What do you think of when you hear the name Steve Jobs?

• Black turtle neck; round glasses; jeans; New Balance sneakers
• Great speaker; reality distortion field; laser focus

The first bullet point covers physical attributes.

The second bullet point covers personality traits.

Steve Jobs built these associations through consistency. Over and over wearing the same uniform and behaving in a consistent way.

This is how brand attributes are anchored in the customer's mind.

It is no different with brands.

Brand Attributes: Depends on Brand

What should my brand attributes include?

It depends.

Brands with a physical product need significantly different brand attributes than brands with digital products.

To start ask yourself the following questions:

• What is my product/service/brand?
• Through which touchpoints are my customers interacting with the product/service/brand?

A good example is Mailchimp.

Mailchimp: Digital Product with Focus on Writing

Mailchimp is a marketing platform for small businesses.

Their first product was an email newsletter software. The goal: give small businesses an easy way to communicate with their customers in writing.

Writing is the name of the game.

Mailchimp has put together a Content Style Guide, which outlines the most important aspects of their brand.

The guide outlines the different brand attributes:

• Physical attributes: Grammar and Mechanics; Creating Structured Content; etc.
• Personality traits: Voice and Tone; Writing Goals and Principles; etc.

For Mailchimp writing is the main touchpoint.

That's why their brand attributes focus heavily on all aspects of the written word.

Bottomline: Brand Attributes Should Focus on the Main Touchpoints

Brand attributes are physical attributes and personality traits.

If a brand remains consistent, these attributes become associations in the customer's mind.

First, understand how your brand interacts with the customer.

Then, choose wisely and remain consistent.

🎨

This post is an excerpt from my online course Fundamentals of Brand Strategy where you learn how to build successful brands.

The self-paced online course contains 5 hours of video material and teaches you how to use the Brand Pyramid.

You can hit me up on twitter. DMs are open.

Further Reading

• The Brand Identity Prism and How It Works (How Brands Are Built) - One of the most comprehensive frameworks for brand attribute generation.
• The Brand Identity Prism: What It Is and How to Use It (99designs)

Short Excerpts from the Course

These posts are short snippets of the course curriculum 👇

• A Pragmatic Look at Branding: What Is a Brand?
• Touchpoints and Brand Strategy: How do We Build Associations?
• Positioning and Differentiation: How to Stand Out as a Brand?
• Brand Vision: What Is the World That Could Be?
• Brand Purpose: Why Bother?
• Brand Promise: How to Communicate in One Statement?
• Mission Statement: How Do You Do It?
• Brand Attributes: How Does the Brand Present Itself?
• Frame of Reference: Where Is the Brand Placed?
• Target Customer: Who Is Your Audience?
• Customer Need: What Is Their Real Job-to-be-Done?
• Value Proposition: What Are You Offering?
• Reasons-to-Believe: What Are Your Proof Points?