A corporate identity is what enables an organization to be easily recognized by the public and within the industry, and helps to establish its position in the market. If your budget allows, enlist the service of a designer or consultant to create an identity.

Considering Image

The type of corporate identity you choose influences the way your organization is perceived. The right image will strongly influence audience perceptions in your favour. Similarly, the wrong image gives an undesirable message to employees and the public. Ideally, a corporate identity should make a visual impact – perhaps including a striking logo or the use of colours – since this is a key element of effective communication.

Before you brief anyone to design a new identity, decide what image you wish to convey, and check that you have your colleagues’ support and agreement.

Using An Identity

Having settled on an identity, aim to use every piece of design, from the organization’s reports to letterheads, from interiors to logo, to deliver a coherent message. You can also stamp an identity on internal documents, like memos, to emphasize the organization’s image.

Ensure that the identity is consistent in all your communication media.  Monitor the way in which the identity is used. Occasionally, you may need to revise this use, to ensure that perceptions match your strategic need.

Using logos on products

Coca-cola’s distinctive logo and the use of red and white on its packaging make the product instantly recognizable. This strong identity helped to make Coca-cola a market leader worldwide.

Changing An Identity

Every organization has an identity – meaning how others perceive it – but many leave that identity to chance. However, if you do this you are neglecting a powerful marketing recruitment tool. To create an effective corporate identity, you should decide on a central purpose and strategy (a “vision” and “mission”), as well as the image that you want to co0nvey with current perceptions and the act to close the gap.

TIPS:

1. Keep vision and mission statements short and action-oriented.
2. Get the opinion of trusted outsiders before finalizing a new logo.
3. Check large corporate web sites to see what others are doing.