Brand Archetypes | The Ruler and The Magician

As talked about in my first blog post of this series, having a distinct identity is essential to online success. It raises your visibility and allows you to connect with your customers on a more personal emotional level. So discovering what your brand archetypes are, is central to positioning your company and products in a unique way. There are 12 of them, and we have already discussed The Innocent and The Regular Guy/Gal, The Hero and the Outlaw/Rebel and The Explorer and The Creator, so now we have two more.. The Ruler and The Magician.

Brand Archetype: The Ruler

The Ruler’s “MO” (modus operandi) is to control, and to create order from chaos. They are leaders, role models, responsible & organized. A drawback for a person under the Ruler Archetype is that they can lack a common connection or can be too authoritative or controlling. But good rulers are confident, responsible and fair.

The Ruler consumer likes marketing that is not “dumbed down”, as that is beneath them. They want to see ads that reinforce their feelings of power. The Ruler customer likes products and brands that keep them organized, to restore order and that gives them control, as well as products that create stability and security.

Companies That Use This Brand Archetype

Ruler brands promise power, they speak authoritatively & spread they idea that they are the best of the best in their field. Ruler brands images do tend to be “masculine”. Some brands that currently cater to the Ruler archetype? American Express and Dyson.

American Express has had many slogans over the years and often feature top celebrities. Such as the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin and Queen Bee (Queen B), Beyoncé, who proudly sported a shirt that read: Queen Bee, I call the shots several years ago. Of course those ladies are not masculine, but they are at the top of the world with their accomplishments.

I just watched a commercial for American Express from several years ago with Martin Scorsese going to a film developing store where he was having his one hour photos developed. He comes in and says.. “it’s been an hour”.  The employee hands him his photos and Martin starts looking through them and is very upset about the quality of the images he took.

It was images of a little boy’s birthday party. Martin continues to go through them making comments about being no life in the images, it doesn’t make sense, images are far too nostalgic, lighting is bad, angle is off and etc. He was very upset with how they turned out and finished with that he is going to re-shoot and calls his nephew on the phone and asks him if he wants to turn 5 again. The ad ends with the slogan, The Official Cards for Perfectionists. This speaks heavily to the Ruler archetype.

Dyson is a British brand that offers “The Most Powerful Vacuums”. Dyson ads first featured the inventor and founder Sir James Dyson, talking about how he could never find a vacuum that never loses suction, so he created one. Dyson professes to be the best of the best for home vacuum cleaners and because of this claim, they can assign a hefty price tag compared to other brands. But people still want to buy, because if you need to vacuum, might as well do it right the first time and not be hindered by vacuum bags and clogs.

So if your products are intended to restore order, keep organized and products that give control to their users, then keep these brands in mind for your marketing.

Brand Archetype: The Magician

The Magician’s goal is to make dreams come true or to create something special. They are visionaries, charismatic, imaginative, idealistic and spiritual.

Magician consumers like ads that are imaginative and inspiring. They need to feel that your products can make them wiser or can influence others.

Companies that Use This Brand Archetype

Magician brands promote themselves as providing knowledge and an experience. They focus on the individual and not the group and flatter the customer enough so they purchase. Magician brand ads should never be structured or without meaning.

Some brands that do this well? Disney and Apple.

Disney ads are full of imagination and imagery. Their ads focus more on the experience of visiting a Disney Theme Park versus their rides or shows. They address the viewer directly and put it in their hands that they can be the influencer of their child’s happiness by deciding to visit.

Apple’s, Steve Jobs, was the ultimate magician. He was the wizard of the tech world, and brought the amazing world of technology to the average consumer. When Apple first released their iPhones, their slogans were “Apple reinvents the phone” and “This is only the beginning”. Since then they have released many iPhones, iPads and other devices that unlocks the Magician in all of us. Their latest ad for the iPad Pro promises to be the largest iPad ever and can take your creativity and productivity to an epic scale.

Do your products make the magician wiser or has the ability to influence others? Do your products inspire? Then keep these brands in mind when creating your marketing materials.

Up next…The Lover and The Caregiver! CLICK HERE!