The Meaning and Definition of Brand Image: What does it exactly entail?

The image of a company is seen by many as one of the most important assets. But what is it exactly? How can you influence it? And what is the difference between brand image and brand identity? In this blog, we not only explain the meaning and definition of brand image, but we also dive into a number of other branding-related concepts.

 

Simply put, the image of a company is the way people think about your brand. In other words: how your brand is known by customers. It therefore has to do with the way your company is stored in the customer's memory.

To understand and influence this properly, we first need to understand how our memory is structured.

Everything we learn, whether it's about brands or a language, is stored in a large network of associations in our brain. Every time we learn something new, this network expands and new connections are created. A brand is - just like any other information stored in our brain - nothing more than an association network in the customer's memory; a chain of associations between related concepts. It may sound a bit vague, but this video below explains it in a simple way:

Every time we make decisions, we rely on this massive network. For example, if I ask you what the price of the new iPhone to be released will be, you probably think of a certain price.

But what is that price actually based on?

You retrieve memories from the past, from previous experiences and make a judgment. If you know the latest iPhone price, you use that information to come up with a new price. You use the first thing you remember, the easiest to find and you won't dig deep. And that retrieval of memories and experiences to make a judgment happens in a split second and often (partly) outside our consciousness.

You can probably answer the question within one second, and your answer can still be accurate. That's because our brains are experts in quickly and unconsciously retrieving associations.

What is brand image?

Well, brands are nothing more than networks of associations in our brains. These can be very simple visual associations (Amstel is red), to more functional associations (Amstel is tasty), to emotional and symbolic associations (Amstel is friendship).

An example of how such a network can be systematically structured is shown below:

Strong brands have in common that they have a large mental availability, meaning that customers have a strongly rooted large network of associations with that brand in their brain. Their brand is well anchored in the customer's brain. 

And of course, the right associations are linked to the brand. You obviously don't want your brand to be linked to negative associations in the brain, because then the customer may think of you in buying situations, but as the brand you should not choose, rather than the one you should choose.

In simple terms, the desired image of these brands is in line with the actual image.

How do these brands achieve this? By first conducting thorough market research and using the results as input for campaigns. Brand image research makes it clear where you stand and where you want to go. From there, you can develop appropriate strategies and campaigns.

What is the difference between brand image and brand identity?

We are often asked what the difference is between image and identity.

The answer is as follows. While brand image refers to how the customer thinks about you, a company's identity is how the company actually is in practice. You can also - as described above - make a distinction between actual and desired image and actual and desired identity.

• Actual image: How the customer actually thinks about the brand
• Desired image: How the company wants the customer to think about the brand
• Actual identity: How the company is in practice
• Desired identity: How the company would like to be

Of course, you want customers to think about you the way you want them to. With the right marketing and communication, you can convey the identity in the image.

The starting point of such a campaign to strengthen or improve your image is image market research, where you investigate your image. In that way, you can map out the image and compare it to the desired image of the brand. By identifying the gaps, you can create effective campaigns.

What is the difference between brand image and brand reputation?

Although the words image and reputation are often used interchangeably, there certainly is a difference between these two concepts.

While corporate image is more about how a brand makes people feel, reputation includes people's perceptions of a company's products, leadership, finances, social responsibility,and interactions with customers, employees and the community of a company. In other words, the actual actions of a company. Both the corporate image and reputation can influence a company's revenue and success. The image below shows how image, identity and reputation are related to each other:

Unravel's Brand Image Research

At Unravel, we regularly perform brand image research for international brands. We use a proven technique to capture what (potential) clients really feel about your brand by using intuitive response tests. Curious how we can help your brand with improving your brand image through brand image research? Don’t hesitate to contact Tim (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).