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Learn how we built a distinctive brand personality for Landeana, a boutique luxury travel company, through a full rebranding process. This case study walks you through the strategy, voice, visuals, and system we created to align the founder’s vision with premium market expectations.
What is Brand Personality and how to build one: Landeana Case Study
Travel agency
What is brand personality?
What makes Harry Potter different from Gandalf? Both are magicians, yet impossible to confuse. One is young, the other old. One in a black robe, the other in white. One just starting out, the other shaped by a lifetime of battles.
That’s the simplest brand personality definition — the attitude, style, and presence that make a brand feel like a person you instantly recognize. The personality of a brand is what makes people trust you, remember you, and want to spend their time and money with you. Many brands operate without one, or settle for a bland version, but a clear, confident personality is gonna be your Elder Wand and One Ring in winning the leads’ interest and loyalty. And the best part is that you don’t need to go as far as Mordor to build a brand personality - it already lives inside you. You just need the right tools to unleash it.
That’s the simplest brand personality definition — the attitude, style, and presence that make a brand feel like a person you instantly recognize. The personality of a brand is what makes people trust you, remember you, and want to spend their time and money with you. Many brands operate without one, or settle for a bland version, but a clear, confident personality is gonna be your Elder Wand and One Ring in winning the leads’ interest and loyalty. And the best part is that you don’t need to go as far as Mordor to build a brand personality - it already lives inside you. You just need the right tools to unleash it.
From the start, Landeana’s mission was clear: create quiet, highly aesthetic journeys through South America for travelers who value beauty, privacy, and depth. Landeana’s founder Laura already carried the essence of the brand in her own personality and approach to building her product - refined, highly aesthetic, and deeply attuned to detail. But translating that into a market-ready identity for a discerning luxury audience in South America is a different challenge. In a space full of “luxury” offers, standing out takes more than a beautiful logo or website.
At Brand Doula, our goal was to shape a brand personality that would reflect the owner's values and help convert the very picky upscale travelers into loyal clients.
Why do you need to build a brand personality (or improve the existing one)
When we first looked at Landeana, it was clear Laura had the vision nailed. It offered premium, highly aesthetic, “quiet luxury” journeys through South America, but the brand itself didn’t say it out loud. The visuals felt inconsistent, the messaging could have belonged to any “luxury” travel company, and there wasn’t that instant spark of emotional connection.
Yes, some established brands get away with looking bland — but that’s because decades of loyal clients keep them afloat. If you’re a startup or scaling business, you can’t skip this step. It’s the difference between being noticed or ignored.
For Landeana, brand personality was a non-negotiable must. One, it operates in a highly competitive market. And two, high-end clients decide with their gut before their wallet. If the brand doesn’t stand out, looking, sounding, and feeling not just premium, but unique and premium, they move on.
Even a basic product can dominate its category if it has a unique image. Liquid Death turned canned water into a cult following. Touchland made hand sanitizer feel like a fashion accessory.
Think your brand is “too small,” “not premium enough,” or that “the product speaks for itself”? Don’t fall into these traps like so many founders do (we see it a lot). Your brand personality is not decoration, it’s a revenue engine.
Brand personality ≠ personal brand
We’ve seen this pattern a lot at Brand Doula.
Founders know their service inside out, but the way it’s presented doesn’t yet carry the same personality they bring in person.
Let’s clear this up. Every brand needs personality. But should that personality be the same as your personal brand? That depends on your business model and marketing approach.
Let’s clear this up. Every brand needs personality. But should that personality be the same as your personal brand? That depends on your business model and marketing approach.
Option 1: You’re a travel blogger selling itineraries or guided tours. Your business is built around you. In this case, your personal brand is your company brand, and it defines your brand personality. The story you tell is: “Watch how I travel, then come experience it with me.”
Option 2: You’re the founder of a travel agency or concierge service offering a range of trips, whether guided by you or others. Here, your personal brand is optional. You can weave in as much of your own personality as you like or none at all. The story becomes: “See the experiences we create, watch others enjoy them, and join in.”
Option 3 (a hybrid between the first two): You run a boutique, founder-led brand where your personality shapes the vision, but the brand stands on its own. Your personal values can shape the business model, tone of voice, and visuals, yet the identity doesn’t rely entirely on you. The story here is: “This is my vision, built for you to live and feel as your own.”
We chose the last option as it suited Landeana the best.
Option 2: You’re the founder of a travel agency or concierge service offering a range of trips, whether guided by you or others. Here, your personal brand is optional. You can weave in as much of your own personality as you like or none at all. The story becomes: “See the experiences we create, watch others enjoy them, and join in.”
Option 3 (a hybrid between the first two): You run a boutique, founder-led brand where your personality shapes the vision, but the brand stands on its own. Your personal values can shape the business model, tone of voice, and visuals, yet the identity doesn’t rely entirely on you. The story here is: “This is my vision, built for you to live and feel as your own.”
We chose the last option as it suited Landeana the best.
1
Define Brand Personality
Step #1 in building brand personality
“Remember who you are,” Mufasa told Simba. The same goes for building a business.
No matter how much of your own personality — real or imagined — you want to pour into it, that’s where you start. Picture a stranger asking who you are, and jot down every answer that comes to mind: a European, a mother, an athlete, a graduate, a traveler. Those pieces are raw material. Later, we’ll show you how to turn them into features of your brand identity.
With Landeana, we started by getting to know Laura — the founder behind the name — and the values she naturally brings to the table. Then we worked to define a brand personality that would make the company impossible to confuse with anyone else. We pulled from what was already there: her European taste and high service standards, her sharp eye for aesthetics, her thirst for adventure, her deep knowledge of South America from years of NGO work, her emotional intelligence in curating experiences, and her precise, almost architectural way of structuring them. Those traits became Landeana’s core values: premium service, on-site expertise, reliability, exclusivity, and immersive, sensorial richness.
With Landeana, we started by getting to know Laura — the founder behind the name — and the values she naturally brings to the table. Then we worked to define a brand personality that would make the company impossible to confuse with anyone else. We pulled from what was already there: her European taste and high service standards, her sharp eye for aesthetics, her thirst for adventure, her deep knowledge of South America from years of NGO work, her emotional intelligence in curating experiences, and her precise, almost architectural way of structuring them. Those traits became Landeana’s core values: premium service, on-site expertise, reliability, exclusivity, and immersive, sensorial richness.
2
Translating Personality into Voice
Step #2 in building brand personality
For Landeana, the voice came first. Brand personality in marketing often starts with visuals, but we flipped the process. The words would set the tone so design, photography, and even sales materials carried the same feeling.
The aim was to shape the brand as a personality, letting Laura’s own qualities come through: confident, structured, and sensually rich. Itineraries weren’t written as bullet points. They became short narratives — the smell of eucalyptus drifting in the Sacred Valley, the sound of horse steps on stone, the glow of afternoon light on adobe walls. Every detail was there to either paint the picture or guide the next step.
This voice spoke fluently to both customer personas we identified for Landeana: one found the texture and emotional pull, while the other saw clarity and structure. The balance came from blending vivid detail with precise, well-organized information.
We built this brand personality framework for Landeana’s tone of voice:
This voice spoke fluently to both customer personas we identified for Landeana: one found the texture and emotional pull, while the other saw clarity and structure. The balance came from blending vivid detail with precise, well-organized information.
We built this brand personality framework for Landeana’s tone of voice:
- Write like you’re talking to your best-fit client.
- Pair sensory detail with clear, actionable facts.
- Keep the tone consistent across your website, social media, and emails (or wherever your audience meets you).
3
Translating Personality into Visuals
Step #3 in building brand personality
- Choose imagery that feels lived-in and true to your offer.
- Build a palette (4-7 colors) and a layout that reflect your brand personality traits (they can match or not your personal taste!)
- Keep it consistent so your audience recognizes you instantly, anywhere they see you.
If you’re asking what is your brand personality in visual form, think of it as a set of rules for how your brand shows up:
The color palette reflected the traits: mineral white, muted olive, soft lake blue, with golden ochre used sparingly to add warmth and ceremony. Whitespace became a design tool, giving each element room to breathe, like the pacing of Landeana’s itineraries.
We translated the brand as personality into a visual system using real South American textures, architectural details, and light that carried the same emotional depth and structure we had defined earlier. No overused “luxury travel” clichés. Instead, we used elements like the geometry of Incan terraces, the patina of gold on cathedral doors, and the quiet space of a misty Andean morning.
Once the voice was in place, we moved to visuals - the part of brand personality in marketing most people notice first.
4
Bringing It to Market
Step #4 in building brand personality
With the voice and visuals locked in, it was time to put Landeana’s brand personality in marketing into action. The personality we’d defined didn’t just live in a strategy document, it showed up everywhere a potential client might meet the brand.
On the website, we applied layout principles from the brand core: generous whitespace, clear hierarchy, and one idea per screen. This reflected the brand as personality, structured, calm, and confident.
Social media became an extension of that idea. Posts carried the same tone of voice, paired with imagery that followed the visual rules. Nothing random.
Email marketing adopted a storytelling format, drawing on the founder’s own travel experiences. Each send combined sensory narrative with practical details, so subscribers could feel the journey while understanding exactly how to book it.
If you’re wondering what is your brand personality in execution, this is it:
Social media became an extension of that idea. Posts carried the same tone of voice, paired with imagery that followed the visual rules. Nothing random.
Email marketing adopted a storytelling format, drawing on the founder’s own travel experiences. Each send combined sensory narrative with practical details, so subscribers could feel the journey while understanding exactly how to book it.
If you’re wondering what is your brand personality in execution, this is it:
- Use the same style of copy and narration principles across your channels (slightly adjust to a platform)
- Your social strategy should match your personality: quiet, vibrant, educative, promoting, etc.
- Choose visuals that embody your personality traits, even when the subject isn’t directly about your service.
- Build small signature elements - a phrase, a color accent, a photo style - that act like your calling card across all touchpoints.
Landeana’s case proved that when you treat the brand as personality, you stop competing on price or generic “luxury” labels and start competing on your unique identity.
- Details make it memorable. Small, repeatable elements in wording, visuals, and layout turn into signature cues your audience recognizes instantly.
- Consistency builds trust. From your website to social media to email, the same tone, look, and feel signals reliability.
- Clarity attracts the right clients. When your traits are defined and applied consistently, you filter in the people who value what you offer most.
Key lessons you can apply to your own brand personality in marketing:
By the time Landeana launched, the brand personality was visible, audible, and consistent across every touchpoint. The voice felt personal yet polished. The visuals carried the same calm, structured elegance as Landeana’s itineraries themselves. Potential clients could sense the brand’s fit for them before they even made contact.
Results & Key Takeaways
Selected slides from the brand audit
Selected slides from the brand core
FAQ: Brand Personality
It’s the set of human-like qualities — tone, style, and presence — that make your brand feel like a person people can recognize and connect with.
Start by identifying your core values, audience expectations, and the emotions you want to evoke. Translate those into traits you can express through voice, visuals, and customer experience.
Traits are the specific qualities that shape how your brand is perceived. For example, sophisticated, adventurous, trustworthy, warm, or precise.
Landeana’s personality blends emotional intelligence with structured elegance. It comes through in its calm, precise visuals, sensorial storytelling, and consistent tone across all channels.
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