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Service · Strategy

Brand
archetypes.

Memorable brands have character. Archetype work defines that personality with rigour — voice, symbols, behaviours — so the customer recognises your brand even with the logo covered up. Built on Carl Jung, Mark & Pearson, and contemporary practice.

12
Classic archetypes
1+
Primary · 1-2 secondary
4-6
Weeks of work
Who this service is for

For brands that want character, not only visual identity.

Brands with strong graphic identity but no personality

You have an impeccable graphic standards manual and communications that could be anyone's. There's a strategic layer missing to give substance to the form.

Companies that change marketing teams

Every new lead reinterprets the brand in their own way. Without a defined archetype, coherence depends on the individual — and is lost with every handover.

Brands scaling internationally

Your voice works in Spanish by instinct, but translation and operating in other markets dilutes it. The archetype is the anchor that travels.

Companies with multiple products or lines

You need coherence across diverse communications (B2B and B2C, premium and mass-market). The archetype is the connecting thread.

Methodology

From diffuse personality to recognisable character.

Phase 01

Diagnosis of current personality

How does your brand sound today? Analysis of communications, customer service, sales conversations. What is actually done, not what people believe they do.

Phase 02

Archetype selection

From the 12 classic archetypes (Sage, Hero, Caregiver, Rebel, Creator, Jester, Innocent, Explorer, Lover, Magician, Everyman, Ruler) we choose the one that best fits purpose and positioning.

Phase 03

Translation into systems

I ground the archetype in voice (how we write), symbols (what represents it), behaviours (what we say and do, what we don't) and brand mythology (founding stories).

Phase 04

Internal activation

Workshop with marketing, sales and customer service teams so they can recognise and apply the archetype. Without this, the document is dead letter.

What you gain

What a well-worked archetype delivers.

The archetype isn't decoration — it's an everyday decision-making tool. What it offers:

01 · Natural coherence

No 200-page manual.

When the team understands the archetype, communication decisions are made by correct intuition — not by consulting an endless manual.

02 · Recognition

Identified without the logo.

Brands with a clear archetype are recognisable by tone alone, even without visual signature. Apple, Patagonia, Nike — they all have an immediately identifiable voice.

03 · Creative decisions

Briefs that land.

External agencies and creatives have a clear north star. Creative work doesn't need 5 rounds of revisions because the archetype filters at the first pass.

04 · Emotional connection

Your customer feels reflected.

Archetypes work because they're universal — the customer recognises the brand's ‘persona’ and decides whether they want to relate to it.

05 · Talent attraction

Employees who fit.

People join brands whose personality matches them. The archetype is a tool for selection and cultural onboarding.

06 · Defence against fads

You don't drift with every wind.

Brands with a solid archetype resist the pressure to adopt every communicative fashion. That preserves brand value over the long term.

Real cases

Archetypes applied in different contexts.

Premium winery · Sage

Knowledge that grants authority.

Century-old winery repositioned around the Sage archetype (knowledge of terroir, generational transmission). Didactic communication with depth, without becoming dull.

Industrial B2B · Hero

The technical problem overcome.

Specialist machinery manufacturer worked as Hero (resolving challenges impossible for the customer). Use cases told as technical feats, not as specifications sheets.

Services · Caregiver

Being alongside.

Private clinic worked as Caregiver (attentive presence, anticipation, warmth without sentimentality). Communication that feels human without becoming saccharine.

Strategic sequence

A classic sequence: analysis, decision, execution, learning.

Phase 01

Analysis

Data, context, competition, audiences.

Phase 02

Decision

Positioning, priorities, allocation.

Phase 03

Execution

Actions per channel with owner and deadline.

Phase 04

Learning

Review, adjustment and next round.

When you need it

Signals that say it's the right time.

Archetype work is especially valuable in these four moments. Before them, it tends to be academic; after them, it's an attempt to put order into existing chaos:

01

Your communications have good tone but no signature

If your customer reads a post of yours and one from a competitor unsigned, they couldn't tell them apart. That is absence of archetype — and it shows.

02

You change agency or team repeatedly

Each new agency reinterprets the brand and communication swings between different versions. The archetype is the constant that survives supplier changes.

03

Your brand is going through expansion

International launch, new product line, merger. Expansion moments demand an anchor more than any other — and they are the most often neglected.

04

There is tension between ‘what we are’ and ‘what we appear to be’

Employees who feel disconnected from public messaging, customers who perceive a gap between experience and communication. The archetype is the reconciliation tool.

Frequently asked questions

What I get asked most about this service.

Isn't this just pop psychology with no real basis?+

Done badly, yes. The 12-archetype system comes from Jung's analytical psychology and was popularised in marketing by Mark & Pearson (‘The Hero and the Outlaw’). What matters is applying it with rigour — as a strategic tool, not as a magazine quiz.

How many archetypes can a brand have?+

One primary and one or two secondary that nuance it. More than three becomes incoherent. The strength of the archetype lies in its purity — diluted, it loses effectiveness.

Does it work for B2B or only B2C?+

It works for both. In B2B it sometimes needs more subtlety — the Sage or Ruler archetype works very well in professional services, while Caregiver fits medical technology or support services. What changes is the expression code, not the logic.

Does the archetype constrain creativity?+

Quite the opposite — it liberates it. Well-defined constraints are the breeding ground for good creative work. Without an archetype, every brief starts from zero. With one, creativity has a frame and fires sooner and better.

How much does this work cost?+

It depends on the size of the brand and the depth of the work. For an SME the project can start at modest budgets; for a large brand with multiple lines and markets, costs scale accordingly. In the first session we define a realistic scope for your case.

Next step

Shall we talk about your specific case?

First 45-minute session, free of charge and no commitment. If we fit, I send you a detailed proposal within 5 days. If we don't, you take away a useful initial diagnosis.