to them.
A brand can convey several messages to
customers. It can say something about
attributes, benefits, values, personality
and users. The promises a brand makes
must be convincing, genuine and
believable. Since customers seek benefits,
the attributes need to be well articulated
to demonstrate the advantage to the user
in order to enhance customer appeal.
A brand represents the company’s prom-
ise to the customers that it will consis-
tently meet specific standards in terms of
features, benefits, and services. It would
be extremely hard to build customer loy-
alty without a clear and distinct brand
identity.
Brand Identity
For your brand to have a truly strong
image, it has to be distinctive. The target
customer must be able to differentiate
between your brand and your competitors
in terms of ‘what it stands for’ and ‘who it
is meant for’.
To build brand image, you must start with
brand identity. The identity gives a picture
of what you want your brand to represent,
while brand image is how the market
actually perceives the brand.
When defining the brand identity, the
emphasis is on providing a clear picture
and meaning of what the brand is all
about. It should convey a distinctive set
of values and associations which matter
to your target market in important ways.
David Aaker identified four core definers
of brand identity based on brand as a
product, symbol, person and organization.
The product component of the brand
relates to product characteristics, value, use
and consumers. The organization aspect
relates to the company attributes such as
innovation, social responsibility, trust, and
whether it’s local or international.
The
person
component
concerns
the personality, lifestyle and social
characteristics associated with the brand
as well as nature of relationship with
Logos are important
because they tend
to attain intrinsic
meanings and associ-
ations that can stick
in the target consum-
er’s mind over time
and support brand
loyalty.
the customer. The element of brand as a
symbol represents the visual identity or
images, culture as well as brand heritage.
Assessing your brand image
The identity represents how the marketer
or brand strategist would like the brand
to be perceived by the target market.
However, customers might hold their own
views. That is why we say that the real
brand image resides in customers’ minds.
Consumer research to assess brand image
focuses on understanding how consumers
appreciate and perceive the brand. This
information helps evaluate the success of
the marketer’s efforts at brand building.
In an ideal situation, the brand identity
should be the same as the brand image in
consumers’ minds.
In assessing the brand image, consumer
research seeks information on brand
associations, imagery and personality
among other variables. Kenya Power brand
imagery for instance is associated with the
blue and yellow colors, branded vehicles,
technicians, transformers, electric poles,
meters, tokens and wires among others.
The brand Scotts Emulsion by GSK is
highly associated with the fish symbol by
Kenyan consumers. Some of the hearsay
and folklore about this brand relates to the
perceived better academic performance of
people from the lake region whose main
diet includes fish.
Brand Personality assessment reviews the
set of human characteristics associated
with the brand. A brand can feel young,
family oriented, or sophisticated. It can
be seen as male or female; upper class,
middle or lower class; friendly or aloof; or
even ‘hustler or dynasty’.
The brand Scotts Emulsion is viewed as a
caring, warm and family oriented person.
The Kengen brand of the main electricity
generating company in Kenya is viewed
as a male personality, while AAR is
associated with a female personality.
The assessment of the perceived affiliation
between consumers and a brand presents
an alternate viewpoint on the workings of
brand personality. A brand can appear to
know and understand consumers, or it can
seem to make them feel anonymous. Think
of one of the brands you use regularly: how
would you characterize the nature of your
relationship? Is she someone you look up
to from a distance or one you would hang
out with?
Why assess your brand’s
image?
The information generated by strategically
assessing the image held by customers
relating to a brand, helps to determine
the gap between brand identity and brand
image. It also guides the brand strategist
by providing insights as to whether
the current perceived image is giving
the brand the greatest advantage in the
marketplace.
Dr Catherine Ngahu is a passionate
researcher, brand strategist, trainer
and entrepreneur. She is the founder
and Chairman of SBO Research
which has a service footprint in
23 countries in Africa. You can
commune with her on this or related
matters via email at: CNgahu@
sboresearch.co.ke.