What we know about brand identity and image

Source: Warc Best Practice, December 2016

Downloaded from warc.com

This article explores current thinking and writing on the topic of brand identity and image: the values and purpose a company
wishes to portray on the one hand (brand identity) against its actual set of perceptions and opinions that consumers have in
mind – what the brand stands for (brand image).

Visual symbols serve to encode brand meaning, ensuring the brand proposition is understood by its stakeholders; A
strong symbol can accumulate significant cultural capital that is understood across different markets.
Brands perform an emotional function – they provide stability by reflecting and validating a consumer's identity and
values, meeting people's need for completion and self-actualisation.
A P&G study conducted from 2006 - 2009 demonstrated that design-driven brands create more shareholder value, thus
quantifying the financial impact of a consistent design system at the heart of a successful brand identity and image.
An authentic company culture is a key tactic to build the brand internally, and modern brands use it to communicate what
makes them different to and better than their competitors.

More than ever, brand identity is created in dialogue with consumers and brand image is influenced by functional
alongside emotional needs. Brands must ensure that their values are reflected in more than imagery – modern
branding extends to customer service and company culture, which alongside design mediate the brand experience.

Definition
Brand identity and image are terms that reflect the values and purpose a company wishes to portray on the one hand (brand
identity) against its actual set of perceptions and opinions that consumers have in mind – what the brand stands for (brand image).
Symbols and signs such as logos are graphical representations of brand identity. A brand name and logo are key to building a
brand image.

Key insights
1. Signs and symbols effectively communicate brand value

Visual symbols are a key part of brand identity, and central to a consumer's brand perception. They serve to encode brand
meaning, ensuring the brand proposition is understood by its stakeholders. Semiotics is a tool to ensure that imagery effectively
communicates the intended brand values. A strong symbol can accumulate significant cultural capital that is understood across
different markets. While repetition of icons and symbols leads to a strengthening of brand image over time, straying from it can
lead to loss of signification – consumers no longer understand what the brand stands for.

Read more in: Brand meaning – Decoding the signs

2. Powerful visual identities make a brand more resilient

The visual symbol is often where the brand begins. Surprisingly, some of the most iconic brand symbols (e.g. the Apple and the
Nike Swoosh) were coincidental rather than planned, and their strong visual identities acquired unique meaning and brand value
over time. Powerful visual symbols can become highly recognisable brand properties, able to absorb multiple meanings. Brand
essence is thus coded into the image itself and can sustain interpretations by different stakeholders more easily. A strong symbol
is also more able to absorb changes in meaning (e.g. the Apple logo now evokes entertainment alongside computing). This
ultimately leads to a brand image that is more resilient over time.

Read more in: Brand meaning: Brand equals Image

3. An effective brand name sets clear expectations about the brand experience

It's important to give due consideration to naming a brand as inappropriate brand names can hinder success. The purpose of a
brand name is to set customer expectations about a brand experience. One theory proposes there are three main options to
consider when naming a brand.

1. Descriptive (e.g. British Telecom)

2. Suggestive (e.g. PowerBook or WeedEater)
3. Fanciful (e.g. Amazon)

Fanciful names can be more successful as they stand out and provide a quick way for the brand to communicate its message in a
crowded landscape. Unlike descriptive and more straightforward brand names, fanciful ones are better at engaging consumers on
an emotional level as they appeal to the imagination. They are also often easier to trademark. Brand names should also try to tell a
story that differentiates from the category.

Read more in: Naming brands: The name game

4. A consistent visual identity can bring the brand idea to life

Brands perform an emotional function – they provide stability by reflecting and validating a consumer's identity and values,
meeting people's need for completion and self-actualisation. Visual identities are powerful symbolic objects that communicate the
brand idea, and signs are imbued with emotional meaning. Strong visual equity is particularly important in today's digital eco-
system, where brands need to live across different channels, media, and in different formats. A consistent visual identity, including
things like logo, type, colour, language, graphics and imagery, is key to building meaningful relationships with consumers.

Read more in: Brand meaning: In search of brand magic

5. Strong brand design drives business growth

Brand identity is more than just a logo. It's a design system that communicates the brand idea consistently through product,
packaging, and every customer touchpoint including website and retail store. While it has been difficult to measure the ROI of
design, research shows that it can significantly impact brand image and drive both positive and negative consumer behaviour. A
P&G study conducted from 2006 - 2009 demonstrated that design-driven brands create more shareholder value, thus quantifying
the financial impact of a consistent design system at the heart of a successful brand identity and image.

Read more in: Measure design's contribution to business growth

6. Brand damage can be reversed through authentic brand dialogue

McDonald's advertising around quality food had been fuelling negative perceptions online, creating negative brand associations
amongst ‘fence sitters' who constitute 60% of their target market. It responded with Our Food, Your Questions, a campaign that
invited consumers to ask any questions about McDonald's including tough ones, with the staff, including its CEO, answering on a
dedicated microsite. Through listening and responding, and using the answers in a subsequent ad campaign, McDonald's told its
quality food story in authentic dialogue with its consumers. As a result, the brand's quality perception metrics increased, including
'has good quality food' by 17%, and 'good quality ingredients' by 22%, and it also led to an increase in store visits.

Read more in: McDonald's: Our Food. Your Questions

7. Brand image is experienced through customer-facing staff

Consumers' experiences with a brand significantly contribute to its image and employees are enablers of a positive brand
experience. However, customer service is difficult to get right. Virgin Media's "Voice of our brand" programme was designed to
ensure a consistently excellent experience with the brand and improve interactions with customers across all channels. It involved
training the brand's customer-facing staff, using behavioural frameworks and a toolkit to guide action, tone and language aligned
with its values. The result was an improved brand perception - positive comments about Virgin Media staff doubled and negative
ones halved.
Read more in: Virgin Media: Voice of our brand

8. Company culture builds brand differentiation and brand identity

Classic brand management has traditionally focused on establishing a brand's outward distinctiveness, e.g. through the creation
of brand identity and advertising. However it is no longer enough to create the impression of difference to the outside world -
differentiation now includes the internal brand experience. An authentic company culture is a key tactic to build the brand internally,
and modern brands use it to communicate what makes them different to and better than their competitors. If internal culture is part
of the brand differentiation, employees will become part of the brand leading to reputational and competitive advantage.

Read more in: Creativity needs to be at the heart of strategy

9. Product and story are key for Millennial-focused brands

Millennials, it is believed, are highly resistant to traditional marketing and care less about a brand's intangible values. Instead, they
are driven by utilitarian motives due to being time-poor and having limited resources. Guided by a functional need, they look for
brands to make their lives and choices easier; alternatively brands must save them money or provide entertainment. Storytelling is
a key tactic to communicate brand identity to Millennials. It allows brands to add lightness and humour as a countermeasure to the
economic and societal challenges they experience. For this demographic, connecting is more important than selling, but brands
must also add tangible value - product and story are important for Millennials.

Read more in: The march of the Millennials

10. Past usage influences current brand-image associations

Brand-image associations (e.g. "is good value for money", "tastes nice") are stronger and more systematic if consumers have a
past history with a brand. A large-scale quantitative study of packaged and non-packaged goods markets across 15 countries
including emerging markets found that consumers are significantly influenced by their past brand usage. It showed that current
users are more likely to make brand-image associations, suggesting that former and non-recent users may require brand
communication and advertising to keep the memory fresh.

Read more in: Brand Image and Brand Usage: Is a Forty-Year-Old Empirical Generalization Still Useful?

More on this topic

Warc Topic Page: Brand Identity & Image

Warc Case Studies: Objective: Refresh Brand Identity

Further reading
How to revitalise a brand
Stop selling and start building
Coca-Cola: Share a Coke US
Miller Lite: How brand re-birth created brand growth
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