Naming and Branding

Understanding the Brand Identity Prism

Written by Nidhi Ann Raj for Gaebler Ventures

This article explains what a brand prism is and how it can effectively be used to market your product better.

The Brand Identity Prism is a concept coined by J. Kapferer in 1986. According to him, any brand can be identified by its characteristics.

The Brand Prism is represented by a hexagonal prism which defines 6 characters of a brand. Just like a person is known by his name, job, education, physical and emotional traits, a brand can be identified by the following:-

• Physical Facet:- Salient physical qualities which are seen by the target audience-like its color, shape, logo or anything that brings an image in the mind of the consumer when thinking or talking about the brand.
• Brand Personality:- This defines the brand's personality or character. Here the brand is personified and its traits are perceived in the eyes of the consumer in a particular way. It can be related to calling a person shy or stylish or philanthropic.
• Brand Culture:- This represents the values and principles a brand stand for. For example, a brand that has a 'Go Green' motto will be eco friendly is all tis aspects- from manufacturing to marketing.
• Brand Relationships:- The relationship a brand has, with its customers, the way each communication relates to its target audience or how brands influence and provide a particular service to its customers.
• Customer Reflection:- How a customer reflects with a particular brand. This is different with how customers perceive the brand. This talks more about the consumers who use the brand as opposed to the brand itself.
• Customer Self Image:- This explains how a customer perceives himself by using the brand. For example:- how men and women differentiate certain brands as being masculine or feminine.

Understanding the Brand's prism can help you position your brand better and design effective marketing strategies related to the brand's identity. The brand can be communicated better if its identity is well established. You can eliminate techniques that may not blend with the brand's perceived image. This helps to streamline your marketing campaigns in a certain direction. It is useful to understand the Brand Prism in the early stages of launching the product into the market itself, by doing a comparative analysis of your brand's prism with other brand prisms. Thus, Brand Identity Prism is an effective concept to relate to and understand the brand you create and promote in the market.

Nidhi Ann Raj is a gifted writer who is currently pursuing post-graduate studies at George Brown College in Toronto Canada, where she is specializing in Marketing and Finance.

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