Abstract

Understanding the psychological concept of the collective unconscious and its association with our subconscious minds were psychoanalyst Carl Jung’s lasting legacy in the field of analytical psychology. This study discusses the attributes of the Jungian collective unconscious and the creation of consumer archetypes for branding concepts, and to outline the designer’s role in the customisation of brands and products in sense-making for brand development, where it is argued, such customisation can help to activate imaginations that determine behaviour, influence attitudes, and at the same time, present design in its ideal functional form. Since mental and psychological processes are at work in consumers’ decision-making, tapping into the consumers’ unconscious levels of meaning-making and helping them link ideas and perceptions would help brands close the gap of cultural, social and behavioural distances among consumer segments, and to develop more effective, memorable and intuitive global brand percept’s where the use of brand archetypal paradigms make experiential branding possible. The case study examines the Coca-Cola brand, and how archetypes of the collective unconscious are mediated in the advertising communication and brand marketing strategies of the global beverage company. The aim is to identify and demonstrate the application of Jung’s collective unconscious in its branding, and to discuss the specific archetypes at work which distinguishes its position as a personalised, unique and preferred brand within the consumer’s frame of mind. The paper proposes the use of brand archetype methodologies such as symbolic construction of brand associations, narrative stories, myths and emotional advertising to discover a product’s brand meanings, and to demonstrate how designers can further tap this methodology of attitudinal research in order to develop and enhance creative customisation of brand archetypes that result in personalised, meaningful, trustworthy and intuitively universal products.