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What is a Brand Persona?
As discussed on this website, a basic element of modern day marketing is to segment the market and select appropriate target markets. The marketer then designs the firm’s marketing strategy to meet the needs of the selected target market.
A brand persona is a representation or description of a consumer in the firm’s selected target market. The brand persona describes the consumer quite broadly, both in terms of their personal situation and lifestyle, as well as their purchasing behavior and attitudes.
While the final description is based upon market research data and findings, the scope of the brand persona is likely to include:
- Male/female,
- Age range,
- Education and occupation,
- Marital status and presence of children,
- Purchasing behavior and frequency,
- Retailer choice
- Brand preference and extent of loyalty,
- Price sensitivity,
- Benefits sought, and so on.
A good way to think about a brand persona is to answer the question: “How do you describe the typical consumer in the target market?”
A Brand Persona Name
As the main role of a brand persona is to bring the target market “to life” in order to aid marketing decisions, it is usual to name the brand persona as if it was a real person and even describe the consumer’s personality – with the goal of creating a real person to better understand and consider the consumer and their needs.
An example of a brand persona
In this example, let’s assume that the brand persona has been developed for the restaurant industry.
Julie is in her late 20’s, has a degree in business and is pursuing a career in the finance sector. She is single and has no children and shares an apartment in the city with a friend.
Julie has a good income and enjoys eating out most nights, as she prefers not to cook. When choosing a restaurant for dinner, she seeks variety and likes to try new places on occasion. But she generally sticks to the same 5-10 local restaurants that she eats at on most nights – often with friends and sometimes she gets take away food to take home.
Her ideal restaurant is local, nicely presented with friendly staff, with an Asian cuisine that is priced affordably for a frequent diner.
“Paint a picture” of the typical consumer
As you can see from the quick brand persona example, the general idea of a brand persona (like a segment profile) is to “paint a picture” of the typical consumer in the target market. While Julie does not exist in real life, she provides a good summary of the target market.