Brand archetype Magician: does your brand make dreams come true?

Do you believe that anything is possible? You are certainly not alone! Flying, Bluetooth, electric driving, photography; all inventions that once seemed totally impossible but were realized by, yes, a true Magician. Does your company have equally big dreams (something smaller is fine too), do you believe in your own power and act on it? Do you tackle that challenge with enormous perseverance and problem-solving ability? Then your brand is most likely the Magician brand archetype!

Characteristics of the Magician brand archetype

The Magician knows how to turn something negative into something positive. Makes the impossible possible. Dreams become reality. The Magician has developed a strong vision and lives by it. He relies on his own knowledge and skills, and if something doesn’t work immediately, he looks at himself: “how or what do I need to change to achieve my goal?”. The Magician initially does everything to absorb as much knowledge as possible to understand the laws, rules, connections, and the world around him well. The Magician is therefore focused on himself without being arrogant or loud.

The relationships and connections the Magician forms with partners or customers are not so much focused on collaboration, equal positions, or brainstorming but are more transaction-oriented. You ask, we deliver. You can be sure that the solution they provide is good and amazes you. The bond you have with a Magician is result-oriented and not process-oriented. A customer does not have a clear idea of what the Magician actually does to achieve that miraculous, appealing, and desired result. He assumes it will work out no matter what.

Magician brand archetype in different degrees

Each brand archetype has different levels. The higher levels are more developed and mature. Within the Magician, there are 3 degrees:

Level 1 Magician – fleeting moments of happiness

The brand leaves someone amazed, satisfied, happy, and content. Usually, this is not lasting and therefore somewhat superficial. This is about short-term gratification. You experience a transformation. Think of products or brands like Polaroid, fragrant beauty products such as Rituals, beverage brands like Smirnoff, restaurants, hotels, wellness resorts, but also medicine men and shamans have the Magician archetype as a base. A perfect example is the Smirnoff campaign in which you see objects and situations transform through a vodka bottle. If that happens in a bottle, what would happen if you actually drink it?

Level 2 Magician – a state of being

If your company achieves magical moments, at this level it is more about a longer state of being, a flow. Things are going well, you are satisfied. For some, this is almost a spiritual experience that resonates on every level. Physically, mentally, and everything in between. These moments of happiness last longer than the fleeting, superficial moments of the first level. An example is Reebok with their ‘flow campaign’. It is about an athlete who not only dreams of success but also realizes that dream. The various interrelated steps on the path to success are the basis of the campaign and a typical example of magical moments level 2.

Level 3 Magician – a miracle

Level 3 is simply a miracle, the ultimate realization of an underlying goal or vision. This is the most developed form of the Magician brand archetype. It takes some time to reach this phase. The examples General Electric and AkzoNobel, which we elaborate on later in this piece, fall under this.

Magician brand archetype example in business services

General Electric is a huge multinational, one of the best-known publicly traded companies (from 1907 to 2018 in the Dow Jones index, then replaced) active in about 180 countries. The company operates in sectors that have little to do with each other, a conglomerate. Think of aircraft parts, electronics, wind energy, transport, healthcare, financial services, etc. It was founded in 1879 and had 280,000 employees worldwide in 2018, of which one-third were in the United States. For large corporate companies / service providers and industrial B2B enterprises, it is quite a challenge to implement a positioning as a Magician brand archetype well in practice. The way General Electric approaches this is surprising and the perfect example.

Pay-off

Take, for example, their pay-off “Imagination at work”. It couldn’t be clearer. The slogan “we bring good things to life” (1979 – 2003) was its predecessor; here alone we see that General Electric very consciously and a long time ago took this direction. This slogan was created by the agency BBDO and emphasizes the diversity in GE’s offerings but at the same time unites it under one overarching theme. It was successful, contributed to increased popularity and the new image of the brand. Instead of various separate business units with their own marketing strategy and brand identity, from 1979 it was really one brand. The slogan was implemented in every facet of the company, in printed ads and brochures, packaging, transportation, etc., and was one of the longest-running business campaigns. It cost about 100 million USD in total.

Changing the pay-off to “Imagination at work” after 24 years was quite a bold and big step. The idea of a new slogan coincided with the arrival of Jeff Immelt, who became CEO and chairman in 2001. His idea was to bring the company back to its origins, namely ‘innovation in all areas’ through ideas, visions, and inventions. Creativity and imagination are, of course, indispensable. BBDO was again engaged and worked about 18 months on a new identity. The estimated budget was more than $100 million USD. To generate extra attention for the new pay-off, they launched an interactive campaign “The pen sketch”, which became the symbol for the new tagline.

Images and campaigns General Electric

If you still doubt whether the Magician aspect in their tagline is a coincidence, take a look at the campaign film “the anything factory” from their ‘additive’ division. A girl goes on an investigation and manages to enter a mysterious factory where new products are developed through magic. Or the film “Catch de Wind” for the Wind Energy business unit: a boy goes out and catches some wind in a glass jar somewhere in nature. He then travels across the country to give his grandfather the jar of clean wind for his birthday. The candles on the cake are blown out with it, and so much energy is released that it seems as if a tornado hit the house. Also, the dancing elephant in the “Singing in the rain” film, to emphasize the eco-friendly character of the company, underlines General Electric’s character as a Magician brand archetype.

Appearance and content website & Logo General Electric

The GE homepage remains fairly neutral; the miraculous is missing. It is immediately clear that they offer a range of products and services and have multiple divisions within the company. It seems they deliberately chose to keep it calm, friendly, reliable, and understated. What we do see, something that fits the Magician, is that the texts are peppered with words like ‘progress’, ‘transform’, and ‘innovate’. The font is round and thin, the blue color provides a reliable and professional character that radiates authority. The tagline, content, and campaigns convey the company message well and speak for themselves, but the site is basic and contains only the information that (potential) customers and stakeholders are looking for.

The logo on the homepage does stand out. This logo has existed since 2004 and belongs to the pay-off as we know it now. It resembles a graceful movement of a magic wand. It has a classic look, and both the circle and the initials emphasize the company’s constant motion aspect.

Magician brand archetype example in the industrial sector

AkzoNobel is a Dutch multinational founded in 1994 with headquarters in Amsterdam. Currently, about 34,500 employees work there, spread over locations in more than 80 countries. AkzoNobel is a producer of paints and coatings for both businesses and consumers and has many sub-brands. For B2B brands, think of products mainly used in construction and infrastructure, transport, and industry.

In 2011, AkzoNobel chose to pursue a global single brand identity strategy for their consumer brands around “let’s colour”. Let’s colour sounds like an invitation to add more color to the world around you and really make something of it with the help of AkzoNobel. Transformation to a successful state of being.

Besides the consumer brands, that transformation and magical effect are also central in their powders and coatings for industry and appear in various places on their site and communication and marketing activities.

Appearance and texts website

The first thing that stands out is that the site is a feast of color. Use of color gradients from pink to blue, from green to red, and overlays in every color of the rainbow. Bold colors that emphasize the company’s core business and at the same time show what a little color can bring. Not only for the look and feel of the website but also in your home, workplace, public space, or whatever. Immediately a good introduction.

Looking at the texts on the ‘about us’ page, the corporate film, and other sections, we see that ‘transformation’ is the keyword. We read texts like “how we’ve been changing the world”, “paint the future”, “we color and protect the world”, “coating a complete building or transforming an entire city”, “we believe in the power of paint. It can energize communities and transform people’s life”. Typical texts for a Magician.

Magical partnerships

Not only the text and appearance of the website but especially the marketing activities, the partnerships they enter into, and how they put themselves in the spotlight indicate more than anything else that we are dealing with a true magician. When visiting the website, two actions immediately stand out at the top of the homepage.

From myth to urban reality

The first project “From myth to urban reality” is a collaboration with 26 street art artists who created gigantic murals to add more color to neighborhoods and buildings around Gothenburg in Sweden. The assignment was simple: create a large, modern mural that depicts one of the many classic folk tales. This project is already considered ‘one of the largest urban art projects in the world’.

AkzoNobel (read: sub-brand Nordsjö) provides the artists with all the colors and materials they need. The result:

• 400 liters of donated paint,
• A traveling exhibition in 13 municipalities,
• The latest techniques to bring myth and folklore to life,
• Brightening up numerous neighborhoods, and
• Connecting people with each other.

Operation Night Watch

The second project is a partnership between the Rijksmuseum and AkzoNobel. The project called “Operation Night Watch” involves Rembrandt’s most famous work, The Night Watch, undergoing one of the largest and most innovative restorations in history. And all this under the watchful eye of the whole world. The restoration can be followed live on the museum website and seen during a visit to the museum. To realize this, a team of researchers, restorers, museums, universities, and companies collaborate, with the main partner AkzoNobel as the color specialist. The result will be a spectacular fusion of old and new. The path to it consists of extensive research, in-depth knowledge, and contributions from various experts.

“We’re about to rock the world of paintings conservation and do things that have never been attempted before … First of all, we need to find out what we’re up against. With a partner like AkzoNobel on board, we’re confident we’ll take our understanding of paint to the next level – and I don’t just mean one level, I’m talking three or four levels.”
Robert van Langh – Head of Conservation and Science Rijksmuseum

“There’s a natural link between us, not only because our company also has a long and proud heritage. We’re similarly driven by exploring new horizons and being inspired by the past while building for the future. So we have a lot of expertise to share and can’t wait to play a key role in helping to advance our technical understanding of color.”
Thierry Vanlancker – CEO AkzoNobel

Recurring themes

Both Operation Night Watch and From Myth to Urban Reality are, of course, two wonderful projects in which the same themes recur: art (the symbol of creativity and imagination), national pride and history, old versus new, and especially the connection and development between them based on innovation. Those same themes are reflected in the company AkzoNobel. All lean on heritage but look to the future. How do we put something old in a new jacket and effect a transformation into something even better and bigger? In short: how do we achieve the highest attainable result in a smooth movement that totally amazes people. And there we see… indeed: the Magician!

As far as we are concerned, a well-thought-out and perfect elaboration of the chosen positioning with surprising collaborations and an important role for and contribution from AkzoNobel to a changing world.

Advantages of the Magician brand archetype

Both highlighted companies, AkzoNobel and General Electric, have existed for decades. If well implemented throughout your entire brand identity, the Magician builds long-lasting partnerships, a loyal customer base, and a solid foundation.

A Magician creates moments of happiness, whether short or long, that people crave and sometimes even live for. In that respect, you can see it as an addiction. Do you execute it well? Then people want more and more and repeatedly experience that wondrous effect. If you are a true magician, you are ahead of your competition with an innovative concept. Your customers are looking for transformation for themselves, seeking improvement, relief, or progress. If you have developed a product or service that supports them in that, it can result in a very loyal customer base and you have gold in your hands.

Pitfall of the Magician brand archetype

Promising transformation and change is one thing; actually achieving it is, of course, much more complicated. That is the challenge for the Magician. The danger for a Magician is that you claim something but cannot deliver. And that can have disastrous consequences; it is the perfect ammunition for both competitors and the public to cause a lot of damage. Subtlety in your expressions is therefore somewhat required (do not communicate too loudly and do not be too present), unless you are 100% sure of your case. In that case, you can profile yourself a bit more prominently as a Magician.

Related brand archetypes: Hero and Outlaw

Is your magic wand not working? No magic when you wave it? Perhaps the Hero or Outlaw archetype suits you better.

The Hero strives for the best achievable result through knowledge and mastery. The Hero has determined where he wants to go and supports others who follow him. This hero does not necessarily have to be in the spotlight but mainly wants to let others excel and shine. He has a vision and lives by it. And that last part is also the strategy of the Magician. Both want to improve the world. Both are goal-oriented.

The difference between the two is that the Magician reveals little about how he achieved the stunning result. Moreover, the Hero focuses more on others, while the Magician is more self-focused and acts from his own power; the rest follows.

The Outlaw is rebellious and goes against the established order. He challenges and wants to do everything radically differently to achieve a better result. He is revolutionary and changes what does not work well. The similarity between the Outlaw and the Magician is that both want to bring about a revolution, want to do things differently, and stand for change and transformation. However, the way they get there and how they profile themselves differs. The rebel will be more present, confident, and loud, whereas the Magician uses nuance and plays a subtle but clever game.

It is worth also looking at articles about the Hero and the Outlaw or reading our page about brand archetypes.