Brand Perception · The identity–image gap · Component
The diagnosis
Whether the message was unheard, heard and disbelieved, or accurate and unwelcome — three findings that look identical in the data.
The deliverable
What it is
The default assumption is that the message did not reach people, because that is the cheapest diagnosis and the one that requires no change to the organisation.
The other two possibilities — heard and disbelieved, or accurate and inconvenient — are more common than the default and call for entirely different responses.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The reach check
Whether people encountered the claim at all.
3 attributes: Recall the claim · Recall and accept · Recall and reject
LearnThe credibility check
Why those who heard it did not believe it.
3 attributes: Why not believed · Contradicted by · Segment
LearnThe identity check
Whether the identity is the half that is wrong.
3 attributes: Identity accurate · What changed · Assessed by
Learn
Check whether the identity is the wrong half. Nobody volunteers that diagnosis and it is more common than it should be.
The other components in the identity–image gap
The comparison
Stated identity against unprompted image, side by side — word for word where possible, because paraphrasing on either side hides the gap.
LearnThe priority gaps
The misperceptions that affect what people actually do — because not every gap is worth closing and most are not.
Learn