The Importance of Brand Identity

(also titled: "If the Byline Were Warren Buffet,
I Bet You'd Read This")

What is brand identity, and why is it important? Here's a back-of-the-business-card primer that will not only make you conversant, it could help your business.

First, according to David Aaker - a top brand in branding education and consulting (and, yes, people can be brands) - brand identity is the set of associations the brand strategist seeks to create or maintain.

Note the word "seeks." Brand identity is aspirational. It's what and how you want your target audience to think about your product or company. It most often isn't how and what your target audience actually currently thinks about you. That's "brand image."

So, brand identity is, fundamentally, what your organization wants its brand to stand for in the minds of its target audiences. Operationally, brand identity is captured in a "brand essence," a compact summary of what the brand stands for.

A good brand essence is relevant, it resonates with customers; it's distinctive, differentiating the brand from competitors; and it's legitimate, it represents what the organization can and will do over time.

Second, why is brand identity important? In other words, why care what people think about your brand?

The short answer is because brand identity is one element of creating strong brands, brands that aren't as susceptible to price competition and other market forces as weak stand-for-nothing brands. In fact, strong brands yield many benefits within and outside the organization, positively affecting service, quality, performance, action, and strategic direction. Ten key benefits of a strong brand are:

Differentiates/positions
Communicates an accurate, clear and consistent image
Builds awareness and loyalty
Provides a "short cut" for consumer decision-making
Provides a "halo" of credibility for subsidiaries, products/services and extensions
Allows for a price premium
Fosters internal unity/focus
Posts a strong defense against negatives and competitive encroachments
Yields cost efficiencies in all forms of communications and purchasing
Gives clout

To sum up, strong brands help effectively, efficiently achieve your business objectives. That is, brand strategy is business strategy. Or, per Scott Galloway of Prophet Brand Strategy, "A brand is the face of a business strategy."

Are you sold on the importance of brand identity? If so, try walking the talk and implementing a brand identity system for your organization. Methodologies here vary little. Steps are: elaborating the brand identity (picture the brand identity as a wheel with the hub as brand essence, and the spokes as core-identity phrases); crafting a brand position; and developing and tracking brand-building programs.

And just as you'd consider an outside consultant for strategic planning, consider a specialist for brand strategy and identity work. After all, brand strategy is business strategy.