Difference between brand identity and brand image
Main difference
The main difference between brand identity and brand image is that brand identity is how the brand owner defines their brand, and brand image determines how the end consumer perceives the brand.
Brand identity versus brand image
Brand identity is how the company presents the brand to the market, how it wants its customers to see its brand. Brand image, on the other hand, is the total character of the brand. It is the set of perceptions that customers have in mind about a particular brand. The brand identity expands from the source, or the receiver or the consumer perceives the image of the company and the brand. The brand message is attached in terms of brand identity, while the consumer unleashes the brand message in the form of brand image. The general meaning of brand identity is “who are you?” and the general meaning of the brand image is «How does the market perceive you?» The brand identity symbolizes the reality of the firms. Its quality is that it is material oriented or strategic. brand image, on the other hand, it symbolizes the perception of consumers. Its quality is that it is aspect oriented or tactical. Brand identity represents “your desire”, while brand image represents “the opinion of others”.
Comparison chart
brand identity | Brand image |
Brand identity is the way the company wants the target audience to perceive. | Brand image relates to how customers perceive the brand. |
It includes | |
Visible elements of a brand. | Both visual elements and brand associations. |
Nature | |
Its nature is that it has a substantial or strategic objective. | Its nature is that it is a targeted or tactical appearance. |
indicates | |
The reality of the company | Consumer perception |
focuses on | |
looking back | Looking to the future |
depends on | |
How does the company present itself? | What are the customer experiences with the brand? |
What is it? | |
It is a total guarantee that a company makes to consumers. | It is a total of the perception that consumers have of the brand. |
Brand identity is the approach or the way the company presents itself to customers and wants people to perceive it. In other words, it is the face of the firm, which attests to the values, personality and concepts of the company. It includes features, attributes, trait, performance, services, and support techniques that it possesses. The brand identity is the result of the collective effort of the organization and its management to create an eminent product with distinct characteristics. Determine how the organization wants to be recognized by the target audience in the market. To do this, branding and marketing plans and techniques greatly help the organization to communicate identity to people. It implies brand vision, positioning, personality, connection, etc.
Appearance
- know your goal
- Know your position in the market
- Formulate a competitive profile
- Take a corporate inventory
- Accept market feedback
- Develop brand standards
- Prepare your new creative
- run externally
- Communicate the story of your new identity
- Be creative and tactical
What is a brand image?
We determine the name ‘brand image’ as the feeling of customers (existing and potential) about the brand. It comprises the collection of customer beliefs, ideas, and perceptions, formed from many sources, about the brand. In better terms, it explains the way in which the customer imagines a brand and the feeling that it reflects when the consumer hears his name. Brand image is not a one-day affair; rather, it develops over time, in addition, through promotional campaigns or direct customer contact with the brand in question. It is anything and everything that affects the perception of the brand by the customer. Customers establish a connection with the brand, based on their experiences and interaction with the products offered by that brand. Based on these connections,
Appearance
- Conduct a brand audit
- Define your brand differentiation
- Ensuring Leadership Adoption
- Build your brand strategy
- Map of all the points of contact of the brand
- Name brand champions
- Develop a marketing strategy
- Build a creative strategy
- run externally
- Monitor progress towards your end goal
- Brand identity is a sum of all the brand elements created by the company to represent the correct image of the company in the opinion of the consumer. On the other hand, brand image portrays the complete impression of the product or brand in the consumer’s mind considering all sources.
- The brand identity covers all the clear elements of the brand, such as its logo, name, color, design figure, etc. On the contrary, a brand image comprises both visual elements such as your logo, slogan, color, design, and brand communities such as quality, reliability, etc.
- Does brand identity depend on how the company presents itself to its target groups? On the contrary, brand image based on customer interaction and experiences with the brand.
- While the creation of brand identity requires the active participation of the company, the brand image is a passive thing, which is made from the real experience of consuming it.
- The brand identity represents the reality of the company, that is, its vision, mission, core values and objectives, while the brand image shows the consumer’s perception of the brand.
- Brand identity is about looking back to improve it. In contrast, brand image focuses on seeking to improve consumer experiences with the brand.
Final Thoughts
In short, brand identity is nothing more than how a brand represents itself to the target audience. Rather, brand image is the way existing and potential customers recognize and connect with a particular brand.