The Neighbor Archetype: EVERYONE BELONGS

There is a place for everyone!

The Neighbor Archetype is for businesses that make people feel welcome and give them a place to belong. Customer service is a high priority for you. You build trust with your clients and customers based on familiarity – because they KNOW you.

The big idea for the Neighbor: Everyone is invited and everyone belongs!

Warning: The worst thing a Neighbor brand can do is to make people feel left out and not included. To be made to feel unimportant or like an outcast.  To not be trusted for ANY reason whatsoever. 

Pull up a lawn chair and let’s learn more about the Neighbor Archetype together. Cheers!

More Information on the Neighbor Archetype

Check out the Neighbor Page on BrandArchetypes.com

Podcast: Episode 16 – The Neighbor Archetype

Here is a quick video hitting all the highlights and main ideas.

What’s it like to be a Neighbor?

INCLUSIVE. If your business feels like a club, the in-crowd, the place to be – then you might be the neighbor. You are extremely down-to-earth, relatable, helpful, and friendly. The Neighbor brand emulates unpretentiousness, is relaxed, and accepting of new things. You provide reliable customer service and make everyone feel understood and included and invokes a warm, comfortable feeling.

Neighbor Words

Some of our favorite words to describe a Neighbor are:

AGREEABLE – Easy to get along with and open to new ideas. Definitely a team player. You work alongside your clients and customers and ensure they are part of the process.

GENEROUS – You are generous with your time and create a culture of willingness to go above and beyond what is expected to provide excellent customer service.

NICE – You are extremely nice. Pleasant to be around and don’t create a lot of drama. Super helpful.

HONEST – Trust is a big part of your brand. You can’t have trust without honesty.

KIND – Kindness is a natural part of being a neighbor. You reach out. You care. You are there for people.

POSITIVE – You bring the light to every gathering. Your outlook on life is contagious and you leave people feeling uplifted and happy.

LOYAL – Good neighbors and friends are loyal. You are not a fair-weather company and you care about your clients’ success just as much as they do – and they know it.

Want more words? Buy the NEIGHBOR word bank for $29.95. Send an email to amy@zeediamedIa.com.

More Facts about the NEIGHBOR Brand

The NEIGHBOR ARCHETYPE is also known as The girl/guy next door, everyday girl/guy, friend, everyman, the average Joe/Jane, and the ultimate host and hostess.

Sub-archetypes:

The Neighbor – Easy going, unpretentious and laid-back. Exudes a huge amount of trustworthiness.

The Social Networker – Never the wall-flower, and liked by everyone. This company makes connections.

Examples of the Neighbor Brand

Popular Neighbor Brands include Wendy’s, Folgers, Maytag, Chevrolet, Ikea, Charles Schwab, and Dunkin’ Donuts.

Is Your Business Neighborly?

• Is your business easy to understand?
• Are you seen as trustworthy because you’re just so easy to work with?
• Do your employees generally like each other?
• Does your company culture promotes teamwork and listening?
• Do you have the ability to provide trustworthy, reliable customer service?
• Are you a master at being unpretentious and easy-going?
• Do you use empathy to relate to employees and customers?

If you said “yes” to any (or a lot) of the above, you just may be an Neighbor!

Take the Questionnaire to Find Out

Standing Up Against the Competition

If your competition is egotistical, pretentious, or difficult to work with, you have a great opportunity to show customers just how reliable and easy-going you are. Competitors who constantly use industry jargon (in an effort to appear knowledgeable) are also easy to target.  You should have no frills and no bull.

Embracing Your Archetype

Once you choose an archetype, it is important to look at everything you do through that lens. Zeedia Media has a process and schedule that cuts it up into bite-size pieces tackling only one hurdle at a time in a way that makes sense.

We guide you to look at each aspect of your business, starting with your name and logo. Is it NEIGHBOR enough? Can it be improved upon? Then we move onto colors, fonts, taglines, etc. until each element of your brand and company culture has been tweaked and improved to be in line with your brand. This is true no matter which archetype you pick.

With any brand initiative, the most important element is consistency. The more consistent your message is the bigger impact you will have over time in your space. People will start to recognize your company and associate it with NEIGHBOR-like qualities- whether they realize it or not.

We are dying to know!

Are you a NEIGHBOR brand? Let us know. Show us what you have been doing so far to make your brand stronger and more consistent.

Need help? We are here for you.

517-320-1568

amy@zeediamedia.com