Brand archetypes from Sol Marketing

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A brand is a character. When you cast your brand as a person,

you can turn customers into fans and

transactions into relationships.


All great stories have great characters.

Brand storytelling is a huge trend in business and branding, and all great storytellers know they need memorable characters to really captivate an audience.

Sol Marketing works with companies to cultivate brand archetypes that connect with people and tell a story that inspires and motivates. We created these illustrations to bring to life the 12 brand archetypes. Understanding your brand archetype defines the role you brand plays in your customers' stories.


Which archetype fits your brand the best?Check out the following pages to find out.

"The most successful brands are strategic and intentional about whatthey stand for, who they are—and who they are for. The most enduring brands connect emotionally with people at an unconscious level. The 12 classic archetypes represent iconic characters everyone can relate to—the characters that populate our collective unconscious.”

Deb Gabor, Sol Marketing CEO and author of "Branding is Sex: Get Your Customers Laid and Sell the Hell Out of Anything”


The Magician wants to understand the fundamental laws of the universeGoal: Make dreams come true

Greatest fear: Unintended negative consequences

Strategy: Develop a vision and live by it

Challenge: Becoming manipulative

Gift: Finding win-win solutions

Magician brands:Disney, Tesla, Sol Marketing


The Sage wants to find the truthGoal: Use intelligence and analysis to understand the world

Greatest fear: Being dupe, misled or ignorant

Strategy: Seeking out information, knowledge and self-reflection

Challenge: Analysis paralysis

Gift: Wisdom, intelligence

Sage brands:Harvard University, Berkshire Hathaway


The Innocent wants to get to paradiseGoal: To be happy

Greatest fear: To be punished for doingsomething bad or wrong

Strategy: To do things right

Challenge: Boring for all their naïve innocence

Gift: Faith and optimism

Innocent brands:Orville Redenbacher Popcorn, Charmin


The Outlaw wants revolution

Goal: To overturn what isn’t working

Greatest fear: To be powerless or ineffectual

Strategy: Disrupt, destroy or shock

Challenge: Crossing over to the dark side

Gift: Outrageousness, radical freedom

Outlaw brands:Apple, Harley Davidson


The Jester want to live in the momentwith full enjoyment

Goal: To have a great time and lighten up the world

Greatest fear: Being bored or boring others

Strategy: Play, make jokes, be funny

Challenge: Frivolity, wasting time

Gift: Joy

Jester brands:Mentos, Old Spice


The Lover wants intimacy

Goal: being in a relationship with the people

Greatest fear: Being alone, unwanted, unloved

Strategy: Become more and more physicallyattractive

Challenge: Outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity

Gift: Passion, gratitude, appreciation, commitment

Lover brands:Godiva Chocolate, Dove Soaps


The Explorer wants freedom

Goal: A better, more authentic, more fulfilling life

Greatest fear: Getting trapped, conformity, inner emptiness

Strategy: Seeking out new things

Challenge: Aimless wandering, becoming a misfit

Gift: Autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul

Explorer brands:Subaru, REI


The Ruler wants control

Goal: A prosperous, successful family or community

Greatest fear: Chaos, being overthrown

Strategy: Exercise power

Challenge: Being authoritarian, unable to delegate

Gift: Responsibility, leadership

Ruler brands:Mercedes Benz, Rolex


The Caregiver wants to protect and care for others

Goal: To help others

Greatest fear: Selfishness and ingratitude

Strategy: Doing things for others

Challenge: Martyrdom and being exploited

Gift: Compassion, generosity

Caregiver brands:Johnson & Johnson, Volvo


The Hero wants to prove worththrough courageous acts

Goal: Expert mastery that improves the world

Greatest fear: Weakness, vulnerability

Strategy: Be as strong and competent as possible

Challenge: Arrogance, always needing anotherbattle to fight

Gift: Competence and courage

Hero brands:U.S. Army, GoPro


The Regular Guy/Girl wants to connect

Goal: To belong

Greatest fear: To be left out or stand out

Strategy: Develop ordinary, solid virtues, be downto earth, the common touch

Challenge: Losing one’s own self to blend in

Gift: Realism, empathy, lack of pretense

Regular Guy/Girl brands:Folgers, Chevrolet


The Creator wants to make thingsof enduring value

Goal: To realize a vision

Greatest fear: Mediocre vision or execution

Strategy: Develop artistic control and skill

Challenge: Perfectionism, bad solution

Gift: Creativity and imagination

Creator brands:Lego Pixar


(512) [email protected]

@Sol_Marketing4807 Spicewood Springs RdBuilding 2, Suite 200Austin, TX 78759

Want to learn more?Establishing your brand archetype is a key step in creating a brand that resonates, is authentic and connectswith people.

Find out how you can do that and morewith Sol Marketing.

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Brand archetypes from Sol Marketing