BRAND ARCHETYPES

WHAT ARE ARCHETYPES?

Archetypes are universal symbols, ideas, and most interestingly - identities, that are ubiquitous throughout human history and consciousness. They are so foundational, that they seem to form the basis for how we understand one another and our places in the world.

 

ORIGINS (VERY BRIEFLY)

The concept of Archetypes was developed by Carl Gustav Jung, and is based on the ideas of philosophers who came before - Immanuel Kant,  Plato,  Cicero, Pliny, Schopenhauer. Joseph Campbell deeply explored the power of these ideas in the stories we tell. Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson harnessed that power for marketing, in developing a system for understanding and managing meaning in brands.

 

WHAT DO THEY DO?

Unlike many approaches to marketing, which look mostly at what we do - what we buy, where we go, who we interact with - archetypes look for why we do what we do. Without judgement, archetypes tap into nothing less than our deepest desires and fears.

 

WHY DO WE USE THEM?

Whether or not Jung’s concepts of psychology are scientific, has been hotly debated. What cannot be questioned is the power of archetypes in branding. Brands that have been able to represent the essential meaning of their product in a person’s life - whether they have done so intentionally or by pure instinct - continue to dominate the market.

 

AND IN CONCLUSION

These ideas are powerful, but they are largely also self regulating. You can’t fake this. Brands are trusted to the point that everything they do is consistent with who they claim to be.

 

If you look up Archetypes or Jungian Archetypes, you will see a bit of variation. This is not the table of elements. There is room for interpretation and wordplay here. For our uses, I have stayed true to the 12 Archetypes found in Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson’s 1995 book, The Hero and the Outlaw, because it is brilliant. The content on this site has been paraphrased where possible, and cited directly where needed to maintain accuracy.