Corporate Identity: Explanation, Types, Features, Example

Priyanshi Shah November 2, 2020January 16, 2023 0 Comments

The corporate identity of a business defines how customers relate with and think about the brand. It is the overall image of a company that is imprinted in the minds of customers, employees, and investors. A strong corporate identity is essential for every business organization as it helps in the interaction of the customers and the company. It includes several supporting devices, such as the company letterhead, business cards, website, etc. It can be seen in both corporate governance strategy and a communication concept. Nowadays the organization spends a lot on corporate identity to boost its branding. Corporate identity is an internal factor that exhibits the business to the outer world.

Corporate Identity – An Essential Aspect of Branding

The corporate identity of a company does not simply correspond to a compelling tagline, a well-designed logo, or a striking brand name. Great branding does not just end at these three branding strikes. The main aim of establishing a corporate identity is to serve as a means of branding the business for the public. It establishes the individuality of the company’s corporate culture, philosophy, and core values. As part of their creative advertising efforts, business needs to understand corporate identity and identify how important it is for their branding efforts. Here are some of the groundbreaking facts on corporate identity that most startups do not often acknowledge.

The general ‘not-so-correct’ perception of corporate identity is that it is a collection of visual elements that are used throughout brochures, pamphlets, websites, and anything and everything else that is used to promote a business. Corporate identity is believed to be more of a visual identity rather than a strategic branding resource. However, there’s more to it than just visual identity.

Features of Corporate Identity:

1. Recognition and visibility: Corporate identity gives recognition and visibility to an organization so that people can remember its name as well as the business it carries out at the time of its need.

2. Determining of identity: There is a need for determining identity. Now the strength of the company identity is determined on the basis of what it informs about the product. It tries to provide the product origin, designer, manufacturer country, and culture besides information about the quality, the function, and the use and maintenance of the product.

3. Face for external stakeholders: Corporate identity becomes the face for external stakeholders and contributes to its reputation as it carries out the positioning of the organization and product it deals with.

Belongingness: So, there is a sense of belongingness it’s one of the character’s features. Corporate identity brings among the employees a sense of belonging.

4. Tangible qualities: Now there are tangible qualities. Associated corporate identity represents tangible qualities which are the manifestation of graphics shapes. Now, this comes in the form of a logo, uniform, color, lettering, styles, and so on.

5. Composed of three parts: It is composed of three parts. 1) corporate design 2) corporate 3) corporate behavior

6. Harmonious relationship: Corporate identity refers not only to logos and brochures but to a harmonious relationship between all corporate activities.

Components:

Corporate identity comprises of certain tools known as corporate identity mix. The corporate mix comprises of:

1. Corporate design: Corporate design primarily comprises of visuals like logo, architectural and interior design of workplaces. Sound and smell use for production of the corporate.

2. Corporate behavior: Corporate behavior comprises of how it deals with the public and its leadership style.

3. Corporate culture: Corporate culture comprises of values and code of conduct followed by the people of the organization.

4. Corporate communication: Corporate communication have PR and advertising campaign as its tools. It also tells about how it voices its concern and values and a hierarchy system for communication.

5. Corporate philosophy: Corporate philosophy comprises of vision, value and an ideal image which the corporate aspires wants to form.

Difference between Corporate Identity and Branding:

Corporate identity and branding are two concepts in marketing and identifying the difference between them are quite complex as both concepts are interconnected.

Also Read: Brand Image: Explanation, Types, Importance, Example

Corporate identity has an internal viewpoint while branding has an external viewpoint. Former can be defined as the overall image of a business entity in the minds of the diverse public such as customers, investors, and employees while branding can be defined as the external perception of stakeholders of the firm in a relation to experience with a given form. Former is a reflection of the market differentiation of organizations through trademark and logo while branding is a reflection of personal experience. Branding is related to emotions. Corporate identity incorporates guidelines in copying and using the trademarks and logos whereas branding is not associated with guidelines and purely reflects the customer’s perception towards the organization.

How to Create Corporate Identity:

Review your company’s history, mission and methods.
Figure out what others think about your company.
Research businesses and organizations that are similar to your business.
Create a vision for the next 5 to 10 years.
Begin with the creative process by creating identity materials.
Make sure your corporate identity is customer-oriented and avoid anything that might be offensive and double.
Develop a written strategy for your corporate identity and revisit your corporate identity on a regular basis to make sure it is still relevant and effective.

Examples:

Google: Google is best known modern company and is symbolized by its name as well as unique in sound and image with a symbol that is always changing in shape and color.

McDonald’s: The trademark of M that’s a logo and the yellow and the red appearance consistently throughout McDonald’s packaging and advertisement has its own uniqueness.