Build a Brand Persona

When you look at an ad, you probably decide within seconds if they’re talking to you, and if not who the ad talking to? If you feel a personal connection, “they are talking” to you, consequently, you pay more attention. The ad might be providing useful information or solving a problem. It also might be relating to your aspirations and feelings. If you’re seeing a similarity to yourself and your beliefs or just like what the product stands for; the product and ad have made a connection.

A brand persona is about targeting a product to a customer. Deciding who your customer is and who your Brand is talking to is the first step. Targeting is so important because it is the lens for developing messaging and customer experience (making a connection). If you’re trying to reach everyone, your message will be indistinct and won’t connect well. Strong targeting makes it easier to build loyalty.

Keep these personas in mind when making decisions for your brand including any advertising or other programs. What would they be interested in? What questions would they have? How does our brand help her?

What is a brand persona?

A brand persona is a way to better understand, empathize, and communicate with your consumers. In chapter 3 we talked about understanding the consumer perspective, understanding the decision making process and identifying what matters.

Once you’ve researched your market: the size, locations, attitudes, lifestyles, and behaviors of your consumers, building the persona allows you to bring your research (and statistics) to life in a usable form. Our brains connect with stories and individuals more than research and statistics.

Building a persona will create a story that helps you use your understanding of how your customers feel and what motivates them, to make good decisions for your brand.

Spotify Persona of Rebecca

Take a look at the Rebecca Persona (above) and the Spotify video (below).

Consider the following questions:

• How do you think Rebecca would relate to this ad?
• How large is the target market of Rebecca’s?
• How does Rebecca’s persona relate to Spotify?