The image of a company is first of all its corporate identity. It can solve several problems at once:
- create the buyer has a clear association with the brand - this is the main task: everything colors, logos, slogans and other style elements must be constantly Remind consumers and partners about your company
- highlight the company among competitors.
in modern understanding, this term has appeared relatively recently, but on in fact, individual elements of corporate identity are known from the ancient times.
A short digression into history
Nomadic the peoples put a unique brand on cattle, and the masters stamped their products. Already in ancient Rome there were about a thousand different brand, including the famous factory brand FORTIS (which some craftsmen even faked).
Medieval noble birth used the corporate identity to the fullest: each the clan had its own emblem, letters were written exclusively on the company (stamped) paper, even the servants were often dressed in the colors of the coat of arms or dynasty flag (a clear prototype of modern corporate colors).
Medium centuries were marked by the development of crafts and workshop production, the geography of trade expanded, and in connection with this, the value of registered trademarks.
after XIX century industrial revolution became so high that they reached the level of nationwide trade stamps. Availability “Own face” of the brand has become simply a prerequisite for successful trade, the key to the universal recognition of the product and differences from competitors.
Researchers believe that the first designer who created the corporate identity of the company “From A to Z” became the architect Peter Behrens. In 1907 he produced full rebranding of the German company AEG (energy mechanical engineering): designed in a single style factory and office buildings, retail outlets, office furniture, advertising banners, products, packaging, etc. In fact, Behrens was the first to streamline industrial products and brought it to a single style. This event, to in a word, laid the foundation for a modern phenomenon - franchising . Without a unified style, the development of any company according to the franchising model would be much less effective.
of the present the second half of the twentieth is considered a revolution in the development of corporate identity century. At this time, whole areas of new communications began to appear in in this area - design, copywriting, advertising agencies and much more. IN most advertising campaigns began to be built on a corporate identity stamps.
Today corporate identity of some companies is so firmly embedded in consumer consciousness that unconsciously we often associate a certain a combination of colors, shapes and labels with a particular brand.
What is a corporate identity?
Brand style is a visual and semantic unity of all information outgoing from the enterprise (both internal and external). This is a tool brand formation and it is closely related to the concept of image.
The main task of corporate identity is to make the company's goods and services recognizable, to give them certain differences from competitors.
What tools can be used to achieve uniqueness? First of all, corporate identity is:
- fundamental idea;
- logo;
- signature colors.
Stage creation of a fundamental idea is the formation of a semantic image on which in the future will be based on the whole style. At company positioning needs to consider not only color and graphic design, but even factors such as the age of the target audiences, geography, its cultural level, etc.
That what kind of message your brand will broadcast, to a large extent depends from the future consumer: after all, for example, in adolescents and older people completely different perceptions of information and different needs.
Large corporations conduct large marketing research and invest significant resources in developing a corporate idea. But even if you don’t have such an opportunity, you should still carefully study the potential sales market and customers.
Having decided on an idea, it is important to choose colors and fonts for future style elements: logo, advertising banners , branding all brand name carriers.
Colors and fonts are often determined by the type of product being manufactured. All long ago accustomed to the fact that the water has a blue or green color, and, for example, meat - red-pink shades, medical services are mainly framed in blue and white colors, etc. But this is a rather conditional division.
Color makes corporate identity more attractive, and some advertising experts believe that this is the most important leverage on customer psychology: for example, traditionally “rich” colors, premium, white, black and gray (sometimes brown).
If to promote a product you need to draw more attention to something radically new, it is worth using a red color that personifies aggression, passion, activity.
As for the logo, then the scope for the imagination of designers and creators is truly unlimited!
Logos - they are everywhere: on clothes, coffee cups, store signs .., and developing a unique logo is a very difficult task. Many companies have chosen other tools for their promotion: branded colors can completely replace the logo (the famous turquoise box Tiffany & Co tied with a white ribbon will say more than anyone images), and the characters - act as his great complement (for example, “live” cartoon dragees M & Ms).
But still, the role of the logo is invaluable. This is the business card of the enterprise. The logo should be quite simple, unique, attractive and provide the opportunity to register a trademark, since 80% registered in the form of a logo.
He can emphasize the features of the product or company, be in the form of a symbol or a certain style, etc. But when creating a logo you must immediately consider the different options for its image on the media. Agree that the logo on the large banner of street advertising is very different from the logo on the business card. Therefore, it must be recognizable and readable in any size.
by element corporate identity is also a corporate slogan (slogan), which conveys the main message of the company to the consumer: the famous "Just do it!" from Nike, “Making a difference!” from Philips, “We care about you and Your health! ”From Johnson & Johnson - they all symbolize principles of work of companies.
By creating slogan, remember a few rules: it must take into account the features target audience, to be understandable and close to her, to remember well, to be concise and concise, original, eliminate ambiguity.
by others characters can be elements of style (Ronald MacDonald, rabbit Duracell, etc.), corporate anthem, banner, legend of origin companies and stuff. All these components are assembled in the brand book - this is and there is a final stage of corporate identity formation.
Corporate identity as a factor in the company's success
So, to summarize: thoughtful style helps the consumer effortlessly identify a company, its product or service. And besides that, he performs a number of critical functions:
- Trust. If the buyer liked your product once, then in the future a positive opinion applies to the rest of the assortment company. Even the presence of a corporate identity in itself is respected. For example, all our partners adhere to a single style (this obligatory condition of the contract). Network of city portals CitySites has already firmly won the trust of readers as an authoritative sourse of information. Due to the large number of partners, each new the site is more likely to be fairly quickly recognized by residents of the city.
- Advertising. Ad Performance increases due to the use of corporate identity, even its items may be advertisements. To each new CitySites partner provides a complete package of promotional materials in a corporate style brand. Our colors have long been associated with urban news the portal. Using symbolism at various events makes a company popular and recognizable.
Well and of course, corporate identity enhances employee loyalty, strengthens corporate spirit, helps customers navigate a large variety of products, symbolizes the stability and reliability of your company.