David Aaker’s Brand Identity System for Building Brands

Aaker argues that to build your brand you must develop a brand identity to provide direction, purpose, and meaning for your brand.“Brand identity,” he writes,“is a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain.These associations represent what the brand stands for and imply a promise to customers from the organization members.” In order to develop an identity for your brand,Aaker says you should consider how your brand could be portrayed from four perspectives: (1) as a product, (2) as an organization, (3) as a person, and (4) as a symbol.
Product Perspective
Product scope—with what product or products is the brand associated? For example,Visa

credit cards.
Product attributes—functional/emotional benefits.
Quality/value—is the brand a Mercedes, Buick or Ford?
Use or application—can the brand “own” a particular application? For example, Clorox bleach “owns” an association with whitening clothing and Gatorade “owns” an association with athletics and high performance.
Users—Gerber
babies;Weight Watchers
weight control and nutrition.
Country or region—Chanel
French, Swatch watches
Swiss, Mercedes
German.
Organization Perspective
Organization attributes—characteristics such as innovation, drive for quality, concern for the environment, and so on that result from the people, culture, values, and programs of the company.Aaker notes that organization attributes such as reputation for innovation and so on can be extremely valuable in building a brand because they are hard for competitors to copy.
Local vs. global.
Person Perspective
Personality—the humanlike qualities people attribute to the brand or should attribute to it
such as competent, impressive, trustworthy, fun, active, humorous, casual, formal, youthful,
intellectual, and so on.
Brand/customer relationship—how people view the relationship. For example, Saturn

friend, Levi Strauss - rugged outdoor companion, Hallmark - warm, emotional relative.
Symbol Perspective
Visual imagery and metaphors—Transamerica pyramid, Nike “swoosh,” McDonald’s Golden Arches, Quaker Oats man.
Brand heritage—U.S. Marines
the few, the proud;Amtrak
the heritage of first-class travel by rail.
Aaker says that by considering your brand from these four perspectives you should be able to arrive at both a “core” identity and an “extended” identity for your brand.The core identity is the essence of your brand; the associations that are essential to the meaning and success of your brand and that are likely to remain constant as you enter new markets and launch new products.Your brand’s extended identity includes elements that provide completeness and texture to your brand’s identity.These are the elements that flesh out the details of your brand. For example, Saturn’s core identity, says Aaker, is that of a world-class car delivered by a company that treats customers with respect and as friends. Its extended identity is as a U.S. subcompact, a no-pressure/friendly buying experience with no-haggle pricing, and a personality that is thoughtful, friendly, down-to-earth, reliable, youthful, humorous, lively, and thoroughly American.