Professional Documents
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When a brand consists of multiple products, care should be taken to ensure that their respective positioning converges on attaining the same core value (that of the parent brand).
physical facet also comprises the brands prototype: the flagship product that is representative of the brands qualities. There used to be a picture of the famous CocaCola bottle on all Coke cans. Thus, in using the image of its traditional bottle, Coca-Cola aims to remind us of its roots.
are several delicate issues regarding Cokes physical facet. For example, is the dark colour part of its identity? It is certainly a key contributor to the mystery of the brand. If it belongs to the brands kernel, key identity traits. Many brands have problems with their physical facet because their functional added value is weak. Even an image-based brand must deliver material benefits. Brands are two-legged value-adding systems.
and target often get mixed up. The target describes the brands potential purchasers or users. Reflecting the customer is not describing the target; rather, the customer should be reflected as he/she wishes to be seen as a result of using a brand. It provides a model with which to identify. Consumers indeed use brands to build their own identity. In the ready-to-wear industry, the obsession to look younger should concern the brands reflection, not necessarily their target.
are the six facets which define the identity of a brand as well as the boundaries within which it is free to change or to develop. The brand identity prism demonstrates that these facets are all interrelated and form a wellstructured entity. The content of one facet echoes that of another. The identity prism derives from one basic concept that brands have the gift of speech. Brands can only exist if they communicate.
Since a brand is a speech in itself (as it speaks of the products it creates and endorses the products which epitomise it), it can thus be analysed like any other speech or form of communication.
brand identity prism also includes a vertical division. The facets to the left physique, relationship and reflection are the social facets which give the brand its outward expression. All three are visible facets. The facets to the right personality, culture and selfimage are those incorporated within the brand itself, within its spirit. This prism helps us to understand the essence of both brand and retailer identities