Porkbun's Lesson on Brand Personality

Some brands describe their personalities. Others make it a part of everything they do.

Let me give you an example of the latter.

I recently registered a few new domain names with Porkbun.

(It's an awful name for a domain registrar, but they offer terrific value.)

I'm reasonably technical, so with a little help from Claude, I managed to set up the new domain names on my own. But during the process, I noticed a setting that I had never seen when registering domain names with other companies: DEJIGAMAFLIPPER.

I thought to myself, "What the heck is a DEJIGAMAFLIPPER?"

Fortunately, I didn't have to wonder: I could hover my mouse over the question mark beside the name for an explanation. So that's what I did, which is when I read this:

But that explanation gave me more questions than answers. Why would I want to reverse my domain name? What would be the benefit of doing that? And if there was a benefit, why haven't I been Dejigamflipping all my domain names over the years?

When you're setting up technical systems, it's generally a bad idea to click buttons you don't understand. But I couldn't help myself: I clicked the Dejigamaflip button.

And it worked! Sort of...

Porkbun is clearly correct: from a technical standpoint, Dejigamaflipping isn't a thing.

But it IS a thing for PorkBun in terms of brand personality. And it's an important thing.

On Porkbun's About page, the company describes itself as "an amazingly awesome ICANN accredited domain name registrar based out of the Pacific Northwest."

It claims, "We're different, we're easy, and we're affordable. Use us, you won't be sorry. If you don't use us we'll be sad, but we'll still love you."

The language used throughout the page gives us a very distinct sense of Porkbun's whimsical personality, just in case the banner at the top of the page, the company logo, and the company name itself weren't enough to convince you.

But lots of companies claim to be whimsical.

Very few fully incorporate that whimsy into their businesses, even in the parts where most customers won't even notice.

Porkbun offers a powerful lesson on how to have an authentic brand personality.

Adding the Dejigamaflipping feature would have cost Porkbun nothing but a little bit of programming time, but it also has zero chance of any financial return. So what's the point?

The point is the smile. The curiosity invoked, the chuckle when you realize you've been pranked, and the goodwill generated by a company that doesn't take itself too seriously.

In this case, demonstrating "whimsy" in all parts of its business helps make Porkbun distinctive and memorable, which is increasingly important given how many places you can go to secure a domain name.

But there's a broader point here. Replace "whimsy" with "value-driven" or "customer-focused", and it's easy to see it.

Companies can claim whatever personality traits and values they want.

But when companies consciously decide to incorporate those traits and values into every aspect of their businesses, even in the parts where most customers won't even notice it?

That's the surest sign it's not just good copywriting designed to make you believe a company is something it really isn't, and really won't be when it matters.

(Think "customer-focused" companies that won't let you return a product you could only buy from them without a receipt, or company websites that claim their employees are "like family" while executing mass layoffs to appease shareholders.)

Some brands describe their personalities. Others make it a part of everything they do.

If you are willing to make the effort, the second approach is much, much better.