As marketers, we’re all familiar with “brand personalities” like Hero, Creator, and Magician. These archetypes can be a great shorthand for communicating the ideal attributes carried by a brand that make it relatable to its target audience. As we begin a new decade in 2020, why don’t we add some new brand personalities to the mix?
Punk – Like the Outlaw personality, the Punk takes risks, that is takes risks to a whole new level. Think of a brand like Cards Against Humanity. Billing themselves as “the party game for Horrible people,” the brand rebels against social norms in a way that has an undeniable mass appeal. You wouldn’t think there would be many Punk personalities in the medical device industry, but standout Misonix, always the risk-taker, takes an in-your-face stance in their most recent campaign for the new neXus console. “It’s neXus or nothing” their headline yells in bold white-on-black type. These Punk personalities go beyond the traditional archetypal idea of “leaving a mark” into their own category.
Regina George – Everyone who has seen the movie “Mean Girls” knows that Regina George is the queen bee in every sense of the word—especially when it comes to her stinger. The opposite of “The Everyman” personality, Regina George is aspirational, yet not altruistic. Think of the Facebook brand. Of course, it couldn’t be more popular, with millions of users worldwide. But there is a dark side, since it appears they allegedly have their own “Burn Book” with everyone’s name in it.
Spiderman – Like the Explorer personality, Spiderman exhibits bravery and independence, but this hero is also transformational and controls a wide-ranging web of activity. Virgin is one of those brands that has always been independent and unique, and from aviation, to cell phones, to record stores, engages in a wide web of business pursuits. In the medical device industry, Teleflex stands out as another Spiderman-like personality. Starting out in the aviation business and transforming into a giant in the medical device industry, it has exhibited strength and skill as it deftly wove its broad web of acquisitions.
Oxygen – It’s all around us and we depend on it to live. That’s the level that some brands have reached in our culture. Amazon is everywhere now, especially thanks to Alexa, it’s now a part of many homes, offices, and even cars. It’s probably not hard for you to pick out something in your vicinity right now that came from Amazon. Amazon’s ubiquity makes it more than the Ruler personality, and more like Oxygen. In the medical device industry, a company like Avery Dennison Medical might go unseen, but like Oxygen, it’s everywhere. Supplying much of the world’s medical adhesive products, they literally keep the world’s hospitals together—impacting patients’ lives every day.
Do you have a unique brand personality that could use The Matchstick Group’s expertise in medical device advertising? Contact us to start the conversation!
