Corporate identity - why is it needed and how to create it?

Modern corporations are forced to work in conditions of fierce competition, the unique concept of the brand and the creation of its own policy helps to survive. Corporate identity of the organization is one of those details that uniquely works to create a positive image and increase incomes.

What is corporate identity?

Among the marketing terms, there are concepts about which the presentation should have not only PR specialists, but all other employees of the company. The total income of a businessman depends on them, whatever he earns. Corporate identity is the basis of the company's communication policy. It is one of the key means of struggle for the attention of the buyer, therefore its definition includes several aspects:

1. An important component of branding, assuming a unified approach to the design of business papers, advertising and technical documentation.
2. A set of visually defined as corporate style elements that unite all the information coming from the firm into a single semantic space.
3. Forming the brand recognition for the motivation to purchase from the target audience.

What is included in the corporate identity?

The volume of the above concept unambiguously indicates that the list of its elements will also be extensive. This task, like the coordination of design, involves finding the elements that make up the corporate style of the company. According to any textbook on branding , it includes:

• individual form of the organization;
• Business Cards;
• basic and additional colors of the brand;
• brand fonts and documentation;
• trademark;
• logo.

Why do we need corporate identity?

The goals for which there is one or another marketing method, called its functions. They reveal the meaning and direction of activity, as well as the relationship between the elements of the firm. The distinctive features of the company include the following functions of the corporate style:

1. Differentiating function . The allocation of goods and services from a mass of similar and help in the orientation between them.
2. Image function . Formation and promotion of the quickly recognizable and unique image of the brand, working to increase its prestige and reputation.
3. Associative function . Influence on subconsciousness of the potential buyer with the purpose of formation of a positive image of production.
4. Warranty function . The producer, engaged in advertising, fulfills the promises that the consumer needs to meet his needs.

Types of corporate identity

Classification of varieties of branding is carried out according to the types of its carriers. It includes all ways of brand marketing communication with consumers. Modern trends of corporate identity allow us to distinguish such types of it as:

• corporate identity of the interior and decor elements of the company;
• design uniforms of employees;
• design of packaging elements;
• electronic carriers of corporate style;
• printed advertising and image printing products.

How to create a corporate identity?

Since the development of the visual image of the company requires increased responsibility and maximum understanding of the wishes of the buyer, the development of corporate identity should fall on the shoulders of professionals. In addition to designers, it requires the assistance of marketers, psychologists, polygraph specialists and artists. A team of specialists creates an image of the company in several stages:

1. Logo development . This is the central part around which other parts of the company's visual image will be built. Fonts and colors used for the logo will be embodied in business cards, signs and on the company's website.
2. Designing a trademark . It can be verbal, sound, pictorial, voluminous or combined.
3. Development of letterheads . They emphasize the corporate style of the official documentation, therefore it must contain the logo or the emblem of the company.
4. Creation of business cards . They are personalized, but they remind you which company the employee belongs to.

Introduction of corporate style

To efforts to scrupulously brand the brand have not gone in vain, you need to carry out a number of activities to implement them. Promotion of corporate identity involves not a single, but a permanent work on creating a unique image in the eyes of the audience, which includes:

• explanatory discussions with the company's employees;
• large-scale shares of transfer of style elements to clothing, signs and documentation of the company;
• holding presentations or exhibitions;
• the creation of souvenirs.

Books on the corporate style

Textbooks on the development of the image belong to the category of literature on design. To start acquaintance with them is worthwhile from publications written in simple language and revealing the basics of creating a single advertising message of the company. Corporate style in advertising will help express the reading of such books as:

1. "Fundamentals of the theory of design" Inna Alexandrovna Rozenson. The book is addressed to students and employees of corporations seeking to master creative work and to teach to make design decisions.
2. "Trademark: battle with meanings" Valery Borisovich Semenov. The textbook discloses technologies for designing logos and other distinctive signs of products, suitable for different business areas.
3. "Corporate identity. Creating a successful corporate identity and visual communication in business. " Mark Rowden. This book is one of the most authoritative guides to planning the advantages of a corporate style over competitors.
4. "Brand identity. A Guide to Creating, Promoting and Supporting Strong Brands. " Alina Wheeler. The author considers the methods of verbal and visual expression of the brand in the realities of the company's performance.
5. "Design: History and Theory" Natalia Alekseevna Koveshnikova. The manual lists examples of design from the times of applied art of the Ancient World, so designers actively use it for inspiration.