Do you need corporate identity?

Your customers build up a picture of your organisation based on what they experience. That's why your corporate identity can be an asset or a liability. Get it wrong, and you could appear unprofessional, poorly managed and unfit to meet people's needs. But get it right and your identity will portray you exactly as you wish to be seen, matching the values and service standards that you have worked hard to establish.

What is a corporate identity?

When we talk about an organisation's identity, we really mean the experience of an organisation from a customer's point of view. It encompasses much more than a logo, extending to every part of your customers' interaction with your business.

It's about the way the phone is answered, the type of furniture in your building, even the clothes you and your employees wear. Your potential customers take in information about you from every available point and then make the decision about whether or not to buy from you.

Nevertheless, the visual elements are perhaps some of the most important aspects of your identity because they are what people see most often. In particular, they are often the only things on which people can judge you until they become your customers.

Why change or develop your corporate identity?

Although new businesses have the ideal opportunity to create the right corporate identity, organisations that have been running for some time may also want to make changes to ensure they maintain a professional and appropriate identity.

Developing an identity might be a necessary reaction to the way that things are changing, both inside an organisation and in the environment that surrounds it. You might want to reach new customers. You might want to offer new products or services. Or you might simply believe that your existing identity is tired and no longer reflects the way you do business. Some companies have even found their new identity boosts recruitment, when people's negative association with the old brand previously stopped them wanting to work there.

Other reasons are more to do with general changes in business activity. New ways to sell might demand a new identity. A company that has been selling over the counter for fifty years might want to present a very different image to customers using the internet to make purchases. A good identity can also help set expectations. For example, the various low cost airlines all have no-frills identities that set low expectations in terms of luxuries. This allows them to offer a basic service while still keeping their passengers happy. On the other hand, an identity that creates an air of the very highest quality allows prestigious restaurants to charge a premium price.

The importance of identity raises one serious implication. Customers will leave you in droves if the actual experience doesn't match the one promised by the identity. So before the project can begin, it is worth considering the Ôstate of the nation' in your organisation. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What is it like to be one of your customers?

Creating a new identity can be as much about addressing these issues as choosing a new logo. It can be an opportunity for everyone in your organisation to agree a set of values and the means to implement them. In effect, becoming the company you want to be, and more importantly, the company your customers want you to be.

What if radical change isn't needed?

Brand loyalty is a powerful thing and if you find your customers are coming back time and time again then a complete rebranding might be an unnecessary risk. When you add the cost and time of creating an entirely new identity, staying largely with what you already have could be a sensible choice.

But even the best of corporate identities can become tired after several years. Gradual subtle changes can keep you looking fresh without a complete rebranding exercise. Shell, for example, have changed their logo roughly every 12 years over the last century of trading. Each change has been subtle enough to maintain consistency, yet significant enough to keep pace with changing fashions.

As well as keeping up with change, there are often other reasons for making more subtle changes to your identity. For example, it could help you broaden your appeal to new customers without alienating your existing ones. Tesco have raised the perceived quality of their service, and changes to their visual identity have reinforced this. Subtle changes have created the look of a quality retailer, while still maintaining their familiar colour scheme.

When is a good time to change?

If you do decide to develop your corporate identity then perhaps your budget availability will drive your choice about the pace of the project. But there are other factors too. For example, are there any opportunities on the horizon for making changes? Perhaps your stock of brochures is running low and the reprint would be a chance to incorporate the developed identity.

There might also be times when rebranding could backfire. More than one company's change of name has been seen as a cosmetic exercise to shift attention from problems with service or performance. They later regretted changing their name in the midst of press or public scrutiny.

Although an ideal scenario would be to make all the changes in one step, often budget restrictions make this an unrealistic option. By drawing up a project plan to make sure nothing is missed, a two-stage approach can achieve excellent results.

Among the things that need to change initially are stationery, the website, signage and vehicle liveries. These are the things that most frequently present your visual identity to the outside world and so simultaneous changes to them will avoid most of the confusion that your identity exercise could otherwise create.

Over the subsequent weeks and months, new literature, advertising and direct mail campaigns could incorporate the changes, along with the less obvious places where the identity appears.

© Titman Firth 2002