Why some brands move us

Chris Rubin · 2023 · updated 2026-09-25

Do you have a favorite brand? A shoe, or perhaps a car?
Have you ever considered why this brand might be your favorite?

Certain brands win our loyalty and affection. How do they do that? What is that special mix of image and messaging and perception that produces a brand that people love? Psychology can teach us a lot about it.

The way we feel about brands stems from our emotions, but more importantly, from our personalities and specific life experience. At ChrisRubinCreativ, human and social psychology underpins everything we do. One of the oldest and more fundamental personality frameworks, and one that helps us understand how individuals relate to brands, was created by Carl Jung, the Swiss psychiatrist who founded analytical psychology.

Archetypes

Jungian archetypes are universal, mythic characters or personas that embody specific traits, behaviors and values. They are deeply rooted in the human psyche, and they can be used to create powerful emotional connections with customers. The Hero represents courage, strength and the ability to overcome obstacles. The Sage represents wisdom, knowledge and guidance.

Incorporating these archetypes into branding and messaging lets companies tap into the deep psychological needs and desires of their audience, and the research supports the premise. Jennifer Aaker, a marketing professor at Stanford, showed that people reliably attribute human personality traits to brands, and built a scale to measure them.¹ Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson took Jung's archetypes and organized them into the twelve-archetype system most brand strategists now use.²

Building on that system, it helps to view brands through the lens of twelve personality archetypes, and to ask how each might generate authentic emotional resonance with a particular audience. Done well, a brand is a cohesive experience that customers witness and feel whenever they interact with its products or services.

What this means for your brand

As much as we would like to believe that all of our choices are conscious and intentional, most often we are driven by the subconscious. In his book on the subconscious mind of the consumer, Professor Gerald Zaltman pointed out that 95% of all cognition happens in the unconscious mind.³ We can use the work of Jung and Zaltman, among others, to categorize brands in a way that keeps their relatability and unconscious appeal aligned with the organization, its offerings and the audience who would most benefit.

A few teasers to get you thinking.

The Magician: Disney

The Walt Disney brand exists to wow its audience with new and exciting experiences while fulfilling their dreams. It takes fans on a mysterious journey and gives them memorable, magical moments.

The Lover: Chanel

Chanel is about passionate feelings of intimacy and sensual pleasure. Fine leathers, exotic scents. That is what drives affinity and loyalty for Chanel.

The Innocent: Coca-Cola

The Innocent represents the desire for simplicity, goodness and a return to a paradise we half-remember. Coca-Cola's "Open Happiness" campaign, launched globally in 2009, is the cleanest example in modern branding: a tagline that promised joy and simplicity rather than a beverage, imagery of smiling faces and communal moments, a world unmarked by cynicism. The campaign didn't sell refreshment so much as an emotional state, and it read the same in every market because the longing it spoke to is close to universal.

Dove's "Real Beauty," launched in 2004, drew on the same archetype from a different angle: unretouched women of every shape, age and background, and a message of honesty and self-acceptance in place of the industry's narrow standard. Purity, in that campaign, meant being true to oneself.

Differentiation

Brands can also use archetypes to separate themselves from competitors. By choosing an archetype that is unusual in its industry, a brand can stand out and create a distinct identity in customers' minds. A financial services company that aligns with the Magician, for instance, differentiates itself by emphasizing its ability to bring about prosperity for its clients, in a category that mostly speaks as the Ruler or the Sage.

In a culture where every brand wants our attention, it is essential to know and clearly understand your brand's personality. This is one necessary component of a thoughtful, authentic brand identity and positioning.

If your brand strategy is not shaped by this kind of thinking, it's time to take a fresh look. This is about purpose, intention and resonance. We know of no better way to grow an audience, and a business, and we love this stuff.