Corporate identity, image and brands

Corporate identity, image and brands Lecture LAMC318

Learning outcomes • understand the concepts of corporate identity and corporate image • understand the difference of visual identity and corporate identity • recognise the process involved in developing a corporate identity programme • identify the importance of corporate identity and image for an organisation’s overall communication plan • understand the concepts of brand and branding

Key Reading • Chapter: Corporate Image, Identity & Reputation in Tench &Yeomans, Chapter 13, pp250-264 Additional, if interested: • Klein, Naomi (2000), No Logo, London: Flamingo, pp. 3-61

History of CI • Emerged around the middle of 20th century • Originally understood as symbolism • Important names: Walter Margulies and Wolff Olins

Definition: CI • …what makes a company unique and special. It’s the company's approach to business, its values and business culture. • This will be reflected in the way the company works, the quality of its products, its communication and marketing strategies, its management and leadership style and its visual appearance.

Definition: Corporate identity • Van Riel (1995: 27) : Corporate identity can be seen as ‘the self-portrayal of an organisation, i.e. the cues or signals it offers via its behaviour, communication and symbolism’.

Corporate identity • …can be defined as ”the sum of all methods an organisation uses, willingly and unwillingly, to identify itself to its publics. This is based on an organisation’s philosophy (goals, vision, mission), history, people and its aesthetic expression. “

Corporate culture • One of the most important parts of CI is corporate culture • Corporate culture focuses on the human part of the organisation, the ‘language, norms, folklore, ceremonies, and other social practices that communicate the key ideologies, values and beliefs guiding action'. (Morgan, 1986: 135)

Aim of a corporate identity Internal goals: • Raising motivation and morale • Rationalisation and cost reduction • Inspiring confidence among the external target publics • Acknowledging the vital role of the customer • Acknowledging the vital role of financial target groups

The components of CI strategy • Corporate behaviour • Visual identity • Corporate communications

Corporate behaviour How an organisations interacts with its • employees • customers • financial stakeholders • government and society Happy??

Corporate behaviour • Corporate behaviour follows the parameters of the lived corporate culture • This requires careful design and implementation of a corporate vision or mission

Vision/mission A vision or mission contributes to the organisation’s goals in a variety of ways: • It informs staff about the desired values and norms of the organisation. • It contributes to the development of specific guidelines for employees and their work

Vision / mission cntd • It supports management in providing appropriate and systematic leadership for the organisation. • It can show the individual employee how he or she can contribute through their own behaviour to the achievement of the organisation's goals. • A vision or mission is also of external value as it defines how an organisation perceives itself.

Example: Boots’ vision Our goal is to make Boots a more modern, competitive and efficient retail business, in order to deliver value to our shareholders. We will continue 'Building a better Boots' by focusing on our core healthcare market, with all the potential for growth it contains. We will continue to develop products that customers know they can only get from us. We will continue to ensure that we offer value. We will do more to ensure that our stores are where our customers want them and are easy to shop. We will continue to focus on the expertise ofour people and the customer care they offer.

Visual identity or corporate design • It’s the visual representation of an organisation’s identity • 'The visual style of a company influences its place in the market, and how the company's goals are made visible in its design and behaviour.' (Olins, 1989).

Corporate design includes various elements • Logo • Colours • Typefaces for stationary and slogans

Logo Its aim is to 'encapsulate in a simple memorable form the central attribute or attributes of an organisation [and to] trigger appropriate associations and responses' (Bromley, 1993: 158)

Characteristics of a logo • It attracts attention and works as a signpost. • It is informative and memorable. • It is of aesthetic value that doesn't date easily. • It can easily be adapted to a variety of contexts and frameworks

Colour • Another design element that can be used for quick identification purposes • Red colour of Coca-Cola • Blue Boots • Green: Marks & Spencer • Orange - clever example of combining colour & slogan

Logos, Colours & Typefaces 2005 1880s

Typefaces • The use of a particular typeface can also express identity through the use of conservative typefaces such as Courier or Times or more innovative designs such as Avant Garde. • However, it is crucial to consider the lifecycle of style elements and the costs involved should they date quickly.

The British Airways logo was designed in 1997 by Newell & Sorrell. • The colours are blue (Pantone 281) and red (Pantone 485). The additional colour is grey (Pantone 877). • British Airways uses its proprietary typefaces Mylius Sans and Mylius Serif, both designed by Rodney Mylius at Newell & Sorrell.

The T-Mobile logo was designed in 2001 by Interbrand Zintzmeyer & Lux . The colours are magenta (Pantone Rhodamine Red) and grey (Pantone Cool Gray 7). T-Mobile uses its proprietary typefaces TeleAntiqua and TeleGrotesk, which are based on ITC Century and Neue Helvetica respectively.

Design process - summary • All style elements need to be carefully considered, tested and evaluated on an on-going basis. • Once the house-style is decided, a house-style manual will be developed that covers all possible uses of style elements and acts as a reference-guide for employees.

Corporate communication • …refers to all communication strategies, tactics and techniques an organisation uses to represent itself, its products and services to the target audiences. • …helps to transmit the corporate identity internally and externally through strategically planned and coordinated efforts.

Design process - ctnd • As Bromley points out: 'The design process can be sophisticated, comprehensive and expensive. Complex organisations need to co-ordinate design proposals with corporate policies and practices. This maximises the benefits of their visual identity because the visual identity has to work effectively across divisions within the company, across products, across communications (stationery and packaging), across cultures and over a considerable period.' (Bromley, 1993: 159)

Corporate image • Corporate identity refers to the self-presentation of an organisation. • The identity is relayed in various ways to the publics who interpret the organisation’s behaviour, directed communication and symbolisms. • The individual members of those publics then form an image of the organisation which is based on their interpretation of the identity. • This might also be influenced by direct experiences they had with the organisation or by accounts of opinion leaders such as family, friends, the media, etc.

Relationship between CorporateIdentity and Image Public A Public C Public B Experiences Symbolism Corporate image Corporate Identity Behaviour Directed Communication

The importance of a favourable image • “A positive corporate image is a condition for a continuity and strategic success. It is no longer solely the field of attention of marketing, but a strategic instrument of top management” CEO Dutch KLM, De Soet

Benefits of a favourable image • A sound CI is a incentive for the sales of products & services • It helps the company recruit the right employees • It is important to the financial world & investors • A sound corporate image creates emotional added value for a company which ensures that a company is always one step ahead of its competitors.

Benefits of a favourable image • Research has shown that 9 out of 10 consumers report that when choosing between products that are similar in quality and price, the reputation of the company determines which product they buy! • Example: Lager

Favourable image: example

CORPORATE REPUTATION EXPLAINED • The principle difference between corporate image and corporate reputation is that reputations are formed over a long time. • However, as with corporate image, reputations can be good, bad, unwanted, out of date etc

The benefits of a positive corporate reputation • Can give distinctiveness and a competitive advantage • can contribute to profits • can act as a safeguard in times of adversity

Reputation as a control mechanism? • Balmer argued that the organization’s reputation can act as a standard governing behavior i.e. “Would my actions be in line with the company’s good/bad etc reputation” • Can be used by employees, those in recruitment etcHe developed the DEAR principle to explain the above………………………...

THE DEAR PRINCIPLE D= DECISIONSE= EVALUATEDA= AGAINST the R= REPUTATION

REPUTIONS ALSO APPLY TO.. • The corporate brand • part of an organization (business unit/subsidiary) • what an organisation makes as well as how it behaves “I would buy their cars but I would not wish to work for them!”

Finally……….a word of caution • Although a valuable resource (in many instances) a corporate reputation is NO GUARANTEE of business survival or of success. Consider Olivetti which had an enviable reputation as a leading manufacturer of typewriters but took insufficient account of technological developments in the field..Olivetti computers ?

SUMMARY: CI & Reputation • The concepts of image and reputation are laden with different meanings. • Perception is important because it effects our behavior • Unlike images a reputation is formed over a long time • In considering perceptions held of an organisation consideration should also be given to the image/reputation of the industry, country of origin, corporate and product brands, as well as those of its subsidiaries.

Brands and branding • The particular concern here is with the ways in which an increasing number or products or services have come to be regarded as brands. • It was not always so, and in many poorer parts of the world today brands still do not occupy the position they do in the so-called developed countries. Staple foodstuffs, for example, are bought and sold on markets in developing countries without being branded.

Brands and branding - Reading • Shimp, Terence (2000) Advertising. Promotion. Supplemental Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, 5th ed., Fort Worth: Dryden Press, pp. 216-32

History of brands • In the 19th century the link between consumer and producer was broken • Intermediaries such as wholesalers and brokers tried to exert influence on consumers • Manufacturers hit back by branding their products with distinctive name and appropriate marketing communications

History of brands • Some of the most familiar brands date back to 19th century

Heinz - since 1869 • However, the pendulum has recently swung back in favour of retailers, especially supermarkets, which now vigorously brand themselves and their products.

What is the appeal of brands? Two dimensions: • Brand appeal for the consumer • Brand appeal for the producer

Brand appeal - consumer • Authenticity • Consistency ‘At its simplest, a brand is a recognisable and trustworthy badge of origin, and also a promise of performance.’ (Cowley 1996: 21) • E.g.:

Brand appeal - consumer • Rational or functional appeal • Helps them to make a choice • saves time and effort through a reduction of perceived risk • Based on trust • In semiotic terms - brands have a denotative meaning

Brand appeal - consumer • Connotative dimension: • I.e. Those less easily defined associations which are triggered in people’s hearts and minds • Culturally and individual personal experience determined • Emotional and symbolic

Brand appeal - consumer • E.g. many adults continue to use a brand such as Johnson’s because it evokes childhood memories • Or many Scots reaffirm their cultural identity by drinking Irn-Bru instead of Coca-cola

Corporate identity, image and brands