Brand Identity - the characteristics that make a brand what it is

Today we were talking about brand identity, hence "the tangible and itangible specificities of the brand, those that make the brand what it is, without which it would be something other" (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009, p.122) and about ways to identify and illustrate them. The two frameworks that have been explained in particular were the brand driver as well as the brand identity prism.

First of all I would like to talk about the "brand identity prism" (shown in Figure 1), which has been created by Kapferer "to break down the symbolic dimension of brands in facets, while linking them together" (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009, p.122).

 Figure 1: Brand Identity Prism

Source: http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/364/fig3g.jpg

As the brand identity prism is a very good tool for comprehensively showing a brand's identity I have created a brand identity prism for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts (shown in Figure 2), as this is the brand I have chosen to write about in the assignment for this course.

Figure 2: Brand Identity Prism Four Seasons

By examining the brand identity prism one can see that brand identity is characterized by internal as well as external factors that make a brand unique.

Another very creative way to illustrate a brand’s identity is to create a so called “brand driver”, consisting of nine pictures forming the brand’s identity. The brand driver shows images of an animal, a car, an icon, a symbol, a colour, a feeling, a piece of art, a celebrity and a material, all embodying the identity and the values of a chosen brand.

To get a better understanding of the use of a brand driver Figure 3 shows the brand driver that has been created for Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. 

 Figure 3: Brand Driver Four Seasons

To illustrate Four Seasons's brand identity nine images have been chosen and will be expained below:

If Four Seasons would be…

·      An animal it would be a cheetah, because it is the most elegant animal amongst its fellows

·      A car it would be a Rolls Royce, because it is absolutely classy

·      An icon it would be a hotel concierge bell because it is all about service

·      A symbol it would be the tree shown in their logo

·      A colour it would be gold, the colour of luxury

·      A feeling it would be trust and reliability because this is what makes them stand out

·    A piece of art it would be “For Seasons” by Giuseppe Arcimboldo because it matches the brands name and explains the variety of Four Seasons Hotels

·      A celebrity it would be Brad Pitt because he is a great Businessmen with right values

·      A material it would be silk because it is of the highest quality. 
Source: von Flotow (2012). 

So in summary I would say that both frameworks, especially when they are used together, are a great way of illustrating brand identity, which, particularly in luxury, is very important because brand identity is the foundation of every brand and therefore decides about its success. 

References: 

Kapferer, J.N. and Bastien, V. (2009). The luxury strategy. Break the rules of marketing to build luxury brands.

London and Philadelphia: Kogan Page.

von Flotow, K. (2012). Four Seasons Air - a brand extension. London: European Business School.