Brand Image
Brand image is not what the company communicates it is. It's what remains in the customer's head after they stop listening to what the company says.
“You can control what you say. You can't control what the market decides to remember.”
Otto GTM ObservatoryThe gap between identity and image
Identity is what the company decides to communicate; image is what the market actually perceives and remembers, a result depending not just on communication but also on direct experience, word of mouth, and comparisons with competitors. A wide gap between the two signals that communication isn't working or that execution doesn't confirm the promise.
Measuring image requires direct external research with customers, prospects, and even former customers, not deductions based on what the company intends to communicate: real perception often surprises, for better or worse, whoever built it from the inside.
Anti-patterns
Common mistake: assuming perceived image matches internally communicated identity, never verifying it with direct market research.
Second mistake: expecting a repositioning to immediately update perceived image, underestimating the time (often 12-24 months) needed for the new perception to consolidate in the market.
Practical Application
A company perceives itself internally as 'innovative and agile,' but external research on 60 prospects reveals the market associates it with 'reliable but traditional.' Instead of fighting this image, the company turns it into a positioning asset toward enterprise segments seeking exactly stability, achieving a 34% higher conversion rate than the previous positioning on 'innovation.'