Consumers, influencers, and media are especially
watchful and critical of brands’ messaging and promises in this time of change
and uncertainty. Because of this, brands need to focus carefully on their image
and how they are portraying themselves. A recent report from Trustpilot, using
IBM’s Watson Personality API, especially relevant right now, outlines key personality
traits among top brands in the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as
globally. It also discusses how understanding these traits could help
businesses determine not only which best fit their brand strategy, but also how
to approach their messaging to best connect with consumers.

The report cites the Big 5 Personality Traits: openness
(being open to take risks and try new ideas); conscientiousness (putting
thought into one’s actions); extraversion (reaching out and working with a
large group of people); agreeableness (thinking about and working with others);
and emotional range (having one’s emotions be sensitive to one’s environment). When
ranked, the most important traits were openness and emotional range, while the least
important was agreeableness.

Food and apparel brands ranked highest for openness,
according to the report. Additionally, apparel brands ranked highest in
agreeableness and extraversion, and food brands scored highest in
conscientiousness and extraversion. Tech brands ranked lowest in openness but
highest in emotional range; the report suggests that this shows a hesitancy to
adjusting their processes to fit current trends — despite concerns about data
privacy.

Looking specifically at companies, Barilla, Fruit of
the Loom, and Rolex were among those brands scoring in the 99th percentile for
openness. Barnes & Noble took the top spot for both conscientiousness and agreeableness,
followed by The Hershey Company. Mastercard ranked highest for emotional range.

Another area that brands need to consider right now is
reputation. The report cites attributes such as corporate citizenship/social
responsibility, industry leadership, innovation, product/service quality, and
workplace environment/culture as integral to brand reputation.

According to
the report, those brands considered the most trusted scored in the 92nd
percentile for trust. That level of trust often can only happen with a solid
reputation as a base. Campbell Soup Company came in first among those listed as
most reputable brands in the U.S., as ranked by a 2018 Global RepTrak Study,
followed by Nike. Rolex took the top spot in the UK and global markets,
followed by The Lego Group.

Brands that ranked among the most reputable also
scored at least 90 percent for the following five characteristics of reputable
companies: immoderation (which the report states can indicate “a deep passion”
for pursuing a company’s goals and values), friendliness, uncompromising,
trust, and orderliness. The bottom characteristics were assertiveness (scoring
a mere 5 percent), excitement-seeking, authority-challenging,
achievement-striving, and modesty.

The report highlights the importance of brand
personality for connecting with consumers, and then building trust among
customers over time. Also integral to those pursuits is understanding what your
key customers appreciate and expect, as well as focusing on the qualities that
will elevate your reputation and ensure long-term loyalty.