What’s brand positioning via corporate reputation?

Q: We were interested in attending your recent brand positioning seminar but were unable to attend.  We called Salt & Light and were told there was no such seminar being offered.  Later, we found out it was Bayan Academy that was offering the seminar.  But it was too late for us to attend.

We understand from a colleague who attended that you had some new interesting materials on “product source imagery positioning,” which your positioning seminar last year did not include.  We asked our friend to share with us what she learned about this positioning model, but instead of sharing, she just told us to attend the next offering.  But we’re interested to learn about this model for the new product introduction we’d like to advertise and promote through our corporate reputation, instead of the usual differentiator-based positioning.

Last year, you told us at the seminar that you like sharing any new learning materials you regularly develop.  Do you mind sharing via this MRx column this new brand positioning model based on the product source imagery or corporate reputation?

A: It’s probably useful to start with some clarifications.  First, all my seminars, consulting and research are no longer with Salt & Light since March 2014 after my son, Ardy, sold it to answer a higher calling.  That’s to work full time as a born-again Christian pastor.  For myself, I joined Bayan Academy.  So I’ve gone back to work full time in the academe.

The second clarification is about that “new” brand positioning model.  There is really nothing new about product source imagery positioning or positioning via the corporate reputation.  Even the seminar you attended last year covered it but the coverage was only for one of its variants.  I just added another variant that has gained more and more users.  This is the so-called positioning the corporate brand as an “archetype.”

What is an archetype?  According to its inventor, Carl Jung, who is known as the founder of analytical psychology, “archetypes are universal, mythic characters residing within the collective unconscious of people.”  If human motivation resides in the unconscious, then archetypes are key to understanding human motivations and therefore needs.

In their 2014 best-selling book, Corporate Reputation Decoded, authors A. Kaul and A. Desai, observed that “winners in corporate reputation anchor company reputation for quality on an archetype.  The archetype is usually personified by the company owner, board chairman or the CEO.

When we then speak of brand positioning via the corporate reputation, reference to “the product source” is clearly about the maker of the product.  Therefore, we’re not talking about the product brand but the corporate brand.  It also follows that when we relate to the corporate brand and its reputation for quality, we are speaking about the company as a quality product source.

Jungian psychology and its archetyping analysis identified 12 primary archetypes.  If the brand positioning process consists of uncovering consumer motivation and priority needs, then this archetyping analysis constitutes a brand positioning model.

Here are the 12 primary archetypes and the corporate brands that researchers and consumer behavior professors have associated with each.  The label of each archetype is meant to define its personality and character.  An archetype’s associated brand is therefore assumed to mirror that personality and character.

The 12 are categorized into three types: (1) The “Ego Type,” (2) The “Soul Type,” and (3) The “Self Type.”  Here are the four Ego Type archetypes and their associated corporate brands.  First is “The Innocent” archetype and its two often associated corporate brands are “Disney” and “Gymboree.”  The corporate brands “Dockers” and “Wendy’s” are the two most often associated with the “Regular Guy or Gal” archetype.  Third is “The Hero” archetype. Among the brands associated with this archetype are “Federal Express” and “Nike.”  Corporate brands “J&J” and “Blue Cross,” meanwhile, are often associated with the “Caregiver” archetype.

The “Soul Type” comprises are another set of four archetypes.  So the fifth archetype is “The Explorer” and associated brands are “Starbucks” and “Levi’s.”  The sixth archetype is “The Rebel or Outlaw” and its two often associated corporate brands are “Virgin Airways” and “Apple Computers.”  “Calvin Klein” and “Victoria’s Secret,” on the other hand, are most associated with the “Lover” archetype.  The eighth archetype is “The Creator.”  This archetype’s two most associated corporate brands are “Crayola” and “Home Depot.”

Finally, the last four archetypes under the “Self Type” are as follows.  As the ninth archetype, “The Jester” is associated with “Ben & Jerry’s” and “M&Ms.”  “The Sage” is the 10th archetype and its two often associated corporate brands are “CNN” and “Fortune Magazine.”  The  corporate brands “Sony” and “General Food’s International Coffee” are most associated with the 11th “Magician” archetype.  The last and 12th archetype is “The Ruler” and its two most associated corporate brands are “Rolex” and “Ritz-Carlton.”

Do the associated corporate brands actually position themselves according to the archetypes where they supposedly belong? Most actually do but they do so in their corporate vision or mission statements.

For example, for the Ego Type archetype of “The Caregiver,” J&J explicitly defined this archetype in its #1 Corporate Credo of “caring for their customers, employees and shareholders.”  Similarly, for the Soul Type archetype of “The Explorer,” Starbucks’ corporate brand positioning is about giving its customers “the experience of a more authentic and fulfilling away-from-the office oasis.”  Finally, in the Self Type archetype of “The Sage,” CNN images itself as the seeker of truth by intelligent reporting to make sense of what’s happening in the world.

What about in the local scene?  What domestic corporate brands are into archetypal positioning?  Wait for next Friday’s MRx column. (Keep your questions coming.  Send them to me at [email protected].)