The Creator is one of 12 brand archetypes that help you define your brand personality, relate to your target audience, and find your brand voice.
When you truly own your brand archetype, you're setting yourself apart from competitors who offer similar B2B products and services. Thinking of your brand having a certain personality helps you find your voice and consistently relate to your customers through it. Customers know what to expect from you, and that consistency drives revenue.
What Is The Creator Brand Archetype?
The Creator brand archetype has a vision of how things should work in their industry. They're a doer who can truly say they "did it before it was cool," and they attract an audience that wants to see themselves as creators too. Their messaging must facilitate endless, unapologetic self-expression, as inauthenticity and a perceived lack of originality may lead to failure.
Creator archetype brands live to innovate and inspire. They have an idealistic vision of how things should work and appeal to others who share their vision. They paint a picture of possibilities through words, imagery, experience-building, community-building, quality, service, and other forms of brand expression.
Whether you see your brand as a Creator or not, defining your archetype is vital to brand success. An archetype brings a human face to brands. It signals to the right audience (B2B and B2C alike) that you're someone they want to "hang out with" and spend their hard-earned money on.
Key Characteristics of Creator Brands
You bring imaginative ideas to market — before everyone else starts trying to copy them. But as the original, you hold a special place in the hearts of customers that makes it hard for a brand emulator to knock you from your pedestal.
What Creator Archetype Brands Must Avoid
While eternally optimistic, kryptonite may await you if you don't stay self-aware and vigilant. A Creator may run out of ideas, feel disillusioned by an indifferent audience, dream big while actually being average, or appear to copy others while claiming to be original.
Who Is the Ideal Audience for Creator Brands?
Before deciding that your brand is a Creator, it's important to think about your audience. The ideal audience for a Creator brand is drawn to the following brand traits:
- Imagination
- Self-expression
- Outside-the-box thinking
- No fear of bringing "unproven" ideas to market
- Openness to change
People are drawn to the brand archetype Creator because they share characteristics with it or because the brand represents how they want to see themselves.
You speak this audience's language when you give them an avenue to express themselves through their life, career, business, and other outlets. You're helping them create the world they want by using your tools.
Creator Archetype Brand Examples
Is your brand a Creator brand archetype… or should it be? To find out, let's take a look at some beloved B2B Creator brand archetype examples you may know.
Adobe
Adobe's vision is "creativity for all." They seek to make it possible for people who don't see themselves as "artistic" to create what they see in their heads.
For better or worse, you know you're an innovator when one of your branded products becomes a verb — like "photoshop."
From interactive eBooks to video editing, collaboration tools, graphic design, and virtual signatures, Adobe has remained a must-have suite of business tools by living up to its vision. And despite being founded in 1982, it's still as relevant and fresh today as ever.
YouTube
YouTube expresses its own creativity by building and maintaining a platform for self-expression. Leaning into Creator brand archetypes, they never stop innovating.
They have listened to their creator community over the years, making it easier for them to find their audience, build a following, diversify their revenue streams, and engage with them across social media platforms.
At the same time, they've adapted to the needs of their advertisers by setting reasonable community guidelines. And despite showing time and again they deliver an original experience, they weren't afraid to adapt to the audience's demand for short-form videos by adopting an alternative TikTok-style video format.
GoPro
GoPro took the camera where cameras had not gone before — at least not without outrageously expensive professional equipment. Underwater, on muddy trails, hanging off the side of a cliff, parasailing… the list goes on.
Over a decade before Apple's 2014 "Shot on iPhone" campaign, GoPro made it possible for everyday people to showcase their adventures and build audiences that want to experience that adrenaline rush with them.
They helped usher in extreme sports culture and continue innovating their product to celebrate and support a dedicated following of product users and those who watch the videos from the safety of their homes.
Are you looking for more inspiration? Other Creator brand archetype examples include Lego, Apple, Pinterest, Sony, Tesla, and Crayola.
How to Own Your Creator Brand Archetype
Is Creator archetype branding a smart move for your company? Before you even think about how to build a Creator archetype brand, it's essential to answer this question honestly.
First, think about your audience and how you relate to them now. How will they respond if you lean into the Creator archetype branding? Does a Creator archetype brand align with your product, service, or the way you do business?
As a brand archetype of the Creator, you need to be able to express yourself in these ways:
- See what's not working in the industry and fix it
- Inspire others to be original and their authentic selves
- Be unapologetic about creative expression, even when some don't like it
- Color outside the lines
- Celebrate "rebelliousness" without seeming "flighty"
- Build an environment where people can collaborate and share how they use your product to express themselves (user-generated content)
- Offer the audience something they didn't expect or ask for once in a while
- Generate consistent and original content
Your brand would not be best served as a Creator if you would feel inauthentic in using the Creator brand archetype tone of voice.
Many people want to be a Creator archetype brand because... who doesn't want to innovate and inspire? But there are other brand archetypes that do these things in other ways, so it's important to consider all archetypes before homing in on one.
Ultimately, a brand archetype needs to feel right. Your audience will not pick up what you're putting down if it doesn't.
It’s also key to get your archetype right the first time and fully commit to it. You may seem disingenuous if you lean into the wrong archetype only to find it's not for you. Not to mention, it can be difficult for your audience to see you in a different light once you try to let your inner Creator out of the bag.
Create a Better Brand Strategy
Is your brand a Creator? It may be.
Embracing the right brand archetype will help you find a voice that your target audience responds to and differentiate your company from the competition.
If, like many companies, you're struggling to find the right brand archetype, we can help you find direction and build a brand you can confidently showcase to the world. To get started, schedule a free 20-minute branding assessment.
