How to attract high-end consumers with a great brand identity
- Alberto Carniel
- Dec 13, 2019
- 8 min read
Updated: Dec 29, 2025
As I always say, a brand is the most valuable intangible asset of a company.
It doesn’t just influence price.
It builds loyalty, shapes preferences, and creates the kind of “I’ll never buy anything else” attachment that competitors can’t discount their way into.
In this article, you’ll learn how to leverage strategic brand management to acquire high-end consumers, integrate it into your #MarketingPlan, and maximize brand equity.
Table of contents
THE IMPORTANCE OF BRAND IDENTITY
AND BRAND EQUITY
After deciding the most profitable brand positioning strategy, a business should work on its image and on the mental structures people use to organize knowledge—because that’s what ends up influencing purchasing decisions.
A brand determines consumer preferences and loyalty.
And once loyalty exists, price becomes less of a debate.
Defining the scope of branding
A brand is “the promise”: what it must be and do for customers.
When consumers willingly choose the same product/service multiple times, a business can predict demand and protect its market with higher barriers to entry.
It’s always difficult for competitors to enter an industry controlled by already established brands.
Marketers should create meaningful associations in consumers’ minds that differentiate one product/service from another.
Also: virtually anything can be branded.
A physical product, a service, a store, a person, a place, an organization, or even an idea.
The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as:
“A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.”
Differences between brand identity and brand equity
In brief, a brand is shaped by the interaction of two fundamental elements:
Brand identity → the perception of a brand in consumers’ minds (and yes, it should generate sales).
Brand equity → the monetary value of the brand itself.
In other words, brand equity is the commercial value of consumers’ perception of the brand, not the intrinsic value of the product/service sold.
That’s why brand equity is strictly related to customers—and can be positive or negative:
Positive customer-based brand equity: people respond favorably to the product/service and its marketing.
Negative customer-based brand equity: the opposite scenario.
The 3 pillars of customer-based brand equity
Customer-based brand equity is built on three pillars:
It’s built by differences in consumers’ response.
If people react the same to your brand as they do to others, you’re a commodity—and competition becomes mainly about price.
Those differences come from brand knowledge.
Opinions, experiences, emotions, beliefs—everything people attach to the brand.
Think: FedEx = speed, Mailchimp = fun, Nike = motivation, Amazon = convenience.
Brand equity permeates all marketing activities.
The stronger it is, the more revenue it tends to generate.
Jonah Sachs condenses this idea in one line:
“Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touch points.”
How to measure brand equity
Measuring brand value isn’t an exact science.
There are many methods and models.
One research-based model explored by Kotler and Keller is the BrandAsset Valuator (BAV), developed by Young & Rubicam (Y&R).
According to BAV, brand equity rests on four main factors:
Energized differentiation → how different the brand is perceived, its momentum, and leadership.
Relevance → suitability and attractiveness.
Esteem → respect, perceived quality, and loyalty.
Knowledge → awareness and familiarity.
A helpful way to read the model:
Brand strength = Energized differentiation + Relevance (future projection of growth/value)
Brand stature = Esteem + Knowledge (past performance + present value)
Typically:
Strong new brands score higher on energized differentiation;
Industry leaders score high on all four dimensions;
Declining brands often show high knowledge (proof of past performance) but weaker strength.
HOW TO BUILD A BRAND WITH
KAPFERER’S BRAND IDENTITY PRISM
How can you build a strong brand?
How can you communicate its elements so you become memorable and recognizable among the competition?
When it comes to building a brand, I suggest two exercises:
Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism
Brand archetypes
Let’s start with Kapferer’s prism.
How to interpret the prism
First mentioned in 1986 and later furthered in Strategic Brand Management: New Approaches to Creating and Evaluating Brand Equity (1992), Jean-Noël Kapferer’s prism is a tool to define brand identity and align marketing communication accordingly.
Kapferer explains the point clearly:
“Strong brands are capable of weaving all aspects [of the prism] into an effective whole in order to create a concise, clear and appealing brand identity.”
Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism includes six facets:
Physical facet (physique)
Personality
Culture (values)
Relationship
Reflected consumer (reflection)
Self-image
This prism visualizes a brand like a person—because to catch consumers’ minds, businesses need to communicate as peers.
Like a person, a brand should be able to receive and send messages.
That’s the role of the “strips” at the top and bottom of the model.
Constructed source (picture of sender): physical facet + personality
Constructed receiver (picture of receiver): reflected consumer + self-image
The second dimension is externalization vs internalization:
Externalization (social aspects): physical facet, relationship, reflected consumer
Internalization (inner characteristics): personality, culture, self-image
Download my Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism worksheet and assess your brand elements like a boss.
Physical facet
What does the brand look like?
How can it be recognized?
This includes all physical characteristics consumers recall when the brand is mentioned: logos, packaging, colors, shapes, smells, patterns, design cues.
Personality
This is where the brand becomes a character.
Personality creates the perception of communicating with a real person instead of an abstract entity.
Tone of voice, writing style, visual identity, design—all of that plays here.
Culture
What beliefs is the brand founded on?
A system of values guides behavior of employees and partners across all touch points, creating coordinated internal and external communication.
Relationship
How much “attention” or commitment does the brand dedicate to customers?
How do you treat them?
How do you help them?
Are you close—or intentionally distant?
This tends to matter even more for services than products, because a service is a relationship by definition.
Reflected consumer
This describes the typical user.
HubSpot would call it a buyer persona.
Kapferer adds an important nuance: the reflected consumer shouldn’t necessarily mirror the actual target group, but should portray a stereotype that makes the target audience feel attracted.
Self-image
How do customers see themselves while using the brand?
How do they feel when trying the product/service?
Where are they?
In what situation?
Example: studies have shown how Lacoste customers can see themselves as members of a sports club even if they don’t actually play a sport.
How do customers see themselves while using the brand?
How do they feel when trying the product/service?
Where are they?
In what situation?
Example: studies have shown how Lacoste customers can see themselves as members of a sports club even if they don’t actually play a sport.
Ferrari brand identity prism example
Missoni brand identity prism example
L’Oréal Paris brand identity prism example
An additional use of Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism
The prism is broader than most people think.
Yes, it helps you build identity—but it can also help you validate identity.
If the perception of real consumers doesn’t match your prism, you’re not building a brand—you’re writing fan-fiction about your own business.
A second use for the prism is to survey groups of consumers and get intel on their perception.
Example questions:
Physical facet: “If I mention this brand, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind?”
Relationship: “How is this brand related to you? What role does it have in your life?”
Reflected consumer: demographic and lifestyle questions to identify the perceived “typical user.”
Personality: “Read this blog page: if the brand was a real person, how would you describe them?”
Culture: “What values do you associate with this brand? Can you list them?”
Self-image: “When you use this brand, what kind of person do you feel like?”
HOW TO BUILD A BRAND WITH ARCHETYPES
Carl Gustav Jung first mentioned archetypes in his essay Instinct and the Unconscious (1919).
Archetypes are recurring symbols, motifs, ideas, images, or patterns of thought that are collectively inherited and (often) unconsciously present in people’s psyche.
They’re rooted in decades of psychological research and linked to mythology.
The word “archetype” comes from Greek and, in a modern interpretation by Anthony Stevens (Archetype Revisited: An Updated Natural History of the Self), an archetype is:
“a pattern underlying form or primordial form.”
Archetypes are also the opposite of the tabula rasa theory, which describes minds like a blank sheet: no built-in mental concepts, all knowledge comes from experience and perception.
(The images in this section are a reworked version of the creative work of the Australian branding agency Iconic Fox.)
How to use brand archetypes to make emotive connections with customers
Even if the relationship looks transactional (money exchanged for product/service), consumers can develop a deep bond with certain brands.
Why?
Because people and businesses can “resonate” together in an archetype.
If we apply Jung’s work to branding, we obtain 12 brand archetypes, divided into three macro-categories:
The ego types: the Innocent, the Everyman (Orphan/Regular Guy/Gal), the Hero, the Caregiver
The soul types: the Explorer, the Outlaw (Rebel), the Lover, the Creator
The self types: the Jester, the Sage, the Magician, the Ruler
Each archetype aligns with a core desire:
Safety → the Innocent
Belonging → the Everyman
Mastery → the Hero
Service → the Caregiver
Freedom → the Explorer
Revolution/Liberation → the Outlaw
Intimacy → the Lover
Innovation → the Creator
Pleasure/Enjoyment → the Jester
Understanding → the Sage
Power → the Magician
Control → the Ruler
This idea aligns with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, introduced in A Theory of Human Motivation (1943).
It also connects with Steven Reiss’s work.
In Who Am I?: The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities (2000), Reiss argues individuals are driven by 16 basic desires—everyone has them, but with different priorities.
So if certain behaviors or personalities enhance specific desires, it becomes obvious why different archetypes appeal to different consumers.
A different way to group archetypes
You can also cluster the 12 archetypes into four groups by focus:
Ego-fulfillment
Freedom
Socialness
Order
This makes it clearer that people can be motivated by different sources but share similar orientations.
Example:
The Caregiver can fulfill ego through helping others (social orientation).
The Hero can fulfill ego through proving self-worth via action (achievement orientation).
Why archetypes can beat the competition
Gerald Zaltman (Harvard Business School) argued that a large share of decision-making happens subconsciously.
In a 2003 interview, he notes that observations of consumers often show they don’t even look at alternatives, and what they think (measured via unconscious reactions) can contradict what they say when asked directly.
Meaning: brands that build a strong archetypal personality can create a deeper emotional link—and overtake competitors who only fight on features, promos, and “BUY NOW” buttons.
CONCLUSIONS
If you want to attract high-end consumers, you can’t rely on “premium vibes” alone.
You need a brand identity people can recognize, repeat, and feel—consistently, across touch points.
Here’s the practical approach:
Use Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism to define (and validate) your identity with structure.
Use brand archetypes to give that identity emotional meaning people instantly understand.
Keep the two in sync, or you’ll end up with a brand that sounds one way and behaves another (and customers always notice).
If you have a question, drop it in the comments.
Tell me what you’re struggling with (clarity, consistency, premium perception, messaging, visual identity…), and I’ll reply with direction you can apply immediately.
References
American Marketing Association (AMA). Definition of Brand.
Kapferer, Jean-Noël. Strategic Brand Management: New Approaches to Creating and Evaluating Brand Equity. Kogan Page, 1992.
Young & Rubicam (Y&R). BrandAsset® Valuator (BAV).
Sachs, Jonah. Quote: “Your brand is a story unfolding across all customer touch points.”
Jung, C. G. “Instinct and the Unconscious” (1919), in Collected Works of C. G. Jung.
Stevens, Anthony. Archetype Revisited: An Updated Natural History of the Self. Inner City Books, 2003.
Maslow, A. H. “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review, 1943.
Reiss, Steven. Who Am I?: The 16 Basic Desires That Motivate Our Actions and Define Our Personalities. Penguin, 2000.
Mahoney, Manda (interview). “The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer (And How To Reach It).” Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, 2003.