Auto-perception: Perception: Personnality, lifestyle

More than using archetypes brand can also create its own personality just like a human person. Brand personality can be defined as: the set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person. Brand should focus on traits that matter for the customers such as innovativeness or trust.

Succeed in creating a specific brand personality will give to the brand a specific positioning in people mind and will create a specific relation between people and your brand. It will increase brand equity and also increase loyalty.

When we look more carefully in the automobile market we can identify that brands have different personalities.

Mercedes: sophisticated, smart

Renault: dynamic, fun

Alfa Romeo: seducer

Ford: Reliable

Peugeot: Designer, feline

Brand can also use lifestyle to manage its perception. Brand can try to integrate its image in a precise lifestyle to differentiate its positioning and to address a precise target. A lifestyle can be define as what people like to do, what people like to buy and what people like to support. If a brand is inscribe in one lifestyle it will build a specific relation with a group of customers and will benefit from a competitive advantage regarding the competition.

To inscribe itself in a lifestyle brands can use advertising but also co-branding or product association.

More precisely in the automobile industry lifestyle are very important because cars are often the extension of car owner personality. Tell me what is your car, I will tell you who you are.

To illustrate the use of lifestyle to orientate brand perception we can take the example of Renault which had a agreement with the French national rugby team. Renault has launch specific lines around the spirit of rugby and the French team to attract sportsmen but also to give to the brand a more patriotic image. Renault positioned itself as the French brand supporting the French team. We can make the same analysis with Citroen and the French football team nowadays.