Aaker defines brand identity as: "...a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain. These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers from the organization members. Brand identity should help establish a relationship between the brand and the customer by generating a value proposition involving functional, emotional, or self-expressive benefits." (Aaker, 1996)
Here are the brand identity prisms of Nivea, L'Oreal and Nivea:
L'Oreal
Nivea
Mixa
As a reminder, Kapferer has developed a brand identity prism where he distinguishes a sender and recipient side, plus an externalisation and internalisation side. The 6 identity facets express the tangible and intangible characteristics of the brand:
“Physical facet”: it is the basis of the brand.
“Personality” answers the question: “What happens to this brand when it becomes a person?”
“Culture”: symbolizes the organization and the values it stands for.
“Relationship” is the handshake between the consumer and the organization
“Reflection” is the consumer’s perception for what the brand stands for
“Self-image” is what the consumer thinks of himself
Sources:
Aaker, 1996
Kapferer, 2007
