To give brands a clear identity of their own. For Aaker, a company's brand is "the primary source of its competitive advantage and a valuable strategic asset". Yet, as he said when his book Building Strong Brands came out in 1996, the brand message to customers is too often "weak, confused, irrelevant or, worst of all, indistinguishable from competitor offerings" (Kell, 1996, para. 3). All brands need "a distinct, clear image that matters to customers and truly differentiates them from the rest" (Kell, 1996, para. 4). The key step is to build a broad brand identity. It treats the brand as more than a bundle of features that rivals can copy or outdo (Kell, 1996, para. 5).

To let a brand stand for more than one thing. Aaker recalls that when he developed the model, advertising agencies were "running things in those days". They defined a brand by "a three-word phrase, a single thought, a single concept" and built a campaign around it. Other agencies used "fill-in-the-box" models, in which every brand was defined by the same kinds of ideas (Meyerson, 2019a, para. 3). Aaker thought both approaches were wrong. In his view, a brand must be allowed "to stand for more than one thing", perhaps six or twelve things. He also disliked the box models. "It just drove me crazy", he says. They had eight boxes, and every box had to be filled, even where it did not fit the brand (Meyerson, 2019a, para. 3). In a 2012 blog post, Aaker names the agency models with their single thought as one motivation for developing his model (Aaker, 2012, principle 1). He calls the box models "too confining" (Aaker, 2012, principle 2).

To look beyond the product. According to a 1996 report on the book, Aaker asks companies to see their brand "not just as a product or service, but as an organization, a person and a symbol" (Kell, 1996, para. 5). For example, the ideas people link with the organisation behind a brand are "more endearing and more resistant to imitation by competitors than are product attributes" (Kell, 1996, para. 6). A personality can make a brand more interesting and memorable. A strong symbol can make it easier to recognise and recall (Kell, 1996, paras. 8, 10).

The model rests on one idea. Aaker defines brand identity as "a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or maintain", in short, what the brand should stand for (Aaker, 1996, p. 68, as cited in da Silveira et al., 2013, p. 29). Associations are the ideas that should "come to mind when the brand is cued", that is, when people see or hear of the brand (Aaker, 2011, point 3). A brand can stand for several of them, in Meyerson's words "maybe as many as six, ten, or twelve". Some are more central to the brand than others (Meyerson, 2019a, para. 6). Aaker calls these ideas identity elements (Aaker, 2012, principle 1). The figure turns the idea into a plan in three stages, read from top to bottom. First comes an analysis, then the identity system, and last its implementation. The identity system in the middle takes up three of the five points below (Meyerson, 2019b, figure):

• Analysis first: the plan starts with a strategic brand analysis in three parts. The customer analysis looks at trends, motivation, unmet needs and segmentation, the division of customers into groups. The competitor analysis looks at rivals' brand image and identity, their strengths and strategies, and their weak spots. The self-analysis looks at the brand's existing image and its heritage, that is, its history. It also looks at the brand's strengths and capabilities and at the values of the organisation (Meyerson, 2019b, figure).
• One identity with a core: the identity elements are split into a core identity and an extended identity. The core is "the timeless essence of a brand" (Aaker, 1996, p. 85, as cited in Urde, 2013, p. 746). It holds what is most central to the brand and stays the same over time (Meyerson, 2019b, "Putting the Brand Vision Model All Together" section). The extended identity holds the other elements and, in Aaker's image, "fills in the picture" with details (Kell, 1996, para. 11).
• Four perspectives as a search grid: the strategist looks at the brand from four perspectives, as a product, an organisation, a person with human traits and a symbol. Under them sit twelve categories, each a kind of idea the brand might stand for. They are meant to make sure that the brand "has been considered from every angle". But no category is required. Aaker encourages strategists to consider the categories, "but only if they make sense for the brand in question" (Meyerson, 2019b, "Brand Vision Perspectives and Elements" section). In the figure, lines from all four perspectives lead into the identity (Meyerson, 2019b, figure).
• From identity to relationship: the identity leads to a value proposition. In the figure, it consists of benefits for the customer, which can be functional, emotional or self-expressive (Meyerson, 2019b, figure). In a later blog post, Aaker explains two of these kinds. An emotional benefit makes the buyer or user feel something. A self-expressive benefit lets a person show who he or she is through the brand (Aaker, 2014b, "Emotional Benefits" and "Self-Expressive Benefits" sections). The identity also leads to credibility, which means how far people believe in and trust a brand. The figure adds only the note "support other brands". Value proposition and credibility both lead to the brand–customer relationship. A third line runs straight there from the bottom of the identity box. It starts below the category Brand–Customer Relationships (Meyerson, 2019b, figure).
• Position last: only then does implementation begin, with the brand position. Aaker defines it as "the part of the brand identity and value proposition that is to be actively communicated to the target audience and that demonstrates an advantage over competing brands" (Aaker, 1996, p. 176, as cited in Urde, 2013, p. 746). Execution and tracking follow (Meyerson, 2019b, figure).

The model was first presented in Building Strong Brands (1996) and refined four years later in Brand Leadership (Aaker, 2012, para. 1). The 1996 model has no brand essence, a single thought that sums up the brand and that later versions place at the centre. Aaker recalls that he left it out because he "didn't want a three-word phrase to appear anywhere". He added it later because it helps "in a large percentage of the cases" (Meyerson, 2019a, "Brand Essence" section).

Meyerson describes how the model is used. According to him, Aaker suggests starting with research, the "strategic brand analysis" of customers, competitors and the existing brand or organisation. From the results, strategists list possible identity elements and go through each of the twelve categories. In a further round of analysis, which may include workshops or more research, they select the most important elements and sort them into core and extended. The chosen elements should form a whole and give a clear picture of what the brand stands for (Meyerson, 2019b, "Putting the Brand Vision Model All Together" section).

The finished identity "can serve as a map" of the brand's meaning. From it, strategists can create a brand position or value proposition and a consistent experience for the brand (Meyerson, 2019b, "Putting the Brand Vision Model All Together" section). The implementation system in the figure spells this out. The brand position is part of the identity and value proposition. It is aimed at a target audience, should be actively communicated and gives the brand an advantage over competitors. Execution covers generating alternatives, symbols and metaphors, and testing. Tracking comes last (Meyerson, 2019b, figure).

Ferreiro-Rosende and colleagues applied Aaker's model to Picasso museums in Spain. They interviewed the curators or heads of communication of all Spanish Picasso museums except the one in Málaga, which did not take part. The interviews asked how each museum shows its identity through the four perspectives (Ferreiro-Rosende et al., 2023, pp. 160, 162). Picasso himself is a human brand, that is, a person who is also a brand. He belongs to the brand as person and is present in all other perspectives as part of the core identity (Ferreiro-Rosende et al., 2023, p. 164). Some museums use the painter's signature as their logo (Ferreiro-Rosende et al., 2023, p. 165). On the choice between local and global, the museums with larger collections think more globally, the smaller ones more locally (Ferreiro-Rosende et al., 2023, p. 166).

Konecnik and Go applied a later version of the planning model to Slovenia as a tourism destination. They call it the brand leadership model of Aaker and Joachimsthaler. They kept its three stages. First comes a strategic analysis of tourists, competitors and the destination itself, then an identity system with the four perspectives, and last the implementation (Konecnik & Go, 2008, pp. 179–182). Representatives of seven Slovenian organisations saw Austria as the main competitor. Their answers suggest a possible core identity: "Slovenia offers a mixed and safe tourism experience within a small geographical area" (Konecnik & Go, 2008, pp. 183–185).

Aaker's own words point to three stumbling blocks (Aaker, 2012; Kell, 1996; Meyerson, 2019a, 2019b):

• Fixing on product attributes: in his book Aaker on Branding (2014), Aaker warns that product attributes "tend to be the focus of identity efforts to the exclusion of other perspectives that can add value and distinctiveness to the brand" (as cited in Meyerson, 2019b, "Product Attributes" section).
• Filling every box: the twelve categories are not boxes to fill. Aaker built his model in reaction to models with eight boxes, where "you had to fill each one" (Meyerson, 2019a, para. 3). He writes that his model "does not pre-specify dimensions that all brands in all contexts must contain". By dimensions he means kinds of content, such as personality, symbols or emotional benefits. Nor does the model give all dimensions equal weight, "even those dimensions that are minor or make no sense" (Aaker, 2012, principle 2).
• Working at cross-purposes: this warning concerns systems of brands and subbrands, the brands that sit under a main brand. Aaker asks strategists to think in such systems rather than manage single brands. He warns that the brands in one system must not work against each other. In his words, "Inconsistent or 'cross-purposes' execution within a company's branding system can be destructive" (Kell, 1996, paras. 12, 14).

• Brand Vision Model: this is Aaker's own later version. In his book Aaker on Branding (2014), he "re-labeled" the concept as brand vision. He now speaks of the "brand vision model (formerly the brand identity model)". For him, the term "brand vision" better captures that the concept is strategic and describes what the brand should stand for. The word "identity", he says, too often creates confusion, because some take it to mean the graphic design around the brand (Aaker, 2014a, p. 20). The later version also has a brand essence at its centre (Meyerson, 2019a, "Brand Essence" section).
• Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism: Meyerson sets Aaker's model apart from the prism. The prism requires a brand personality, while Aaker's model does not prescribe any particular kind of idea (Meyerson, 2019a, para. 6).
• Neumeier's Brand Commitment Matrix and agency models: the matrix requires purpose and values, and many agency models require a set number of positioning pillars, the main ideas a brand is built on. Aaker's model leaves open how many ideas to include and what kinds (Meyerson, 2019a, para. 6).