The document discusses brand archetypes and how understanding a company's archetype can help with branding and positioning. It describes 12 common archetypes including the Hero, Rebel, Innocent, and Sage. Companies can determine their archetype quantitatively by surveying customers and employees, and qualitatively by examining brand artifacts and messaging. Understanding a company's archetype allows it to communicate more clearly and consistently through its actions, attitudes, and behaviors. The document provides examples of how different companies embody various archetypes in their mission statements and branding.

1. Who Do You Think You Are?
Your Brand Archetype
@nxtbook
@marcusgrimm

2. Why Are You Here?
• You want to have a distinctive brand.
• You want to understand how to position
your brand against competitors who seem
smarter/cooler/tougher/sexier than you.
• You feel like whenever you go to do
marketing, you’re starting over.

3. A Quote
“There are people. There are stories. The
people think they shape the stories, but the
reverse is often closer to the truth.” – Alan
Moore

6. Easy
Difficult
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

7. What’s an Archetype?
• Symbol.
• Universally understood by the self-
conscious.
• Defines without constraining.

8. The Father of Archetypes
Man's task is to become conscious of the contents that press upward from the unconscious.

11. Observation
• By a very early age (at the latest), there
are certain symbols (archetypes) that we
are aware of, have accepted and require
no prodding to deeply understand.

12. So what?
• I signed up for a marketing event.
• This sounds like psychobabble.
• How am I supposed to make money with
this information?

13. 247
3,000
20,000

14. Attention Span, 2000 – 12 Seconds
Attention Span, 2012 – 8 Seconds
Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information

16. The Power of Archetypes
• Speed – The sooner you know me, the
sooner you can choose if you wish to
know me better.
• Provide clarity – Who you are.
• Shared understanding – I recognize you,
so we can go deeper into the
conversation.
• Provide context for communication – This
is why I talk the way I do.

17. The Mothers of Brand
Archetypes

18. How Many Archetypes Are
There?
• Jung said 12
• Mark & Pearson started w/ 12… and
moved to 60
• It doesn’t really matter

19. So Long as Your Archetype is
• Distinctive
• Consistent
• Accurate
• Relevant(?)

20. The Core Twelve
Caregiver Everyman Creator Explorer Jester Rebel
Hero Innocent Lover Sovereign Magician Sage

22. Understand: The archetype is never wrong, as it is only a representation.

23. The Hero
• Is a winner, at all costs.
• Often overcomes bad odds.
• Often involves a sacrifice.

26. An Example – The Rebel
• Progressive and provocative thought.
• Attractive to the counterculture.
• A rule breaker.
• Brutal honesty.
• Experimentation.
• Challenges established norms.

30. Apple’s Mission Statement
• Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers
in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and
professional software. Apple leads the digital
music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online
store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone
with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and
is defining the future of mobile media and
computing devices with iPad.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apples-new-mission-statement-2013-8#ixzz394DrL6f9

31. A Local Rebel:
Rob….. Burrito?

32. Understand
• The rebel understands that everybody is
not a prospect.
• The rebel works best if there’s something
to rebel against.
• Wanna be a rebel?
– Comparisons between you and the
competition.
– Don’t be afraid to take a stand.

33. The Innocent
• Unbridled sense of wonder.
• Trust.
• Triggers nostalgia for simpler times.
• Freedom from preconception.

37. Coca-Cola’s Mission Statement
• Our Roadmap starts with our mission,
which is enduring. It declares our purpose
as a company and serves as the standard
against which we weigh our actions and
decisions.
• To refresh the world...
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness...
• To create value and make a difference.

38. Understand
• The Innocent works best if you solve
simple problems.
• The Innocent is fundamentally an
archetype in transition.
• Wanna be an Innocent?
– Be prepared for blurry ROI.
– Keep it simple.

39. An Example – The Entertainer
• Lives in the moment with full enjoyment.
• Wants to have a great time.
• Would never seem boring.
• Motivated to create impact through
improvisation.
• Tactics designed to elicit reactions &
attract attention.

40. The Entertainer

41. A Local Entertainer

42. The Sage
• Knowledge is power.
• People choose them for their expertise.
• Use intelligence to understand the world.

44. Understand
• While some archetypes make more sense
in some industries, there are no rules.

47. A Local Sage

48. So What Are We, or What Should We
Be?
Caregiver Everyman Creator Explorer Jester Rebel
Hero Innocent Lover Sovereign Magician Sage

49. Archetype Strategy
• Step 1: Discover your archetype
– Quantitatively
– Qualitatively
• Examine the competitive set.
• Build the brand from the archetype out.
• Monitor and repeat.

50. Step 1: Archetype Discovery
• Quantitative analysis
• Qualitative analysis
• Describe products/services
• Describe client expectations

51. Step 1: Archetype Discovery
• Self
• Company/Department
• Customers

53. Survey Modeling
Archetype voice.
Archetype identity.

54. Survey Modeling for Customers
Archetype voice.
Archetype identity.

55. Survey Modeling for Employees
Archetype voice.
Archetype identity.

56. Understand
• The quantitative analysis is just the
beginning.

57. Magician
Rebel
Hero
Lover
Everyman
JesterSovereign
Creator
Caregiver
Innocent
Explorer
Sage

58. Magician
Rebel
Hero
Lover
Everyman
JesterSovereign
Creator
Caregiver
Innocent
Explorer
Sage
Step 1A: Quantitative Analysis
• Compare/contrast tenure
• Compare/contrast job titles
• Ask for confidence

59. Step 1B: Qualitative Analysis
• In person/telephone interviews.
• Why you said what you said.
• Seeking context within the decisions.

60. Magician
Rebel
Hero
Lover
Everyman
JesterSovereign
Creator
Caregiver
Innocent
Explorer
Sage
Step 1B: Qualitative Analysis
• Historical artifacts (Rebel)
• Unrealized potential (Sage)
• Reinforced strengths
(Creator)

61. Step 1B: Qualitative Analysis
• Drill down
– Creator
– Artist
– Entrepreneur
– Storyteller
– Visionary

62. Step 2: The Competitive Set
• Examine your position relative to your
competitors.
• Examine gaps where nobody is or clusters
where everybody is.

63. Magician
Rebel
Hero
Lover
Everyman
JesterSovereign
Creator
Caregiver
Innocent
Explorer
Sage

64. Step 3: Look Through Your Archetype’s
Eyes
Internal Reality
Culture
Values
Vision
Mission
Artifacts
Icons
Logos
Messaging
Actions
Attitudes
Behavior
Service

65. Some Archetype Observations
• If you’re struggling to recognize an
archetype, it could be because there isn’t
one there.
• Unlike a marketing campaign change, an
archetype change is a big deal.
– Transgender parents (mother to father)
– KISS (entertainer to entrepreneur)
– Lance Armstrong (hero to outlaw)

66. Some Archetype Observations
• Archetypes are the foundation of
everything but are better understood than
explained.
– “What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear
what you say.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

67. Archetype/Brand Audit Context
• Archetype looks at who the brand is.
• Brand audit looks at what the brand is
saying
and how it’s being received.
– Messaging
– Content inventory
– Market reaction

68. What Happens Next?
• Talk to Nxtbook about uncovering your
archetype.
• Talk to Nxtbook about how your archetype
can speak more clearly.
– Brand audit
– Brand execution

69. Did Somebody Say Special?
• Single quantitative archetype - $99 -
$79.20!
• Executive archetype – Up to 5 - $250 -
$200
• Company archetype – Up to 100 - $975 -
$780
• Online survey

70. What Happens Next?
• Special thanks to Zach McCurdy.
• You take a tour.
• Schedule your archetype survey and/or
your brand challenges and triumphs with
us.
• Accept LinkedIn connection.
• See if you’re a winner!

71. Thank You – Q/A
Caregiver Everyman Creator Explorer Jester Rebel
Hero Innocent Lover Sovereign Magician Sage