Understanding Brand Archetypes for Accounting Firms

Foreign. Hey, I'm here with Julie Stroud today to talk about brand archetypes, specifically brand archetypes for accounting firms and why they matter and how it can help you with your marketing. So we're just going to jump into it. Julie, what are brand archetypes, and why would a business need to care about it? Specifically, why would an accounting firm want to care about a brand archetype?

So brand archetypes is similar to personality profile in a way. So it gives business the same concepts of understanding, such as a personal personality profile gives us, so we understand our brand better and how to show up and how we interact with our customers.

So with a personality profile, are we talking about the personality of the accounting firm, or are we talking about the personality of their customers? How do those ideas interact?

That's a great question, and it's a common question because it can be a little layered and sometimes a little confusing. But the reason why we want to do this is because it personifies the whole interactions that we have in business. So the concept being, how do we want to show up for our customers? What does our customer expect of the brand? So for a company to determine what their brand archetype is, it all begins with understanding your customer. When we're really clear on what our customer needs and why they're coming to us, for what solutions we offer them, when we really understand what their motives are and we know our customer almost as good as we know our best friend, then we can determine what the archetype should be for our brand. And when we do this, we're creating resonance. So the ideal customers understand what we do. They enjoy it, they want to buy it, they want to tell their friends about it. And they follow this brand because the brand winds up becoming the way that they can achieve their aspirations. And then you've got brand loyalty. Okay, that makes sense.

Yeah, it makes sense. So with, with a brand archetype, is this, is this the same thing as a brand voice? Like the figuring out how you know the tone and the types of things that you, you communicate to your clients, or would you, would you differentiate there?

When you know your brand archetype, it informs how your brand looks and sounds and all the different senses. So if your accounting firms and so forth have customers coming in with a waiting room and so forth, you also want to think about your furnishings. If you've got aromatherapy, if you have snacks, do you serve coffee or sparkling water, all those things. It's a way of personifying the brand and making the brand more human. Like so, yes, first and foremost, it really does start to inform the words that you choose to explain your business. Normally, we start with the website and your presence online, but then it goes from there beyond just the words, all the senses.

When you work with companies figuring out their brand archetype, is, is the process helping them understand who, who they already are, or is it more of a process of figuring out how they should be present, presenting themselves? So are we talking about kind of reinventing a brand or are we just articulating something true that's already present within a company?

Oh, that's a great question. And not when I get asked very often. I would say it's really important to start with the customer. And the nice thing is with an established business, you have a track record of who your typical customer is. So you've already got that data and see what the commonalities are and then really determine who do you want to serve the most as well. You know, what's a better natural fit, you know, what kind of customer needs your services more than others? Where can you maybe charge more? Where's your better margin? And really focus on that customer, develop that customer Persona. And then we can determine, gosh, you've been, you know, showing up in the marketplace as maybe the hero, but that's not quite the right kind of brand archetype for you guys. And then you'd have to determine, are we going to kind of start making some changes and then strategize out how to make that change in terms of your brand personality, perhaps over time, make that change.

So I've, I've looked at some of the materials and things that you've created around brand archetypes. I know that this is a conversation that can go very deep and very wide. It's not, it's not really just a 30 minute conversation. But like, let's dig into a little bit of the, the details around brand archetypes. How do you define them and where do you start when you're working with a business?

All right, I'm glad you asked that because it is sort of like I said earlier, layers. There's a lot to it. At first blush, you're like, oh my gosh, this makes so much sense, let's do it. And then when you get into these conversations, you realize, wow, there really are a lot of questions and determinations. Then how do we implement this? So can I share my screen and show you a couple of things here? I think this will help a lot. So to determine what a brand's archetype is, like I said earlier, we want to take a look and dive deep really into the customer and what the customer's aspirations are, what they want and what do they expect of the brand, how do they want that brand to interact and show up in their life? And so I ask a lot of questions there and those are some good things for you and for your listeners, followers to be thinking of. But let's begin with like the simple access. So I ask those questions when I start plotting on this axis where the answers really lie. So it's on the vertical axis, it's all about risk. So at the top end, you know, when the customer wants something that's lower risk, are they a lower risk person? In which case what they're really seeking is structure, guidance, control. They want their brand that they align with to guide them to safety. On the lower end of the vertical axis, this individual is more risk taking. And what they're really seeking is, you know, they want to leave a legacy, they want to make their mark. And so what comes with that is challenges and, you know, embracing the challenge. And they really want to achieve mastery and be great. So I would ask questions in terms of what, what kind of customer are they for an accounting agency? Do they want to avoid an audit at all costs? So they're willing to maybe pay more to have more services from their CPA to, you know, lower that risk. But on the other end, perhaps the CPA firm, the accounting firm has clients are like, I want to pay the minimum, you know, taxes possible and let's take every single line item we possibly can. So they're going to, you know, be more of a risk taker in order to avoid those taxes. So that would kind of indicate where your customer falls and perhaps then indicate how the brand wants to show up for that customer. Okay, then on the horizontal axis we have where are you on the social attitude scale? So on the right side here I have, you know, are they more independent, your customer, Are they more interested in exploring life's journey? Do they like to learn? Are they seeking fulfillment? Are they more of an explorer? But then on the other side of the spectrum, on the left side we have, you know, is your customer more interested in belonging? Are they interested in pursuing connection? Are they very extroverted on the social attitude scale? So those people are, you know, more about enjoying life, levity, having fun, and a lot of community going on there. So I like to help my brands that I work with, my clients figure out, you know, what their personal predominant archetype is. And then a secondary archetype which adds a little bit more humanity to the brand and a little bit more tone of voice.

Yeah. So let me ask, you've got an accounting firm. I think often their role is to provide safety for their clients. Right. Make sure things are done right. Compliance. The IRS doesn't audit, but their customer might be that like entrepreneurial, risk taking person. So the customer, that's, that's how they see themselves, but they want someone to balance them out. So when you're thinking about a brand's archetype, are we looking for a way to mirror what the customer wants or are we potentially in a situation where it might make sense to balance that out? So this risk taking entrepreneur needs the stable, structured brand and that's how it's positioned. Does that make sense as a question?

Yes, it does. And this is where we start getting into the nuances of this. And it's not so cut and dry. But we don't necessarily want to go. Well, our customers are, you know, the, the outlaw. Okay. Our customers are like renegades and they're out there to change the world and there's maybe a little bit of anger behind what they're doing and they're just, they're like the cowboys, you know, so, but that doesn't mean then that the accounting firm needs to be an outlaw. But they, so it's not mirroring, you know, like, for like it's resonating. So perhaps the accounting firm might want to take on a little bit of that maybe outlaw perspective, you know, their secondary voice. But perhaps their outlaw client has gotten into trouble, taking everything, doing their own taxes and just taking, you know, line item after line item on their tax returns. So perhaps what they're really seeking is I need somebody to rein me in. So then they need, they're, they're looking for an accounting firm that might be in this quadrant up here that's going to give them the controls that they need.

Yeah. So I work with a lot of, a lot of accounting firms are, are positioned pretty generally right. They work with a lot of different types of businesses. Usually they have a few different verticals. You know, we work with restaurants and we work with home care agencies or we work with auto repair shops. But, but they'll work with, you know, all kinds of different businesses. So for a generalist firm, I don't know, I feel like there's a part of, part of this conversation we could almost map out. Here's where a typical accounting firm is going, is going to land because they kind of work with everybody. And so you have to make guesses about what does the majority of the market want. And then I have some clients who are very narrowly positioned, and they know we. We just work with, like, engineer and architecture firms or we work with creative agencies, and they're able to think more specifically about who that customer is. That customer probably has more distinct personality and needs and things like that. And so is that. I mean, when you're thinking about an archetype for a brand, is it important to have a narrow view of who your customer is? Or can you just kind of choose a lane so that you can be distinct even if your customer is more general? That's kind of. Those are a lot of questions all built into one. But what are your thoughts?

Well, I like to tell people that we should know our customers. Like, we know our best friend and. But not. I said customers. What I really mean is customer. What's that one customer that represents the hundreds that you. Or thousands that you serve or that follow you. So we want to figure out the compilation of all your favorite people to work with. That customer Persona represents your customer base, the people that you want to keep attracting and that you work best with and that your products and services are a good match for. So I think that's important to determine that ideal customer. And from there, that backs us into, okay, this is the archetype that we should be as the brand to resonate with that ideal customer.

The risk, right, is that any. Any business and accounting firm is just seen as one of many. They essentially don't have a personality. They don't have a way of showing up in the market that's any different. And so then they just get compared on things like, do I like the colors or the photo on the website, or do I, you know, it's. It's pretty flat in terms of what people see that you mentioned, you know, over and over again, this idea of resonance. They. There's nothing to resonate with. It's just. It's kind of. I don't know. Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but when you. When I think about archetypes, I think it's a way to really add personality and flavor and differentiation to a firm that may be typically seen as just one of many CPAs that could do the same job.

And that's one of the risks we have in today's marketplace because there's so many small businesses. So, yeah, we totally need to differentiate. And then on top of that, I really advocate for some really strong branding. So that your business just rises to the top, you know, and it's not only rising to the top of like, you know, an SEO search, but rises to the top in people's hearts and their minds. And they realize this is the firm for me. As long as I live here or as long as I have this business or as long as I live. These people are filing my taxes because I get them and they get me. Can I show you another slide? Which I think.

Let's look at this.

Yeah. So after you determine, you know, where do you basically fall on this scale based on what your customers are telling you and how you want to show up in their lives too? That's the other side of this coin, is it's not only driven by what's the customer telling us they want from us, but how do we want to be for them. Once we kind of can plot this on the scale, then you can start figuring out even more from there. What's your personality? So we've got four quadrants then. So of the. And it's all based on motive and desire. So the motive here was about the risk taking. These people want more structure. That's what they're seeking. But within that, there's these different desires. So the caregiver and I think a lot of your brands, a lot of our accounting firms are going to fall in this area. People want that structure. They want somebody else to do their taxes and get it done right for them. So we've got the caregiver and that personality is really interested in service. They want to be served. Sometimes they're also called the mom. So that's kind of what they bring, is that warmth and that caring. And then we've got the creator and their core desires about innovation. I don't know how exactly that could apply for some accounting firms. There might be a few out there that, you know, they're like, we have innovative ways of accomplishing this.

Yeah, we. I don't know, maybe this fits or doesn't, but we have some accounting firms where their, their value proposition is. We're going to help you figure this out. Like we're.

You.

You don't have time to, to think about how to run the finances in your business. And so we're going to, we're going to dig into that and we're going to be proactive about finding opportunities for you to save money or, you know, I don't. There might be other archetypes that fit that better, but.

And the other piece about the creator is they're very high on design. So, you know, perhaps there's some accounting firms that want to appeal to artists, entrepreneurs, marketing people, designers, things like that. So that's where the creator could, could come in there in terms of who they're serving and what they're about. The last piece in this quadrant would be the ruler. And, and the ruler's core desire is control. So your customers may not necessarily be the ruler themselves, but that's what they're seeking is I don't want to deal with this. I want to have you guys do my bookkeeping and just take care of all the financial end of my life, my business. The nice thing about the ruler is you can charge more per hour, your services are higher because it's oftentimes viewed as a more premier brand. Rolex, Mercedes, those are ruler brands.

So with the ruler you mentioned, so we're in the structure quadrant, it's a, it's a more premium kind of controlled piece. Right. The. I think that would, that does make sense for a lot of accounting firms. These archetypes types though sometimes we get our own ideas, right. Like I'm an accounting firm, I don't want to rule over my, my clients. Right.

How do you talk about the shadow side of this? This is what we're getting into, the psychology of all this. So, you know, the shadow side of the ruler could be like lording over people. And that's where sometimes we can have like a poor concept of what this is. So we want to steer clear of that. But you know, you can utilize some of that in marketing in terms of maybe we're going to keep you lording over you.

Sure. Yep. We're going to keep you in line though. Like we're going to keep you accountable and make things don't go off the rails.

But you know, the other side of the ruler is, you know, like for an accounting firm, they can be talking about a concierge service, you know, things of that nature, you know, white glove, you know, we will verify all the details. All you have to do is sign your name, you know, things like that. And then of course, what carries with all of those, you know, add on services is a higher fee. So it really can work very nicely for a lot of accounting firms. But we don't want all accounting firms to fall in this category because then again, they're all going to be the same.

Exactly.

I don't know if you want me to go all the way around the entire wheel. I'm not certain.

I was thinking, you know, the other a term that comes Up a lot for business owners is this idea of legacy. So we've got this legacy quadrant here. So I'm thinking about the customers of an accounting firm. A lot of business owners, I know, you know, a lot of family businesses. It's like handing down one to the next. That's what I think of when I think of legacy. So maybe what do you, what do you mean by legacy? And how does that play out in some of those archetypes?

Yeah, so on the other side is this quadrant then, and these individuals, these, these customers are willing to take more risks because on the other side of that is mastery. You know, you got to be willing to do something crazy like jump out of a plane in order to, you know, have that incredible experience. And on the other side, talk about it. So these folks, you know, are willing to take more risks. And sometimes that appeals to, in marketing, more DIY people are willing to roll up their sleeves and get the work done themselves. Not always, but that can be one play in marketing with this, these archetypes. So the hero, their, their core desire is mastery. They want to be masterful. They believe in themselves. And one of the big messages there is, you can be great. I, and I can show you how because I'm living my best life. So if your customer is that maybe that's a tone or, you know, a part of the archetype that the accounting firm might want to take on now. The magician. Their core desire is power. So, for instance, if they, if it's a person or a customer, that promises a transformation. And so if the accounting firm is working with a business that offers an incredible transformation, you know, it may be something for them to consider as their own. Or the accounting firm can say, we provide this incredible transformation for our customers. They're bogged down by the details. Work with us. You're free from that.

This might be a good, this might be a good archetype for say, maybe a firm that special specializes in things like mergers and acquisitions, where there's got to be a big, like, turnover or change of the way. Maybe a couple companies are coming together and they need to figure out how to, you know, bring their, their finances together and create something new. Or if they're, they're turnaround like they, they come in when, when companies are failing. Like the fundamentals of, you know, we've got a great product are here, but we just can't make any money. We don't know why. We don't know what's happening here. A firm that specializes in like, turning around A business might be a good magician. Archetype.

Yes, good idea. Absolutely. That's a, that's a good correlation there. Lastly, in this quadrant would be the outlaw. And I mentioned a little bit about the outlaw earlier. The outlaw's core desire is revolution. The way they accomplish that sometimes is by demolishing something and, you know, creating a new way. So there's a little bit of edge to that outlaw. And so what I immediately think of is this notion of let's, you know, take every single line item we can on my taxes, you know, because there's that little bit of anger, like, let's stick it to the government.

Yeah. And I, and I've heard from my accounting firm clients, they, they have customers like that where there are some customers that say, I want you. Like they'll pay more money in order to make sure that the IRS gets less. Like even if it's, you know, just because it's more of an attitude thing. And so there is kind of that, that outlaw. So if you have a lot of clients or customers that are maybe in that. And I'm sure there are certain industries that tend to have more of that type of customer that might be, that might be good. On the other hand, you know, this, that might be. If I was working with a brand, that would be one I would think carefully about for an accounting firm. Because this idea of, because of the fiduciary responsibility. Yep. They don't want it. They don't want to be promising something that they can't legally deliver on.

Right. But here's a way that they might be able to integrate some of that to resonate with their outlaw client. An accounting firm might consider taking on the outlaw as their. I like to talk to people about having two archetypes. A primary, which about 70% of your personality and then about 25, 30%. A little bit of tone of voice of a second archetype. So perhaps an accounting firm could say we're just gonna put a little bit of outlaw in there to appeal to our ideal customers. You know, let's.

Can we just talk about one more. Maybe not the full, the full quadrant, but this idea of the, like every guy, every gal. You know, I think a lot of business owners, especially in certain industries, let's say construction, you know, contractors are, are big in that area. Again like auto repair, kind of more blue collar businesses. That's a big, that can be a big. There's a lot of, there's a lot of those little shops and businesses. So a lot of accounting firms have A good book of those types of clients, talk through what, what that looks like and, and maybe how an accounting firm might create resonance with that sort of archetype.

Okay, so the every guy, every gal, the every person, their motive is to connect so they're more social, more extroverted. But in particular, the every person is interested in belonging. Sorry, I blanked out there. Belonging. They don't want to stand out, which is. Poses a problem in marketing sometimes if you're going to take on the every guy. But, but what if your accounting firm reaches, you know, wants to resonate with the construction company of the every Main Street USA business? Okay, so that's the part that appeals to the every person is, you know, we're neighbors, you know, we're friendly, we want to connect with you. Maybe they would do their taxes in person with them. It wouldn't all be done electronically. Something like we're never going to see you or bother you would not appeal to the every.

Yeah.

So Chevy is an every, every person brand.

Yeah. What, what I think of is firms that have a really strong local presence, you know, rather than maybe a narrow niche of, you know, we work with, you know, restaurants anywhere, anywhere in the country or we work with, we work with marketing firms or something like that. This would be, we work with small businesses in such and such county that could be a strong archetype because all.

The mom and pops on Main Street.

So this is, this is super interesting conversation. What I kind of want to end with, what are the, what are the benefits? Like why, why should a company go through this process? That's maybe part A of the question and then part B is how closely do you adhere? You know, once you've decided on an archetype. Is this, is this something you mentioned? It can permeate in a lot of different areas, but how do you go about implementing that, integrating it into your marketing and the way that you do business?

Then after you have chosen, you know, this is, this is who we are as a brand, then you want to take a look at all of your marketing collateral and the way the brand, the presence of the brand online. A lot of people think branding is the logo, but branding is so much more than your logo. I'm a brand strategist, but I'm not a graphic designer because there's so much to branding you want to take a look at, you know, the substance of your brand, the internal part of the brand. You know, what, what is the accounting firm's mission and vision, the business purpose, you know, the words that you use for recruiting more staff, training those staff so that the brand is as true internally as well as what the general public season experiences. So it continues on until, you know, you sell the business, perhaps, or until you retire and maybe close up shop. So it just continues on. And that's important too, because one other big element of marketing is the customer journey. We want that customer journey, you know, from year to year as they have, you know, an annual, you know, financial review, and then there are taxes quarterly and bookkeeping monthly, and all of the times they interact with the agency or the firm to be true, to be the same experience again and again. So brand archetypes is part of brand strategy, and it goes on forever.

Let me pose one more question. I work with a lot of brands who have invested heavily in things like a website or the logo and the brand book, the style guide, without going through this sort of process of identifying who their brand archetype is. So they approach it more from like a visual branding perspective or something else. What's your advice to a company that feels like, you know, we are. We're kind of locked in to this brand from a. From a visual or the way that we've kind of presented ourselves in the past? We're not, but we're not sure if it matches with our archetype or not. Do you have any advice for those sorts of situations?

I don't think there's any reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. You know, there's never a wrong time or a better, more ideal time to address this. You know, there might be some instances where you're realizing there's a whole, whole customer segment or a whole new way of providing services that we want to get into, or, you know, we're just tired of working with this kind of customer. Those are all signals. And it's time to, like, engage with a strategist and start making some fresh decisions. And then you make these decisions and you start implementation over a period of time, you know, but there's never a wrong time to dive deeper into more about who our customer is. I always say the more you know about your customer, the stronger your business is going to be.

Yeah.

Where does this all begin on the whole topic of who's our customer and what they're all about. It'll make your business a stronger business for sure.

That's a great place to kind of circle back to and maybe end on is this idea that when you understand your customer, you can understand your business better, because it is this kind of circular Thing where you're understanding what is it that they need and want, what is it that we provide? And if as a brand, you spend too much time just focusing on the services or the products that you're offering, and you're not talking to your customer, you're not engaging with what they actually need, it can be a lot of wasted effort. And so it always has to be this kind of circular. I don't know, I think of like an infinity loop of customer brand, and they inform each other back and forth.

In the end, marketing is communication back and forth. It is, you know, between the customer and the business or, you know, the brand and the customer Persona goes back and forth and back and forth. So the conversation never really ends.

Yeah, it's not a monologue, it's a dialogue. Well, this is great. Do you have any last thoughts? Let's say someone wants to start thinking through their archetype for their business. What are. What are the first steps that they would take? Is this something they can do on their own, or should they be trying to find someone who can. Who can work with them on their brand archetype?

Well, I love to read and I love to always pass off a really great title for somebody.

So.

Yeah, this sounds interesting. One of the best books actually have right here, the Hero and the Outlaw. Okay. By Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson. This is the bible on brand archetypes. So if this is fascinating, it is kind of a thicker book, but it's not a hard read. This is a great place to start. And if you're reading this, you're thinking, this is really fascinating. I can see applications, and they do give examples of how to utilize this in marketing for your business. Then I would suggest that you get with a story brand guide and go through the process of clarifying your message. I've created tools and training for, you know, within the story brand community. I'm helping other story brand guides really see how these two things fit together perfectly. So get with the story brand guide who can clarify your message and preferably one who will take that message. Once you got that down pat, you're part of the way toward figuring out the brand archetype. And then we really can start honing the tone of voice for your brand. And then from there, the look, the feel, the experience of the brand.

Yeah. Well, Julie, thank you again. This has been a great conversation. I think we'll leave it there. Where can we find you? Are you active online, social medias, those sorts of things?

Thanks. Yeah, so I'm the owner of Bright Brand B R I g h t brand.com and I'm pretty active on LinkedIn as well. @ T Julie Stroud, Bright Brand.

Okay, well, we'll talk to you later then. Thanks again.

All right, take care.

This podcast, Marketing for Accounting Firms, is brought to you by Benchmark Growth Marketing, a marketing agency that helps accounting firms get more calls books through their website. You can find us atbenchmark growth marketing.com Connect with me Matt Banker on LinkedIn.