Identity Crisis: Your Marketing Identity vs. Your Marketing Image

Last week, I mentioned how marketers need to be aware of buyer's expectations, like doctors wearing white lab coats.

An astute reader pointed out that there's a difference between projecting a successful image and overdoing it.  For example marble floors and walnut wainscoting may signal success to some and excess to others.

Agreed.

There is also a difference between your marketing image and your identity. Image is all fluff and appearances. It is all about the outward. Identity is a much deeper thing. It's what you are at your core.

The difference between image and identity in marketing is much like the difference between a well-groomed but dishonest salesman and a average-looking salesman with integrity. Which would you rather deal with? (In this case, if image is personality then identity is character.)

Identity is also about knowing who you are as a brand and being true to that. If you are a hip brand like Apple, you need to be sure everything you do is hip. If you are a more friendly, down-to earth brand like Lowes, you want to project that in all your marketing (which I think they do well in their new TV spots). 

Takeaway: Are you focused on image more than identity? What defines your brand or you as a salesperson?