Over Developed Egos

In our class discussion, last Thursday we touched on the topics of brand personality versus individual personality. The examples described in class were, Beyonce Knowles and her alter-ego Sasha Fierce, or the band Kiss and the actual musicians that make up the band. To begin the definition of personality refers to a person's unique physiological makeup and how it consistently influences the way a person responds to her environment. We can learn from our textbook that some psychologists find that personality may not be a valid concept, as often times people do not display consistency in their personalities. Because this concept is so common, we as marketers can use this information to our advantage by appealing to consumers in various ways that are related to Freudian Systems. To summarize, there are three parts to this system; the id, superego, and ego. The id functions for the propose of immediate gratification and maximizing our basic desire for pleasure and pain avoidance. The superego is the counterpart to the id, which can be defined as a person's conscious that is responsible for keeping societal rules in check. Lastly, the ego is the mediator between the id and the superego. It functions for the purpose of the reality principle which finds a way to gratify the id in such a way that the outside world will find it acceptable.

One could argue that celebrities such as Beyonce Knowles and the members of Kiss, who have both individual and brand personalities have an over developed ego. Because these celebrities need to find a way to pursue their work in a way that aligns with societal rules, they must make the ego system very seriously. The benefits of having a healthy ego are that it gives these celebrities the ability to differentiate their work life from their personal lives. Having both brand and individual personalities can also act as a defense mechanism against criticism. A brand personality is the set of traits people attribute to a product as if it were a person. Fostering a successful brand personality is of utmost importance in trying to build brand loyalty. If marketers can find ways to appeal to the various personalities of consumers in a way that can satisfy both their id and their superego, they can eventually capitalize on brand loyalty.