Brand image: definition, measurement, and strategic implications

Brand Image

The concepts of brand name and corporate image are linked, but they are distinct from one another. A brand name is the way that the company identifies its product or service offering. The brand is a name and often a visual mark as well. The function of a brand is to convey specific attributes about the product or service -- attributes that presumably will attract customers. An example of this is when you are hungry, you might be drawn to specific brands. If it is late at night and you feel self-loathing, you might be drawn to the low cost, low quality promise of Taco Bell. Other establishments might have a brand that conveys modern, high quality food -- someone looking to impress a date might seek out these brands instead.

Corporate image also draws associations between the company and attributes, but in a different way. It essentially encapsulates the company's reputation (Inc. Magazine, 2014). First, a corporation can have many brands -- consider how many brands PepsiCo has, for example The second distinction is that the corporate image encompasses more than simply promises of product attributes; it reflects who people see the company as a whole, including stewardship, sustainability and other ethical factors. Corporate image can also be applied to internal operations -- Google has a great corporate image as an employer, for example. That aspect of the corporate image has nothing to do with the company's brand attributes as they do not specifically relate to the brand promise. At times, there can actually be a disconnect between corporate image and the attributes and values conveyed by the brand.

Companies therefore can build both the brand and the corporate image simultaneously, in parallel. The brand conveys a set of attributes and values, and is essentially a promise to the consumer; the corporate image conveys something to stakeholders about all of the aspects of the company (sustainable, well-run, etc.). A company could theoretically be reviled and at the same time sell a lot of products. For example, let's look at BP. Most people after Deepwater Horizon probably have a poor image of this company, its practices and its (now departed) CEO. But if a local BP franchisee has always delivered good service at his three stations in your county, you might have a positive outlook with respect to the brand. It is possible to dissociate brand from corporate, and there are instances where this happens.

For the most part, however, brand name and corporate image will be linked. A good example of this is Apple, a company with a great brand, very valuable, and conveys a lot about the quality of its products. Apple's corporate image ended up being very good as well -- people thought Apple was a highly ethical company. The evidence did not really support this -- Apple was not charitable, has a weird secretive corporate culture and of course there was the whole Foxconn thing -- but the power of the brand led to this specific, positive associations for the corporation as a whole.