LIC and Fair & Lovely: Understanding Brand Identity the Kapferer’s way

J. Kapferer in 1986 introduced the Brand Identity Prism to explain the facets of a brand’s identity that play an important role in defining a brand. However, like many theoretical concepts in Marketing, this interesting and multi-faceted model too has been reduced to just another model to read up and then forget. This post tries simplify the model to make it easy to apply Kapferer’s model on any given brand.

But before that we need to understand the difference between two much misunderstood terms – Brand Identity and Brand Positioning. Simply put, Brand Identity specifies a brand’s uniqueness and value, in isolation from competition, while Brand positioning is with respect to the competition (reflecting differentiation vis a vis competition). It is hence safe to say that while Brand Identity is inward-looking (having influence on, and is influenced by, external factors), Brand Positioning is an outward looking concept. So while Brand Identity explains – “Who I am”, Brand Positioning tries to answer – “Why pick me?”.

Coming back to Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism, It can be understood using two important perspectives. First, from the sender’s side (Brand), it is Identity, which is put forth by the Brand as – “Who I am?”. Second, from the receiver’s side (Customer), it is Brand Image, which is basically, what do the customers feel about the brand. Obviously, Identity precedes Image. The Brand Identity Prism represents six facets of a Brand’s Identity which shows the brand’s tangible as well as intangible characteristics, and draws upon, on the brand’s roots and heritage.

Fig 1: Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism

Brand Identity Prism (Fig 1) is based on the concept that for a brand to become “intimate” to a customer, it must have a unique and impressionable appearance, and a strong character that stems out of inner inspiration and values. The brand should be able to seamlessly bond with the customers, offering them a sense of belongingness, oneness and inspiration. These facet need a little more explanation to set the tone of the applicability –

The first two facets of the prism, Physique and Personality, forms the identity that the brands conveys.

• Physique

Physique is both the brand’s backbone and its tangible value. For example, the colour red and the shape of the bottle contributes to the physique of Brand Coke.

• Personality

A brand, just like humans has a character. It is built over time and reflected in what the brand does. Communication, its tone, its promise and the perceived quality, all contribute to the brand’s personality. Kapferer defines 15 personality traits that could be attributed to a brand as – Dynamic, Creative, Optimistic, Prudent, Hard, Cold, Caring, Rational, Generous, Empathetic, Close, Elegant, Class, Serene, Calm. Coke can be attributed as Caring and Generous due to its ‘Share Happiness’

The next two, or the central facets of the prism, Culture and Relationship, connect the identity (what does the brand want to project) and image (what perception does the customer has about the brand).

• Culture

A brand is born of a culture. Culture essentially means the set of values that creates the ambition and aspiration of the brand.  It can be understood as a set of basic principles governing the brand and its communication. Coca-Cola, for example, stands for the American culture and lifestyle. .

• Relationship

The strength of a brand basically reflects the strength of a relationship between the brand and its customer. Relationship as a facet of Brand Identity prism reflects the relationship which the brand has with its customers. So when coke says “open happiness”, the brand is communicating about happiness and the relationship it conveys to its customers is to be happy. It does that by cleverly placing Coke in those happy moments.

Finally, the Brand Image is the customer’s view about the brand. This is represented by the Reflection and Self-image.

• Reflection

This shows who the people think are the brand’s client. Essentially, who the people think, is the brand for? So Reflection for Brand Coke means who do people think are the customers of coke or who follow coke? This means that consumers use the brand identity propagated by the brand, to associate it with people, who they think are most likely to be using this brand. So for Coke, people would think that the Coke’s customers will be young, cheerful and adventurous people.

• Self-image

It is what customers believe the brand would make them feel upon using it. Unlike Reflection, which is about “People who use this brand are…” self-image is about “This brand makes ME feel…” It essentially is juxtaposition of the brand on yourself and how does it make you feel.

In the prism, the flow is from top to bottom, where the proposed identity (Physique (Tangible & Exterior) and Personality (Personified Brand) is cascaded down to Brand-image (Reflection (“Those who use this brand are…”) and Self-image (“When I use this brand I feel like…)), with the help of a link created through Relationship (Bond between brand and customer) and Culture (Values and Principles that built the brand).

Below is the representation of two brands in the Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism (Fig 2- LIC, Fig 3 - Fair & Lovely).

Fig 2: Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism for LIC

Fig 3: Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism for Fair & Lovely

Kapferer's Prism can help in identifying what is self-image the brand is able to create for the customer and is that in line with what the brands wants to convey? In case of gap, the brand will need to rework on its physique and personality while keeping close touch with its culture and improving relationship with its customers.

The utility of Kapferer’s model can be many, but it is restricted because the model is not clearly understood by many. Once the model is formed by appropriately mapping the aspects of brands (through facets of Brand Identity Prism), it can lead to further analysis like –

• Consumer Perception Analysis
• Consumer Motivation Analysis
• Communication strength and effectiveness
• Product attribute acceptance among customers
• Brand Identity up-gradation and Brand Positioning

Finally, Kapferer’s Prism was made with specific objectives of creating, managing and leveraging Brand Identities, and leading to the right Brand Positioning for the brands, and remains relevant even today after three decades since it was proposed first by the author.