Exploring the founder's personality

When I guide people on their journey to launching a new brand, product or service, one of the moments I particularly enjoy is discovering who the person behind the initiative is. I always explore with my clients which aspects of their personality they believe are important to be incorporated in the brand identity of their product or service. "It's almost like a conversation with a psychologist," a client recently joked when I asked him which personal characteristics he wanted to include. This exploration to me represents an extremely important step in developing a compelling brand identity though.

Why? Well, it is that authenticity that resonates with your audience. Understanding what your beliefs, your passions, and your drive are forms the foundation that customers connect with emotionally. The functional benefits your products or services can offer is not creating that long-lasting and genuine loyalty to your brand. And today's consumers have good radars for detecting when a brand is merely stating values rather than living them. And so, when your brand reflects some aspects of your personal values and vision, it will hold and create trust. What's more, it will allow the founder to make more intuitive decisions in the future, since the brand values are close to the heart.

Of course, this deep-dive requires genuine rapport and sufficient trust to honestly delve beneath the surface together. And it is important not to take it too far neither. Completely merging your personal identity with your brand does hold risks. Brands that become inseparable from their founders often struggle to scale, face succession challenges, and become vulnerable to personal reputation damage.

Once again, it is a matter of balance. It is about thoughtfully selecting which aspects of yourself to incorporate: some of your core values, your unique perspective, perhaps elements of your personal story and creating a brand with a distinct identity. That allows you to create a brand that embodies your vision yet can grow beyond you and connect with diverse audiences. The most resilient brands carry their founder's essence without being imprisoned by their personality.