Create An Authentic Brand Personality

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Authentic Branding
• 3:35 Defining Your Brand's Personality
• 9:01 Selecting the Right Adjectives
• 11:58 Creating Dialogue Between Brand and Customer
• 15:10 Finding Your Audience Naturally

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey everybody, welcome to this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, where we're going to talk about a bunch of different things like authentic branding and some of the craziness that we've seen lately. So let's get going. Welcome to this episode of the Nerd Brand Podcast. So I want to start off with authentic branding. So what's an authentic brand, or what's authentic branding? Well, let's talk about some brands that are authentic Patagonia, ben Jerry's, vans, shoes for those of us that are maybe older and don't know that. Nike, in-n-out Burger, which just moved to Texas from California. Well, you know another state that lost a homegrown brand there, but I digress Apple, red Bull, rei, and that last one, I can't really, you know, make a comment on what that is, but you know, if you do know, leave a comment on Facebook for me.

Speaker 1: 1:15

So what is authentic branding? It's just transparent, consistent and genuine. It's in its communication behavior. Now, what does that mean? So you build loyalty and trust with your customers through just being honest. Everybody's great at what they do, everybody makes good pizza, but what's different about yours? What's different about yours?

Speaker 1: 1:43

So you have to create a brand image that is just honestly rooted in reality and not some idealistic, aspirational marketing ploy because people are going to see right through it. So you want to definitely focus on what is it that makes you different, what is it that makes you stand out? The best place to figure that out is ask your customers, ask the people that are devoted, the people that will recommend you, the people that will always refer to you, talk about you, support you. Find out what they're saying, because everybody if you look for adjectives, I guess everybody's trustworthy, everybody's honest, everybody's transparent, you know, wants to be transparent. Like you know, those are pretty generic. You kind of want to look for the things that definitely are markers that identify you and your brand, because you have to have a brand that is written and done in a way that stands out.

Speaker 1: 2:45

It's a very noisy, a very noisy market and I think that a lot of times, a lot of people get focused on what are we going to do for marketing? Are we going to do some Google ads? Well, you don't do some this and some that? Anything there needs to be an anchor. What is it that you want everybody to? When they hear your name, they go. I know who that is. Now, if you don't know what that is, it's not a bad problem, but if it's not something you can fix, then it's a problem. So you know and I mentioned adjectives, so I know that you know, not everyone is a Hemingway I'm not Adjectives, though they play a vital role in branding, because it establishes your voice and your personality.

Speaker 1: 3:36

So if your business is speaking directly to your ideal audience, you have to create a connection that's merely beyond what you do, and we would call this, on the outer circle, the what, and for years we've operated with Simonson X Golden Circle why, how, what. And I've seen a lot of people get it wrong. A lot of people are like let's find your why, yeah, but you don't know how. So you know what is your why? Well, how to find my why? I don't know what. My why is my why is I'm in business to make money? No, that's not really it. No, I'm in business because I don't want to work for demand. That's not a good why. I want to help people do do bad no, that's not a good why. There is a reason you're in business. There's a reason you do what you do. It is your mission. So from that you'll figure out your how, which is your belief of how to do that, and then you have your what on the outer circle, which is the services or product you offer. So you don't want a brand that speaks generically in a corporate vernacular. That just makes you sound well like a business. You want to sound like a business that has a personality. You have attributes that are aligned with exactly who your audience is. So it's sort of like I guess a very dumbed down example would be in some parts of the country they say Coke, in some parts they say pop, in other parts they say soda or soda. So, all things being said, there, your brand needs to sound like it's a trusted friend, somebody you're going to think of first to call for this or that.

Speaker 1: 5:17

So pick the right adjectives, figure out your history here. If you're trying to just make up adjectives to ascribe to your brand, that's not a good way to start with this. Um, you have to look at the history of. Well, why are you named what you're named? Stick to it, because anything else is a gimmick and not authentic. So even if it's a boring story, it's still yours. It's still yours to build on.

Speaker 1: 5:51

No-transcript, we'll help you define your vision, figure out the why and, essentially, your mission and connect it with your ideal customers and stand out in that market you're trying to stand out in. So that's something that I recommend that is done, that people start to think about as they go into 2025, instead of Google Ads, facebook, social media or whatever deliverable that you're wanting to purchase that you think will help you make more money. Because if your motive is to make more money and not stand out in a crowd, then you're just not. It's just not going to work or it's not going to work very well. So what are some adjectives examples? Sincere, helpful, confident. So instead of saying trustworthy, you can use those Adjectives like edgy, adventurous. You know that appeals maybe to somebody who's younger, younger audience Reliable. That sort of thing could be used.

Speaker 1: 6:51

So you have to make your choices wisely, because these are words that you may think like well, why do I need to do all this? It doesn't make any sense. Well, let's look at Coca-Cola. So Coca-Cola has changed theirs, but you can have more than one, you can have a series of them, and it should be in your brand standards anyways and they're all defined as to what they mean for the brand, not necessarily a Webster's Dictionary definition. Coca-cola is happiness. You know Apple's sleek design. There's a Coca-Cola ad that says open happiness. So it's a differentiator that they're trying to stand out. Both of them are.

Speaker 1: 7:28

That is built on a predetermined, strategically selected adjectives and this is going to create a position for your brand, for the audience you're trying to reach. You're positioned wrong. I don't care what your marketing is or the deliverables, you're not going to hit the target because you do not sound like them, you're not agreeable to them and you don't have to be agreeable to everybody and you're not going to be. That's a myth. That's just something that's just mythical that you'll never like. Let it go.

Speaker 1: 7:57

Um, can't make everybody happy, but at the end of the day, if you have a target and you need to know it, you need to select words and adjectives in your ads and your content that are used to hit that audience. So aim to hit a corner a handful of you know selective adjectives and create a position. A position. Don't try to create multiple ones. The idea is we always want to go wide. No, you cannot go wide until you start narrow.

Speaker 1: 8:29

So in the personality of your brand, you know the dialogue needs to exist between company and customer. So it seems like a normal thing to say and social media immediately pops into everybody's head. But that's not necessarily the channel that all brands can do this on and you could get quite exhausted with it, especially during a time like now where you just have a lot of back and forth over things that happened this week and I will leave it at that as of March 7th here in 2025. But, you know, these things have transformed businesses. Tesla has done it with sustainability, or sustainable and cutting edge. Airbnb did it with community driven, local, but they're also like running campaigns now, I believe, to sort of show you like you know you get a bigger space with a hotel, blah, blah, blah. There's just a lot of brands that have done this spin and it's worked really well. As they start to create ads, as they start to create the identity or express it around these deliverables that everybody usually is the first thing they go to, when the first thing they go to should be this.

Speaker 1: 9:43

So if you have a website, social media, marketing materials, these words have got to be intertwined into your content to reinforce that messaging for your brand's personality. If I click on a blog post and it doesn't really read like the rest of your content, yeah, okay, I can see you're trying a thing. It's sort of like trying to be cool when you're not one of the cool kids back in high school. It's like it's okay, just be you. It's just don't try to be somebody. You're not and it's okay. But you know, if you're going to try to figure out, well, who is my audience and how do I figure that out so that I can figure out my adjectives, well, I don't really advocate you. Try to start there in that way. Figure the adjectives out first.

Speaker 1: 10:31

You're a person, you own the business. There's people in your business and the people around you in the business. They have personalities, they have a demeanor, they have a way of expressing themselves, talk to them, have team meetings, get to know one another. You don't have to share each other's personal lives. But if you've got anybody in your organization that interacts with the public in any way electronically or in person, listen to how they talk, how they communicate, and then develop the adjectives, and then what'll happen is just by organic results. You'll just attract an audience. Now, if that audience is not profitable you're going to know that in a few months then you need to pivot. That's when you have to have your strategy in place to do so, in case that happens. Because I think the most part that everybody can agree on if you just serve the audience, you just have to appeal to them. Somewhere in this big world, there is, out of the team, you have an audience that will support you financially, will support you from your brand's perspective and recognition and will give you the lift you need to be successful in what you're doing. So it's a critical step in defining that.

Speaker 1: 11:47

Now think about your role. What is it you want to be? Do you want to be if you're the owner? Do you want to be the motivator? Do you want a guide or is it just a status symbol for you? Now I would say if it's a status symbol for you, then you probably have an ego that really is not in alignment with the rest of the organization. Probably have an ego that really is not in alignment with the rest of the organization, because organizations tend to evolve. The more people you add and egos will definitely start to collide pretty quickly. So if you have a business and you own it just out of pure status, that could be an issue. Then it's going to be an issue quickly and it's going to be very visible to the audience you're trying to reach and sell to and that will turn them off.

Speaker 1: 12:28

We are in a time where people want transparency and honesty and common sense and they want something that is relatable in that way and not something fanciful. They want somebody that's just, you know, authentic. So they're going to look for specific traits when they weigh a major buying decision and your adjectives will help define those traits. But you also need to live up to those adjectives. In other words, don't make up adjectives. Really check your ego. Really check where you are at the door. What are you good at? Are you good at this, are you good at that? And you know it doesn't mean it's good versus bad, it's just being ego egotistical, that's bad. But what are you good at? And run there, do that, because that's what you'll be known for and there is an audience there, likely.

Speaker 1: 13:18

Um, describe your brand's personality, um, you know, look into those broad adjectives. What are your traits? Uh, what are the things that people know you for? If you're funny, all right, use that, use the humor in your copy. The things you don't want to do is get very, very specific and granular to the point where it gets overused or too generic, or those are things that you don't want to do. The goal is to represent your brand to the goals that you have for the business and your audience's goals, and it's really important to know what your goals are before you initiate any brand agency initiatives. Versus working with freelancers, versus creating an ad campaign.

Speaker 1: 14:11

Powerful adjectives can be bold and brave, dominant, commanding, vigorous, influential. Emotional adjectives are warm, friendly, passionate, inspiring. Modern brands can sometimes use visionary, pioneering, cutting edge. And then niche-specific ones are going to go with the eco-friendly, artisan, gourmet, exotic boutique. You have to think along those lines on what are you? You can't be all of those things because now you just are not really identifiable that well. So I would recommend that contact NerdBrand agency and ask us for a consultation. We'll sit with you, try to figure out what is your brand's personality. We'll try to figure out if it's a personality that's sellable and you know. Then we'll get to the deliverables a website ads, you know, because everything has to be in alignment and in sync with what you're doing in publishing. If you enjoyed this episode of the NerdBrand podcast, go to nerdbrandagencycom slash podcast. Like subscribe, sign up for the latest episodes If you want to get them in your inbox. We do have a newsletter there. You can pop your email and name in there, for we'd appreciate that. And do remember, keep your NerdBrand strong.