To shape the image through the identity. Capriotti starts from crowded markets. In a supermarket a shopper can find 5,000 to 10,000 products, and in a city such as Barcelona a person has more than 500 cultural options for a weekend. People find it ever harder to identify, tell apart and remember products, services and organisations. As a result, an organisation must build a strong, coherent and distinctive corporate identity and communicate it well to its publics (Capriotti, 2009, p. 11). By publics he means stakeholders (Capriotti, 2009, p. 171). A public is a group of people or organisations that have a similar relationship with the organisation and a shared interest in it, and that can influence its success or failure. It forms through this relationship, not through shared demographic traits (Capriotti, 2009, p. 172). Because intangible assets matter more and more for an organisation's success, this work must be planned and coordinated. Publics should get to know the identity and form an image that helps the organisation reach its goals (Capriotti, 2013, p. 47). The image lives in people's heads. It is the set of associations they hold about the organisation. What the organisation can manage is its identity and the way it communicates it, and through them it tries to influence the image (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 47–48). In Capriotti's words, corporate branding is "nothing more and nothing less than working on the identity to try to influence the image or reputation that publics hold, through communication" (Capriotti, 2010, p. 17, translated).

To base decisions on research, not on hunches. Without research, an organisation knows neither where it stands, nor where it wants to go, nor how to get there. Its decisions then rest on assumptions or intuition, and its planning tends to be partial and short-term, aimed at fixing single problems. As Capriotti puts it, "Without research, there is no strategic planning" (Capriotti, 2013, p. 50, translated). In a talk in 2010 he makes the same point with a popular saying: "if you do not know where you want to go, no bus will take you there" (Capriotti, 2010, p. 18, translated). Yet in his work with Spanish, British, Argentine and Chilean companies, he has found the level of research "very low" (Capriotti, 2010, p. 18, translated). Most companies make their communication decisions without any strategic analysis (Capriotti, 2010, p. 17). This is why he puts so much weight on the first stage of his model, the analysis (Capriotti, 2010, p. 18). Research does not replace judgement, though. Image studies show where the organisation stands today and reduce uncertainty, but they rarely show future trends. They should therefore not be the only basis for strategic decisions. In many cases, intuition and instinct count too (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 199–200).

To make branding work beyond products. For Capriotti, branding means managing identity attributes, the adjectives and traits that an organisation wants to attach to its brand or to itself (Capriotti, 2010, p. 20). This works for anything whose identity can be managed, whether a product (Skip detergent), an organisation (Banco Santander), a whole sector (Rioja wines) or a place such as a city, a region or a country. These levels are not a ranking. They run from the simple, a product, to the complex, a country. Corporate branding is about the level of the organisation, but its ideas and working method fit every level (Capriotti, 2009, p. 11).

The model rests on one idea. Identity, communication and image are three different things, and the organisation can manage only the first two. The identity is what the organisation is and wants to be (Capriotti, 2013, p. 50). The image is what publics believe about it. Capriotti sees it as the "property" of the publics. There is not one image but many, one for each public (Capriotti, 2009, p. 258, translated). He also stresses that these are beliefs, not facts. If publics believe that an organisation's quality is not high, then for them it is not, even if the organisation does offer good quality. They will judge it on that basis (Capriotti, 2013, p. 54). Communication links identity and image. By working on its identity and communicating it, the organisation tries to influence its image (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 47–48). Five principles shape the model.

• Analysis, decision, action: Capriotti calls his model the Strategic Corporate Identity Plan (Plan Estratégico de Identidad Corporativa). It has three stages. The organisation first analyses its situation, then defines its Corporate Identity Profile and finally communicates this profile (Capriotti, 2013, p. 50). The profile sets out how the organisation wants publics to see it (Capriotti, 2013, p. 55). The three stages simply follow the usual way organisations work. They analyse the situation, take decisions and act (Capriotti, 2010, p. 17). Capriotti built the plan on earlier models for managing identity and communication, among them those of Aaker, Van Riel, Keller, Villafañe, Kapferer and Davis (Capriotti, 2013, p. 50).
• Four goals that build on each other: the plan aims at identification, differentiation, reference and preference. First, publics should know that the organisation exists, what it does and how it does it. Then they should see it as different from others. Next, they should see it as the reference point of its sector, the organisation that best represents what the sector stands for. Finally, they should prefer it (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 48–49). Being known and being different serve no practical purpose if the organisation does not become a real option to choose. Preference, in turn, opens the way to leadership (Capriotti, 2013, p. 49).
• From identity to profile: the Corporate Identity Profile starts from the identity, which has two parts. The philosophy, which Capriotti calls the "mind" of the identity, is the mission, vision and values set by top management. It stands for what the organisation wants to be. The culture, its "soul", is the beliefs, values and habits that members actually share. It stands for what the organisation really is at this moment (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 23–25). The profile also takes into account what publics think and what is happening around the organisation. Defining it means turning philosophy and culture into a set of attributes and values that are central, lasting and distinctive and that set the organisation apart in the eyes of its publics (Capriotti, 2013, p. 56). The starting point is always what the organisation is and knows how to do. Capriotti stresses research among publics, but he does not want to be misread: "we do not have to do what the publics want" (Capriotti, 2010, p. 20, translated). Each attribute must matter to the organisation, matter to the publics and be able to stand the test of time (Capriotti, 2010, p. 20).
• Layers from the core outwards: Capriotti pictures the identity, its philosophy and culture, as the core. The attributes of the profile lie around it in three layers. Closest to the core are the personality traits, the way the organisation shows itself. Next come the institutional values, the way it relates to society. On the outside are the competitive attributes, the way it does business. People notice these most easily (Capriotti, 2010, pp. 20–21). In his 2009 book he draws these layers as rings around the identity (Capriotti, 2009, p. 219).
• The organisation as a value pack: Capriotti calls the profile a "Core Value Proposition", a set of attributes, benefits and values that the organisation offers its publics. The organisation itself turns into a "Value Pack" (Capriotti, 2013, p. 56). This means thinking differently about what an organisation does. It does not "make" products or services, it "makes" solutions, values or benefits for its publics (Capriotti, 2013, p. 56, translated). Offices, factories, products and services become mere "physical supports" that carry the value pack. Corporate behaviour is its "demonstration", and corporate communication is its "communication" (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 56–57, translated).

Capriotti presents the model as a plan that an organisation works through stage by stage (Capriotti, 2013, p. 50). He stresses that the method "is not a recipe" that can be applied exactly to every situation. It is a guide that each organisation must adapt to its own case (Capriotti, 2009, p. 258, translated). The first stage, the strategic analysis of the situation, gathers the information the organisation needs to describe and understand itself, its environment, its publics and its image (Capriotti, 2013, p. 50). It has five parts.

• Organisation: the work starts "at home" (Capriotti, 2013, p. 50, translated). The organisation looks at what it is, what it does and how it does it, and at its philosophy and culture (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 50–51). To study the culture, Capriotti names questionnaires, visits to the organisation, watching work sessions, personal interviews and group meetings. Group meetings also make employees feel involved in researching and defining their culture (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 148–149).
• Environment and competition: the organisation studies general trends, whether political and legal, economic, social or technological. It also studies its own field, with its competitors and its labour market. The aim is to see how all this may affect its identity attributes and its image (Capriotti, 2013, p. 52). Capriotti tells of a market-leading sweets maker in Spain in the early 1980s. For years its communication had centred on sweetness, and it was "the sweetest" of all. Then a trend towards fitness and well-being took hold, and sugar came to mean calories, fat and even "poison". Sales fell across the whole sector, and this company's sales fell fastest. For Capriotti, the trend had hit sweetness, a key concept of its identity, so the profile had to be adjusted (Capriotti, 2010, pp. 18–19, translated).
• Publics: the organisation draws up a map of its publics. It ranks them by their power. Power has two parts, each scored from 1 to 5: how much influence a public has and how much it controls information about the organisation. Multiplying the two scores sorts the publics into key, secondary and tertiary ones (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 175–178). The ranking is not fixed, since each issue or situation creates its own (Capriotti, 2009, p. 179). Finally, the organisation studies who informs and influences each public and what each public is like (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 181–184).
• Corporate image: one study measures how well known the organisation is. Another maps its image profile and compares it with those of its competitors (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 53–54). "If there is no awareness, there is no image" (Capriotti, 2013, p. 54, translated). People cannot hold an image of an organisation they do not know (Capriotti, 2013, p. 54). Ideally the image is studied among all publics, and at least among the key ones (Capriotti, 2013, p. 53).
• Diagnosis: Capriotti suggests two common methods. A SWOT analysis of identity and image weighs strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A study of strategic scenarios maps the options the organisation has when it chooses its attributes. Together they show where the organisation stands among its competitors and which options it has for its identity strategy (Capriotti, 2013, p. 55). The scenarios depend on whether the sector has an image leader, the organisation that publics see as its reference point, and whether this leader is the organisation itself or a competitor. A competing leader can be weak or strong (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 205–206, 209). Against a strong leader, Capriotti points to Sanex. In a soap market ruled by the attribute "cleaning the skin", it brought in "skin care" and so changed the rules of the game (Capriotti, 2009, p. 211, translated).

In the second stage, the organisation chooses the overall direction of its Corporate Identity Profile and the types of attributes it will use (Capriotti, 2010, p. 20; Capriotti, 2013, p. 49). For the overall direction, Capriotti names three options. An association strategy follows the image leader of the sector, a "me too" approach. A differentiation strategy creates differences of its own. A mixed strategy first follows the leader and later sets itself apart (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 215–217). He warns that copying the leader's attributes keeps strengthening the leader. A carmaker that stresses safety always reinforces Volvo, the leader on that attribute (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 216–217). Capriotti advises adapting the overall profile to each key public and aligning it with the profiles of the organisation's product brands (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 223–225). The organisation then compares the profile it wants with its image profile, the way publics see it today. Large gaps among the central attributes call for major and urgent work (Capriotti, 2009, p. 226). Before it is communicated, the profile has to pass five tests (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 227–228).

In the third stage, a corporate communication plan carries the profile to the publics (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 59, 61). Capriotti names three principles for this plan. Everything an organisation does communicates, so all its members share responsibility for the image. Communication must be integrated, not split up among disciplines. And communication creates expectations, because it manages the organisation's "promises". Whether publics end up satisfied depends on how well three things match: their real needs, these promises and their everyday experience of the organisation (Capriotti, 2013, pp. 60–61, translated). In his talk, Capriotti says that communication stands on two legs. What the organisation does is "experiential" communication, and what it says it does is symbolic communication (Capriotti, 2010, p. 22, translated). In the book, the plan also sets a "communicative concept", the central idea behind all messages. It is based on the profile. A communicative style, the way the messages are expressed, carries the organisation's personality (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 242–243, translated).

Application by another author. Vire Riascos applied the model to the Feria de Loja. He built the fair's Corporate Identity Profile from an interview with the executive director, from observation and from the fair's own documents. He built its image profile from focus groups with the media, staff and secondary-school students. Laid side by side, the two profiles showed gaps for most attributes. Only trade matched (Vire Riascos, 2019, pp. 197–198, 205).

Adaptation by other authors. López Alonso and Moreno López took Capriotti's model as the basis for a model of identity management that any Spanish municipality can use, whatever its size (López Alonso & Moreno López, 2019, p. 34). In their version the identity strategy has two parts. One defines corporate behaviour, with mission, vision, values and conduct. The other defines visual identity, with logo, typography, colour palette and tone (López Alonso & Moreno López, 2019, p. 35).

Capriotti warns of six mistakes (Capriotti, 2009, pp. 27, 165, 197; Capriotti, 2010, pp. 18–22; Capriotti, 2013, pp. 54, 60):

• Deciding without research: companies have often asked Capriotti for an image campaign because they wanted to improve their image. Yet they could not say whether their image was bad, average or good, or on which attributes. Without knowing where it stands, a company cannot say where it wants to go (Capriotti, 2010, p. 18). In the book he sums this up in three basic rules. One of them is that "the most dangerous place to observe publics is from behind the desk". Simple as these rules are, they are put into practice in very few cases (Capriotti, 2009, p. 197, translated).
• Confusing awareness with image: the first question in any image study is whether the organisation has an image problem or an awareness problem. The two are often confused. Awareness is about being known at all. Image is about being judged well or badly (Capriotti, 2013, p. 54).
• Researching only consumers: for every internal study among employees, Capriotti has seen twenty studies of consumers or public opinion. Yet he counts five key publics: employees, consumers, shareholders, suppliers and distributors, and the media. Of these, only consumer research is expensive. A small firm with little money should study the other four instead (Capriotti, 2010, pp. 19–20).
• Neglecting competitors: many organisations ignore three "golden rules" about competitors. They should know them, think like them and respect them. Capriotti counts this among the most frequent mistakes. Remarks such as "their products are worthless" are a sign of it. Organisations that make this mistake later lose their edge in corporate image or see it shrink (Capriotti, 2009, p. 165, translated).
• Splitting up communication: communication is often divided among disciplines such as advertising, public relations, direct marketing and sponsorship. Each has its own specialists and "its own manual". Communication then breaks up into separate actions with different aims and different messages, and this often makes it inconsistent (Capriotti, 2013, p. 60, translated).
• Managing only what the organisation says: in many cases organisations put their communication effort only into large campaigns of advertising, public relations or direct marketing. They almost always forget that these are only part of their contact with publics. The satisfaction that products and services bring, the way calls are handled and the behaviour of employees and managers communicate too (Capriotti, 2009, p. 27). In his talk Capriotti puts it more sharply. Managers who handle only symbolic communication, "that is, advertising, public relations and graphic design", work only on what the organisation says it does. They control the least important part, indeed "the smallest part", of the communication of a brand or an organisation. What the product, the service or the company does is the main tool of communication (Capriotti, 2010, p. 22, translated).