Brand Personality by Brad VanAuken, BrandForward, Inc. November 2008
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I have helped organizations position their brands through consensus building brand positioning workshops since the mid-1990s. As a part of that process, I have the workshop participants (mostly organizational leaders) select the brand personality attributes for which they want their brands to stand.

The organizations with which I have worked span a wide range of sizes and industries. They include manufacturing companies, consumer products companies, aging services firms, wealth management firms, medical supply companies, real estate investment trusts, municipalities, high schools, environmental conservation organizations, public service organizations, professional associations and many others.

I thought it would be interesting to identify the most popular personality attributes across all of these organizations.

Following are the most popular personality attributes (in decreasing order of popularity):
Innovative (45%)
Professional (41%)
Responsive (36%)
Caring (32%)
Reliable (27%)
Customer focused (27%)
Trustworthy (23%)
Service oriented (18%)

Others with frequent mentions:
Approachable
Collaborative
Committed
Creative
Dedicated
Dependable
Diverse
Dynamic
Easy to work with
Efficient
Entrepreneurial
Focused
Friendly
High quality
Honest
Inspiring
Leader
Positive
Practical
Resourceful
Respected
Science-driven
Visionary
Welcoming

Slightly unusual personality attributes:
Heroic and proud (a watch brand)
Light-hearted (an advertising agency)
Low key, not glitzy (a wealth management firm)
Non-confrontational (an environmental conservation organization)
Servant leader (a local United Way agency)

Overall, my clients have used 140 different words and phrases to describe their brands’ personalities. Each brand describes itself using between 6 and 12 words or phrases, with the average brand using 9 words or phrases.

Brad VanAuken is president and founder of BrandForward, Inc., a full-service brand management consultancy with clients throughout the world. Previously, Brad was the vice president of marketing for Element K, a leading e-learning company and director of brand management and marketing for Hallmark Cards, Inc. During his tenure as Hallmark’s chief brand advocate, Hallmark received the Brand Management of the Year award. Recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on brand management and marketing, Brad is a much sought after speaker and writer. He wrote the books The Brand Management Checklist and Brand Aid. His free online brand management and marketing newsletter is read by thousands of marketers throughout the world. Brad has a BS degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Email: vanauken@brandforward.com
Company Profile: BrandForward, Inc.
Company URL: http://www.brandforward.com
Company Blog: BrandBlathering

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