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 How to Use Archetypes in Brand Positioning?




Archetypes have an important position in brand positioning strategies. Archetype is a concept introduced to psychology by Carl Gustave Jung. Jung considers the psyche (spirit) in two parts, conscious and unconscious. The unconscious is further subdivided into the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious. Archetypes are the core structures at the foundation of the collective unconscious. It is the images in the collective unconscious that organize the perceptions of individuals and regulate and develop their conscious contents. According to Jung's transfer, there are various archetypes such as mother, father, shadow, anima, and animus.

While carrying out brand positioning strategies, archetypes, whose theoretical framework was put forward by Carl Gustave Jung, are used. Some of the strategy schools claim that it is healthier to use a single archetype in positioning brands, while others claim that it is healthier to use two archetypes. According to the results of the analyses made by Imperial College London for more than 2400 brands; it has been observed that strong brands use more than one archetype at the same time. It is possible to say that these strategic approaches of the schools, which think that it is healthy for each brand to identify with an archetype, have begun to lose their validity in the conditions of the age.

According to another finding obtained from the same analysis; Brands that own a single archetype make up only 2 percent of all brands reviewed. In this context, it is concluded that the majority of the brands examined use more than one archetype. It is known that among the brands that use more than one archetype, there are also brands that focus more on one archetype and use other archetypes as supporters as they delve deeper into the storytelling.

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