Understanding BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification)

Overview

This article explains BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification), how it works, and its impact (or lack of impact) on Opensense.

The short answer

BIMI improves brand visibility and recognition by showing verified logos in supported email clients, but it works independently from email signature systems like Opensense. Opensense isn’t affected by BIMI, so you can pursue BIMI as a separate, optional enhancement, without changing your Opensense setup.

What is BIMI?

BIMI is an industry standard that lets organizations show their verified logo next to authenticated email messages. It improves brand recognition, and builds trust by visually confirming that emails come from a verified sender.

How BIMI works

1. Email authentication. BIMI relies on existing email authentication protocols, such as DMARC, DKIM, and SPF. When these checks pass, it signals that the email is legitimate.

2. Logo display. Once the email is authenticated, participating email clients may show the sender’s verified logo. This visual marker helps recipients quickly identify trusted emails.

3. Additional requirements. Some clients set more requirements. For Gmail:

   • Your DMARC policy must be set to quarantine or reject (p=quarantine or p=reject, not p=none), with pct set to 100.
   • You need a mark certificate for your logo. A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) requires a logo trademarked with an intellectual property office that VMC issuers recognize, and Gmail shows a checkmark next to senders verified with a VMC. If your logo isn’t trademarked, you can use a Common Mark Certificate (CMC) instead.

   See Google’s Set up BIMI.

How BIMI affects email communications

Enhanced brand visibility

BIMI reinforces brand trust by visually associating a verified logo with authenticated emails. It doesn't enforce security directly, but it can help recipients tell legitimate emails from possible phishing attempts.

Optional enhancement

Adopting BIMI is optional. It mainly serves as a branding enhancement, to strengthen recognition and trust among recipients.

Client support

Not all email clients support BIMI. Its benefits are most noticeable in platforms that show verified logos.

How BIMI affects Opensense

1. 01
   No direct integration

   Opensense manages and delivers email signatures. BIMI works separately, as a branding enhancement, and doesn't interact with email signature delivery.

2. 02
   Separate processes

   BIMI is implemented on the sender's side, and managed by email service providers, so it doesn't affect signature delivery or configuration in Opensense.

3. 03
   No required configuration

   You don't need to configure Opensense for BIMI. Organizations that implement BIMI do it through their email authentication and branding work, without affecting how Opensense works.

For questions about BIMI or Opensense, contact our support team at help@opensense.com.

Additional resources

• BIMI Group: the governing body behind the standard, including an implementation guide that explains BIMI requirements.
• DMARC.org: DMARC is a core email authentication protocol that BIMI relies on.
• Google’s BIMI information: BIMI in Gmail, including certificate requirements.
• Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) resources: information from DigiCert on getting a VMC for BIMI.
• MXToolbox: checks your email authentication setup, including BIMI readiness.

What’s next

• Fixing email deliverability and spam issues: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, which BIMI relies on.
• Required DNS settings for Opensense