What is the difference between a brand's identity and image?

The difference between a brand's identity and image is simply the degree of control. A company can chisel out in detail how the brand identity should appear, down to the smallest pixel. But when the identity meets the recipient, they form their own opinion. Which at that moment becomes the brand's image. Fortunately, thorough work on the identity can lead to the brand sending out exactly the right signals, thereby increasing the chances of creating the right image.

Brand identity has many elements

When you say brand identity, many people probably spontaneously think of a logo and maybe a color. Which is not so strange, it is often what you see. Like Coca-Cola, with its red color and characteristic squiggly logo. It's certainly part of the brand's graphic identity, but there are many other elements.

The core values that a company has formulated and lives by are also an important part of its identity. A sound logo, how you have chosen to position yourself in the market and what tone of voice you have in written text are elements that also build the identity.

In short, everything that defines the brand in one way or another is part of its identity. For a real estate agent, the car they drive becomes part of their identity. For a food delivery company, the courier becomes part of its identity. In other words, building and maintaining a company's brand identity is an extensive and challenging task that must be done continuously.

Brand image is in the eye of the beholder

The real test of how well your brand identity is built comes when you meet people. Because even if you have a clear picture of what you want your company to convey, you can never be sure that the recipient will perceive it in the same way. It is not a given that the identity you build will also be the image you receive.

The brand image is created when the receiver interprets all the signals you send out through the choices you made when creating the identity. The experiences that the person has acquired through life become a filter that is superimposed on your own image. If they already have a negative image of your brand or industry, this will influence the interpretation. If you sell hamburgers and the person is critical of the meat industry, a picture of a happy cow will not be perceived as you had hoped.

At the same time, it is important to be persistent and audience-focused. Brand image is built over time. A consistent and coherent brand identity can slowly but surely influence and reinforce your company's image with your target audiences. Converting vegans can never be the job of a hamburger chain, so the image of the happy cow can be just right even if it negatively affects your image with certain groups.

The outside world is difficult to control

The problem is that the world around you is constantly changing. And this can have consequences for how your identity can give you a completely new image over time, even if you have not changed your communication.

An example of how a discrepancy between brand identity and image can arise over time is McDonald's. The image they want to convey is that of a family-friendly company that serves tasty food quickly and easily at a low price. They are a force for good in the community, both by donating money to children's hospitals and providing work opportunities for young people. They have a red color that represents passion and passion, and a yellow color that represents optimism and joy.

Yet, in the eyes of many, their brand has become associated with the obesity epidemic, unhealthy eating habits and unsustainable meat consumption. This, in turn, is due to the shift in social debate that has affected their image. In this situation, a company's identity can turn from a strength to a liability.

Of course, McDonald's has acted and started to change its identity, with everything from nutritional labeling of all dishes to the goal that 50% of the protein purchased should consist of fish, chicken and vegetarian. The graphic identity has also changed, with the passionate red color toned down and partly replaced by a green one that stands for health, youth, safety and environmental awareness. Which of course is no coincidence.

So even if, like McDonald's, you have a strong brand identity that conveys exactly the values and feelings you intended, it can take on a whole new meaning when interpreted by people who put their own perception on the line. That's why it's important that your identity is genuine and sincere, driven by an honest purpose. Because how you are perceived is very much about how credible you are perceived to be.

Or as Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon is said to have put it: "Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room".