There are many different ways to look at and define a company’s brand. My personal favorite is covered in the book The Hero and The Outlaw, written by Margaret Mark and Carol S. Pearson, Ph.D. This hefty tome outlines a system for identifying brands by comparing them to archetypal personalities.
So what’s an archetype? Well, it’s a universally understood symbol or pattern of behavior that’s used in myths and storytelling across different cultures. It’s sort of like a stereotype or a generic personality.