brand–consumer exchange is key. In the identity approach, brand–consumer
exchange is expanded to a focus on all potential stakeholders, and not only inter-
action with consumers. This broader focus and altered perception of who the
receivers of brand communications are can be explained with the emphasis on
trust and reputation characterizing the identity approach.
There have been countless discussions of the extent to which communication
between brand and receiver (here all stakeholders) is linear or the result of a
dialogue. The reason for these discussions is that scholars and practitioners
involved in the field of brand identity often come from different academic back-
grounds. We will run through the different points of view in order to clarify the
assumptions of the brand–stakeholder exchange.
- The exchange between brand and stakeholder from a visual and strategic
point of view (corporate identity) derives its mindset from marketing,
graphic design and strategic management. The concept of corporate identity
focuses on the creation of a coherent visual identity. The key determinant of
success is the ability to control all communication, with the aim of creating
an enduring, distinctive and stable brand identity that is communicated
linearlyto all stakeholders. - Research into the more behavioural aspects of brand identity (organizational
identity) has its origin in academic disciplines like sociology, anthropology
and organization studies.^1 The concept of organizational identity focuses on
how behaviour affects brand identity. Identity is believed to be context-
dependent and both socially and individually created – hence a social
constructivist view of identity, where it is assumed that identity is the result of
a co-creation between brand and stakeholder. - Imageis defined as the mosaic of brand associations held by stakeholders,
hence implying the stakeholder perspective of the exchange. Here the
communication may be linear, but stakeholders’ reactions are perceived to be
a central element in the formation and management of identity. - Reputationis a more long-term gathering of impressions and evaluations of
image stored in the long-term memory of consumers and stakeholders.
Reputation focuses more on relation building than linear communication.
In recent research of brand identity a multidimensional approach has been adopted
where the four perspectives mentioned above are combined. The construction of
the brand in the identity approach is hence, in its original form, assumed to be
linear, but a social constructionist perspective where a more interaction-based
perspective is dominant has come to take up more and more space in the identity
approach in the recent years.
In that sense, brand identity has evolved from a rather static, narrow concept
focusing on graphic design to a more dynamic, complex and social constructivist view
of identity. If identity is context-dependent and socially constructed, it follows that the
linear communication process assumed to characterize the ‘brand–stakeholder
exchange’ is also challenged, because the social construction of identity implies that
The identity approach 53