Arek Dvornechuck
Branding Expert
The Lover Archetype: 10 Branding Examples
The Lover archetype’s motto is: “Love is the meaning of life”. They could be referred to as lovers, intimates, matchmakers, enthusiasts, etc.
What are Lover examples? If you want to use this in your brand strategy, here are the best brand examples you may use.
Lover brands use sensual, empathetic, and soothing tones of voice, and often marketed as being passionate, seductive, feminine, etc.
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In this article, I’m going to show you 10 examples of using the Lover archetype in branding.
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We'll talk about the Lover archetype and its traits and characteristics.
Then I will give you concrete examples of the Lover brands in real life, and I will describe what they do in terms of the expression.
What kind of voice, message, colors, and imagery are used to express that persona?
We will also talk about some of the best use-case scenarios for using the Lover Archetype.
Furthermore, I will show you how the Lover archetype fits into the overall archetypal framework.
We’ve got 12 main archetypes, but there are actually 60 archetypes in total.
The Lover archetype family is consists of: the Romantic, the Companion, the Hedonist, and the Matchmaker.
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The Lover is obsessed with being in a relationship with people, work, experiences, and surroundings they adore.
The Lover archetype’s motto is: “Love is the meaning of life”.
Lovers may be known as partners, intimates, matchmakers, enthusiasts, connoisseurs, sensualists, and team builders.
It is also frequently used in films, with Marilyn Monroe playing the lover in Some Like It Hot.
The Lover craves the experience of intimacy, connection, and sensual pleasure and will go to any length to obtain it.
Love refers to all types of human love, including parental, friendship, and spiritual love, but the most important is romantic love.
The Lover, rather than focusing on the entire group, has a deep, intimate relationship with one person at a time.
They want to improve their physical and emotional attractiveness in order to be more appealing to others.
This results in a loving experience that goes beyond emotions and mindsets to become a way of being.
They are romantics who are driven not only to receive but also to give.
The core desire of the Lover is to achieve intimacy and sensual pleasure.
If your brand is the Lover, you help those who long for a close relationship with the person they adore.
They are afraid of being alone, of being a wallflower, of being unwanted or unloved.
Let me now give you some examples of how to use the Lover Archetype in branding.
What are some well-known examples of the Lover archetype?
These are the best examples of brands that you can use if you want to use the Lover archetype in your brand strategy.
Victoria’s Secret is the perfect example of a Lover brand.
They are a lingerie brand, so their messaging is loaded with sensuality, especially in their colors and imagery.
They emphasize every woman’s attractiveness.
With their tagline "Including all women", their advertisements are of women living a happy and confident life.
They are all about intimacy and connection—which gratifies the Lover brand.
The second example is Chanel, a luxury brand that specializes in luxury goods for women.
Chanel presents itself as a passionate Lover's brand that makes women feel appealing and alluring.
The brand’s slogan is "To be irreplaceable, one must be different", which embodies the Lover archetype.
Chanel's philosophy is beneficial to the entire world, not just the fashion industry.
Christian Dior is another example of a brand adopting the Lover archetype.
The brand broke with tradition by making collections that were filled with fantasy and enchantment.
You can learn the core of the Lover brand by watching any Christian Dior advertisement.
With its slogan "Sisterhood is forever", Dior had only one obsession: to help women regain their joy, grace, and beauty.
Another example is Louboutin, which specializes in high-end stiletto footwear.
One feature that distinguishes Christian Louboutin is their gorgeous, red-lacquered soles.
They believe that their shoes can "make a woman seem seductive, lovely, and make her legs look as long as they can".
And, their slogan is a natural Lover archetype, "The higher the better. High heels empower women in a way".
Now, we're taking a break from sex and romance to look at familial love.
Hallmark is a Lover brand in the sense that it helps families, coworkers, and friends express their feelings.
This brand is dedicated to giving people the chance to express their love through writing.
Additionally, the company's values include things like making people's lives better and showing them how much they mean to them.
Another very different example of a brand adopting the Lover archetype is Godiva, a Belgian chocolatier.
Godiva's brand messaging incorporates sexuality and relationships to create passionate sensations in its target audience.
They seek to satisfy the notion of understanding exactly how and when you deserve to reward yourself.
When it comes to what makes a premium ice cream luxurious, Haagen-Dazs has set the standard high.
Their advertisements are so appealing that they make you want to drool over ice cream.
They only use high-quality, hand-picked ingredients.
Their goal was to create the most wonderful ice cream the world had ever tasted.
A mouthful of luxury to let them escape the mundane.
L'Oréal's mission is perfectly aligned with the Lover archetype values.
"To offer to all women and men on the planet the best of beauty in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, and responsibility".
They have chosen to put their skills to work for everyone all around the world, meeting the endless variety of their aesthetic desires.
Alfa Romeo is an Italian premium car manufacturer, and their tagline is "Without heart, we are simple machines".
The brand believes that in order for a consumer to want to buy their car, they must love it.
This is because a car is obviously not a cheap purchase, and some people base their entire existence on their car.
And last but not least, Cesar, a dog food brand, depicted a heartwarming interaction between a man and his dog in its advertisement.
They succeeded in emphasizing a companionship dynamic rather than a caregiver one.
This becomes a relationship between two equals rather than just a man and his dog.
Each person loves and is loved in return.
Now that you've seen some Lover brands, let me explain how the Lover archetype can be expressed in branding.
Lover brands use sensual, empathetic, and soothing tones of voice.
Lover brands are often marketed as sensual, passionate, feminine, sweet, and romantic.
Another way Lover brands communicate is by giving their customers the means to feel loved while also loving more.
The message is often about finding love or friendship, showing appreciation to others or pleasuring their senses.
Their brand voice is all about self-acceptance and self-love.
And by doing so, they’re leaving their consumers feeling special and connected to the brand.
These brands aim to keep in touch with their customers and have a long-lasting relationship with them.
They provide excellent customer service that keeps them obsessed with the brand like The New York Times.
Images with elegant script graphics and fiery red colors are also popular, like CNN or BBC, for example.
Common image subjects include things like flowers, couples, and women.
Therefore, the culture within a Lover brand is to be as appealing as possible.
Lover brands inject passion into everyday life by celebrating the physical pleasures of being human.
Promoting closeness and instilling in their clients a sense of fulfillment and bliss.
The Lover archetype in general provides a good identity for brands, which helps people feel special and important.
The Lover archetype is best for cosmetics, jewelry, fashion, and others.
These brands may be associated with characteristics such as high quality, elegance, desire, valuable, and youth.
They frequently perform functions associated with the "passion first" ideology.
The Lover brands are typically priced above average, with products ranging from moderate to high in price.
The Lover archetype may be appropriate for businesses that care about people and can connect with or benefit them.
In summary, the Lover brand archetype is intimate and sophisticated.
The culture is geared toward promising beauty and increasing sexual appeal.
Lover brands do not want to be unloved or unwanted, and they do not want to lose their identity.
True love is their greatest desire, and they are willing to go to great lengths to obtain it.
The Lover brands would do well in the fragrance, cosmetics, jewelry, fashion, and food industries.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are 12 main archetypes.
The Lover archetype family includes: Romantic, Companion, Hedonist, and Matchmaker.
However, each has four sub-archetypes, so the Lover Archetype is like the representative of this family.
You can also go deeper and explore other archetypes within the Lover family.
The difference between the Lover and other archetypes is that the top-level archetypes share more in common with other family members.
That is why they function as a unifying thread among each family member.
It’s like you have your own personality, and you may have a lot in common with your parents.
So here are the other four Lover Archetypes:
Even though I won't go into detail about those sub-categories, at least you have some examples to help you figure it out for yourself.
And if you want to learn more, I recommend these two books:
(1) The Hero and the Outlaw by Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson
(2) Archetypes in Branding by Margaret Hartwell and Joshua C. Chen
Lastly, please check out my Brand Strategy Guide, where I explain how to use archetypes to develop a comprehensive brand strategy.
Check out my new course about brand archetypes (including the Innocent)—it's a deep dive that elaborates on the free content available on my blog.
The preview of this course is also available on my Youtube channel (2nd module only).
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I'm a branding expert and graphic designer based in NY. I specialize in the development of brands: brand strategy, identity & web design. Need help with your project?—Get in touch
