Personality Not Included

“Businesses with personality connect better; faceless corporations are swiftly forgotten.”

1: Personality Creates Bonds, Not Policies

Corporations used to believe that remaining faceless and strictly professional inspired trust. However, this outdated belief overlooks the human need for connection. Customers today value authenticity over rigid policies.

Efforts to streamline processes often alienate customers. Airlines are a clear example, where a strict adherence to rules—like refusing a last-minute seating adjustment—prioritizes policy over personal interaction. Such actions frustrate customers and erode trust.

Companies that reveal their human side stand out. A great example is BzzAgent, where employees openly blogged about their office move. Simple, personal stories like this bridge the gap between the customer and brand, fostering trust and attention.

Examples

• A frustrating airline policy denying flexibility in seat assignments.
• BzzAgent employees sharing relatable, personal anecdotes through blogs.
• McDonald’s globally uniform branches showing how faceless brands fail to foster loyalty.

2: A Spokesperson Humanizes Your Brand

A spokesperson gives a brand a relatable face, enabling companies to form personal connections. The founder often makes the best spokesperson due to their intimate understanding of the brand’s vision.

Jared Fogle became a sensational “accidental spokesperson” for Subway when his authentic success story with the brand was promoted nationwide. However, spokesperson choices can backfire. Celebrity endorsements, like Jamie Oliver's short-lived partnership with Sainsbury’s, lack authenticity if they feel artificial or inconsistent with the endorser’s values.

Selecting spokespersons carefully can amplify trust, but they must believe in the brand genuinely to resonate with audiences successfully.

Examples

• Subway’s Jared Fogle demonstrating authentic weight-loss success through their products.
• Jamie Oliver criticizing Sainsbury’s despite endorsing it, undermining trust.
• Founders acting as genuine, passionate spokespeople embodying their company’s values.

3: Create Engagement Through Originality

Creating a brand personality requires more than flashy campaigns. A sensational marketing “stunt” may grab attention temporarily but is unlikely to forge lasting connections with customers.

For a sustainable approach, use the UAT Framework—uniqueness, authenticity, and talkability. For instance, Romania’s Sighișoara leveraged its connection to Dracula's inspiration to become a tourist spot. Talkability can be as simple as a catchy slogan that people want to share.

The Taco Liberty Bell prank brought short-term laughs but failed to impact Taco Bell’s identity significantly. Building meaningful traits people relate to will always outperform gimmicks.

Examples

• Romania’s Sighișoara branding itself as Dracula’s birthplace.
• Taco Bell's Liberty Bell prank—attention-grabbing but forgettable.
• Transforming a unique story into brand strength using the UAT filter.

4: Share a Compelling Story

Stories generate emotional connections and build trust. Dole provides a unique example by tagging bananas with farm codes, allowing customers to see where their food is grown and meet the farmers behind it.

Different story models resonate uniquely. Enthusiasts, like Storyville Coffee’s founders aiming to save the world with organic coffee, often attract passionate supporters. Inventors like Steve Jobs add visionary appeal, while underdog narratives, like Snapchat refusing Facebook’s buyout offer, inspire admiration for challenging giants.

Customers who connect with your narrative become loyal advocates. The right stories make brands memorable.

Examples

• Dole’s coded bananas sharing farming stories.
• Elon Musk persisting against the odds with electric cars at Tesla.
• Storyville Coffee building its backstory on authenticity and passion.

5: Overcome Fear and Complacency

Fear often holds companies back from trying new things. Success and tradition can trap businesses in stagnant practices, making them resistant to innovation or creativity.

Encouraging lateral thinking helps avoid stagnant employee behavior that reflects poorly on your brand. Instead, companies should embrace change and seek new ways to connect with customers. Copying competitors’ strategies often fails as every business requires a tailored approach.

Avoiding these barriers energizes employees and brings fresh ideas to the table, resulting in a brand full of character rather than one reliant on rigid tradition.

Examples

• Companies stifling creativity by resisting employee innovation.
• Traditional brands hesitant to adapt failing to engage modern consumers.
• Competition-influenced strategies breaking rather than building brands.

6: Personality Exists in Small Moments

Moments of connection can transform how customers perceive your brand. Small “personality moments” can be as subtle as offering behind-the-scenes insight or tailoring the customer experience.

The repair shop Oil Can Henry’s successfully elevates its image by showing customers their car mechanics at work, while Sister Hazel warmed fans’ hearts by handing out pizza before performances. Small but thoughtful gestures leave impressions much deeper than advertising campaigns.

Remarkable moments help brands stand apart and win customer devotion.

Examples

• Sister Hazel providing pizza to fans waiting in the cold.
• Oil Can Henry’s involving customers by inviting them into routine repairs.
• Volkswagen highlighting safety with relatable accident-avoidance campaigns.

7: Respect as a Cornerstone

Respect for customers and their opinions strengthens bonds. Listening fosters trust, and customers who feel heard are more likely to engage with your brand.

Online discussion forums or blogs help companies engage. Gathering unspoken feedback—from rumors to social media commentary—connects you with what’s left unsaid. These patterns reveal true customer perception and areas for potential growth.

An open dialogue encourages trust, which in turn makes a company personality relatable. It is through genuine listening that long-term loyalty is born.

Examples

• Monitoring online sentiment reveals customer opinions about the brand.
• Listening to employee-filtered rumors for better internal insights.
• Listening to customer reviews to inform meaningful product improvements.

8: Stay Attuned to Your Audience

Catching someone’s attention requires relevance. People crave interactions or products that serve their interests, make their lives easier, or create fun surprises.

Volkswagen made its safety features unforgettable with ads showcasing prevented accidents. Similarly, Sister Hazel maintained loyalty and surprise by delivering intimate moments to fans standing in line. These interactions matter more than generalized advertising that misses the mark of individual care.

When brands know what their audience values and find ways to deliver, they carve durable strides forward.

Examples

• Volkswagen promoting safety via emotionally powerful ads.
• Sister Hazel engaging warmly with concertgoers outside venues.
• Personalized customer experiences that prioritize relevant yet simple value delivery.

9: Look Beyond Staged Prominence

Many businesses rely on external forces, such as celebrity endorsements, but staged prominence risks disconnection. Fans see through relationships lacking truth—which can have harmful results.

For a real connection, authenticity is vital. Brands must ensure their personality originates internally rather than externally. Companies focusing on their values and small committed gestures reap stronger, long-term results compared against grand but shallow spectacles.

Choose methods that genuinely radiate company efforts versus attention-seeking schemes.

Examples

• Jamie Oliver’s disconnected celebrity endorsement harming Sainsbury's.
• Small-town events with authenticity engaging consumers better than star-studded ventures.
• Simple, internal shifts solving customer tensions better than campaigns outshining competitors.

Takeaways

1. Identify small personal touches that improve interactions—listen and react to every chance for connection.
2. Create authenticity by aligning branding with values unique and meaningful to audiences.
3. Cultivate trust using spontaneous dialogue to grow positive perceptions of both your business mission and personality.