Brand identity vs. brand image: what’s the difference?

In MARKETING
21 April 2022
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As shown in our latest infographic, brand identity is a very important component of your brand. And brand image is just as crucial! However, “brand image” and “brand identity” are often confused, so let’s define each of these concepts.

What is brand identity?

Brand identity is what you, as a company, want your brand to represent: the image of it that you want to project, and how you want it to be perceived by the public.

Brand identity includes the following elements:

  • your brand style guide (logo, typefaces, colors, etc)
  • the tone of your words
  • your values
  • your history
  • your positioning

Brand identity is therefore entirely dependent on your company and its overall strategy. The clearer and more precise your identity, the better. This will allow you to follow a logical guideline for your company and for the public.

💡 TIP: reinforce your brand identity in your digital publications with our White Label feature (available to PLATINUM users) and personalize the viewer so that it matches your brand style guide.

What is brand image?

Brand image is how the public perceives your brand, what they really think of it. It’s a feeling, and, in a way, the reputation of your brand.

Brand image depends on:

  • your public speaking and communications
  • your marketing activities
  • client experience

A positive brand image is essential for your brand. Not only will the public think highly of your products, but this will also help increase your sales because your customers will be your best ambassadors when they tell their friends and family about you. On the other hand, a negative brand image could be catastrophic. If your products are only associated with bad things, there is little chance that they will sell.

💡 TIP: to improve your brand image, it is important to offer high value-added content such as digital publications. Tutorials or magazines are good ideas of content to propose, but there are many other types of content you can publish with Calaméo.

How do they influence each other?

The influence of brand identity on brand image

Brand identity contributes to maintaining a good brand image. For example, a new product with a high price will be perceived positively by the public if the brand has a luxury positioning that is part of its identity. The high price will be perceived as a guarantee of quality by the consumer, who will therefore have a good image of your product and your brand, because it is in line with your identity.

On the flip side, if your brand contradicts its identity, it can create bad press. Imagine creating a new product whose manufacturing method goes against the values displayed by the brand. In this case, your customers may have the impression that you have lied to them about your motivations and convictions.

Therefore, you must master your brand identity and stick to it.

The influence of brand image on brand identity

Brand image is a good indicator of the effectiveness of your brand identity. As a matter of fact, a good image will reinforce the idea that your identity is clear, controlled, and understood by the public. It then be a matter of continuing to make your decisions in the same way.

In contrast, a bad brand image will require changes. This could mean an entire or partial rebranding of your identity: choosing a new logo or new values, for example.

Conclusion

Brand image and brand identity are therefore two very important elements for your brand. One represents the image that your company wants to give to your brand, the other is the real image that the public has in mind, its feeling towards your brand.

Ultimately, these two crucial elements depend on each other, so make sure not to neglect either one.

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MARKETING

4 benefits of exclusive content for your digital strategy

In MARKETING
3 September 2020

An essential asset of digital publishing is the ability to offer your audience exclusive content. While private publications can help you keep internal documents confidential, they can also help you create a stronger relationship with your readers, clients and future customers.

In this article, learn about the benefits of exclusive content and tips for your publishing strategy on Calaméo.

BUILD YOUR BRAND

Certainly, your digital publications are a powerful tool for informing your audience. But don’t underestimate their power to enhance your brand, too. Limiting the availability of your content can concentrate the link with your brand. For instance, you may wish to keep your publications on Calaméo private. But you can still make them easy to browse on your own website with our embed feature for private publications.

In addition to convenient embeds, you can also take advantage of opportunities to enhance your exclusive content with interactive content and custom branding. As a result, your digital publications will be 100% you.

💡TIP: Publishing in white label is a smart choice for brand building.

ATTRACT SUBSCRIBERS

In recent years, focusing on subscriptions has been a strong trend in digital publishing and exclusivity is a key factor. By offering content that only subscribers can access, you can tempt casual readers to sign up, establish contacts and encourage your audience to keep returning.

The flexible Subscribers feature provides a built-in solution for publishing subscribers-only content on Calaméo. First, secure exclusive publications behind a log-in window. Next, assign each subscriber a unique user name and password to use for access. In short, the first step to creating a great subscriber experience is exclusive content.

SUPPORT SALES

Personalization is already the next big thing in digital marketing. Recent studies have shown that when used well, it can help boost sales online. In fact, more than two-thirds of customers expect a personalized experience.

Those numbers are just one reason why you might want to consider tailoring your sales material to individual clients. Take a little time to customize your brochures, presentations and proposals. Then, publish on Calaméo and share with your prospects via private URL.

💡TIP: To generate a new private URL for your publication, open the share window and click on “Renew private URL.”

REWARD LOYALTY

Because everyone loves perks. And your audience is no exception! Investing in some exclusive, privately published bonus content will surprise and delight your most dedicated followers. For example, you might offer an extra magazine issue, sneak peek at upcoming events or flyer with special deals. Publishing on Calaméo ensures that your bonus content looks great in a fun format. Plus, direct downloads let fans enjoy it even offline.

No matter how you choose to publish exclusive content, measuring its performance should be part of your strategy. Calaméo’s advanced statistics contain valuable data to help you analyze the success of your private publications. For more details on where to start, check out our quick guide to digital publishing KPIs.

On Calaméo, you can publish and share up to 50 private publications—absolutely free. Get your free account and start creating exclusive content today.

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MARKETING

Enriched media: the key to better digital communications

In MARKETING
11 March 2021

By now, the advantages of digital communications are obvious to almost everyone. Thanks to tools like email, online publishing and social media, it’s fast and easy to get your message out there. In fact, the explosive growth of digital channels is overtaking traditional ways of doing things. From meetings to marketing, online options are on top.

However, there are also some disadvantages to common forms of digital communication. For example, they often rely heavily on text. And while text-heavy formats like email are efficient, they aren’t as good at creating trust and engagement in their audience. According to media richness theory, contextual elements enhance those features and improve the quality of communication.

In other words, considering when to use enriched media can have big benefits for your digital communication. But how exactly can you create richer documents to engage your readers? Our guide has three great ideas to get you started.

Step 1: Interactivity

To take advantage of rich media in your communications, interactivity is the most important value. Don’t be fooled by its sometimes gimmicky history! Today, interactive features encourage distracted Internet users to go beyond skimming. Instead of passive scrolling, digital publications require readers to stop, think and click through for active browsing.

Even the pageflip effect helps to enrich your communications, via the concept of skeuomorphic design. Unlike the flat design style, skeuomorphism incorporates shapes and textures from real objects in digital interfaces. Because they’re more detailed than flat buttons and grids, skeuomorphic elements catch your eye. The interactive interface of an online publication can make your message stand out—and engage your audience’s attention.

Of course, you can add many other interactive features to your digital publications. For instance, external links let your readers follow up on CTAs in one click. But to get the most out of enriched media, you’ll need to consider including audio and video alongside images and text.

Step 2: Audio

Compared to written communication, it’s not hard to understand why audio is a “richer” format. Think of all the things that a phone call has versus an email: the speaker’s pauses, hesitations, laughs and above all, the tone of voice. These signals let the person listening to interpret and process the message better than with just the words.

Luckily, digital tools have made audio content extremely easy to produce and integrate into your communications. To record a voice clip or podcast, all you need is a microphone and simple editing software. Once you’re happy with the sound, upload the file to a hosting platform like SoundCloud. Then, add it to your online publication for readers to click and play.

If you’re wondering what kind of audio content to include, don’t be afraid to get creative. You can boost the impact of any message by providing an audio version. For example, try having your company president record her message to shareholders inside your annual report. Or explore the conversational side of audio and integrate a podcast into your digital publication. Since users can’t get enough audio, the possibilities are endless!

Step 3: Video

Although audio is booming, there’s one great reason to choose video to enrich your communications. That’s because in media richness theory, video is the top option. In addition to audio signals, video gives your audience visual information like movement and body language. In digital terms, video communication comes as close as possible to the engagement of a real-life experience.

Unfortunately, the infamous “pivot to video” convinced many businesses that video was too expensive an investment. And indeed, high-quality video content does take time and resources to produce. But that doesn’t mean your online communications strategy should write off video. Instead, think again about the kinds of video you can prioritize.

Three simple but extremely effective ideas include product demonstrations, tutorials and calls to action. All of these make the most out of video’s strongest features to enrich your digital publications: visual action and human presence. When your audience watches another person ask them to sign up, or show them how to, they can connect more deeply with the message.

To sum it up, media richness theory has a lot to tell us about how to communicate with audiences online. Used wisely, enriched media like digital publications can be a powerful tool for creating memorable content and developing audience relationships.

And if you want to see for yourself, why not request your two-week demo of our PLATINUM plan? You’ll enjoy access to all the professional enrichment features of Calaméo’s digital publishing solution—absolutely free.

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