Advertising creatives and brand personality: A grounded theory perspective

Abstract

This paper investigates the nature of the dialogue between marketers and consumers, and in particular, considers some aspects of the effect of the personality of agency creatives (those who develop and design advertising) on that dialogue. The research was conducted with eight advertising creatives and one branding consultant, and all were encouraged to talk about their experiences in creating and interpreting brand personalities. They were asked to indicate what kind of animal they most resembled personally, and how this had affected their approach to their creative work. The creatives were also asked to bring samples of their best work, a task which they interpreted as meaning samples of their favourite work. This encouraged discussion about the relationship between the individual and the communication. The responses made it apparent that the personalities of creatives impact on the final brand personality firstly insofar as the creatives will tend to produce work that reflects their own personalities, and secondly insofar as clients will tend to choose agencies that have similar brand personalities to those of the brand being promoted.