by alexandra c.warrington

Alexandra Warrington The Importance of Imprints and Archetypes in Global Branding

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THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPRINTS AND ARCHETYPES IN GLOBAL BRANDING

By

ALEXANDRA C.WARRINGTON

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2013


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Table of Contents

Abstract ................................................................................................................................... 3

Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 4

The Importance of Imprints to Branding .............................................................................. 5

The Importance of Archetypes to Branding ......................................................................... 9

The Importance of the Culture Code in International Marketing ...................................... 21

Case Study ............................................................................................................................ 28

Implications for Further Research ...................................................................................... 32

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 33

References ............................................................................................................................. 36


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Abstract

The purpose of this literature review is to show the importance of archetypes and

imprints in consumer’s perceptions and global branding. Archetypal brand is an

important trend in marketing that emphasizes the importance of archetypes and imprints

in branding. It allows marketers to be apprehensive of cultural difference and mindsets

by looking at the “cultural conscious.” This has become an especially important topic

due to the increased lines of communications and the increased globalization of

companies today. Research discussed in this literature review highlights the importance

of utilizing imprints and cultural archetypes in building relationships with consumers and

transforming brands into icons. I began my research for this review with Clotaire

Rapaille’s The Culture Code and his discussion of the cultural mindset. From there I

began to research case studies, theories, and research about the role imprints and

archetypes play in branding and actual examples of companies that have successful

utilized archetypes. From my research I found the importance of aligning company with

a single archetype from the product offered, customer experiences, marketing

communication, etc. Also, I found a clear relationship between long-term financial

success and alignment with a single archetype. Additionally, I found the opportunity for

business to utilize their knowledge of cultural archetypes and imprint strategies to adapt

their branding strategies in different cultures. I believe the research presented in this

review has strong brand management implications that open the door to further

research about the important of archetypes in creating brand icons and synergy in all

segments of a company’s brand message.


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THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPRINTS AND ARCHETYPES IN GLOBAL BRANDING

By

Alexandra Warrington

May 2013

Chair: Dr. Richard Lutz

Advisor: Dr. Cynthia Morton

Major: Bachelors in Business Administration, Marketing

Introduction Recently, a new methodology for conducting market research and developing

marketing strategy has developed. The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung coined the term

archetype. Carl Jung defined archetypes as “ancient or archaic images that derive from

the collective unconscious” and “recurring image, pattern, or motif representing a typical

human experience” (Jungian Archetypes, 2013). The collective conscious is separate

from the individual conscious because it was never conscious, but is purely acquired

from hereditary and cultural imprints. This collective conscious creates models of

people, personalities, and behavior. Jung came up with five basic archetypes: the self,

the shadow, the anima, the animus, and the personal. Since Jung’s original findings,

there have been additional archetypes added to the list: the Sage, the Innocent, the

Explorer, the Ruler, the Creator, the Caregiver, the Magician, the Hero, the Outlaw, the

Lover, the Jester, and the Regular guy/girl.

Archetypal branding, which is a disciplinary in marketing that works to categorize

brands into certain archetypes and focuses on utilizing universal archetypes to build

brands as a whole, has discovered the benefits of utilizing universal archetypal imprints


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in developing brands to customer loyalty. By playing to certain archetypes, brands have

been able to use a consistent brand message in their global marketing and to build a

strong and emotional relationship with their customers. Researchers also have found

advantages in consistently following a certain archetype to go beyond just marketing

communications, but also to products offered, company culture, and even company

leadership as well. Companies fitting a certain archetype have benefitted from greater

financial success and have been able to build more dominant global brands relative to

brand with less defined, if not “confused” archetypes.

The purpose of this exploration is to examine the origins of archetypes and their

relevance in the context of global branding. In doing so, the paper will present literature

that supports the importance of archetypes and imprints in consumers’ perceptions and

global branding, as well as the benefits-- both financially and competitively -- to

companies that utilize them. By its conclusion the discussion attempts to build an

argument substantiating the importance of “archetype consciousness” in global

branding in order to gain a competitive advantage beyond product attributes or pricing

and distribution strategies..

The Importance of Imprints to Branding

The author Graeme Newell in the article “Marketing Without Words- The Power

of Emotional Attachment to Branding” discusses the importance of brands in creating an

emotional attachment and relationships with their consumers. By creating these

relationships we make it easier for customers to recognize and imprint the brands into

their psyche:“ Most brands are easy to describe. Lexus is about opulence. Harley is

about rebellion. Krispy Kreme is about indulgence” (Newell, 2011). These


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aforementioned brands have built their marketing efforts and company around these

brand characteristics and have imprinted themselves into the mind of not only their

customers, but of their target market as a whole.

What makes brands like Samsung and MasterCard strong is the emotional

foundation that they have built with their customers. By doing this, these brands have

transcended their marketing strategies beyond the “confines of their product category”

and have moved beyond the product attributes and value (Newell, 2011). They have

transformed their “product attribute into a consumer feeling” (Newell, 2011). These

consumer feelings create emotional attachments to brands, which can then lead to

brand loyalty. By creating these connections, companies can create brand advocates

and lifetime consumers.

Brands like Louis Vuitton and McDonalds have built such strong brands, that the

brands have begun to take “on an almost human- like identity” and just like humans,

they are “hard to describe but easy to experience” (Newell, 2011). And just like people

these brands have created such strong feelings with their consumers that are so much

beyond their material attributes.

Newell cites Coca Cola as an example of a powerful brand with a strong

emotional connection with its consumers. Coca-Cola has been able to build its brand by

creating an image “that showcases the special moments shared around a Coke” and

has engrained itself deeply into the minds of its consumer base: “In essence, the drink

has stopped being a beverage, and has become a Pavlovian emotional trigger for the

deepest human affections associated with family and friends” (Newell, 2011). And Coca

Cola does this by centering all of its advertisements around special times with family


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and friends. By using this theme, the company has been able to create a brand image

that is adaptable across the world, cultures, and demographics, which is the reason that

Coke has become such an amazing global brand. (Newell, 2011)

The main takeaway from Newell’s article is that when branding a product, it is

more important to brand the consumer experience than it is to brand the actual product.

By using such a branding strategy, companies are able to differentiate themselves from

competitors and can use the emotional attachments and imprints as a competitive

advantage.

In the article “Getting Emotional About Brands,” McEwen (2004) discusses the

resurgence of the importance of consumer emotions when it comes to marketing and

branding strategies for marketers. This is due to the fact that consumers base their

decision partly because of the emotional connections that they may have with that

brand. McEwen cites the new peaked interest in customer retention and experience as

the reason for the rising interest in building brand emotional connections. Marketers are

trying to move from simple customer retention to customer loyalty in order to receive the

financial and reputational benefits of life loyal customers.

Brands such as Harley Davidson, eBay, and Starbucks have been able to create

strong connections and loyalty with their consumer base. McEwen (2004) asserts that

emotional connections can help both brand categories that can be easily classified in an

emotional category (i.e. fashion, shoes, cars) as well as brand categories that can not

(i.e. cleaning products, office supplies, etc.). Despite the several examples that exist

about the importance of emotional ties and imprinting, the exact strategy and reasons

behind the success of brands is still very elusive to brand managers (McEwan, 2004).


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Global survey research conducted by Gallup Management (2005) revealed the

following:

• Companies in product categories that are not typically viewed as emotional products

can utilize emotional connections. Many consumers become emotional about their

checking accounts, cereal, etc.

• Inherently, consumers are neither emotional nor unemotional about product categories.

It is in fact the power of the brands that give a product category the perception of being

emotional or unemotional to a customer.

• Emotional connections or imprints of brands in consumers are financially significant to

companies because fully engaged customers are significantly more profitable than

unengaged ones. This justifies brand managers’ rationale to increase interaction with

their customers at the different touch points.

• The company must be dedicated to maintaining the emotional connection that a

customer has with the brand. According to McEwan (2004) emotional connections are

not static; rather “they ebb and flow, and the results can affect a company’s long-term

business success. Emotional connections can be measured. They can be enhanced.

And they can be managed. It’s not easy, but it’s demonstrably possible.”

The evidence from research suggests that building a deep relationship with its

consumers has become imperative to a brand’s survival today. It also plays a huge role

in the potential success a brand may have globally and the importance of creating brand

message/experiences that can be translated across cultures (McEwan, 2004). So if

brand imprints are important to brand competitiveness, how does the investment in


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archetypes raise a brand’s value further. The next section addresses the concept

underlying brand archetypes and its influence on brand equity.

The Importance of Archetypes to Branding

The article, “Branding 101: 12 Brand Archetypes,” discusses the importance of

Jungian Archetypes in the crafting of brands. The author defines a brand archetype as

“a genre you assign to your brand, based upon symbolism” and its purpose is “to anchor

your brand against something iconic – something already embedded within the

conscious and subconscious of humanity” (“Branding 101: 12 Brand Archetypes”,

2013). By aligning the company with a brand archetype, it makes the brand easier to

build and identity for both the company itself and its consumers.

The “Branding 101” article gives good insight into the twelve basic brand

archetypes and how modern companies have created successful brands with strong

consumer bases using archetypes. By aligning products with these characteristics,

companies are able to create global brands with images that translate well across

cultures, languages, and beliefs (“Branding 101: 12 Brand Archetypes”, 2013). The

article lists twelve brand archetypes: the Sage, Innocent, Explorer, Ruler, Creator,

Caregiver, Magician, Hero, Outlaw, Lover, Jester, and Regular Guy/Girl (Figure 5 shows

a table created by Mark & Pearson (2001) of the 12 archetypes and a profile description

for each archetype). It also goes into depth describing the characteristics and examples

of modern brand archetypes.

Two specific brand archetypes commonly applied to brand marketing are the

creator and the hero. The article describes the creator as a promoter of self-expression

that gives customers options and works to facilitate innovation. This is usually reflected


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by a creative organization with a creative culture. Examples of creator brands include

Crayola, Sony, and Lego. (“Branding 101: 12 Brand Archetypes”, 2013)

In the article the Hero is described as a solver of major social problems or

encourages others to do so. Hero brand archetypes often paint themselves as underdog

or challenger brands. Brands that apply the hero archetype appeal to customers by

making them feel like good and moral citizens of society. Examples of hero archetypes

include Nike Shoes and the Superman brand as a whole. (“Branding 101: 12 Brand

Archetypes”, 2013)

In the article “Using Archetypes to Build Stronger Brands”, Grutzner (2011)

describes the role that archetypes can play in creating brands: “Companies can develop

their brand strategies by identifying the ‘archetypal’ story that best expresses their

brand experience.” He defined archetypes as “ the universal ideas or characters [he]

found appearing consistently in dreams and stories from cultures around the world”

(Grutzner, 2011).

This collective consciousness can be seen in parallel folklores around the world,

that tell stories of the “Hero” like the stories of Sampson, Superman, and Achilles. “The

power of identifying a brand with one of these timeless stories is that the story already

exists deep within our subconscious – it does not need to be created. The task for the

brand is to simply evoke the story with cues if it

does this well, the brand will also evoke the

emotion that consumers seek to derive from the

brand” (Grutzner, 2011).

Figure 1: (Grutzner, 2011)


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Aligning a brand with an archetype can be the difference between a brand’s

success in the marketplace and its failure. Grutzner cites a study conducted by Stewart

(2001), which found that brands that aligned themselves with one of the twelve

archetypes typically had higher economic value added to their brand over a six-year

time frame than those brands that did not align themselves or aligned themselves with

multiple brands (Figure 1). For instance, Coca Cola has built a powerful brand by

aligning itself with the innocent archetype, which helps its consumers “believe there is

an innocence and virtue about the brand” (Grutzner, 2011). Pepsi on the other hand

used to align itself with the jester archetype with humorous and entertaining

advertisements. Most recently, Pepsi has changed their ad style and has tried to

become more like Coca Cola, with the campaign tag line “Refresh everything.”

However, this move has resulted in market share loss for the company. This example

from Pepsi shows how long lasting brand imprints can be and the difficulty behind

shifting them. It also shows the importance of companies continuously aligning

themselves with a certain brand archetype and the financial and marketing risks of not

doing so.

Another example is the battle between Wal-Mart and Target. Target over the past

few years has continued to take away Wal-Mart’s market share. Target has aligned

itself with the Creator archetype, while Wal-Mart when it first opened aligned itself with

the Regular Guy (profiles for these archetypes can be found in Figure 5). As Wal-Mart

continued to grow, customers began to align it with the ruler archetype. This caused

Wal-Mart to lose significant market share to Target, but the retailer was able to rebound

sales when it changed its tagline to “Save money. Live better.”


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While the brand archetype may not always be extremely clear, it is the task of the

advertisers to “discover and clarify its core archetypal story” (Grutzner, 2011). It is

important for new brands or smaller companies to use archetypes to help establish

emotional connection with their consumers. Qualitative research can help marketers to

discover the consumer needs in the category and then choose an archetypal story that

fits those needs. For example, Campbell’s aligns itself with the caregiver archetype,

because people who purchase soup want to feel taken care of. These archetypes must

start internally within the company in order for the brand to truly align itself with the

archetypal story and establish a deep connection with its customers. (Grutzner, 2011)

Grutzner (2011) created the “Brand Strategy Iceberg” (Figure 2), a model meant

to demonstrate the levels of understanding a customer can have about a brand. Figure

2 suggest that customers never see a large part of the brand. Below the iceberg water

line are other dimensions of the brand equation that includes:

• The foundation story or the origin of the brand

• The brand pillars, which are the set of values and traits that

are a part of the brand

• Brand personality, which is how consumers personify a

certain brand

• Brand worldview, which is the worldview that “permeates all

aspects of the brand’s offering and communication”

(Grutzner, 2011)

• Brand promise, which is the internal mantra of the brand that is not communicated

externally

Figure 2: (Grutzner, 2011)


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Above the brand iceberg waterline are key elements that consumers actually

experience: the brand’s product or service, the iconography of the brand,

personification, and the tagline or language of the brand (Grutzner, 2011).

Grutzner’s article not only emphasizes the importance of not only aligning brands

with an archetypal story, but also keeping those stories consistent throughout a

company’s communications with its consumers, which allows for brands to imprint

themselves into the memories of their consumers. “Archetypal branding works because

it appeals to us as humans. We all share a deep need to feel stability, belonging,

discovery and achievement. As with the runner who on a cold morning laces up her

Nike shoes to go for a jog because she wants to ‘just do it’ in today’s world, our brands

have taken on the role of important props in our own personal mythologies” (Grutzner,

2011).

In the study, “Investing Archetype

– Icon Transformation in Brand

Marketing”, Shu-pei Tsai (2009)

conducted research in order to use the

consumer imagination theory and

discover a means to determine whether a brand archetype will transform into an icon

and achieve the maximum of effect of archetypal branding. The imagination theory

(Figure 3), created by Carl Jung, “proposes that the consumer imagination mechanism

determines whether a brand archetype has the potential to transform into an icon”(Tsai,

2009, p. 649). Tsai describes a research project by Suchman and Jordan (1992) that

conducted in- depth interviews with 810 loyal customers of the Nike Air Jordan brand in

Figure 3: (Tsai, 2009, p. 652)


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the Asia Pacific, Western Europe, and North American regions. From this research, he

was able to develop the Brand Archetype-Icon Transformation Model, which combines

four theoretical elements to coordinate a comprehensive brand management philosophy

using archetypal marketing (Tsai, 2009).

The recent trend in archetypal paradigm is due to the power that “associating

archetypes with product brands serves to provide symbolic meaning which consumers

can construct identities across cultural boundaries” (Tsai, 2009, p. 648). This means

that marketers must find the “soul” of the brands and express them in ways that can tap

into universal archetypes and establish a connection with their users. A brand that

becomes iconic rather than ordinary “resembles the greatest hero of the greatest

archetypal myths, exercising the prophetic and charismatic power and providing the

cultural leadership that permits the consumer to complete his or her heroic journey. The

consumer buys the iconic brand to acquire the symbolism of the mythic archetype, and

uses it in a quest to construct self, social and cultural identities” (Tsai, 2009, p. 650).

Among all the global brands, only the brands that have become iconic have been able

to position themselves and become strong players in the global market.

Tsai conducted in-depth interviews and asked participants to note what questions

came to mind when thinking about their brand loyalty to Nike Air Jordan and the hero

archetype. The researcher then transformed those questions into declarative

statements about the brand and asked participants to confirm or deny these statements.

Last, the participants then sorted the cards based on the each statement’s importance,

which the researcher then used to created a matrix that reflected the concept items

identified by the participants (Tsai, 2009).


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The brand archetype- icon transformation model was created from the research

(Figure 4). According to Tsai (2009) “It shows that mediated experience and lived

experience of the brand archetype

constitute the consumer experience

in totality, and that the total

experience is organized and

integrated by the consumer

imagination to create an archetypal

representation of the brand” (p.

653). This means that marketers must make sure there is match between the

consumer’s expectations and their experience with the brand in order for the brand to

become an icon.

In the case of Nike Air Jordan brand tested in Tsai’s research, all of the 810 loyal

consumers, became aware of the brand’s celebrity spokesman, Michael Jordan, got to

know about him, and then developed certain responses to him. About 85 percent of the

respondents began to associate Michael Jordan with the hero archetype, suggesting

that, in addition to the consumers direct experience with the brand, marketing

communications also contribute to the total consumer experience. Therefore, there are

two parts to the consumer experience, “mediated” which result from word of mouth and

marketing communications and “lived” experiences. (Tsai, 2009)

There are several implications of this study. First, companies must align their

entire company with the archetypal story. Icon transformation can only be achieved

through synergy from all parts of the company from manufacturing, marketing,

Figure 4: (Tsai, 2009)


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management, price, customer service, etc. Secondly, brand managers should not spend

time trying to figure out which archetypes are the most universally acceptable, but

instead should spend time to “adopt a multiple methodology in exploring how the brand

representation may correspond to the variability in the desires, fantasies, dreams and

aspirations of the target market, thereby enlarging the representation-identity

congruence of the archetypal symbolism” (Tsai, 2009). The third implication is that

global brand marketing requires that the archetypal story be aligned with all marketing

efforts and foster emotional connections with the customers. (Tsai, 2009)

Recently, due to the increase amount of product offerings in today’s market,

managing brand meaning has become an extremely important brand asset for

companies. Brand differentiation has become increasingly important as a determinant

for success or failure in a market. In the book The Hero and the Outlaw: Building

Extraordinary Brands Through the Power of Archetypes, Mark and Pearson (2001)

study successful brands and analyze the archetypal imprints that they follow. They

concluded that truly successful global brands “ had become phenomenally valuable not

only because of their innovative features or benefits, but also because these properties

had been translated into powerful meanings. They were worth millions of dollars

because they had gained a kind of meaning that was universal, larger than life, iconic”

(Mark & Pearson, 2001, p.9). These brands were able to become the archetype; for

example, Nike had become the hero, and Levi’s the Explorer. The importance of

archetypal branding not only applies to typical businesses, but also non-profit

organizations, politics, and personal branding (Mark & Pearson, 2001).


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Our archetypes are built off of imprints that are “hardwired into our psyches,

influence the character we love in art, literature, the great religions of the world, and

contemporary films. Plato called these imprints ‘elemental forms’ and saw them as the

idea structures that formed a template for material reality. Psychiatrist C.G. Jung called

them ‘archetypes’”(Mark & Pearson, 2001, p.

11). Brands achieve differentiation and

market relevance when they symbolize

universal archetypal meanings.

The Hero and the Outlaw shows the

need and the opportunity behind creating, preserving, and growing brand meanings

within archetypal meanings. The authors show the importance of archetypal

psychology in international marketing and how it “helps us understand the intrinsic

meaning of product categories and consequently helps marketers create enduring

brand identities that establish market dominance, evoke and deliver meaning to

customers, and inspire customer loyalty – all, potentially, in socially responsible ways”

(Mark & Pearson, 2001, p.12).

Figure 5 shows the names of brands and how Mack and Pearson believe these

brands fit into certain archetypes. It is important that brands find the essence or soul of

their category by discovering customer needs, stories, and exploring imprinting

experiences. Marketers can choose which archetype will create an emotion tie with their

consumers and the product by researching what needs their target audience has and

the desired meaning of the brand. Mark and Pearson (2001) cite archetypes as the

Figure 5: (Mark & Pearson, 2001, p. 13)


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missing link between customer motivation and product sales. Archetypes have the

ability to tap into the deepest motivation of customers and spark a sense of meaning

within their psyche. Archetypes serve as a mediator between a consumer’s need and

the ability of the product to fulfill it. The authors are able to show that “archetypal theory

provides a sound, proven methodology for establishing a memorable and compelling

brand identity, one that can withstand the test of time, cross lifestyle, and cultural

boundaries, and translate into success that endures” (Mark & Pearson, 2001, p.18).

These archetypes can be used in products categories across the board, including

cheese, washing soap, cars, etc. (Mark & Pearson, 2001)

Research conducted by Young and Rubicam looked at the economic value

added and market valued added to brands from 1993 to 1999 of 50 well known brands.

They looked at brands such as Disney, Kodak, Sears, Harley Davidson and the Gap.

The analysis showed that the market value added to brands that aligned themselves

closely with an archetype grew 97 percent more than those brands that did not or

“confused brands” over the six-year period. Additionally the economic value added to

the archetypal brands grew at a rate 66 percent more than confused brands. Therefore,

the researchers were able to determine that “identities that succeed at striking an

essential human chord affect the most fundamental economic measures of success”

(Mark & Pearson, 2001, p. 30).

This study shows the importance of maintain an archetypal brand identity as a

corporation’s asset. But it’s extremely important that brands create compelling qualities

of archetypes, instead of treating them as simple stereotypes. These archetypes are

universal, but do have cultural “valences” that surround them. For example, the explorer


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archetype may appeal to the individualistic culture of the United States, but the explorer

archetype will probably have a different story in collectivist cultures like China and Brazil

(Mark & Pearson, 2001).

Mark and Pearson (2001) identify 12 brand archetypes: the Innocent, Explorer,

Sage, Hero, Outlaw, Magician, Regular guy/girl, Lover, Jester, Caregiver, Creator, and

the Ruler. The article goes into depth discussing examples and the origins of these

archetypes.

One major archetype that The Hero and the Outlaw

discusses is the Magician. Magician brands include those

brands that facilitate “magical moments.” The magician

archetype is the basis for innovative technologies such as

personal computers, the Internet, and mobile phones.

Often entrepreneurs and athletes are seen as magicians

due to their ability to achieve the impossible or overcome

large obstacles: “The Magician can be known as the

visionary, catalyst, innovator, charismatic leader, mediator,

shaman, healer, or medicine man or woman” (Mark & Pearson, 2001, p.144).

An example of a Magician brand is MasterCard. It created an advertisement

campaign that featured magical or “priceless” moments. Eventually its ad campaign

became so powerful that the company no longer had to feature product or product

attribute messaging in the marketing communications, with the tagline “There are some

things money can’t buy. For everything else, there’s MasterCard.” MasterCard is able to

Figure 6: (Chronicallyaskew ~ Mastercard Priceless)


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create a campaign that eludes consumers’ negative opinions about credit card

companies and materialism, and instead compliments that consumer and creates an

emotional connection with the card and the consumer by linking it to the experiences

MasterCard can bring you. (Mark & Pearson, 2001)

Another major archetype that was discussed was the Explorer archetype. The

Explorer archetype goes out to seek a better world and self-realization through

exploration. Explorers tend to pursue individual adventures like kayaking, skydiving, and

hiking. They also have an endless desire for freedom and a fear of commitment or

anything that holds them back. An example of a strong explorer brand is Starbucks. It

expresses the Explorer archetype consistently through their name, logo, packaging,

retail shops, product, service and mythology. Beginning with the brand name, Starbucks

comes from a character in the book Moby Dick, which is an adventure book in itself.

The logo of Starbucks is a sea goddess and is the color of green, which reinforces the

brand’s pro-environment and natural imagery. Starbucks imports coffee from all around

the world and makes it available to their consumers to take on the go to their next

adventure; this allows Starbucks to become a part of the consumers adventure. When it

comes to its service, consumers never have to wait in lines too long, since explorers are

impatient and they have locations everywhere just like a traveling explorer. Starbucks

has become one of the 25 greatest global brands of the 21st century as listed by

Interbrand by utilizing “the Explorer archetype, artfully expressed in every detail – the

product, the package, the shops, the logo, the name, and the very experience of placing

an order. Such is the power of that archetype” (Mark & Pearson, 2001, p.76).

Mark and Pearson’s analysis demonstrates the importance of aligning brands


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consistently with a single archetype and how it links to financial and global success for

companies. Some of the strongest and most financially successful brands utilize

archetypal branding and psychology to create strong connections with their customers

and increase customer loyalty. The power of archetypes in global marketing is a key

determinant and strength for companies who expect to be strong players in the global

market. (Mark & Pearson, 2001)

The Importance of the Culture Code in International Marketing

The article “Marketing to the Reptilian Brand” by Clotaire Rapaille (2006)

discusses the new market research technique used by Clotaire Rapaille. Rapaille cites

the biggest problem with traditional market research, is that you can’t believe what the

consumer says. This isn’t because the consumer is intentionally lying, but because they

try too hard to please the researcher. When asked questions, participants tend to give

answers they think the researcher wants to hear. For example, Coca Cola introduced

the product New Coke after positive feedback from its focus groups, but the product

was total failure when it was released into the market (Rapaille, 2006).

Buying decisions are highly influenced by the reptilian brain, defined as the part

of the human brain responsible for our instincts, which is made up of the brain’s stem

and cerebellum. The reptilian brain is only available via the subconscious and is the

basis of our instincts: “When you tap into the reptilian brain, you learn what a product

means to a consumer at its most fundamental level” (Rapaille, 2006). Rapaille has

been able to this do by conducting extended and non-traditional research sessions that

are designed to discover “the unconscious meaning people give to a particular product,

service or relationship,” or what he otherwise refers to as the product code (Rapaille,


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2006). Rapaille is a cultural anthropologist and market expert that developed the

concept of the culture code. He espouses the idea that culture-coding process applies

as well to a car or a type of food as to a relationship or even a country (Rapaille, 2006,

p. 5).

His process starts with the interviewer asking the consumer to explain the

product in question as if the interviewer were a “visitor from another planet”. Then, he

has the participants use their limbic systems by telling stories about the products.

Finally, he has the participants tap into their reptilian brand by having them go through

relaxation exercises and write about their first experiences with the products, which tells

him what was imprinted into their subconscious (Rapaille, 2006).

Rapaille worked with Chrysler to determine what the code for its brand was. After

discovering its code, he found that consumers considered making “cookie cutter” cars

as “off code” for the Chrysler brand. This information led to the creation of the PT

Cruiser, an automobile with an extremely unique design. The PT Cruiser turned into one

of the most successful car launches in American history. Rapaille goes on to discuss

how codes can be used in all product categories, including technology and food, to

create successful marketing. (Rapaille, 2006)

Rapaille’s research also reinforces the importance of the subconscious and

imprints in the buying decisions of consumers. By utilizing his process for discovery,

marketers can better target communications to the key instincts and parts of the brain

that affect brand loyalty. If marketers started to ask the right questions and understand

the cultural mindset for products, they could be more effective in determining the

specific needs consumers have in their product category (Rapaille, 2006).


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In the book, The Culture Code: An Ingenious Way to Understand Why People

Around the World Live and Buy as They Do, Rapaille (2006) discusses the concept of

the culture code. Each culture has a different code for products because cultures have

evolved differently. For examples Americans have cultural memories of the “open

frontier” and the French and Germans have strong memories of occupation and war.

These differences between cultures cause individuals to process and perceive

information differently. Rapaille studied the work of Henri Laborit, who determined that

without emotion learning was impossible. From these learned emotions, we create

imprints: “The combination of the experience and its accompanying emotion creates

something known widely as an imprint” (Rapaille, 2006, p. 6). Once an imprint is

created, it shapes our thoughts, actions, and our identities itself. (Rapaille, 2006)

Rapaille has five principles when it comes to determining come to uncovering a

cultural code.

1. Principle 1: You Can’t Believe What People Say- When participants are asked direct

questions about their interest, preferences, or beliefs, they tend to give the answer they

think the interviewer wants to hear. The reason behind this is that most people do not

know why they do the things they do. Many of the decisions we make our based off our

subconscious, but we are often not aware of the power of it.

2. Principle 2: Emotion is the Energy Required to Learn Anything- Emotions are the key to

learning and imprinting. Emotions create a series of emotional connections that can be

reinforced by repetition.

3. Principle 3: The Structure, Not the Content, is the Message – The key to understanding

the meaning behind our actions and beliefs is to understand the structure. In any


24

situation there are three structures in play, the first is the biological structure/ DNA,

second is the culture, and the third is the individual. It is the structure and connections

that give a clear story of what the culture code is for a product.

4. Principle 4: There is a Window in Time for Imprinting, and the Meaning of the Imprint

Varies from one Culture to Another – The extremely strong imprints that are placed in

the subconscious at an early are determined by the culture in which people are raised.

5. Principle 5: To Access the Meaning of an Imprint Within a Particular Culture, You Must

Learn the Code for that Imprint – Rapaille is able to find Codes when he discovers

common messages between his groups. The messages vary from culture to culture;

therefore so do the culture codes.

The five principles support the idea that there is a third consciousness at work that

is separate from the Freudian individual conscious or the Jungian collective conscious.

“The principles illuminate an unconscious that uniquely guides each of us depending on

the cultures that produced us. The third conscious is the culture unconscious” (Rapaille,

2006, p. 27). Each culture has its own mindset that defines who we are as a culture

(Rapaille, 2006).

Rapaille’s The Culture Code describes the American culture codes for love,

seduction, sex, beauty, fat, health, youth, home, dinner, work, money, quality,

perfection, food, alcohol, shopping, luxury, the code for America in other countries, the

code for the American presidency, and the code for America. For example, Rapaille

searched for the code for love in American culture, whether it is romantic love, sibling

love, love of country, pets, or eve a sports team. Consistently, participants related the

first experience they had with love to early nurturing experiences with their mother.


25

When asked about their most powerful memories of love, all related to a different

element of adolescence, the need for excitement and the experience of disappoint,

success, and failure. Throughout all the stories of their first imprint, in their most

powerful memory and in their most recent memory of love, all of them spoke of a need

and belief in true love. However, a large percentage discussed disappointment when

they discussed their most recent memory of love. Therefore, Rapaille was able to

determine that the American culture code for love is false expectation.

In France, however, the concept of love is more related to passion. In France

loves means, “helping your partner achieve as much as possible, even if this requires

finding someone else to provide some of this pleasure” (Rapaille, 2006, p. 39). In Italy,

Italians expect love to have elements of pleasure, beauty, and more importantly fun.

Their archetype for love is maternal love and their definition of love revolves around the

concept of family. The Japanese believe that “love is a temporary disease” (Rapaille,

2006, p. 39). These cultural mindsets towards love show the importance of cultural

consciousness and imprints in determining the needs of a certain market. (Rapaille,

2006)

Another culture code that Rapaille identifies is the code for money. Rapaille found

that there is a strong connection between work and money in the American mind. To

Americans, money means “how we are doing, tells us how far we’ve come from

impoverished poor roots” (Rapaille, 2006, p. 124). Therefore, Americans use money as

a measure of success. Through his interviews Rapaille found that the culture code for

money is proof: “the ‘proof’ that we derive from money is proof of our goodness – not


26

only of the quality of our work at our chosen professionals, but also of our quality as

people” (Rapaille, 2006, p.127).

An example of a coded brand is the Chrysler Jeep Wrangler. At the beginning of

the 1990s, the Jeep Wrangler was struggling to regain their market share in the

American market. Several market studies were conducted to understand what Wrangler

consumers needed, but the research did not ask questions that would reveal any unique

insight. Chrysler brought Rapaille in to figure out what the Jeep brand meant to

consumers. After asking what their earliest memories of Jeep were, Rapaille discovered

a reoccurring theme between stories of the participants was about being out in the open

land, and many spoke of the American West/open plains. He found that the code for the

Jeep in America is horse.

Wrangler changed its headlights shapes to circles to more closely resemble an

actual horse. As a result, “Wrangler sales rose and the new ‘face’ of the Wrangler

became its most prominent and marketable feature. In fact, the car’s logo has

incorporated its grille and round headlights ever since” (Rapaille, 2006, p. 2). There are

Jeep fan clubs around America with T-shirts for members that say, “Real Jeeps have

round headlights.” Jeep began to market the Wrangler as a horse, with the SUV

traveling up hills and mountain terrains in an old Western hero type fashion. The

advertising campaign was a huge success.

Chrysler also asked Rapaille to find the code for the Wrangler in Europe.

Participants “in both French and Germany saw Wranglers as reminiscent of the Jeeps

American troops drove during World War II… Repeatedly, the people in these countries

told stories about how the image of a Jeep gave them a sense of hope, reminding them


27

of the of difficult times and the dawn of better days” (Rapaille, 2006, p. 3). Rapaille

determined that the code for the Wrangler in these countries was the liberator. In

response to this, Chrysler started campaigns in France and Germany featuring the

Jeep’s proud past and the feeling a freedom felt when driving a Jeep Wrangler. Once

again, the campaign was tremendously successful and expanded the Wranglers market

share in both France and Germany. (Rapaille, 2006)

Kraft asked Rapaille to discover the American code for meals in order to make

Kraft name synonymous with American meals. When asked, participants all spoke of

stories filled with emotion with themes of camaraderie, warm family environment, and

the sadness of loss. One theme that stood out from the stories was the idea of

gathering and coming around the table. From this Rapaille determined that the

American culture code for dinner is essential circle. While Americans think of dinner as

a family event, the Japanese family rarely eat together, the Chinese believe the main

purpose is the food and the idea of dinner in England is a much more formal

experience. These differences show the different cultural mindsets that go into the

concept of dinner. Once Rapaille informed Kraft of the American culture code for dinner,

they launched a campaign using the tagline “Gather Around” and changed the Kraft

logo to be a family sitting around a dinner table. Through these changes, Kraft was able

to position itself as the facilitators of the American dinner experience. (Rapaille, 2006)

Rapaille’s The Culture Code shows the importance of using cultural archetypes

and the cultural conscious to tap into the psyches of a brand’s target market. By utilizing

these imprints, marketers are able to establish their brands and create powerful

connections between its consumers and the brand itself. Using these strategies,


28

marketers can create powerful global brands, with successful marketing campaigns that

adapt to the cultural mindset of each new market.

Case Study

Apple as the Outlaw

An important implication behind this literature review is the importance of aligning

an entire company behind an archetype to build consumer loyalty and imprint your

brand into the subconscious of customers. An example of a company that has been

able to accomplish this is Apple. Apple represents the archetype of the Outlaw,

characterized by a brand that is a nonconformist or who is attracted to the “forbidden

fruit.” Cues to support this evaluation can be found in the iconic brand’s history, mission,

and brand logo, as well as in the ads used to promote the brand.

Apple’s mission and vision statement exemplifies the company’s desire to

innovate and be revolutionary in the product category. Apple’s mission statement states:

“Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X,

iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution

with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone

with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile

media and computing devices with iPad” (Apple Inc.).

Throughout Apple’s vision statement, it discusses the idea of transforming their product

category and continuous innovation. Apple’s vision statement is:

“Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to

students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world


29

through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings” (Top Vision

Statements, 2008).

Both its mission and vision statement demonstrates Apple’s emphasis on innovation

and being the best in the market. Along with that Apple, according to the article “Apple

(Again) Tops List of Most Innovative Companies”, has been continuously ranked as one

of the most innovative companies (Bonnington, 2012).

Apple’s brand history is a story of an outlaw and revolution. Steve Jobs, Ronald

Wayne, and Steve Wozniak started the company in 1976. Jobs and Wozniak withdrew

from college to pursue the creation of Apple, defying conventional wisdom that formal

college credentials were necessary for anyone with aspirations for success. In 1977,

Apple introduced the first computer to generate color graphic. Not only was Apple

founded by “outlaws” who were willing to break away from the typical path of finishing

their college degree, Apple also started offering innovative products from its birth

(“Steve Jobs at Apple: A History”, 2011).

Steve Jobs was the late CEO of Apple and is viewed as one of the biggest

innovators of all time. His motto was to “think differently” and strive to be the best, offer

the best experience, and constantly innovate Apple. He exemplified Apple’s focus on

revolutionizing the computer world and creativity.

Customers also view Jobs as the figurehead of

Apple, proven by the fact that when Jobs was

fired as CEO of Apple and a more traditional

manager was put in place, Apples sales

Figure 8: (Tanous, 2012)


30

dramatically dropped (Tanous, 2012; Mark &

Pearson, 2001).

Another factor in Apple’s archetype is its

actual product offerings. All of Apple’s products are

user friendly, which gives power back to the

consumer. Additionally, Apple decided to focus its

product offerings on education and home use instead of business. This gave consumers

the feeling of being independent and trendy when buying the Apple products. Its

products have also been revolutionary and innovative in themselves. Apple was one of

the first personal computers to be offered outside of the color gray and broke the

tradition of gray laptops. For instance, Apple’s computer application, iTunes,

transformed the music industry and made electronic music popular. Apple has also led

the mobile industry, by the introduction of the user-friendly iPhone and iPad and created

a market for mobile applications. Even the way that Apple positions its products in its

advertisements, states “Performance and design. Taken right to the edge” (Figure 9).

The statement “taken right to the edge” implies the idea of pushing the limit, which

aligns with the outlaw archetype. (Apple – iMac, 2013)

Apple’s retail stores also exemplify the outlaw archetype. The USA Today article

“How Apple Stores Rewrote the Rules of Retailing,” discusses the multiple innovative

features that the Apple stores offer. Ron Johnson was hired by Apple to design the retail

stores that would create a new customer experience. This includes the stores’ modern

design, product displays, wireless point of sale devices, and the Genius Bar tech

support desk. Apple was able to provide customers with a unique experience in their

Figure 9: (Apple-‐iMac, 2013)


31

stores and change the face of the computer retail industry. Its stores have been so

successful that industry competitor Microsoft has mimicked the design of Apple’s retail

stores. Apple’s stores were able to provide a unique and atypical experience for their

customers. (Martin, 2012)

Apple’s logo is an apple with a bite taken out of it. This represents the “forbidden

fruit” from the story of Adam and Eve, which is a story from the Bible of how humankind

fell out of the grace of god by Eve eating forbidden fruit from the tree

of knowledge of good and evil. After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam

and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden or paradise, but then

have free will. Apple’s logo begs the customers to think different and to

break the rules.

In 1983, Apple rolled out its 1984 ad, which was

homage to the book 1984 by George Orwell. The

advertisement depicts “big brother” talking about the one will

of the people to a crowd and then shows a woman running

up and breaking the screen showing “big brother.” The

advertisement then reads, “On January 24th Apple Computer

will introduce Macintosh. And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be

like ‘1984’” (1983 Apple Keynote-The "1984" Ad Introduction,

1983). In the late 1990’s, Apple ran the “Think Different” campaign, which featured

images of Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Albert Einstein, and other

Figure 10: (Muhammad Ali 1998 Think Different Poster, 2006)

Figure 7: ( The Apple Logo| Creativity & Innovation, 2012)


32

revolutionary people and then asked viewers to think differently and emphasized the

power of going against the status quo.

In Apple’s commercial for the iPad 2 that aired in 2011, the narration states “now

we can watch a newspaper, listen to a magazine, curl up with a movie and see a phone

call” and continues to use examples of how the iPad changes how we use everyday

products. All of these advertisements from different time periods in Apple’s life

demonstrate their belief in thinking differently and being revolutionary. (Apple - Think

Different - Full Version, 1998) (Apple iPad 2 Commercial – Now, 2011)

Apple has been able to stay true to the outlaw archetype throughout its company

as a whole. This is how Apple has been able to imprint itself as an innovative brand in

the mind of consumers and continue to become an icon in the world of technology. This

is also how Apple has remained an extremely successful company in the United States

and globally.

Implications for Further Research Conclusions After reviewing research regarding the use of archetypes and imprints in global

branding, I have drawn three important conclusions:

1. The key to utilizing archetypes in branding is to align the brand with one archetype not

only in marketing messages and advertisements, but also to align the company as a

whole with the archetype. This includes internal messages, company culture, company

leadership, employees, customer experience, products, etc. All of these components

are what builds the brand archetype and make the company resonate in the minds of

consumers. This alignment provides companies with the ability to build customer loyalty


33

and lifelong relationships with their market, and even allows some brands to transcend

their products and become icons.

2. The ability for companies to play to universal archetypes, can directly translate into

long-term financial and marketing success for that company. By consistently following a

certain archetype, companies are able to imprint themselves into the subconscious of

their consumers, helping them to become the “first to mind” products.

3. By looking at certain culture’s mindsets or the “culture code” for products, companies

can utilize archetypes to understand which brand messages and stories will be

successful in different cultures and how that archetype’s story should be told in that

culture.

Further Research This literature review and theory of archetypal branding leaves the question of

whether examples of past successful archetypes in branding, such as Coca Cola,

Starbucks, and McDonalds, have just been coincidences or if their marketers truly

understood the power of archetypes when developing their marketing plans. This

research also leaves the question of what are the exact steps for companies to imprint

themselves into the psyche of their consumers and whether the ability to imprint is

based on experiential imprinting or if there is a certain critical time period for the imprint

to take place. Additionally, topic for further research could be over the relationship

between brand positioning strategy and the utilizations of brand archetypes.

Conclusion The purpose of this literature review is to demonstrate the importance of cultural

archetypes and psychological imprints in consumer’s perceptions of brands and how

they can be utilized to build strong global brands. The research and studies discussed


34

in this review show the significance of brand archetypology in aiding companies in

creating a strong brand personality and the ability to imprint their brands into the psyche

of their consumers. This research opens the door for further research into the influence

of archetypes on consumer behavior and their ability to build brand loyalty and equity.

This review has demonstrated the clear relationship between brand archetypes

and financial success and growth of companies as a whole. Also, it has shown the

significant economic value behind utilizing one consistent archetype over using multiple

or an entourage of brand archetypes, as shown by the study conducted by Young and

Rubicam and the Apple case study. Additionally, there’s an opportunity for businesses

to utilize this information about archetypal imprints to adjust or change their brand

stories in different cultures and predict how successful that brand or brand personality

will be in a certain culture. For example, the story of the outlaw archetype may be a

completely different in a younger culture like the United States of America than a older

culture like China.

Carl Jung’s and Clotaire Rapaille’s works on the concept of the culture conscious

and culture codes have created a path to truly understanding consumer behavior and

understanding how brands can be transformed into icons. Once brands are able to

accomplish this level of brand value, they are able to compete against global

competitors beyond price wars and product features. These archetypal brands are able

to build their brand equity and create a strong competitive advantage with their

emotional connection with consumers in the global market.

These studies and theories can be utilized by companies when designing their

marketing messages, choosing their leadership, building the company culture,


35

designing their customer experience, deciding which products to offer, positioning their

products, and interacting with the community. This review begins the path for

companies to understand how cultural archetypes and psychology imprints can

influence consumer’s connections with their brands and how archetypes and imprints

can be used to create strong, equitable global brands.


36

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