Brand Identity = Brand Image?

Let us first define both.

Brand Identity: How the company wants the consumer to perceive their product or their brand.

Brand Image : The perception of the company's product or brand by the consumer.

Every year, fmcg companies rethink their mission statement. They position their products to attain a certain type of perception association.

Brand Identities are created for the following situations:
New Product Launches
Product/Brand extensions
New logos
Initiatives with respect to a brand
In order to change brand perception

Creating a brand identity is more than finding out what customers say they want. It must also reflect the soul and vision of the brand, what it hopes to achieve.
Brand Image Trap
An insidious problem caused by the brand image trap is that it lets the customer dictate what you are.

Brand Position Trap
"A brand position is 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." The brand position trap occurs when the search for a brand identity becomes a search for a brand position, stimulated by a practical need to provide objectives to those developing the communication programs. The goal then becomes an advertising tag line rather than a brand identity.

External Perspective Trap
The external perspective trap occurs when firms fail to realize the role that a brand identity can play in helping an organization understand its basic values and purpose. Because an effective identity is based in part on a disciplined effort to specify the strengths, values, and vision of the brand, it can provide a vehicle to communicate internally what the brand is about. It is hard to expect employees to make a vision happen if they do not understand and buy into that vision.

Product-Attribute fixation Trap
The most common trap of all is the product-attribute fixation trap, in which the strategic and tactical management of the brand is focused solely on product attributes.

Conclusion
The traps in order to be avoided need great determination by Managers to stick to their execution of the Brand Identity so that they can equate it to the Brand Image that will develop over time about the brand in mention.