Brand Identity

By Dakota Murillo

What is brand identity ?A brand identity is a term, name, symbol, logo and/or other distinct feature that separates one seller’s products or goods from another.

Example

Jordan Jordan is a prime example of a strong brand identity.Upon seeing this logo, almost everyone will think of Michael Jordan and his outstanding basketball career. This is then linked with his Clothing and Shoes lines.

Why do we need brand identity ?

It separates you from the competition and can give you a competitive edge. Brand identity tells people who you are and what you are all about.

Brand IdentityAs an entrepreneur, creating a brand identity is priceless. To help us understand the steps and aspects of brand identity we can use Kapferer’s brand identity prism.

“ Branding is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

-Jeff Bezos (founder of Amazon)

Kapferer’s Prism

The Six Aspects PhysiquePersonalityRelationshipReflection Culture Self-image

We are going to use Apple to look at these aspects.

Physique This includes things like logo and color schemes.For example, if we look at this logo for Apple, we would be talking about the big white apple against a grey background.

PersonalityThis is the attitude your product has.Things like celebrity endorsements, the colors used in your logo and the voice used in your commercials.For example, the modern look of Apple’s commercials and robotic voice (siri) used.

Culture Culture is the internal environment that your product is formed around.For Apple, this is modern and innovative.

RelationshipThis is the relationship between who your product represents.For Apple, this would be the relationship between man and technology.

Reflection This is the reflection of your target demographic.For Apple, this would be upper to middle class, music enthusiasts and graphic designers.

Self image • This is how the company sees itself.• This would be like looking at a photo of yourself

and trying to become what you want to see. • For Apple, this is looking at what they are

currently and deciding what might or might not need to change to make them the “next big thing”.

Using the six aspects

By knowing our customers and these six aspects of brand identity, understanding what makes a brand allows creating our own brand as entrepreneurs to be much simpler and more effective.

Sources http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/34238/The-Marketer-s-Guide-to-Developing-a-Strong-Brand-Identity.aspx