7 Keys to Marketing Genius: Anthropomorphic Brands
The following is an excerpt from The 7 Keys to Marketing Genius by Michael Daehn
Key 5: Build Relationships details the crucial nature of creating a connection with consumers. People are more likely to feel connected to a person than to an inanimate object. For this reason many smart companies have created a personality to represent their product. There are three typical ways to connect the product to a personality:
• Connecting to a Person- The brand is attached to a person, typically the founder such as Ford motors named after Henry Ford, or Dell Computers named after Michael Dell.
• Connecting to a Personality- While Microsoft is not a personal name, most people connect the company to its founder, Bill Gates. In the case of Disney, the personality has shifted from Walt Disney to Michael Eisner.
• Creating a Character- Mr. Whipple was created to represent a sometimes-embarrassing product toilet tissue, while the Doughboy is a giggling little character for Pillsbury.
By creating a personality, companies provide someone that people can relate to on a personal level. Images that connote personality do better in the marketplace than impersonal or generic brands.