Corporate Identity makes the difference

I’m not a fan of theoretical debates, but I must admit that without theory, practice becomes unorganized and inefficient. That is the reason why I find suitable to clarify few elements about corporate identity or brand identity. There are many who use those terms, but few could define them exactly.

We could define corporate identity as “what or who the company really is”. This definition is short but leaves out the confusion that is made between identity and image, the latter meaning “the way the company is perceived by its audiences.” Thus every company has an identity even if they have never intentionally developed one.

The corporate identity transmits at least four main elements about the company: who is the company, what does the company, the means the company uses and which are the goals that the company directs itself to.

Corporate identity express itself in two different ways: through corporate communication and design (most of the concrete elements of the CI, from letterheads to the way the company is organized and is functioning) and through corporate personality (the sum of the individual members of the company).

The fundamental idea of any corporate identity program bases on the fact that everything the company does, owns or produces has to project a clear statement about what the company is and about its purposes. The main modality to achieve this purpose is to make sure that the products, the facilities, the communication program and the behaviour of the company are consistent with the company’s goals and functions.

Vision is the force that leads the company, it is its motive for existence and the centre of its values. For every company there is a time when the vision needs to be formulated and stated out loud. That is the moment when a corporate identity program needs to be implemented. During the corporate identity program every company is subject to thorough analysis. Thus identity does not mean to make a bad company look good, but to differentiate a company from the others.

Every identity change implies a risk factor. But the decision to implement an identity program appears as a result of the changes that happen within the business environment of the company, that determined the company to re-evaluate its position on the market. The corporate identity change is one of the results of the business environment dynamics that every company has to assume from time to time so that it will successfully survive on the market.

Daniel White
Brand Communication Officer
Unique Logo Design