Corporate Identity

One of the keys to the company’s success

Stringent, suitable and reliable

 

One of the keys to the company’s success is the unified corporate identity (CI). But what makes a well-chosen CI? And what does this have to do with the target group? In today’s blog post, we not only explain the term CI, but also show how important they are for the company, its employees and thehe has customers.

 

What is Corporate Identity (CI)? In short, the CI is the entire appearance of a company to the outside world. At best, it successfully reflects the company’s self-image. It brings its culture and philosophy into a concrete form and defines behaviour, communication and appearance (corporate behaviour, corporate communication and corporate design).

The aim of the CI is to create an unmistakable corporate personality that the target group always remembers positively: The CI should represent the brand clearly, uniformly and sympathetically.

 

First Pillar: Constancy and Trust

A unified CI conveys trust, continuity and credibility. A uniform CI can be seen in almost all areas of the company as well as in all its communication. So it should always provide a uniform picture on

  • Stationery
  • Envelopes
  • Cards
  • Brochures
  • Training
  • Presentations
  • Advertising
  • on the website

But also the company premises as well as the clothing of the employees should be adapted to THE CI and brand. It is not always just about uniforms, as in the case of airlines, for example. A lawyer should not welcome his clients in casual clothing. A sportswear salesman, on the other hand, may be dressed casually.

If you want to make your brand really successful, corporate identity and corporate design must even shape the behaviour of the employees to the outside world. This ranges from greeting up on the phone or in the company itself to dealing with customer complaints.
A unified CI makes companies unique and credible. And not only that: clearly defined design guidelines can reduce costs in marketing and product development, because you don’t have to reinvent the wheel again and again.

Second pillar: Durable but flexible

Yes, the unified corporate personality is fundamentally important. No, it is not set in stone. Like the company itself, it is growing and developing. For example, if you want to open up new markets or target groups, the impact on the public must be carefully examined in advance and, if necessary, adapted.

An example from the marketing history is the Pajero from the car manufacturer Mitsubishi. This caused general exhilarate in Spain, since Pajero colloquially means “Wichser”. A real faux pas that didn’t amuse the Japanese at all. They then quickly re-named the model “Montero”. Audi had a similar experience with the e-tron in France (where it means, politely speaking, piles of mistletoe) or Mazda with its “La Puta” in Spain, which of course no woman wanted to drive – who wants to be associated with a prostitute?

But it wasn’t just car manufacturers who had their problems. Tchibo, for example, is definitely not a name that Japanese associate with coffee. The word is reminiscent of the words blood and death. And Persil means “parsley” in French – and that’s why the brand there is called “Le chat” – because cats are considered to be particularly pure.

 

It’s also different

Rolls Royce showed that things can be done differently. Their model “Silver Mist” renamed the British luxury brand for the German market “Silver Shadow”. A wise decision. Another example of a successful CI: Coca Cola. The brand has become unique due to its red. Its appearance (the bottle) has hardly changed over the years, as has the lettering. However, the company slogan is regularly adapted: from “Drink Coca-Cola” in 1886 to “Things go better with Coke” (1963) , “You can’t beat the feeling!” (suitable for the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany), “Always Coca-Cola” (1993) to “Taste the Feeling” (2016).

Third pillar: be tangible for the target group

The CI is not only oriented towards the current target group image, but above all to the goal of your brand. The goal of a CI should always be to create a unique corporate personality. Therefore, one has to answer important questions for oneself again and again:

  • What does the company stand for?
  • How are the goals going?
  • How should the company be perceived by customers, employees and interested parties?

Depending on the predetermined target group whether the CI is designed more rationally or emotionally, in a modern-innovative or traditional-conservative way. The colours should also be well chosen – colour psychology can help to become aware of the effect of the different shades.


Conclusion:
The three pillars are the basis for a CI basis. However, corporate identity encompasses much more than the above aspects. However, these points are easy to implement – and this 😉 for companies of all sizes.

Would you like to learn more about web hosting? Write us!