Brand identity

Identity is the proposition that a brand makes to consumers. It signals who you are and why consumers should care. A brand may be cared for its attributes, benefits, values, personality, etc. E.g. Tide wants its customers to care for its brand because it gives superior whiteness.

 Aaker defines brand identity as: a unique set of brand associations that the bran strategist aspires to create or maintain. These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers from the organization members.

Brand Identity: Insiders concept

The noticeable aspect of brand identity is that is crafted and managed within the organization by the strategist but it is externally directed toward brands target market-both consumers and prospects. Brand identity is the way a brand presents itself in advertising, behavior and symbolism. Brand identity revolves around the sender or brand builder whereas brand image revolves around the receiver or consumer.

Brand as Mission
Brand mission is the unique contribution it seeks to make or thing it intends to do for customers. Googles mission to give its user power of information by making it accessible. A brand is a mission sent by its sponsor. Brands are sent by marketers to market but their true destination is consumer. Brand identity is about articulating brand mission, the role that it would play or the business it would transact in the life of its target consumer.

Brand- Building Steps

1. Who are you? (define brand identity, linking bran with a need and product class in consumers mind). 2. What are you? (brand meaning: brands performance and imagery associations) 3. What about you? (brand response: elicited judgment and feeling about the brand) 4. What about you and me? (consumer relationship: loyalty)

Brand Identity Perspectives

A brand is a mediating entity that exists between a marketer on the one hand and the consumer on the other. Brand as a product: spelling identity from product perspective implies attending to product related aspects such as product attributes, quality, uses and users. E.g. cherry is strongly associated with boot polish and visa with cards. Product perspective dimensions: Product scope, product-related attributes, quality and value, user associations, country of origin.

 Brand as organization: brands origin, the company or the organization that market it could designed as important in its identity structure. A brand may directly borrow its manufacturers associations. Many organizations achieve extraordinary excellence in aspects which customers value. E.g. innovation (Hewlett Packard), environmental sensitivity (Body Shop).

 Brand as a person: a brand can be infused with human characteristics. The brand as a person perspective would imply spelling out brand identity in terms of what all human associations are intended to be created for the brand. The important personality drivers include images portrayed in communication, sponsorship of events, symbols, design, music, product attributes and brand ambassadors. Brands would be visualized in terms of human traitsboth demographics like age, sex, occupation and psychographics such as aggressive, down-to-earth, sophisticated, rugged, fashionable, etc. e.g. German cars like Mercedes and BMW may incorporate similar engineering excellence but differ considerably in terms of their brand personality.

 Brand as a symbol: a symbol is a sign that stands for something. The brand is a symbol identity perspective. Anything which represents the brand could be a symbol. Symbols are particularly important for their ability to gain recognition and recall. A brand may have three types of symbols: visual image, metaphor and heritage of the brand.

Brand as Product

Product scope: laptop category Attributes: intel processor, windows, Software, water resistant, etc. Uses: multimedia, internet, graphics Users: young executives Quality and value: high quality and reasonable price Country of origin: South Korea Organizational Attributes: Innovative, responsive to Consumer needs, leadership in electronics, global presence Personality: young and vibrant Brand Customer Relationship: friend

SAMSUNG LAPTOPS

Brand as organization

Brand as a person

Brand as symbol

Visual Imagery: elliptical logo (world moving through space) Change and innovation, dynamism Brand heritage: unveiled in 1993

Brand Identity Levels

Identity is essentially an issue that is in the hand of the brand steward, creator or manager. Central Identity or Fundamental Identity (Inner Core): The central identity indicates the reasons why the brand has been brought into existence. It envelops within it the brands unique selling appeal or proposition. For a brand to have sustainable identity, analyses of customers, competitors and self appraisal of companys strength and weaknesses are essential. The core identity gives justification as to why a brand was born. It captures the value proposition which the brand makes to its public/customers which ultimately drive consumer behavior.

 Outer Core of the Brand (Peripheral Identity) The brand manifests itself in brand identity elements like the product, symbol, user profile, personality, slogans, endorsers, characters, name, packaging, etc. All the brand elements get combined to make up brand identity. The outer core of the brand completes the picture and provides it meaning. The brands core sometimes may be too philosophical or abstract, which may pose difficulty in decoding a brands intentions. It is for this reason that the outer identity may be used to provide direction and meaning to the element selection.

Brand Identity- Coconut Hair Oil

Inner Core: Expertise in coconuts Brand lineage Experience Outer Core: Personality: innovative, confident, trustworthy, young Product Focus: coconut oil, coconut perfumed hair oil, coconut anti-dandruff oil Price/ Quality: value for money User Profile: men/women, 18-45 years Extensions: parachute coconut hair oil, parachute jasmine, parachute dandruff solution Symbol/ Logo: Flag-shaped logo with a coconut tree against blue background Heritage: has been in coconut business for decades Discrimination: expertise- parachute dream centre

Value proposition: Essential coconut nourishment