Brand Identity Prism

(Kapferer)

KAPFERER represents brand identity diagrammatically as a six-sided prism as shown below:

Constructed Source/Sender E x t e r n a l i s a t i o n Constructed Receiver I n t e r n a l i s a t i o n

 Physique according to him is the basis of the brand.

E.G. the physique of Philips is technology and reliability while for the brand Tata it is trust

Personality is same as Aaker, it answers the question what happens to this brand when it becomes a person? Culture symbolizes the organization, its country-of-origin and the values it stands for.
E.G. traditional brands like balsara, dabur and zandu.

 Relationship is the handshake between consumer and the organisation.

E.G. the relationship with safola is safety.

Reflection is the consumers perception for what the brands stands for.
E.G. cokes image more attract youth.

Self-image is what the consumer think of himself.

E.G. benz Car owner think that since he has bought the car he is treating himself to one of the best car in the world.

Let us understand the model in detail

What is a Brand???

A Brand is a complex symbol. It is the intangible sum of a products attributes, its name, packaging and price, its history, reputation, and the way its advertised. A brand is also defined by consumers impression of people who use it, as well as their own experience - David Ogilvy

Now let us look at how Brand Experience is differentiated

Brand Experience are of Two types

Brand Experience

External

Internal

The External Brand Experience include

Name Logo Advertising Brand Identity Environments Products & Service

The Internal Brand Experience include

Business Process Customer Relations Brand Values Training Quality Staff Motivation Recruitment Policies Technology etc..

Now let us look at the Brand Identity Prism based on Kapferer model and the 6 key dimensions in it

-Name -Advertising -Environments

-Logo -Brand Identity -Products & Service

-Business Process -Brand Values -Quality -Recruitment Policies

-Customer Relations -Training -Staff Motivation -Technology etc..

Constructed Source E x t e r n a l i s a t i o n Constructed Receiver I n t e r n a l i s a t i o n

 Physical
Product features, symbols & attributes

Personality
Character & attitude

Relationship
Beliefs & association

Culture
Set of Values

Reflection
Customers view of the brand

Self-Image
Internal mirror of customer as user of brand

Let us now understand the prism with some examples

For Sify India let us look at how they have built the brand basis the Kapferer Model

Sify India
Physical
Kite Symbol, Online Access

Personality
Innovative & Tech savvy

Culture
Customer centric & Indian

Self -image
"net" way of life empowered

Reflection
Consistent & dependable performer

Relationship
Best guide to the net

Let us now understand the prism in more detail with a case study

Adidas

Case Study Adidas (1)

The company Adidas was founded in the early 1920s as Gebruder Dassler Schuhfabrik, in Herzogenaurach in Germany. Adolf Dassler designed a pair of sport shoes in 1925 and few years later he and his brother Rudolph were selling special shoes for tennis players and began design specific shoes for different sports. The family company split in 1948. After the split, Adolf (Adi) Dassler founded Adidas and his brother Rudolph founded Puma. The three-stripe logo was designed in 1941 by Adi Dassler and he registered it as a trademark for Adidas after the split. The strength of Adidas was its product innovation. Adi Dassler registered more than seven hundred patents. Adidas began selling its shoes in the United States after 1968 and in few years the company dominated the American market. The most important marketing breakthrough was the active promotion of global sporting events, especially the Olympics. The connection of Adidas to the Olympics has a rich heritage. At the 1972 Olympic game in Munich, every official wore Adidas. Activities: manufacture and distribution of textiles, shoes and appliances for sport and related products. Adidas has 107 subsidiaries in 20 countries, and exports to 160 countries. Exploitation of the registered trademark Adidas is made where ever it is an opportunity. Activities of the company and its subsidiaries are directed from Adidas-Salomon AG's headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Products: Adidas - Footwear, apparel, and hardware such as bags and balls. Salomon - Winter sports incl. skis, snowboards, snowblades, ski boots and bindings, inline skates, hiking, apparel. Mavic Cycle components, Bonfire Snowboard apparel. Arc'Teryx - Outdoor apparel, climbing equipment, Clich Skateboard equipment, footwear and apparel, Taylor Made-Adidas Golf - Golf equipment, golf apparel, golf shoes and finally, Maxfli - Golf balls, irons and accessories

Case Study Adidas (2)

In the early 1980s Adidas has sales of $1 billion, and their brand-building model began to lose power. In America, the largest sports market, Nike had built a successful business in part of riding the explosive growth of running and jogging among casual users. Adidas focused mainly on athletes in team sports so they did not participate in the boom of the 1980s. Mostly therefore Adidas was overtaken by Nike at that time. In 1990, Adidas was holding on to just a two to three percent share of the U.S. market. Between 1988 and 1992 Adidas total sales dropped from nearly $2 billion to $1.7 billion. In the same period, Nikes sales went from $1.2 billion to more than $3.4 billion. From being the U.S. market leader in the late 1970s, Adidass market share dropped to 3 percent in 1992. The European market shares dropped while Nikes shares grew. Adidas also have had problems with the upstream value activities in their value chain. Traditionally, the company have their own factories and wholly owned subsidiaries. What happened in the '70s and forward, during the Adidas recession, was that Adidas was unable to ship products when it was needed, and they had a long supply chain - it took 18 months to get a new shoe into the market. This time is now reduced by 50%. Methods used are e.g. reducing transporting times trough bypassing warehouses and deliver directly to retailers. Today Adidas aims to have new products closer to the market. In 1997Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group with the brands Salomon, Taylor Made, Mavic and Bonfire. The new company is named Adidas-Salomon AG.

Research Problem
How have Adidas used the instrument branding, and which roll did it play in the competition between Adidas and Nike?

The strategies of Adidas were based on advertising, sponsorship programs for team end events and sub-brands Among the similarities between the campaigns for Adidas and Nike we can see their strategies to advertise in a huge scale One difference is that Adidas Endorsement program is focusing on major global events, sports associations, and teams, and Nike, in contrast, focuses on individual athletes and their success While Nike have Nike Town shops in the bigger cities in the world, Adidas have created The Adidas Streetball Challenge which started out in Germany 1992 and five years later it had over 500.000 participants In the finals in Germany it attracted 3200 players and 40.000 spectators Both Nike and Adidas began their turnarounds by developing a brand identity In each case, this exercise led to a focusing of the brand and initiatives that built the brand in new directions

Now let us do a Comparative analysis through Kapferers Prism model

Two aspects of Brand Identity

Sender

Receiver

Physique
Kapferer means what the central purpose of the brand is (that is what the brand does)

Personality
Kapferer means the soul of the brand

Reflection
Kapferer means how the individual in the targeted group identify himself as a person in relation to the brand

Self-Image
Kapferer means how the individual in the targeted group identify the brand in relation to himself

Two dimensions are still left to be explained in the prism, the Relationship and the

Culture

The Relationship is, according to Kapferer, externalizing the brand from the company outwards, and the culture is an aid for internalizing the brand in the organization and in to the conscious of the customer

The Culture is, according to Kapferer, the strongest dimension in the prism. It represents the difference between one brand and another

Now let us look at the prism of Adidas and Nike

Adidas
Picture of Sender

Physique Sports and fitness E x t e r n a l i z a t i o n

Personality Traditional, conservative, collective I n t e r n a l i z a t i o n

Relationship Quality and heritage

Culture European, Traditional

Reflection True sportsmanship, A good team player, Strong work ethic Picture of Receiver

Self Image Relates more to competing than to winning

Nike
Picture of Sender

Physique Sports and fitness E x t e r n a l i z a t i o n

Personality Like Jordan, Woods I n t e r n a l i z a t i o n

Relationship Sponsorship, ethics

Culture American, Just do it!

Reflection Aggressive, provocation, in- your face

Self Image Cool, I am an athlete

Picture of Receiver

Adidas

Nike

Picture of Sender

Picture of Sender

E x t e r n a l i z a t i o n

Physique Sports and fitness

Personality Traditional, conservative, collective

Relationship Quality and heritage

Culture European, Traditional

Reflection True sportsmanship, A good team player, Strong work ethic

Self Image Relates more to competing than to winning

I n t e r n a l i z a t i o n

E x t e r n a l i z a t i o n

Physique Sports and fitness

Relationship Sponsorship, ethics

Reflection Aggressive, provocation, inyour face

I n t e r n a Culture American, Just do l i it! z a t i o Self Image n Cool, I am an athlete

Personality Like Jordan, Woods

Picture of Receiver

Picture of Receiver

Comparative Analysis

Comparative Analysis (1)

Nike centred their brand equity model on the platforms, the endorsement focus strategy, creating a dominant media presence, development of Flagship stores, Nike Town and sub-branding The Adidas strategies were based on, endorsement focus strategy, advertising, sponsorship programs focusing on major global events, sports associations, and teams, and sub-brands To create brand awareness both companies have been using endorsement strategies in their brand-building programs What differs is that Adidas focuses on sponsorship of teams and events e.g. national teams and big sport events like the Olympic Games and different World Championship events. This will help them to create awareness with help from different types of media In contrast Nike has their focus on individuals like M. Jordan and T. Woods and their success stories About the second strategy, advertising Nikes advertising strategy was to create dominant presence in media. Nike created media presence in several trend setting United States cities. TV ads linking Nike to a city were used, but real drivers were huge oversized billboards and murals on buildings that blanketed cities with messages featuring key Nike-sponsored athletes, not products Adidas took up the competition with Nike through raising their advertising budget to a level that made it possible to compete with Nike on the same conditions and the same strength as Nike did to capture the consumer interest Adidas did not just spend more money; they made an impact with brilliant executions. They made TV and other advertising campaigns. The company communicate their heritage of innovation, technology and big success stories with personalities like Emil Zatopek, Mohammad Ali Adidas tried to spread meanings like We know then- we know now and There is nothing between you and success, so exceed your own expectations and limitations and Earn it The success was obvious and after hard work and striving toward a top position in the industry Adidas was back in business.

Comparative Analysis (2)

Nikes third strategy was to develop, flag ship stores, Nike Town shops in bigger citys, first national, and then abroad Nike was the first company to establish flagship stores and it turned out to be a sensation Adidas choice was to experiment with sport events, with which they made great success. Examples of that is the Adidas Streetball Challenge a local three-person team basketball tournament, this event started out as a trail in Berlin in the beginning of the 1990s as one time occasion In the mid 1990s it had become a huge sport event with about 500.000 participants all over the bigger cities in Europe In the finals in Germany it attracted 3200 players and 40.000 spectators Adidas made hereby a brand-building success The Nike customer associated the Nike brand with words like sports, attitudes and life style. Reasons for that is one can relate to or identify one self to Nikes marketing campaigns like Just do it and the companies front athletes like Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. For Adidas one image study of consumers found the brand very trendy, modern and cool The survey was made in late 1990s. All marketing actions that both companies are implementing will hopefully result in loyal customers Adidas introduced a sub-brand in 1990 to serve the high-end products for all categories of shoes and apparel. The Equipment sub-brand would represent the best, whatever the product was The low-end products, for the normal consumer still have a high technology and level of innovation because of their inheritance of the older innovations and technology from the Equipment line This strategy made the Adidas brand take on a different meaning; it still meant participation, emotion and performance

Comparative Analysis (3)

This was a success strategy for Adidas so successful that Nike copied their idea and introduced their own line, the Alpha line, based on the same idea Nike advanced from $1 billion dollars in 1986 to $ 9.9 billion in 2002, Adidas advanced from $1.7 billion in 1992 to $4.8 billion in 1998 According to sales figures for the both companies, it seems that both Nike and Adidas companies have succeeded to create a brand loyal customer who perceives the Nike and Adidas products as top quality

Conclusion (1)
Both Adidas and Nike have used the same theoretical systems to create their brand building programs The companies are benchmarking each other, using the techniques from each others successes, when Nike launched their sub-brand product Alpha line which was benchmarked on Adidas already launched sub-brand of the Equipment product line for the elite of sports men We can find many similarities like endorsements strategies and the companies advertising strategies but what differs in the endorsement strategies is that Adidas focuses in sponsoring teams and global events, while Nike have their center of attention on stars in specific sport like basketball and Michael Jordan or in golf and Tiger Woods About advertising both companies have about the same scale and scope of advertising but they try to communicate different messages The messages from Adidas is; the only one you compete with is your self whereas Nike communicate a provocative, aggressive winner attitude which can be related to the American sports attitude You dont win silver, you lose gold As we can understand the two companies are aiming at nearly the same targeted customer group but with a slightly differentiation of attitude Adidas stand for a competing and winning over your self-attitude, and Nike stands for a winning over everyone attitude The differentiation is based on the differences in culture between the two companies and between Europe and USA As an overall reflection one can see that Adidas had to overcome, that the both companies had the same target group. Adidas choose a brand-building strategy that built on the same theoretical criterias as Nike. But they created a differentiation in identity of the brand (as seen comparing analysis in the Kapferer Prism Model above) compared to Nike

Conclusion (2)
Adidas had the same strategy within creating equity value to their brand They challenged Nike in endorsement strategy, and in advertising, but with a slight difference in communicated message, by doing it trough the same medias. To differentiate them self and make totally own awareness activities, events like Adidas Streetball Challenge was created. Events like those communicated the Adidas brand around the world According to the results and positions the brand-building programs have given both Adidas and Nike in the sport industry, one can say that branding have been a totally determining factor. On top of that they made it so good that they are used as models in higher education.