At Agent99, we have a very distinct brand personality. Inspired by the character ‘99’ in the 60s TV series Get Smart, our brand stands for being clever, sassy and outcomes driven, and we always strive to achieve the best results for our clients. We recently developed our writing style guide, and through this process, we identified our key personality traits, alongside our tone, language and purpose. Our team is now aligned, and we live and breathe our personality, which is apparent in our day to day operations and how we service and connect with our clients. If you’re looking to nail your business personality, here are our top tips:
Conduct research
Firstly, ensure you have a strong gauge on your target audience. Do they want to be educated? Do they want to be humoured by your brand? You need to get to the crux of why these consumers engage with your business and find out WHY they keep coming back to you. Although the good/s or service/s you provide play a major role in this, the human interaction is a strong determining factor. And the best way to do this, is to simply ask them and listen very carefully to their ‘why’.
Secondly, identify your value proposition (which should also be quite clear from the research you conduct crossed with your core capabilities) – what makes you unique and ensures you stand out from your competitors? You may be a successful property buyer’s agent, for example, with many competitors around you, but what makes you superior? It may be your expertise, transparent approach or the experience under your belt… Whatever it is, this will play a major factor in determining your brand personality and you USP (unique selling proposition).
Choose your identity
I invite you to offer more than goods and services. Consumers want to connect with brands, so offer a more humanistic approach through a strong brand identity. Brands who have cultivated a robust identity, are always easier to remember and identify. Think about it – when you think of Chanel, you think of elegance and class. And when you think of the ‘Colonel’ for KFC – their mascot is based off their founder. If customers relate to your identity, they will want to ‘befriend’ your personality, and engage on a deeper level.
As a first step, sit down as a company and identify your key personality traits. For example, are you funny, informative, hard-working, witty…? A good way to pinpoint this is to ask your team and customers or clients for their opinion. They interact with you on a daily basis so they will be able to offer interesting insights. It’s important to note that you can’t be everything to everyone – so don’t tie yourself to too many traits.
Ensure you have ‘brand sincerity’
Is your brand genuine? Consumers are constantly bombarded with messages and advertisements, that often add little value to them. Public perception around your brand and what you can genuinely ‘offer’ them, will set you apart from the rest. To ensure you are ‘authentic’ and ‘sincere’, your personality should reflect your business goals, company culture and values. Many brands these days are jumping on trends, particularly via social media, and many are deemed disingenuous by consumers. For example, brands who support ‘movements’ e.g. BLM and then fail to follow this up with further education and awareness are often criticised. If equality and empowerment is a genuine personality trait and you reflect these values in your daily operations, consumers will be much more open to this type of support.
Agent Amelia
