Welcome back
This week we’re going to talk about brand archetypes and how to use them in your life + work to bring your stories to life so you magnetise those you resonate with your offerings and your magic.
We’ll be looking at them in the context of astrology - connecting the signs with the different archetypes. I use these in my brand strategy work so you can better understand yourself and those you interact with to create a clearer and stronger brand voice. Clients often use a brand archetype to create a superhero for themselves like a n alter ego that they use on their pathway to embodying their future self
This episode sets the foundation for a series where we’ll explore each of them in depth so you can identify them in yourself, your partner, clients and all your relationships.
People become more fun when you can see them in this way it allows you to have more insight, compassion and of course be more mischievous too. Work as purposeful and profitable play and all that and ...
This leads perfectly from the 7 steps to happiness as you will discover how to use the yamas and niyamas, disciplines and devotions in your daily work to build your credibility and authority in your brand so you become known for your unique offering in the world.
You’re sure to have heard how important storytelling is for brand-building and marketing. And I’m here to compound that story but to give you a foundational framework to build those stories that are only yours to tell.
Yes, to evoke your uniqueness. This foundation makes your storytelling much authentic, clearer, more powerful and deeply resonant for those who value and immediately recognise what you can help them do because they can see themselves in the stories you tell.
What we’re talking about here is the second step on the 7 steps to happiness which is character - specifically character development which in script writing is where you flesh out the character of the person who plays the part.
Each line, each scene must develop the story and each word that is associated with this character must compound what has already been shown about them.
We are seeking connection through congruence and integrity. We’re getting to know them through each scene and the question to keep asking is does this make sense - would this person do this?
By building that character you become aware of their vision, values, mission, the impact they wish to have, what motivates them and why and how they will go about creating their particular business, life and brand. It makes the story more compelling because they feel real, it makes the offering more magnetic because you feel drawn to support them, it builds trust and loyalty as you deepen your connection with them and begin to invest in their future with you in it.
And you want to do this for your brand too - you want your clients to feel you are the perfect person to help them with what you do in your unique way of doing and being.
There might be millions of graphic designers in the world but they choose you because of the way they feel you can translate who they are into their brand identity. Yes all this is the gift of brand archetypes.
Brand archetypes brings a sense of play when beginning to build the foundation of a grounded brand strategy.
Like all great tools they contain and liberate, direct and focus.
So today I’m going to set the scene with a brief history of archetypes and give you an overview of brand archetypes - why they work so well when building your brand - not just designing the look and feel but giving your brand its fullest expression with mission, vision, values, tone of voice, positioning and messaging.
And that’s just the start of it. In future episodes we’ll dive into each of the 12 astrological signs and the archetypes for each one. I’ll include an infographic in the show notes for you to download and how to find your archetypes in your astrological chart so you can resonate deeply and immediately with the clients that love you while doing the work that excites and expands you and getting well paid to do it. Match made in heaven eh!
It’s also directs you towards what you want to be known for,
your positioning,
your voice and how to use your brand archetypes to create engaging,
client-magnetising branding,
messaging and
marketing.
Let’s get into it - shall we?
First up let’s define what brand archetypes are brand archetypes
Brand archetypes goes back as far as Plato and was further developed by Joseph Campbell who wrote the hero with a thousands faces after studying the world’s cultures and saw that every culture, despite different languages agreed on certain archetypes.
Every culture agreed what a mother is and how a mother behaves which gives us the universal archetype of the mother. The same goes for a warrior, teacher, artist, child etc. So archetypes are universal, symbolic character types that span all cultures and storytelling mediums.
These universal characters transcend cultures and time and form part of the collective unconscious.
Now because we live in a relational universe each archetype has a light and shadow polarity that inspires core desires and fears within us.
Archetypes also form the basis of Carl Jung, the swiss psychoanalyst’s work (also a keen astrologer and kundalini yogi). Which might explain why we have 12 main brand archetypes that translate well within the 12 astrology signs which express the personalities of the zodiac. And what is branding if not psychological.
As i mentioned each individual archetype evokes unique core desires and fears within us - some conscious others unconscious and as Jung said until we make the unconscious conscious we will call it fate and it will rule our lives.
So by bringing a psychic consciousness to your branding you are magnetising and resonating with your ideal clients so they self select that you are for them,
which means less time talking into a vacuum or sorting the tyre kickers from the HELL YES’ saving you a whole heap of anxiety, energy, time and money.
There are so many brands to choose from.
You want your brand to speak to those who get it and want it.
Both campbell and Jung spoke about the hero’s journey which is a pathway of self-discovery towards self-realisation and liberation which is in every movie book and story where we see the fundamental structures of the human psyche playing out unifying the underlying archetypes, ideas, and complexes into an integrated coherent whole.
This creates a shortcut to help our brains form predictable behaviours or pathways that archetypes (or characters) will act out or take.
Perfect for brand storytelling wouldn’t you say? And even better as it allows you to be authentic and real in your branding while magnetising those clients who immediately resonate with who you are and your message.
They immediately know you can help them get the results they want.
Consumers are so clued into psychology and how marketers use these tools so it is more and more important that your message rings real and true. They can smell confusion and BS more than a mile off.
Here 4 ways that archetypes work
Firstly, our brains are wired for story so we naturally personalise things that aren’t even human. By aligning your brand with a universally recognized character, symbol, or theme gives your audience and customers a way to relate to your brand on a deeper, more essentially human level. And obviously, this creates and builds a deeper personal connection between your brand (you) and your audience. With each interaction you are compounding what they perceive about you and the more you show up and build on this story the more they decide if you are aligned with their identity or not. This is the self-selection I spoke about earlier
Secondly, businesses and brands today are in conversation with their clients. While you are broadcasting through your channels, your clients have direct access to respond to you with their feedback. It’s no longer a monologue, it’s a dialogue. And you want to dialogue with people who resonate with who you are, what you stand for and what you help them do. This is a process of mastering your energy so you powerfully magnetise them to you through your messaging and each interaction they have with you. Most branding agencies suggest defining who your ideal client is and creating your products and offerings to suit them. Instead I believe in knowing who you are, what you are most qualified and suited to deliver, what you stand for and creating your message so your audience and clients see and feel themselves in your brand as you serve them valuable content and begin to nurture your co-creative relationship.
Third, Just like your brand will choose an archetype, in astropowered branding archetypes, the clients who love you and what you help them do are also archetypes. By using astropowered brand archetypes, you can speak directly to your clients so they immediately identify that you are for them. There’s a symbiotic resonance that’s complementary and resonant. They self-select that you can help them solve their problems in your area of expertise. They see and feel a vibrational match in that I want what she’s having way.
And last but not least by connecting the archetypes through astrology you have a template to more clearly understand and connect your brand purpose, voice, vision, values, mission, with the value your deliver and for whom and why they are magnetised by the value you deliver and what motivates them to connect with you.
This means you deeply see and feel their problems and can offer a simple solution with a process they understand will give them the results thay are seeking.
This makes messaging and marketing way easier. You’re no longer struggling with the question who is my ideal client, how do i price my offerings and what words and messages do I need to use so they see, feel and desire to connect with me?
This makes for a powerful and simple brand story telling tool doesn’t it?
And you know if you’ve been brand building that one of the hardest tasks of creating valuable content for your audience is developing a consistent style.
In branding we talk about the 3 cs clarity, consistency and constancy. And all 3 have their challenges. For now let’s talk about the first 2
How do you make sure the actual content is clear and consistent in its message from piece to piece, and channel to channel.
How do you embody a character and style of communication that is clear and consistent in addressing the needs of your audience so they keep coming back for more
Brand archetypes will support you to achieve these two and also make it easier to meet the constancy need as you’ll know what to post and within what guidelines so you’ll procrastination and overwhelm disappear.
We use brand archetype as a tool to help define the qualities and characteristics of our brand and a pathway to describe the brand’s integrated personality and how it’s unique.
The concept of archetypes is rooted in identifying patterns of thought and behavior that we see in the world.
Working with astrology for your personal brand or your business makes the decision making easy as you’ll see when we talk about the separate signs. And remember your archetypes are the characteristics of YOUR business not your customer.
Your business archetypes will complement your customers, not be a mirror of them.
For example, imagine you were a consultant that helps startup founders that work with 1:1 clients get their businesses online. Your startup customers may be dreamers (Pisces) or builders (Capricorns). But it’s not going to help them reach their goals with help from another dreamer or explorer. They’re seeking a sage (Virgo) or a caregiver (Cancer) to understand, support and guide them to make good decisions.
So as I walk through the 12 archetypes keep in mind that
A strong brand identity influences:
Customer loyalty
Relatability
Internal and external brand cultural creation
Brand trust
Brand consistency
Taking care of existing customers (while creating new ones)
Differentiation from competitors
And to create that you need to know the Needs
Wants
Fears
Goals
Motivations of your audience
So let’s talk briefly about the 12 archetypes and then in the next episodes I’ll talk about how each of these astropowered archetypes can help you create your brand architecture so you can identify your who, why, what, how and for whom.
Aries - pioneer, hero, warrior
Taurus - lover, gardener,
Gemini - Jester, entertainer,
Cancer - Caretaker
Leo - Ruler
Virgo - Healer
Libra - Diplomat
Scorpio - Alchemist
Sagittarius - Explorer
Capricorn - Builder
Aquarius - Maverick
Pisces - Dreamer
So that’s the 12 signs in the zodiac and we all mostly know our sun sign which is the essence of who we are.
Flowers and all things including us grow more towards the light.
What does your sun look like in full power?
Can you see now how anchoring the brand archetypes in astrology makes them come alive in a different way. Over the next weeks we’ll talk about how to choose yours based on your sun, rising, descendant, moon, MC and more.
And before you get all excited remember clarity is king. Your brand is not one dimensional just like you’re not.
There is a primary archetype you will work with and there may be a secondary or even a third one too.
But remember that the primary one is the main character in the story.
The guy or gal who has the megaphone and the secondary/third might add flavour putting some pzazz on the first to make you more unique BUT it doesn’t steal or co-host the show.
So say your primary archetype is the hero. You don't want to dilute their voice. Your brand look, feel and voice is heroic and does what it does in a heroic fashion. Now if you’re secondary archetype is the jester your hero might display a great sense of humour or have the ability to laugh at himself when he fails certain challenges on his hero’s journey (even heroes trip occasionally).
So when you’re applying your yamas and niyamas, your disciplines and devotions to your brand archetypes think of mixing their ingredients to create something more interesting like a signature dish.
And remember this character building is vital in your life too because afterall what is branding but delivery on promise which is what our reputation rests on.
And as we learned in the 7 steps to happiness character gives you dignity, divinity, grace and the clear lines and constraints that all successful lives and businesses have.
Well that’s it for today. Thak you for listening and please let me know any questions you have and don't forget to download the astropowered brand archetype chart so you can get familiar with all 12.
Next week we’ll start with pioneering Aries. We’ll talk about how to use it when it appears in your chart as your sun, rising sign, moon, descendant or public self.
Don’t be intimidated these are tools that make your brand building simpler and as you know systems liberate you to get on with what you really love to do. And if you need help decoding all this book an astro session.
There are two ways to work with me. You can join my moon deck, which is a monthly offering to work with the lunar cycles. or book an Astro blueprint session to explore my one-to-one coaching, to give you insight into what makes you unique and how to work with that instead of resisting it. How to work with the planetary cycles and the energies of the year.
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