Each person tries to be different from others, for this people do their hair, choose clothes, decorate the space around them. Companies also need to have their own "face" and therefore they develop a corporate identity, that is, a kind of visual image of the organization. Firms need consumers to be able to somehow distinguish them from each other, buyers need help in choosing a product, and for all this, too, you need a “face”. In this article, we will talk about why you need and what is included in the corporate identity of the company, what are the stages of its development and show examples of the best styles.
Corporate identity history
The first attempts to give different products a personal character, to indicate the manufacturer were made in ancient times. Even on antique amphoras made in the 6th century BC. e., special marks were found indicating the master who made them. Already in those days, artisans felt the need foridentifying your creations. In the Middle Ages, the coats of arms and flags of the feudal lords, which were placed on everything that had to do with the ruler, acted as an analogue of the corporate identity. In the same period, trade symbols appear: merchants place similarities of coats of arms and even some slogans on their signs - prototypes of modern slogans. In the modern sense, the first development of the corporate identity of the company belongs to the AEG concern, which produces household appliances. Artist Peter Behrens created for the company not only a logo, but also product images, projects for designing pavilions, packaging, documents, and uniforms. This led to a breakthrough growth in the company's sales. Behrens' approach has become something of a standard for corporate identity designers.
Corporate identity concept
Companies need to stand out from their competitors, and corporate identity helps them do that. In general terms, this term refers to a set of visual elements that distinguish an organization in the market. Style is what distinguishes an enterprise, makes it unique. Recently, the term "identity", which came from the West, has appeared in the lexicon of marketers. It is used as a synonym for the concept of "corporate style", although there is a serious difference between these concepts in Western practice. Identity is understood as corporate identity, visualization of all brand communications. This term contains not only the idea of the need for certain visual characteristics of the company, but also the understanding of the visual image as a means of communication with various audiences. Through this imagethe manufacturer talks about his values, mission, positioning. In this sense, corporate identity is just one of the components of the identity. However, in domestic practice, these concepts are synonymized and Russian marketers do not abandon the term "corporate style", but fill it with the meaning of identity. Thus, the development of a company's corporate identity or its identity is not limited to the development of design solutions, but becomes a broader and more multifaceted process.
Branding features
The formation of marketing communications in Russia is still ongoing, so you can often hear, for example, the following question: "Why the corporate identity of a construction company or a bath complex?" The answer is the same as in the case of all enterprises in any industry:
- For company identification. Corporate identity allows target audiences to recognize the organization, its products and messages.
- For differentiation. Identity allows the consumer to recognize the company's products and messages among similar ones. Corporate identity helps representatives of target audiences navigate the mass of products and make it easier to make a choice.
- For the formation and maintenance of a favorable image of the company. Corporate identity helps to form the desired image in the perception of target audiences. The positive image of the organization is transferred to its products and contributes not only to increasing the prestige and status of the company, but also to increasing profits.
But besides this, a recognizable corporate identity reduces the cost of developing marketing communications,helps to strengthen the corporate spirit within the organization, builds consumer confidence. Thus, the identity is the basis of the company's communication policy, its semantic core, and not just a set of visual signs.
Corporate culture and corporate identity
Since the identity is a visual expression of the mission and values of the company, it is directly related to the corporate culture. The development of a trademark and corporate identity of the company contributes to the fact that employees perceive their place of work as prestigious, stable, important. And this, in turn, leads to an increase in labor productivity, an improvement in the quality of manufactured goods and services offered. Highly qualified specialists want to work in a company with a prestigious, recognizable corporate identity, and this contributes to the growth and development of the enterprise.
The main elements of corporate identity
Since an identity is a semantic union of all marketing communications of an enterprise, it is advisable to think about its creation even at the stage of creating an organization. Developing a company's corporate identity from scratch is an opportunity to put the right messages into it from the very beginning. The set of corporate identity elements may vary from enterprise to enterprise, but in the broadest sense it includes:
- Trademark. This may be a mark identifying the product, as well as the registered name of the business.
- Logo. This is a unique inscription of the name of a product, brand or company, it is a graphic sign that contributes torecognition and recognizability of the designated object. Ideas for the logo are not invented, but are drawn from the specifics of the company.
- Color solutions. Corporate color is very important for the memorability of messages and identity elements. Since the color is deeply symbolic and emotive, its selection requires special care.
- Slogan. The company should have a short slogan that verbally expresses its mission and values.
- Font. It is important not only what is written, but also how it is written.
- Brand block. An established combination of several identity elements.
- Sound sign. It can be a melody, noise, a set of sounds. For example, everyone knows the musical phrase from the New Year's advertisement for Coca-Cola.
- Corporate character. The hero perfectly embodies the values and unique features of the company or product. For example, the cat Matroskin in the corporate style of the Prostokvashino brand.
- Letterhead. Record keeping requires documents and it is desirable that they be easily identified. Letterhead contributes to this.
Professional corporate identity design should begin with the formulation of the meaning and idea. And based on it and the specifics of the organization, the visual part of the identity is being developed.
Logo as the core of corporate identity
The basis of the identity is exactly the style of the name. The logo must meet several important requirements, it must be: original, as simple as possible, but not primitive, recognizable, harmonious,associative. It should evoke a given set of emotions and meanings in the target audience, be easily decoded and recognized. Finding logo ideas is not an easy task. That is why professionals should be engaged in the development of the sign. They are able to find the right image to embody the essence of the company.
Corporate identity wearers
The development of the company's corporate identity is necessary in order to place its elements on various objects, promotional materials. The main bearers of corporate identity are:
- all advertising and communication products of the company: leaflets, booklets, posters, commercials and layouts, packaging, labels;
- company documents, including envelopes for sending it;
- corporate website and pages in social networks;
- souvenirs (calendars, diaries, notebooks, key chains, etc.);
- staff uniform;
- interior and company building.
Stages of corporate identity development
Identity development is a creative process and is not subject to full algorithmization. But there is an approximate sequence of actions that all agencies follow to one degree or another. Therefore, when the question arises of how to create a corporate identity for a company and what needs to be done, you can use this scheme:
Stage 1. Analysis of the company in order to identify its specifics, values, goals, associations.
Stage 2. Choosing the essential idea of positioning the company as the basic core for the identity.
Stage 3. Formulation of the corporate identity concept.
Stage 4. Development of technical specifications for the development of planned corporate identity elements.
Stage 5. Development of identity elements.
Stage 6. Creating a brand book.
Stage 7. Registration of corporate identity for its copy protection.
Brandbook
You need to understand that the development of corporate identity design is only part of the necessary work. In order for the created style to be correctly implemented and applied, it is necessary to create a single document regulating this process. This corporate document is called a brand book. It describes the mission and goals of the company, formulates the positioning of the brand. An important part of the brand book is the guideline - these are the rules and instructions for using the visual elements of the identity. It prescribes the conditions for placing parts of the corporate identity on different media, the rules for their layout, use for placement on documents, clothes, in interiors and exteriors.
Introduction of corporate identity
The stage of developing the company's corporate identity is only the first part on a long journey of forming the company's image. Further work with it is called the implementation stage. It begins with work with employees of the company, personnel. In their perception, the values and visual images of the corporate identity should be fixed. Further, all documents, souvenirs, goods outgoing from the company must become carriers of the identity. There should not be a single important item that affects the perception of the organization without branding. At this stagesigns, souvenirs are created, vehicles, uniforms, websites, promotional products are branded. Some large organizations run special communication campaigns to embed branding elements in the memory and perception of target audiences.
Identity examples
An important factor in the success of the enterprise is the corporate style of the company. We see examples of effective work on identity development every day in our daily lives. Brands, service companies, and retailers are successfully incorporating their visual images into consumer perceptions.
Classic examples of successful corporate identity are companies:
- Ikea.
- Starbucks.
- "Beeline".
Each of the above examples is built around a clear, unique idea, And a corporate identity is already being built around it.
