this is an example of doing it incredibly well. It’s not just the things you might think of, like product naming (the Nike Victory 2) and their ad campaigns, but the purpose at the heart of everything, the types of partnerships and sponsorships they do, their career messaging, their customer service policies, and even things like having a discount for first responders and medical professionals, celebrating the heroes in our community.


Alt text: Examples of Nike ads, products, sustainability practices, purpose statement, sponsorships, customer service policies, partnerships, and career messaging, all expressing the Hero archetype.
Nike is exceptional at expressing the Hero archetype in creative ways across every touchpoint.

READY TO DETERMINE YOUR BRAND ARCHETYPE?


I hope I’ve inspired you with some new tools to find the emotional focal point for your brand, and to ensure your archetype inspires everything you do, in a way that’s unique to you. 


If you have questions or you'd like to go deeper with a custom brand archetype workshop, please reach out!




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