Branding is a parameter that ensures a product or a service is detached especially from other products in the market.
It is through branding that a product or a service becomes a standout and gains a competitive advantage above the substitute products. In the branding process, many users confuse brand identity from the brand image whereas both are unique.
Brand Identity vs Brand Image
The main difference between Brand Identity and Brand Image is that Brand identity refers to how a company tries to persuade the audience while brand image refers to how the audience perceives a brand. Brand identity depends on how they portray themselves, and brand image depends on the customers’ experience with the company.
Furthermore, the brand identity revolves most around the owner of the brand, and how that particular owner presents the brand to the consumers. The brand image, however, revolves around the customer and how they perceive the brand especially after using it or experiencing it in one way or another.
The brand identity may comprise of the company logo, the tagline, or the slogan and the unique tone it applies. However, the brand image consists of the impression of the customers towards the brand, and what they believe in terms of its existence and influence.
Further discussion in this article reveals the explicit differences between brand identity and brand image.
Comparison Table Between Brand Identity and Brand Image
| Parameter of comparison | Brand Identity | Brand Image |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | The way the company wants the customer to perceive the brand | The way the customers view the brand from their perspective |
| How they trend | In an active approach where the company must look for the consumer | The consumer is free to decide whether to consume or not |
| Comprises of | The physical elements that can be seen about the brand | Both physical and emotional connections towards the brand |
| Tells more about | The firm’s real entity | The customers’ perception of the firm |
| The determining factor | The presentation of the company to the customers | The experience of the customers with the brand in question |
| Mainly concentrates on | Looking back to what can please the customers | Looking ahead to the best competitors |
What is Brand Identity?
Brand identity is the selective way through which a company represents its authenticity to the customers and the rapport it creates towards its fans in the ground. In essence, it is the reflection or the ace of the company that entails its personality, values, and ideas.
It is through the brand identity that the company showcases what it can offer in terms of, performance, quality, attributes, support, and services that it offers to the customers.
The brand identity reflects the consulted efforts of the organization and the management at large to create a unique product that will trend with distinct features above other products in the market.
The organization can create a depiction of the brand to its target audience, and this depiction is the real brand identity.
Intuitively, marketing techniques and strategies and branding contribute significantly to helping the organization communicate to the target audience about their products. The brand identity reveals the brand positioning, brand vision, relationships, and personality stands. It is much to do with the operational and intellectual connections with the brand to enhance differentiation and familiarity with the brand.
Any company that wishes to trend and bridge the gap with the competitors must develop a strategy that will take the company to the next level in terms of what they offer and how convenient it is to access it.