In the face of growing competition between companies and brands, the need to create a unique, memorable image for the consumer, to stand out from the background of rivals, is increasing. High-quality corporate style contributes to the solution of these problems. Development of a unique corporate identity is a complex and responsible process. All elements of the corporate identity of the enterprise must correspond to its mission and positioning.
Corporate identity concept
Company identification is the most important marketing task, which is the key to recognition and stable demand for goods and services. It is the elements of corporate identity that make it possible to achieve recognition of the company and its products among competitors.
Corporate style, or corporate identity, is an individual image of the company, its character, which is easily recognized by people. It is a component of a holistic, well-thought-out communication of an organization and assumes that all the main elements of corporate identity will be made in a single concept, placed on all products, documentation and attributes of the company, so that for any of itscomponent, the consumer easily identified the manufacturer. The concept of corporate identity is formed in marketing, as it serves the purpose of promoting the company.
Rise
We can talk about the first signs of corporate identity, considering ancient cultures. So, in the tombs of Ancient Egypt, products with a unique author's pattern were found, which allowed the ceramics of a certain artisan to stand out from a number of other similar products. Elements of corporate identity were also found on the works of pottery, jewelry, weaving in ancient Greece. In the Middle Ages in Europe, each guild of craftsmen had their own distinctive signs, which also began to be placed on signs and buildings. Even bakers and winemakers put brands on their products. In the 19th century, the first law on the registration and protection of trademarks was passed in Britain. Later, patents for signs appeared in the United States, and only then around the world. Today, more than 50 thousand characters are registered in the States alone.
In Russia before the revolution, as in all of Europe. the hallmarks of the masters were adopted, for example, the famous jeweler Carl Faberge put a special seal on each of his works, confirming the authenticity of the thing. During the Soviet era, the need for a corporate identity practically disappeared, since there was no free competition in the country. Although the identity existed even then, for example, the corporate font for writing the names of the newspapers Izvestia and Pravda is recognizable today. After perestroika, Russia began to rapidly catch up with developed countries in creatingcorporate identity.
Functions
Corporate identity has a number of marketing functions that make it such a significant component of the development and promotion of the company. The main one is the identification of the organization. Slogans, logos and other elements of corporate identity are needed so that the consumer quickly and easily understands which manufacturer's product is in front of him. Moreover, recognition should occur when any of the components of the corporate identity and even its parts are perceived. For example, Coca-Cola's signature melody in New Year's TV commercials is recognized by the first notes, and the consumer can easily not only remember the manufacturer's name, but also continue the song from anywhere.
Next to recognition comes such a function as differentiation. In saturated, highly competitive markets, there is an acute problem of detuning from similar goods and services. The psychology of the consumer is such that in each product category he usually remembers from 3 to 7 items, and it is in this range that he makes his purchasing choice. Therefore, the task of corporate identity is to make a product, company or service different from competitors. For example, in the juice market of the middle price category, there is a fierce struggle for the consumer, the quality of goods and packaging are very similar for different manufacturers, and the buyer most often makes his choice based on the positioning that he learned about from advertising. And to link the commercial and, for example, juice packaging into an associative chainpictorial elements. Therefore, elements of corporate identity in the company's advertising must be present.
Each communication between the manufacturer and the buyer should contribute to the memorization of these unique signs, which are then recognized at the level of automaticity at the time of purchase. And when a person walks past the long juice counter in the store, he will choose a package with familiar signs that he associates with the manufacturer.
The most important function of corporate identity is the formation and maintenance of the company's image. Today, more and more often, when choosing a product, a consumer is guided not by its objective characteristics, but by his own ideas about it. Therefore, the task of forming a positive image of the product and the company becomes paramount. The image is built on such basic elements as the company's mission, its advantages and positioning.
The task of marketing communications is to create a stable image in the consumer's head from a set of certain qualities that will arise in him every time he encounters corporate identity elements. The consumer is willing to pay more for a product about which he knows a lot, and about which he has his own (as it seems to him) opinion. A familiar product is more trustworthy. And it is the image that becomes the main source of surplus value. But today, in the general pursuit of positive images of their goods and services, the problem of creating a unique image is acute, and a competent corporate identity helps to solve it.
Components
The main elements of corporate identity are: logos, trademarks or service marks, corporate block, slogans or text marks, color and font, corporate character, corporate sound. All these elements should be united by a common idea - the positioning platform and the mission of the company. A corporate identity should be developed based on the ideological platform of the brand. Only by understanding the specifics of the company, its advantages and goals, it is possible to develop an effective corporate identity.
Brand identity benefits
Corporate identity development is a rather expensive and serious undertaking. Why waste money, energy and time on it? Corporate identity makes it easier for the consumer to choose and make a purchase. Formed recognition helps to distinguish the product from competitors. An effective corporate identity facilitates the task of bringing the product to the market, reducing advertising costs. The mission and corporate identity work to form a corporate spirit within the company, and loyal employees are always a valuable asset of the organization. Also, the stylish design of documents, places of work, corporate clothing increases the prestige of the company in the eyes of both customers and employees.
Corporate identity is the unifying principle for all marketing activities, it makes disparate events a single communication strategy. Thanks to this, the consumer links all the advertising messages of the company into a single information field. This synergistic effect increases the effectiveness of all communications.
Service mark
All corporate identity elements will be built around the company name. Therefore, the trademark is extremely important for the image of the company. A service mark (or trademark) is a specific legalized spelling of a company's name. It has been a symbol of guarantee and quality since the time of the ancient masters. The organization through the sign broadcasts its reputation to the product, vouches for it. There are several types of service marks:
- Verbal. The most common, fixes the legal rights of the owner to the name. There are a lot of examples of such signs: Aeroflot, Mercedes.
- Pictorial, or visual. A special style of the name, often synonymous with the logo.
- Volumetric. The shape of the packaging or the product itself can also be patented and is a sign of a particular manufacturer. For example, the famous glass bottle of Coca-Cola.
- Sonic. Some companies, due to their specifics, may record sound marks that are associated with its activities. For example, the call signs "Radio Beacon" or the click of a Zippo lighter. Today there is a tendency to register the sound elements of the corporate identity of the company, which are assigned to it by law. Nestlé, Danone and others are following this path.
Logo
The concept of corporate identity, the elements of which work to identify the company, is often reduced to one main component - the logo. He really is importantcomponent of the image of the company, but not the only one. The logo is the original inscription of the name of the company, brand, product group. It usually contains not only the name, but also some visual components that carry important semantics.
It is very important to understand that a logo is not just a beautifully written name - it is a schematic, simplified representation of the company's mission. For example, the famous Nike logo not only includes the inscription of the name, but also a curved line, which today is already a symbol of the brand and can sometimes be used even without letter accompaniment. The logo should “tell” the story of the brand. For example, Apple's famous apple has at least three corporate myths to explain its meaning. The main features of a good logo are simplicity, memorability and expressiveness.
Brand block
The arrangement of corporate identity elements for placement on documents, packaging and other media is called a corporate block. Its composition may vary depending on the needs of the company. Most often you can find a combination of logo, slogan and address information, which is placed on letterheads of the enterprise, envelopes, business cards. The combination of the name and logo is usually placed on packages and products. For example, the Adidas company places the company logo and name on its products, sometimes it is supplemented with the name of the line or series.
Brand color
An important element of corporate identity is color. PsychologistsIt has long been understood that color has a strong connection with associations. There are whole tables of pairs "color - emotion". Of course, there may be individual differences in this matter, but colors really have an effect on our body and psyche. For example, red enhances arousal, increases heart rate and blood pressure, while green, on the contrary, relaxes and calms. Also, when choosing a corporate color, you need to remember the semantics assigned to it in a particular culture. For example, white is usually associated with light, purity, snow, milk. But in Japan, sadness and sadness are added to these characteristics, since this color is traditionally considered mourning.
When choosing a color, you also need to remember about combinations, about the rules of contrast and addition. So, the combination of black and yellow is one of the brightest, but at the same time it signals danger. Typically, corporate identity does not use more than three colors, so as not to create a variegation that is hard to read and remember.
And the last thing to consider when choosing a color is the peculiarities of its transmission on different media. So, a complex combination of lilac and yellow-orange may not be rendered correctly by some printing machines.
Slogan
Corporate style elements can be not only visual, but also verbal. A short catchy phrase-slogan is also a means of creating a corporate identity. It has a special task: it is not only a guarantee of recognition of the company, but also tells the consumer about the main advantage of the company, about its mission. For example,Toyota's slogan "Drive the Dream" has a deep meaning: dreams are manageable and achievable, our cars are everyone's dream. The slogan should convey a very large content in an extremely short form (no more than 7 words). Therefore, slogans are written by professionals - copywriters who are able not only to put together a biting phrase, but also to fill it with the necessary content.
The development of corporate identity elements should be based on the main idea, which becomes the starting point for the terms of reference for the copywriter. The slogan must be placed on all products of the organization, on documents, included in advertising messages, thereby ensuring the integrity of communication with the consumer, its semantic unity.
Brand Character
We have listed the main elements of corporate identity, however, there are additional, variable components, such as an anthem, a legend, layout and design features. Additional components of brand identity include a corporate character. A brand character is a fixed embodiment of the features and mission of a brand in the person of a hero or a person. The corporate hero is usually used in advertising communications: commercials, printed samples, events. The character can embody a representative of the target audience or be an authority figure for her. Also, a corporate hero can visualize the best qualities of a product. For example, the brand character of the detergent brand "Mr. Muscle" is associated with its name and is included in all types of advertising.
Media
Elements of corporate identity of the organizationmay be placed on various media. Typically, a company brands, i.e. places its logos on everything that the consumer can come into contact with. The main carriers of corporate identity elements are business cards, documents, envelopes, the organization's website, corporate uniform, promotional products, and souvenirs. In addition, corporate identity elements can be placed at points of sale and customer service, on banners, on gift products, on company vehicles. Also, corporate identity should be used to design presentation materials: folders, packages, racks, electronic presentations.
