Importance of corporate brand

CORPORATE BRAND

INTRODUCTION

corporate and brand identities are an expression and reflection of an organizations’ culture, character, personality, and its products and services – inspiring trust with consumers, employees, suppliers, partners and investors.

IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE IDENTITY

Strong corporate branding is essential because it subconsciously shapes consumers’ feelings about an organization and its services or products. From the moment consumers interact with the identity; their feelings about an organization’s service or product are subconsciously reinforced. Often, these feelings last a consumer’s life-time.

Let’s consider an example. Which fast food restaurant is in over 120 countries and seems to be everywhere? You got it – McDonald’s! One of the reasons McDonald’s is so successful is its highly recognizable brand identity. If you go to a McDonald’s outlet in any part of the world, they will all look relatively similar, the menus look similar, the food will be of the same quality and taste the same – and one might even run into their mascot, Ronald McDonald. This brand consistency is one of the reasons why McDonald’s is one of the all-time biggest brands.

In short, the identity is physical manifestation of a brand. To generalize, this includes a logo and several supporting devices, such as the company letterhead, business cards, website, all governed by a set of guidelines. The guidelines dictate how the identity is applied and approved for printed pieces, color palettes, typefaces, page-layouts, menu cards, uniforms, store furnishing, product packaging and such items, across media applications that maintain visual continuity and recognition.

In today’s competitive marketplace, it’s imperative to establish corporate identity standards. They ensure that everyone within a company, from individual employees, offices, stores, is representing the company the same way each and every time they interact with customers and various stakeholders.

 The aims of a corporate identity are to:

    Create a single and clear visual identity for an organization, its divisions, its services and products / brands;

    Project an organization as professional, reliable and contemporary organization;

    Leverage the brand equity and standardize a organization’s visual presentation consistently across media applications

The Benefit of Corporate Identity

Corporate Identity benefits an organization in myriad ways. An organization that invests in developing a solid corporate identity says to its customer “we are here to stay.” It’s a sign of longevity, which is not only attractive to customers, but also is desirable to potential investors. It’s an indicator that an organization is serious about being successful, that it is reliable in the industry.

Conclusion, A functional corporate identity conveys an organization’s ideals, motives and objectives a sense of what an organization is all about.  The advantage of creating a consistent and functional corporate identity is that it ensures an organization will be recognized, remembered and respected.

BY MWORIA ANGELA

BAPRM 42642