In the first part of this series, we spoke about what a brand personality is, and why it’s essential to have one. The biggest reason why is the connection that your audience will have to it: People connect with personalities.

Your Audience Persona and Brand Personality Should Need or Want to Connect

Your brand personality should be a response to your audience persona. It doesn’t necessarily have to match them, but it has to be “someone” that they would turn to to fulfill a want or need that you fulfill. For example, you can have a complementary relationship, like the one between students and teachers. It’s a need because of their differences.

You can also have a give-and-take relationship, like the kind between teammates, friends, and families. These relationships are based on a combination of similarities and differences complimenting each other and fulfilling each other’s wants and needs.

In every relationship, the people involved want or need each other because of who they are. That knowledge informs their relationship, builds their connection, and fosters their exchange.

How to Get Started

To foster these connections, think about the specific type of friend/teammate/family member etc that your audience will need to fulfill the want/need you provide. That is the starting point for fleshing out the eventual personality that you attribute to your brand.

So ask yourself and your team, what want and/or needs are you fulfilling? Where do you fit in your audiences’ lives? This is the start of building the person your brand reflects. I have a lot more questions that will help narrow this down, in part 3: Questions to Guide Brand Personification.