What is Brand Image?

It is the perception that consumers have about a brand, based on the interactions they have with it.

A strong brand image can help create customer trust, increase customer engagement, and influence customer buying decisions.

This article aims to explain what brand image is and how businesses can use it to their advantage.

FIRST IMPRESSION COUNTS

We all know that first impression counts and we personally want to maintain a good image and avoid actions that would ruin our reputation. We all know this also applies to our Brand as well. So let’s talk about brand image, shall we?

Keeping it simple. What is Brand Image? When we talk about our brand image, we need to think about the whats and why’s

First, let’s talk about the WHAT

What is your customer’s perception of your brand?
What can we do so that our customers will perceive us differently based on their background, their beliefs, religion, and culture?
What are the advantages of having a good brand image?

Now that we’ve asked those questions, let’s move on to the WHYs

Why is brand image important?
Why should we build a good relationship with our customers?
Why is it important to know how our customers perceive our brand?

The answer is quite simple, but let’s break them down a bit.

As customers, we want to have a good experience with the product and that’s where perception comes in. It’s not only about an opinion but how a product actually makes you feel and this will say a lot about the company. Think about it, when you buy a product, does it make you happy, does it make you feel fulfilled?

It’s important to nail all of this down and as I’ve said in several of the episodes, branding is so much more than just pictures, fonts, and colors, these are important elements as well. I do not want to say that’s not important, but in branding, it’s a lot more than that.

So I’m going to give you some examples of brand images: Click on the thumbnail to view.

IDENTITY VS IMAGE!

So what is your brand image vs your brand identity?

Brand identity is how the company portrays itself to its customers and how it’s important for the brand and the customers to perceive it. On the other hand brand Imaging, is how customers actually perceive the brand.

Unfortunately, Companies have less control over their image. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t control how a customer perceives the image that you want to convey.

It’s just that there is a struggle to ALINE its IMAGE with its IDENTITY.

Confusing right?

Let’s walk through it a little bit. So the INDICATION of an IMAGE is the customer’s PERCEPTION OF THE BRAND.

Identity, however, is something that we can fully control. How a brand presents its symbolism, colors, and the slickness of its logo. Those are things that we as a company, can control and customers can still perceive that from what we can control.

CONSIDER OTHERS!

Someone else might perceive it differently, right?

So that is something you have to make sure you’re very careful with. That you don’t put anything out there that’s going to be perceived super negatively or offensively based on what you have out there.

Especially since we have outside factors that can affect customer perceptions like news articles about the brand, watching influencers, talk about the brand, and watching commercials

So it’s very important for you to understand what you want your brand image to look like. What do you want a customer to perceive of your brand, okay?

QUICK NINJA TIP

Do a poll, and ask your audience.
What do you think about when you see my content?

What three words come to mind when you think about me?

This will give you an idea of how your customers in your audience are perceiving your brand and gives you an idea of where you need to tweak it.

I hope this helps and hope you got value out of this. Make sure you’re following us on Facebook and join our community. Because we do have an entire series this month around branding.

You don’t want to miss it!