Brand Identity
• A person’s identity serves to provide direction,
purpose and meaning for that person. Consider
how important the following questions are :
• What are my core values?
• What do I stand for?
• How do I want to be perceived?
• What personality traits do I want to project?
• What are the important relationships in my life?
• A brand identity similarly provides direction, purpose and
meaning for the brand.
• It is central to a brand’s strategic vision and the driver of
one of four principal dimensions of brand equity :
association, which are the heart and soul of the brand
• Defn : Brand identity is a unique set of brand
associations that the brand strategist aspires to maintain.
These associations represent what the brand stands for
and imply a promise to customers from the organisation
members.
• Brand identity as defined by Aaker is the sum of the
brand expressed as a product, organisation, person and
symbol.
• Brand as product deals with the acceptance of the
brand as a product itself. For its price, Nirma is seen as
a good product. BMW or Mercedes are basically seen as
good products besides being good brands.
• Brand as organisation emphasizes that a brand is
successful among other things because of the
organizational values it upholds.
• Marico has brought in a series of successful products
because of their commitment to innovation.
• Marico has innovative and successful offerings in a w ide
variety of products as hairoil (Parachute),edible oil
(Saffola, Sweekar) , starch (Revive) and jam (Sil)
• Brand as person deals with the question “What
happens to this brand when it becomes a person?” By
implication, Denim talc would be seen as masculine,
Sunsilk shampoo as feminine and pepsi as young and
vibrant.
• Brand as symbol deals with the heritage and what the
brand stands [Link] e.g. Coke symbolises the American
dream.
Brand Identity
Brand as Brand as person
Brand as Brand as
organisation
product symbol
Personality
Product Organisation
(energetic,
scope attributes (e.g. Visual
rugged)
Product innovation, imagery
Brand
attributes genuine and
customer
Quality/v consumer
relationships metaphors
alue concern, Brand
(friend,
Uses trustworthiness heritage
advisor )
Users )
Country Local v/s
of origin global
Dimensions of brand identity
Physique
Personality
Culture
Relationship
Self-image
Reflection
• Kapferer represents brand identity as a six sided prism
• Physique is the basis of the brand. The physique of
TATA is trust
• The physique of Philips is “technology and reliability”
• Personality : answers the question :what happens to
this brand when it becomes a person?
• Culture: symbolises the organisation , its country of
origin and the value it stands for.
• India is known for its traditional remedies which is why
Balsara, Dabur and Zandu evoke s good response
abroad.
• Germany is known for its precision engineering. Some of
the world’s most popular car brands are German ( Audi,
Volkswagen, Mercedes and BMW).
• Japan is known for consumer electronics ( SONY,
PANASONIC SHARP)
• Relationship is the handshake between the consumer
and the organization.
• The relationship with Colgate is one of dependability.
• The relationship with Saffola edible oil is that of safety
• Reflection is the consumer’s perception of what the
brand stands for which is why coke’s clientele cuts
across age groups. The brand reflects youthful values ,
which is why young as well as old would like to consume
Coke
• Self –image is what the consumer thinks of himself.
• Mercedes Benz owner is telling himself that since he is
one of the elite , he is treating himself to the best car in
the world.
• A user of Surf excel Blue is telling herself that she is
conscious of not just price but value as well. That is the
self-image of the archetypal housewife.
• Thus brand identity according to Kapferer can be
expressed as the summation of the above 6 dimensions.
• Core identity :
value offering : McDonald's provides value as
defined by the product, special offers and the buying
experience given the price.
Food quality : consistently hot, good tasting at any
outlet in the world
Service : fast, accurate, friendly and hassle free
Cleanliness : The operations are always spotless
on both sides of the counter
User : Families and kids are focus , but serves a
wide clientele.
• Extended Identity : convenience: is the most
convenient quick service restaurant -it is located close to
where people live, work and gather ; features efficient ,
time-saving service; and serves easy-to eat food.
Product scope : fast food, hamburgers, children’s
entertainment Subbrands:Big Mac, Egg McMuffin,
Happy Meals, Corporate citizenship : ronald McDonald
Children “s Charities Brand Personality : Family
oriented , all-American , genuine, wholesome , cheerful, fun
• Relationship : The family/fun associations are inclusive
and Mcdonald’s is part of the good times.
Logo : Golden Arches
Characters: Ronald mcDonald
Value Proposition
– Functional benefits : Good tasting burgers, fries, and
drinks that provide value, extras such as playground,
prizes, games.
Emotional Benefits :
kids :- fun via excitement of birthday parties,
relationship with Ronald McDonald and other
characters and feeling of special family times.
Adults:- warmth via link to family events and
experiences reinforced by the McDonald’s emotional
advertising.
• Brand personality
Definition:
• The set of human characteristics associated with a
given brand. Thus it includes such characteristics as gender,
age, socioeconomic class as well as such classic human
personality traits as warmth, concern and sentimentality.
e.g—Virginia Slims tends to be feminine in comparison to
the masculine Marlboro.
Apple is considered young while IBM tends to be seen
as older( in part because it has been around longer)
• Brand personality like human personality is both distinctive
and enduring . Coke is considered authentic and real whereas
Pepsi is considered young, spirited and exciting.
• Personality of Harley Davidson (HD) bikes
• There are 3 core values of HD bikes
1) The dominant value is personal freedom, which
includes freedom from confinement (confined in a car or a t
home) and freedom from mainstream values and social
structures.
The Harley Davidson eagle logo is one symbol of this
freedom.
2) Second value is patriotism and American heritage.
3) Then third value is being macho , inspired in part
by the outlaw bikers in The wild ones , the famed Marlon
Brando movie in [Link] of manliness are
like wearing T-SHIRTS –“Real Men wear Black.
• HD bikes are the biggest, heaviest, loudest and thus the
most macho motorcycles in the world. There is an
abundance of black leather, heavy boots, chrome, and
other signals of maleness at Harley Rallies.
• The Harley motto—“Live to ride, ride to live” appeals also
to non macho potential buyers.
• The owners of Japanese bikes focuses on functional
benefits , whereas the Harley-Davidson owner is much
more concerned with emotion and self-expressive
benefits.
• Brand Personality Scale—
• A study was done among 1000 U.S respondents, 60 well
known brands and 114 personality traits. Five personality
factors emerged the most significant. These 5 explain
the differences between the brands.
1) Sincerity (Campbell’s, Kodak, Hallmark)
Down-to-earth : family oriented, small town,
conventional,blue-collar, all-American
Honest : Sincere, real, ethical, thoughtful, caring
Wholesome : original, genuine, ageless, classic , old-
fashioned
Cheerful : sentimental, friendly, warm, happy
2) excitement (Porsche, Absolut, Benetton)
Daring : trendy, exciting, off-beat,, flashy, provocative
Spirited: cool, young, lively, outgoing, adventurous
Imaginative: unique, humorous, surprising, artistic ,
fun
Up-to-date: independent, contemporary, innovative,
aggressive
• 3) Competence: (Amex, CNN, IBM)
• Reliable: hardworking, secure, efficient, trustworthy,
careful
• Intelligent: technical, corporate, serious
• Successful : leader, confident, influential
4) Sophistication (Lexus, Mercedes, Revlon)
Upper class: glamorous, good-looking, sophisticated
Charming: feminine, smooth, sexy, gentle
5) Ruggedness (Levi’s, Marlboro, Nike)
Outdoor: masculine, western, active, athletic
Tough: rugged, strong, no-nonsense
• Brand Image
Represents the essence of all the impressions or
imprints about the brand that have been made in the
consumer’s mind.
• It includes
impressions about its physical features and
performances,
impressions about the functional benefits from using it,
impressions about the kind of people who use it,
the emotions and associations aroused by it,
the imagery and symbolic meanings it evokes in the
consumer’s mind.
The brand image is indeed the totality of the brand in the
perception of the consumer
It embraces the brand’s physical and functional aspects
and also its symbolic meanings.
The brand personality dwells mainly in symbolic aspects.