Brand Identity vs. Image

What is the difference between brand identity and brand Image? Definition

Brand identity:

Thomas Gad in "4D - Branding" said, if you want to have a succesful brand and to live the brand you have to create the brand code. For creating a brand code you have to use the 4D-Model :

The functional Dimension
This Dimension is about the Name of the brand and the benefits of ist products. Furthermore it is about everything that has to do with physical Quality.

The social Dimension
In the social Dimension the brand creates a cult around itself. Annother Point of social Dimension is the logo of the brand,who should connect individuals, who has the same brand.

The mental Dimension
The mental Dimension should reflect what you think you are. You should identify your brand with yourself. It´s about what you think about yourself. It is mostly a Slogan with which you want that the customers also feel the same like you. The consumer wants to feel Special by using this product or brand. Example: BMW - "Freude am Fahren" (translated: joy of driving)" Other car manufacturer do not have such a Slogan.

The spiritual  Dimension
It is about the ethical approaches a Company Support and about the responsibility a Company wants to take.
According to Thomas Gad, a good example who got really famous just with the spiritual Dimension is BodyShop. Bodyshop was the first Company, who does not tested the cosmetics on animals and they market this Approach a lot. It revolutionized the cosmetic branch.


Examples in "4D-Branding" :

In the book "Building strong brands" Aaker desribes Brand identiy as : "Brand identity should help establish a relationship between the brand and the consumer by generating a value Proposition involving functional, emotional or self-expressive benefits.

According to Aaker creating a brand identity is more to find out what customers want and it should also reflect the values and Vision of the Company. Aaker´s Point is while Brand Image always Looks at the past and is passive, brand identity should be active, flexible and look in the future.


According to Aaker brand identity exists of core identity and Extended identity:
Core identity: represents the whole Approach or main values of the brand and Company. These values should even be after years simply the same. It is responsible for the meaning and success of the brand.
Extended Identity: According Aaker Extended identity includes elements that provide texture and completeness. It is about adding Details, which should Support the values of the core identity.

Brand Image

According to Johansson: Brand identity is what the Brand is. Brand Image is what the brand seems to be to consumers. Brand identity can be affected by the Marketing Managers, but Image is built by the consumers itself.But the brand identity is the foundation of what the Image is based.

Example for a succesful brand: Red Bull

As an Austrian I would definitley mention Red Bull. Red Bull itself is such a "normal" energy drink - nearly the same as the Discount energy Drinks in the Supermarket. Even when it tastes nearly the same and the Discount one is much cheaper , why does everybody wants Red Bull. Because of the Image of Red Bull. Everybody knows the logo of Red Bull and in Austria it is nearly everywhere. Also in Finland it has really good Image. Red Bull does not really get famous because of its advertisement in TV or Radio. Because they were until 2013 Kind of lousy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbtKAXaf9QA

Red Bull just get famous because of its Sponsoring. Red bull mostly sponors Sports. Not just anybody - it sponsors really good and famous athletics. And also a lot of extreme Sport. Red Bull´s Highlight was the jump of Felix Baumgartner from the stratosphere. So everybody in the world could see Red Bull. In my opinion Red Bull´s brand identity is that the drink and the brand is for People who loves to take risk, who loves sports and the extreme. And it is also the same Image. Therefore it is a successful brand.

Nowadays they have a better Commercial:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoSVI7ovEIw

Visual Brand identity

A Brand is a Name attached to a product or Service. The brand identity consits of Name, logo, Colors, products and Services. A brand should have a clearly identity to be sucessful.

Brand Name: According to Carlson it is crucial to find a suitable Name for your product. Finding a brand Name has grown into a very large Business. Normally you outsource this to Special agencies like Interbrand in London or Landor in the US. Brand names are selected for the company´s Image and global potential. According to Johansson there are some Basic brand Name rules:

•  The brand should fit with the value Proposition and the intended positioning together
• The brand should be legally available in all potential market countries
• People should pronounce and understand the Name.
• The brand Name should be easy to hear and spell.
• The brand Name should be unique and memorable.

Brand Logo: is an integral part of the brand and it is legally protected. Logos are meant to give a visual representation of the brand. (could also be the Name like in Coca Cola). It should definitley differ from the other competitors. But sometimes you also do not want to differ from maybe a huge competitor. According to Carlson some "pirated products" want to make similar logos as their competitors to confuse their customers. Even when the pay Attention, when the logo Looks similar they can accidentally buy their procuts. Example Starbucks

Brand Slogan: are the short and memorable one-liners that are meant to reflect a unique selling Point of the brand.

Importance of visual brand identity : How to integrate company´s values into visual Branding?

At first you should make a Picture of what the Company is about. According to Thomas Gad you should give them a great deal of freedom to use their creativity and personal talents do design a visual brand. By creating your (visual) brand you must involve 6 aspects: Product/benefit, positioning, style, Mission, Vision(positioning of the future) and values.

How to use it effectively? What apsects to consider when creating a visual brand identity?

In my source Mumgaard, J., Mathew, N., & Prince, M. (n.d.). Expressing Brand Through A Product. Beyond Design Chicago and on the Website http://info.beyonddesignchicago.com/Portals/117474/docs/expressing-brand-through-product-bdi-innovation-2013.pdf?hsCtaTracking=d2feb6b7-867d-419a-8893-e5c0c1afb4f0%7Ce417b280-5666-4488-90c5-572cc6a7466f    I found the strategic Pyramide as a Guideline for visual Branding.

There are 4 stages:

brand personality: In this first stage are all values, visions and communication through the whole Company involved.  Furthermore there should be considered employee Actions, product offering and Connection to the customer.

product attributes: Based on the first stage you sum up all the positive aspects of your product and put it into visual. It should describe what the product is about and also the uniqueness of your product.

design principles: are the directions and objectives a designer can follow while designing a brand.

Signature elements: are series of toolkits used in creating and translating the visual brand. for example:Color, material, logo, Slogan, light etc.

 

 

According to Thomas Gad it is important to use metaphors. A metaphor is a shortcut to the unconscious mind, which are quite often viusal ( could also be auditory). We use methaphors constantly in our everyday´s life. It could be a single word, sentences, expressions. You can influence People in thinking in a new direction. Your methapor don´t have to be clear, it should leave place for creativity of your target Group.

Study blog for Session 2

What is integrated Marketing Communication?

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) are all measures to raise, protect and develop international and global brands. IMC could be used in all kinds of marketing. Brand loyalty, which is of course the goal of all company, is not reachable just with advertising. There are more points who have to be considered i.e. pricing strategy service, packaging, product name, slogan, distribution channels and so on.

In my source IMC is described as a Pyramide:

Figure 1

 

First step: Tactical Coordination

In this stage firms try to integrate promotional Tools like Advertising, sales Promotion, Marketing PR, direct Marketing and so on. In the most cases they also instruct Advertising agencies, which  are responsible to value the brand through different media.

 

Second step: Redefining the scope of Marketing communications

 

In the second stage the firm is trying to get an outside-in view. So they look and analizye their costumers expections. They gain Feedback, Information (even through external agencies) about their target Group.

 

Third step: Application of Information Technology

 

In the third stage the Company has usually empirical data (primpary data) from their potential target market available inside the coperation. If not they can also get secondary datas from external companies. They identify, value and monitor the data and the Impact of using IMC on customers.

 

 

Fourth step: Financial and strategic Integration

 

In last step every 3 steps are involved. The first and second steps provide corporate and Marketing strategic plans and the third step the data. In this stage the financial Information will be re-evaluated. The firms are able to evaluate Marketing expenditures based on return on investement in customers or in Marketing communication activities.

 

 

Source: "Managing Corporate Communication - A cross- cultural Approach" edited by Rosella Gambetti and Stepen Quigley

 

How can companies use IMC?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Advertising is the most cost effective way to communicate with a large audience and you can also control what you want to say. You can Transfer really easy you brand Image ( what you want) and you symbolics. But it also cost a lot of Money and the effectivness is hard to determine.

 

"Direct Marketing is a System of Marketing by which organizations communicate directly with target customers to generate a respond." In this case the effectivness is easy to measuere, because you get a direct repsond. You can trade very target and customer specific. On the other Hand a customer  do not have to be interested in direct Marketing and thinks that too much Information is annoying.  I.e. personal Mails, Catalogues, Telemarketing

 

"Interactive / Internet Marketing is a form of Marketing communication through interactive media which allow for  a two - way whereby users can participate in and modify the Content of the Information they receive in real life. " An adavantag is that the message can be tailored to the specific Person and it is cheap compared to other measures. It is possible to Transfer a high Level of Information to an huge audience. But mass Marketing suffers on a lack of interest (especially mass e mails oder Internet ads). Examples: Sales Promotion, Service and Support,

 

"Sales Promotion are Marketing activities that provide extra value and incentives to the sales force". For expample Coupons, Discounts, Sampling, SAles contest, trade Show. It is a good way to introduce new products or attract new customers.Furthermore to increase retail inventories.

 

Publicity is a nonpersonal communication regarding an organization, product, brand etc. On the one Hand Publicity is mostly free (word- of- mouth) and very creditable but on the other Hand it can also be very negative, because it cannot be controlled from the organization and the press can write whatever it want.

 

Personal selling is a direct one Person - to - one Person communication, which is very effectivly but also Needs a lot of time and high cost ( trained seller).But it allows direct Feedback and it can be tailored easily to every individual.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/81327432/An-Introduction-to-Integrated-Marketing-Communications---PowerPoint

 

 



Study blog for Session 1

The core task of corporate communication is to build and protect the reputation of the company. Corporate Communication describes how the company communicates to its internal and external stakeholders.

 

Who are your Stakeholders?

Stakeholders are a group or an individual who affect the achievement of the organization´s objectives. There are different models of Stakeholders:

 

Input – Output Model Stakeholders

 

Stakeholder model

Picture – Sources: http://istheory.byu.edu/wiki/Stakeholder_theory

 

In the Input – Output model the stakeholders of the firm are just financial interested in the firm. The Stakeholder model could also be interested in the company or in the benefits of it. The groups are affected by the operation of the organization. Stakeholders also have an intrinsic value for the company. In my source “Corporate Communication – A guide to theory and practice by Joep Cornellisen” is mentioned, that well known businesses like Wal –mart or Hewlett Packard have a deep commitment with all stakeholders of their organization like stockholder, employees, customers and suppliers.

There is also a different between the expressions “stake “ and “stakeholder”. Edward Freeman describes Stakeholder in that way: “a stakeholder is any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization´s purpose and objectives”. Therefore a stake is according Cornelissen:  an interest or a share in an undertaking can range from simplyan interest in an undertaking at one extreme to a legal claim of ownership at the other extreme”. Freeman also considered 3 types of stakes:

Equity stake: Stakes are held by those who have some “ownership” of the firm: shareholder, director

Economic or market stake: Stakes are held by those who have economic interest: employees, customers, suppliers

Influencer stake: trade organizations, environmental group,

 

How to communicate with different Stakeholders?

Various of Stakeholders need to be identified and they must be addressed for the stake that they hold. For instance, financial stakeholder or shareholder want the firm to provide financial information or the strategy of the organization (annual reports, shareholder meetings), while Customers want to know about their products and services through advertising and sales promotion. According Cornelissen it is important to gain information for an effective stakeholder communication:

1.    Who are the organization´s stakeholder?

2.    What are their stakes?

3.    What opportunities and challenges are presented to the organization in relation to these stakeholders?

4.    What responsibilities (economic, legal, ethical) does the organization have to all its stakeholder?

5.    In what way can the organization best communicate with and respond to these stakeholders and address these stakeholder challenges and opportunities?

 

Source: “Corporate Communication – A guide to Theory and Practice” by Joep Cornelissen

 

Effective Storytelling

Corporate stories are made of the vision and everyday activities of companies and their units or divisions. You have to understand your target audience and clarify your communication objectives to create the most appropriate message. For that my source recommend a special matrix with important points:

·         Target group

·         Characteristics

o   Language

o   Cultural factors

o   Line of business factors

o   Historical factors

·         Media preferences

·         Messenger preferences

·         Alternate channels

·         Key objective of communication

·         Known challenges

 

Source: “Corporate Storytelling – Planning and Creating Internal Communications” by Lecia Vonne Wood