Building a smart Brand Character

The Role of Language in Branding

Effective communication is key to influencing and achieving success—both in life and within organizations. A Brand Language clearly communicate, define, and reveal itself to your Buyers while your Brand Rhetoric persuade them about your Brand.

At the heart of this communication lies our Brand Language, not just in words but in symbols, designs, and associations that form the narratives of our brands.

The process of crafting this language is often emergent and unconscious. Designers, Marketers and Strategist project their own beliefs, experience, desires and even biases when defining Brands, which is natural and expected.

‍

1. We will first Draft the language. By Creating a Semantic Field to Qualifying our Brand.
2. Reflect on our choices. By deconstructing this process, we will uncover and analyze the reason why we make those choices using metacognition (Thinking about our thoughts).
3. Finalizing the Language By grouping and refine our Vocabulary into a Language

‍

When we build a brand, we need to dive in, immerse ourselves, consider and listen to our Buyers perspective, however like Steve Jobs said, “People don’t know what they want until you show them”, so let’s put both our creatives, designers and marketers hat all at once.

Brand Identities are not static entities but a dynamic narrative that evolves through various layers of human psychology. This narrative is shaped by different aspects of brand behavior and perception, let’s craft a compelling brand rhetoric that resonates on multiple levels.

‍

Semantic fields

Creativity and design are processes that takes thoughts into words, and words into choices, and choices into actions. We will focus on taking our thoughts into words. Words are defined by a sign and a referent:

A sign is something that represents or stands for an idea, object, or concept, conveying meaning through a symbol, word, or gesture.

The referent is the actual object, concept, or entity in the real world that a sign or symbol represents and determine the sign.

‍

Relation of sign to referent

Iconic

similarity likeness, resemble something

Examples

• Transparent (Clear and open)
• Balanced (Stable, fair)
• Sharp (Precise, clear)
• Warm (Friendly, welcoming)
• Fluid (Flexible, adaptable)

Indexic

‍environmental contact, contiguity where it is

Examples

• Reliable (Dependable, consistent)
• Organic (Natural, sustainable)
• Connected (Engaged, networked)
• Accessible (Easy to reach)
• Responsive (Quick, adaptable)

Symbolic

this stand for that - code / linguistic / agreed upon relation in social reality

Examples

• Innovative (Creative, forward-thinking)
• Luxury (Exclusive, premium)
• Authentic (Genuine, trustworthy)
• Dynamic (Energetic, changing)
• Timeless (Enduring, classic)

‍

Now we can see how each words create semantic vectors, mental directions and lead us to converge towards ideas that are understood collectively.

When we experience a Brand, we define and qualify it with words, so let’s define our Semantic Fields, a group of words that will define the brand qualities and definition.
‍

✍️ Next steps

• Create a list defining the Brand Language, when choosing words, distinguish between iconic, indexic and symbolic as well as nouns, verbs and adjectives.

• Refine your vocabulary using Brandy.

• ‍Highlight the most relevant words and assign a score intensity of “rightness” to each words, to sort the words in a new list.

• Constantly ask “Why?” three times in a row for each bucket.
• Seek feedback Does it all make sense? Is it clear?

Don’t overthink it and iterate the process as needed, trust your gut when making decisions.

The Brand Appeal

Ethos, pathos, and logos are rhetoric appeals. We will identify them to create essential strategies to connect with and persuade customers, let's call it our Brand Appeal.

To create a persuasive brand narrative, we need to master these key rhetoric principles:
‍

Logos: Logical Appeal

Logos appeals to the customer's rational side by presenting clear, logical arguments supported by facts and statistics. Brands use reason to emphasize the practical benefits of their products, such as quality, price, or features. Therefore it use Social Proof: Logos appeals to the consumer’s ego, mainly their own perception of their intelligence, positioning the brand as the smart, reasonable, and popular choice, validated by others' experiences.

For instance, a tech company might highlight the technical superiority or cost-effectiveness of its products to appeal to logically-minded consumers.

Ethos embody the Reason in your Brand Language.

‍

Pathos: Emotional Appeal

Pathos connects with the Buyers on an emotional level, using stories, anecdotes, and evocative language that resonate with their feelings and experiences.

Brands use pathos to create emotional bonds with their customers, tapping into feelings like happiness, nostalgia, or fear. Therefore, it convey an Emotional Catalyst: Pathos taps into deep-seated and sometime unconscious emotions, creating strong, often irrational attachments by bypassing logic and speaking directly to the heart.

For example, a charity might use heartwarming stories to connect with potential donors emotionally.

Pathos embody the Emotions in your Brand Language.

‍

Ethos: Credibility and Trust

A Brand Ethos establishes the brand's credibility, authority, and trustworthiness. A brand that successfully leverages ethos is seen as reliable and reputable.

But this is ultimately achieved through the validation of others: a history of quality products, expert endorsements, or a strong ethical stance. Therefore it convey  Social Currency: building trust and authority by aligning with the collective values of the group, reinforced by testimonials, endorsements, and widespread acceptance.

For example, a brand known for its sustainability practices uses ethos to attract customers who value environmental responsibility.

Ethos embody the Personal Values in your Brand Language.

‍

The Appeal Feedback's loop

Notice as social validation embody the three rhetoric appeals. As you are aware, Social validation is key to our Growth Brand Strategy. Because as we saw, The imposition of the group creates what is collectively perceived as valuable by the group.

We want to attract our ideal Buyer, persuade them, and convert them into customers.

‍

➊ Visceral (Pathos) → ➋ Thoughts (Logos) → ➌ Trust (Ethos)

We trigger responses, buyers intellectualize their response and rationalize their choices, once the Brand has delivered on their value, trust ensue.
‍

✍️ Next steps

• For each of the Rhetoric Appeal, Identify how they can benefit in your Value Proposition
• Identify whether you are projecting your own beliefs, experience, desires and biases, if so, are others on board with you?
• Write and place your chosen words within the Rhetoric Appeal Scale page on the support PDF.

‍

The sensorial

Think of it as your Brand delivery Sensorial metaphor.

‍

Tone

The overall mood or feeling conveyed in the brand’s communication (e.g., formal, casual, authoritative, friendly).

‍

Style

The distinctive manner in which the brand communicates, including sentence structure, vocabulary, and phrasing (e.g., concise, elaborate, playful).

‍

Personality

The character traits that the brand's voice embodies (e.g., witty, professional, empathetic), which we can adapt from the Brand’s Archetype and the Brand Avatar

‍

✍️ Next steps

• Write the Sensorial Imprint of your Brand,

Identify how they relate to your Semantic Field.

A brand's identity is a dynamic narrative, constantly evolving through the interplay of rhetoric and archetypal influences.

This narrative must remain consistent and congruent, resonating deeply with consumers across different psychological levels. By understanding and leveraging these elements—ethos, pathos, logos, and mythos—brands can navigate the complexities of human behavior, ensuring they remain relevant, compelling, and resilient in the marketplace.

By crafting the Brand Identity, we build the Brand Syntax and the Brand Grammar that will be the foundation used in our Brand Assets.

‍

‍

‍

‍

‍

aaa