Traditional persona frameworks are everywhere - and most of them are completely pointless. They pop up in almost every brand strategy deck: neat slides with names like “Millennial Mark” or “Gen Z Zoe,” complete with job titles, hobbies, and a preferred coffee order. But while these profiles might look polished, they rarely tell us anything meaningful about how to actually connect with real people.
At LoveGunn, we believe the job of brand strategy is to find the emotional, behavioural and cultural truths that actually drive decision-making. Not just fill in a template.
That means looking past persona canvases and digging into:
- Emotional drivers – What do people feel, fear, or aspire to?
- Cultural context – What’s influencing them right now? Who do they trust? What’s shaping their worldview?
- Tastes and tone – What do they find cool, funny, credible or cringeworthy?
- Identity signals – What helps them feel seen? What reflects who they are (or want to be)?
This is where real brand building starts. Not with stock photos and personality archetypes, but with real human insightthat can shape tone of voice, creative direction, brand identity and campaign thinking.
Enter “Millennial Mark”
Let’s take one of those cookie-cutter personas and unpack it the way we would in our process.
Most frameworks might describe him like this:
- Age: 32
- Lives in: Shoreditch
- Works in: Marketing
- Salary: £50K
- Enjoys: Podcasts
Useful? Barely.
Here’s what matters more:
- He’s nostalgic for early Tumblr culture but doesn’t want to admit it.
- He reads Substacks, shares memes in group chats, and doesn’t trust anything too polished.
- He wants brands to speak to him like a mate, not a campaign.
- He values sustainability - but isn’t perfect at living it.
- He’s burnt out on hustle culture and quietly looking for more meaning.
That’s the kind of nuance that helps creative work actually resonate. That’s what informs how we position brands, shape identities, and build tone of voice systems that sound like someone, not everyone.
The LoveGunn approach to brand research
In every project we take on - from football clubs to fashion brands to emerging tech - our Research stage is where the difference is made.
We combine cultural research, qualitative interviews, and behavioural insights to go deeper than the average brand strategy. We don’t just ask who the audience is. We ask what drives them, what shapes them, and how to speak to them in a way that actually lands.
Because reaching someone isn’t the same as connecting with them. And connection is what builds brands that last.
If you’re tired of cardboard cut-outs and want to build a brand that people actually care about, we should talk.
Drop us a line.
Let’s start where it matters.
Traditional persona frameworks are everywhere - and most of them are completely pointless. They pop up in almost every brand strategy deck: neat slides with names like “Millennial Mark” or “Gen Z Zoe,” complete with job titles, hobbies, and a preferred coffee order. But while these profiles might look polished, they rarely tell us anything meaningful about how to actually connect with real people.
At LoveGunn, we believe the job of brand strategy is to find the emotional, behavioural and cultural truths that actually drive decision-making. Not just fill in a template.
That means looking past persona canvases and digging into:
- Emotional drivers – What do people feel, fear, or aspire to?
- Cultural context – What’s influencing them right now? Who do they trust? What’s shaping their worldview?
- Tastes and tone – What do they find cool, funny, credible or cringeworthy?
- Identity signals – What helps them feel seen? What reflects who they are (or want to be)?
This is where real brand building starts. Not with stock photos and personality archetypes, but with real human insightthat can shape tone of voice, creative direction, brand identity and campaign thinking.
Enter “Millennial Mark”
Let’s take one of those cookie-cutter personas and unpack it the way we would in our process.
Most frameworks might describe him like this:
- Age: 32
- Lives in: Shoreditch
- Works in: Marketing
- Salary: £50K
- Enjoys: Podcasts
Useful? Barely.
Here’s what matters more:
- He’s nostalgic for early Tumblr culture but doesn’t want to admit it.
- He reads Substacks, shares memes in group chats, and doesn’t trust anything too polished.
- He wants brands to speak to him like a mate, not a campaign.
- He values sustainability - but isn’t perfect at living it.
- He’s burnt out on hustle culture and quietly looking for more meaning.
That’s the kind of nuance that helps creative work actually resonate. That’s what informs how we position brands, shape identities, and build tone of voice systems that sound like someone, not everyone.
The LoveGunn approach to brand research
In every project we take on - from football clubs to fashion brands to emerging tech - our Research stage is where the difference is made.
We combine cultural research, qualitative interviews, and behavioural insights to go deeper than the average brand strategy. We don’t just ask who the audience is. We ask what drives them, what shapes them, and how to speak to them in a way that actually lands.
Because reaching someone isn’t the same as connecting with them. And connection is what builds brands that last.
If you’re tired of cardboard cut-outs and want to build a brand that people actually care about, we should talk.
Drop us a line.
Let’s start where it matters.
