Jean-Noel Kapferer is a name that is well-known in the fields of marketing and branding. His work has helped to define the way that we think about brands and how a Brand Strategy Agency such as www.reallyhelpfulmarketing.co.uk/specialist-services/brand-strategy-agency/ can support their clients to build up a picture of their brand and then promote this.

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Brands are much more than the logos and the taglines that are associated with them. They have a personality and a style of their own and it is the entire package that makes up the brand. When businesses are sold they become more attractive to potential buyers if they have a strong brand presence. This is due to the fact that along with a high brand presence comes customer loyalty and higher sales and profits. It also helps build a clear message that the brand wants to communicate with its audience and enables the business to clearly define its mission and values.

Kapferer came up with a Brand Prism that is used to help define a brand. It is made up of six distinct areas. These areas all come together to form the overall brand. There are aspects that are looked at from the internal view of the brand (those working in the company) and those views that are external to the brand (customers and others looking at the brand). The internal aspects are known as the personality, culture and self-image of the brand, whilst the external aspects are the physique, relationship and reflection of the brand.

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The Physique of a business is the physical element of the brand. It encompasses all the words that you might associate with the brand, such as modern, sleek, vintage etc. It also includes the colours that are used across the brand, the logo and any packaging that you use. The physique across all of these elements will all fall into the same category of words.

The Personality of the brand also looks at the colours and typeface that is used, along with the tone of voice. It is essentially like looking at the personality of an individual. Would you class it as friendly, chatty, professional etc?

Culture is the values that the brand is built on and in recent years this has become incredibly important to consumers. It may be a vision and a mission that you have for the brand or a set of values that encompass.

Sel-image is the way that people view themselves when they think of the brand. This could be that by owning a BMW they feel successful or that when they wear Prada shoes they feel stylish.

Reflection is how the brand perceives its target audience and the attributes and beliefs that it thinks that they have. This is like creating a customer persona.

Relationship is the connection between the brand and its customers and can cover everything from the relationships that are created when money passes hands as well as the communities that are built up around the brand.