If you watch a popular movie or read a best-selling book with your brain turned off, you’ll probably get some déjà vu.
Whether it’s following the hero’s journey, or some eerily familiar character—an unlikely wonder woman finding her stride, a wise-cracking sidekick, or even a calm, motivated villain out to wreak some serious havoc—it’s not necessarily a bad thing if you recognize a pattern from somewhere else.
What we’re saying is that life, like books and movies, scatters unique characters everywhere… and that there are types of characters that we instantly recognize.
In fact, any historian or mythology professor will tell you that certain types of stories and characters appear over and over again in stories told across time and culture, from ancient myths to modern comic franchises.
The highbrow term is archetype, a type of character that appears, behaves, and functions in a certain way… from epic myths to heroes in a graphic novel to stock characters in a blockbuster franchise.
It’s no accident that Captain Jack Sparrow has a lot in common with Han Solo, from his blatant self-preservation to his foolish, underdog bravado to the charm and swagger that fans can’t resist. They’re both light versions of the anti-hero, a bad boy archetype that stretches out to darker examples like Dexter, Tony Soprano, Breaking Bad’s Walter White, and even Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
All good fun—and yes, we know what you’re thinking… what do character archetypes have to do with branding, brand development, or sharpening a brand’s personality?
Much more than you might think.
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A Brief Recap
If you’re just joining us, this is part two of a seven-part series on practical tools for developing an authentic brand and sharing it with the world. Checkout out part one!
Once you've got your organization’s values and vision squared away, the next step is clarifying and expanding on that personality with a brand archetype.
There’s a whole list of archetypes that many branding agencies borrow from. These personas act as models, and sometimes, they lend themselves perfectly to the finer details of a brand's personality.
If you ask us, brand archetypes are perhaps the most helpful tool in our belt for putting handles on how a brand acts, thinks, behaves, functions… and how they can share those remarkable characteristics with everyone.
To dig a little deeper, let’s explore some common examples we find particularly helpful.
But first… a Little More on Archetypes
Before they applied to movie characters, the theory of archetypes was developed by the psychologist Carl Jung, who held that archetypes were innate categories of thought.
He argued that certain archetypal figures formed part of our innate way of categorizing the world.
When we tell stories with one another, the “roles” in our stories are often filled by these archetypal characters—the hero, the anti-hero, the antagonist, the wise guide, or the damsel in distress, respectively. They come with patterns we all instantly recognize.
But this isn’t screenwriting class, and we certainly won’t claim to be accurately representing Jungian theory here (although we do find it interesting). For the purpose of categorizing brands in a helpful way, and drawing on brands we’ve worked with, developed, and sent off into the world, we’ve found these twelve archetypes to be the most helpful.





























The Executive
An ‘Executive’ brand leads with confidence and conviction. It values a clear sense of process and order prioritizing tasks. An Executive brand can express a regal or traditional personality, making sure that the ‘rule of law’ is upheld, and the organization’s processes and values are maintained as an enduring legacy.
On that note, Executive brands love a sense of accomplishment, getting things done, and moving forward.

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