Sector Brand Identity Model
Identity Model for Sector Brands
Marina Toledo de Arruda Lourenção and Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi · University of São Paulo (FEA-RP) · 2017
Introduction
One Identity for the Brand of a Whole Industry
Marina Toledo de Arruda Lourenção and Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi proposed the Sector Brand Identity Model in 2017 as the first identity model for sector brands (Lourenção & Giraldi, 2017, abstract). Such brands promote the companies of a whole industry abroad; in Brazil the export agency Apex-Brasil develops them together with the associations of each sector, and by 2017 there were 72 of them (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 2, 6, 10). The authors built the model from a systematic review of corporate brand identity models and tested it in interviews with the associations behind the Brasil Fashion System brand and the consultancy that advised them; it applied with the exception of two elements (Lourenção & Giraldi, 2017, abstract). The model sorts fourteen elements into four dimensions: the identity components that managers decide on, the way the identity is communicated and delivered to buyers abroad, and the external factors that influence it (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 6, 14, 17–23). With it, managers should be able to understand "the components that have to be managed on sector brand identity" (Lourenção & Giraldi, 2017, abstract).
The Model
Elements
Definitions follow the authors' application of the model to the Brasil Fashion System brand, which describes each element and the interview question used for it (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 14–24, Table 3 on pp. 36–37). The examples come from that application, which interviewed the seven fashion associations behind the brand (p. 14).
Identity Components
01
Personality
The personality attributes of the sector brand. The identity components are "managerial decision attributes" that characterise the products or services of the organisation (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 17). The application asked whether the personality attributes of the sector brand matched those of each association's own identity (p. 36, Table 3).
Brasil Fashion System: Vibrant, diverse, sustainable and authentic; most associations communicate other attributes for their own sub-brands (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 17–18).02
Positioning
The target markets of the sector brand; in the application, each country is a target market for the exports of the sector's firms (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 18; Table 3, p. 36).
Brasil Fashion System: The United States is a target market for six of the seven associations (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 18).03
Product
The characteristics by which the sector's products are known abroad; the element "represents the difference in products being exported" by the industries of each association (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 19; Table 3, p. 36).
Brasil Fashion System: Diversity, quality and design are the characteristics that some associations share (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 19).04
Country of Origin
Whether the sector brand is associated with its country, that is, whether the exported products relate to characteristics of the country of origin (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 19; Table 3, p. 36).
Brasil Fashion System: Five associations see Brazilian characteristics in their products, two do not (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 19).05
Market Orientation
Whether the sector helps its companies to target the international buyer, that is, whether they adapt their export products to the preferences of international consumers (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 19).
Brasil Fashion System: Shoe makers who export to Russia adapt their models to the Russian winter, and shoes for China need a different shape (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 19–20).
Communication Components
06
Marketing Campaign
How the sector brand is used in campaigns abroad: whether all partners take part and who defines the campaign and its attributes. The communication components follow once the identity components are defined and set how the identity is communicated to the external market (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 20; Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: Five associations use the brand together, with meetings before each event to agree on its use; two do not use it at events abroad (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 20).07
Visual Identity
The attributes that the visual identity of the sector brand should communicate abroad, for example through the semiotic resources of its logo (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 20–21; Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: Quality and "contemporaneous" were the only attributes that several associations chose (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 20–21).08
Stationery
Stationery developed for the sector brand and its use by the partners (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 21; Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: Only one association reported stationery for promotional activities abroad (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 21).09
Promotion Tools
The tools the partners use to communicate the sector brand internationally (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 21; Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: Stands, websites and flyers are the tools most often named; one association does not promote the sector brand at all (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 39, Table 4).
Identity Delivery Elements
10
Relationship
The relationship with buyers, through programmes with international clients. Once the identity is defined and communicated, the brand, that is, the organisation and its products, also has to make contact with the consumer (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 21; Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: Business rounds, support for international fairs and invitations to buyers to visit the industries in Brazil; one association sometimes pays flights and hotel during festive seasons such as carnival (Lourenção et al., 2018, pp. 21–22).11
Product Performance
Whether the sector knows how its products are accepted by international buyers (Lourenção et al., 2018, Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: All associations check the performance of exports with statistical reports; some managers also learn from informal talks with buyers and traders at fairs (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 22).
External Factors That Influence Identity
12
Competitors' Actions
The countries or regions that compete with the sector (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 23; Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: China, seen as a competitor in scale production and low prices, and Italy, in quality and added value (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 23).13
Environment
The conditions of the environment in which the sector operates; here the image of the country abroad: whether a brand that links products to Brazilian characteristics helps or harms, and whether there is prejudice against Brazilian products (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 23; Table 3, p. 37).
14
Consumer Attitudes and Behavior
The behaviour of international buyers, assessed before the sector enters a market and through the buyers' opinion after the purchase, including any restrictions on the country's products (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 23; Table 3, p. 37).
Brasil Fashion System: Two associations have heard complaints from international buyers about late deliveries (Lourenção et al., 2018, p. 24).
Source
- Lourenção, M. T. de A., & Giraldi, J. de M. E. (2017). Development of an Identity Model for Sector Brands [Abstract]. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 21(3), 317–340. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-10-2016-0097
- Lourenção, M. T. de A., Giraldi, J. de M. E., & Maheshwari, V. (2018). Analysis of Brazilian Fashion Sectorial Brand Identity. Research Journal of Textile and Apparel, 22(3), 291–314. https://doi.org/10.1108/RJTA-12-2017-0055 (accepted manuscript, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, retrieved October 8, 2026, from https://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/4619/)