Brand Personality Test

Maybe it’s the fog and chill of today’s Colorado summer mountain rain, but I’m feeling all deep and existential.
Who are we? How are we known? How do the attributes by which we are known help others understand and connect with us?  
It’s not a novel concept to note that we are all different and that our differences derive from the particularities or our genetics, past experiences and choices. The same is true organizations of people. Over the years, I’ve worked with more than thirty colleges and universities engaged in the same types of work with the same basic sets of people and yet each institution is different—sometimes vastly different—from its peers as a result of its own strategic genes, legacy and choices. Each has its own personality.
I was reminded of a tool I developed and used with for-profit clients several years ago. Each of these clients had been in business long enough to have developed their own corporate personality. I had been called upon to clarify and focus their brand strategy and so I developed a brand personality assessment as a part of the research we did with their existing customers. It was a fun and insightful way to get at the relationship an organization has with its constituents in a manner that goes much deeper than simple conversations about advertising campaigns, recognition and recall.
Want to try it? This is how the brand personality assessment works. Think of your organization as though it were an individual person. For example, if you worked for the powerhouse athletic apparel company Nike, try to envision “Nike” as a friend of yours; what do you know to be true of Nike? What types of things would be authentic expression of who Nike is? What would seem false?
Now it’s your turn. Instead of “Nike,” conjure up the name and associations that come to mind when you think of your own or another organization you know well. Remember to try to think of the organization as though it were an individual person, than answer some of the questions from the original brand personality assessment.
1. Where in the line-up of siblings was this person born?
Oldest      Middle     Youngest     Only Child

2. What kind of vehicle does this person drive?
_____SUV (that actually gets taken off-road from time to time)
_____Mini-van
_____Buick
_____Harley
_____A hybrid car

3. What kind of living space does this person have?
_____A downtown loft
_____A home large enough for a guestroom for elderly parent
_____A townhouse
_____A modest brick home
_____A teepee on a commune

4. What is this person’s favorite place to eat out? 
     _____IHOP
     _____The cool new bar downtown
     _____The artsy new bistro with tiny portions on large, oddly shaped plates
     _____Chiles
     _____Somewhere organic and local

5. What is this person’s favorite music?
     _____Jazz
     _____Pop
     _____World music (i.e. foreign music)
     _____Classic Rock
     _____Classical

6. This person was born in ________ (pick one of the following cities that best represents the company’s personality.)
     _____Des Moines
     _____Seattle
     _____Venice, Italy
     _____Minneapolis
     _____Boston

7. On a major holiday, this person would be most likely to:
     _____Host the traditional meal at their home, make all the food from scratch
     _____Go to Aspen for a ski vacation
     _____Agree to come to your house for dinner and ask what they can bring
     _____Drink too much and get a little sloppy
     _____Do their holiday shopping at the last minute at 24-hour drugstore

8. It’s your birthday, this person…
     _____Bakes you a cake
     _____Surprises you with an adventure road trip
     _____Treats you to lunch
     _____Sends you a belated card (as usual)
     _____Completely forgets

9. You have a personal crisis, this person….
     _____Comes right over to your home with a meal and a card
     _____Takes you rock climbing to get your mind off of it
     _____Sends flowers
     _____Listens to you talk, but gets distracted
     _____Doesn’t return your call

10. You haven’t seen each other in a while. Who calls first?
     You       Him/Her

11. When you communicate with this person, you usually feel:
     _____Included in the discussion
     _____Like he/she expects you to read his/her mind
     _____Like he/she won’t shut up and let you get a word in edgewise
     _____Stupid! You feel you struggle to understand what he/she is saying
     _____Other (please explain)

12. If you were back in high school, this person would best be described as…
     _____The popular kid that everyone admired and/or hated
     _____The intelligent kid that had a circle of friends and no specific enemies
     _____The class nerd that everyone made fun of
     _____The druggy/stoner that broke the rules and scared people a little
     _____Who? (The loner no one really knew)

​Interesting, isn’t it? What did you learn as you thought about the organization’s brand personality? I’d love to hear your insights. I’d also love to hear any new questions you’d like to see added to the assessment.
Kyndra Wilson, KW Brand Translation