Chris Kay argues personality now drives marketing growth more than purpose
Chris Kay, international CEO of 72andSunny, says brands must develop distinct personalities, citing examples from Duolingo, e.l.f. Beauty, Poppi and Liquid Death, as consumers seek more human, real connections.
Brand strategy is moving away from purpose and positioning toward personality, according to Chris Kay, international CEO of 72andSunny. In an opinion piece for Fast Company, Kay argues that consumers now want brands that feel like living entities with a voice, a point of view and a belief system rather than abstract ideals or narrow functional claims.
Kay traces the evolution of brand building through a series of guiding principles. For much of advertising history, marketers focused on the classic four Ps of price, product, place and promotion, along with positioning, which involved defining functional benefits and claiming territory in the consumer's mind. Over the last decade, purpose became the dominant idea, with many brands tying themselves to global crises and producing similar-looking campaigns. Kay contends that the pendulum has swung again, and that positioning can feel cold while purpose can seem lofty and detached.
To support his case, Kay cites research from Adzooma, which suggests that 57.5% of consumers buy brands with strong, distinct personalities. He also points to the Future Proof report from The Daily Aus, which found that only one in five consumers feel positively about a brand when it relies solely on describing itself as purpose-driven. Kay links this shift to an environment of information overload and attention scarcity, and suggests that consumers are gravitating toward brands that make them feel something real.
Kay offers several examples of brands that have built commercial momentum through personality. Duolingo turned its green owl mascot from a simple app icon into a self-aware cultural figure with a distinct point of view, which he says scaled fandom and drove deep commercial impact and 1.7 billion views. e.l.f. Beauty, according to Kay, delivered 30 consecutive quarters of business growth by positioning itself as a bold disrupter with a kind heart, with its products and personality working together. Poppi developed a distinctive and fresh personality that helped shape a new category, a process that preceded a $1.95 billion acquisition by PepsiCo and drew more than 1 billion views on TikTok along the way. Liquid Death, which Kay describes as an early creator of this movement, brought personality to bottled water through a constant content operation and has posted a six-year compound annual growth rate of 122% since its 2019 launch.
Kay outlines four pillars for building brand personality. The first is how a brand speaks: rather than confining voice to lengthy tonal guidelines, companies should codify the rhythms and rules of their language so it remains recognizable in both a social media reply and a Super Bowl ad. The second is how a brand looks: a signature visual identity should be clear and distinctive but flexible enough to adapt to different audiences. The third is how a brand feels, meaning the energy it brings to a room, which lets it respond and improvise alongside its community. The fourth is how a brand acts. Personality, Kay writes, is proven through real-world behavior, and when a brand uses its belief system to take bold, unexpected action, passive consumers can become passionate advocates.
Kay also addresses the role of marketing leaders. He argues that traditional leadership, which centered on brand guardianship, enforcing rigid guidelines and shielding the company from risk, is no longer sufficient in a world shaped by fast-moving communities, creator economies and real-time culture. In his view, leaders must act as catalysts who empower teams and communities to play with the brand, flex it and bring energy and humanity to everything it touches. Kay's piece frames this as a necessary response to a marketplace where sameness is common and distinctiveness can drive growth.
Source: fastcompany.com
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