A corporate logo is an identifier of the quality and standard of a business house. A business logo should leave a long-standing mark in the target audiences’ mind. A logo helps to develop a corporate identity, which should be redefined from time to time. A brand logo plays a significant role in building the corporate identity of a company, whereas a corporate identity reflects the corporate image to the public.
In marketing terminology the corporate identity is the persona of the corporation that is visually manifested in its branding and trademarks. Designed to facilitate the attainment of business objectives, corporate identity merges strategy, culture and communications to present a memorable corporate personality to prospects and customers. The term is closely associated with corporate or organizational philosophy that translates into its mission and values that are all framed by a distinct corporate culture that is specific to that particular organization.
Whereas corporate identity is really the self-portrayal of an organization the corporate image is the perception of the organization by the public. A Professional web design company is said to have a superior corporate communication strategy when its corporate image is perceived by its customers to be close to its corporate identity.
Corporate image is again very often created by the branding strategy that the company adopts. Branding is the process by which a company creates and disseminates the brand name. A brand is an identifying symbol, words or mark that differentiates a company from its competitors. A brand name, therefore, is the name of a distinctive product, service or concept that the company wishes to introduce to its target audience.
In fact, the branding strategy encompasses what is known as the three essential elements of corporate identity namely corporate design, corporate communication and corporate behaviour.
Corporate behaviour includes those organizational norms and values, which make up its corporate philosophy. Corporate communication encompasses communication platforms like advertising and public relations. Corporate design includes design elements like a good logo and tagline.
Therefore, corporate design or corporate identity design encapsulates the following – Brand, Name Brand and Colours.
Brand Logo
Brand Stationery like letterhead, business card, envelope, memo, writing pad
Branding on various media like mugs, diaries, video, print and web
Any other design deliverables like a PowerPoint Presentation that is related to the brand or the corporate identity
So the logo is really a subset of corporate identity. Sometimes a company may have a logo in place but not a comprehensive corporate identity. Seldom does it happen the other way around. The unique icon for the company, the logo is the actual character, picture or words that a company uses to represent itself to its target customers, convey its business message to its target audience with the ultimate aim of selling its products and services to them.
Only a part of the overall image of your company, nonetheless, your logo can make or mar the corporate identity. It wraps up the corporate identity in an image and a tagline. Its colours and fonts can go a long way in projecting the proper image of the company.
Moreover, a company’s corporate identity is dynamic in that depending on how the company is perceived in the market the corporate identity has to be redefined from time to time. But a logo has to be designed in such a manner that it has long shelf life and can be used for a long time. Frequent changes of logo can create confusion in the minds of the target audience and can be detrimental to the company’s image in the long run.
We often say in day-to-day conversation – now don’t miss the wood for the tree. Likewise, don’t miss out on the corporate identity in your search for the logo.
Photo Credit: Flickr/TORLEY
