Identity is the innermost essence of the company, its soul. It is based on history and culture that usually "sits in the walls". It is the sum of all signals that the organization / company sends out to the outside world via its information material, advertising, products, staff etc. Management must be aware of whether the identity is changing and in what way and why the change has occurred.
Identity: an extensive work
The identity is not only covered by the advertising messages the company surrounds itself with, but it is much more comprehensive than that. When a company wants to create a totally comprehensive identity, all of the following categories should be taken into account: again, the company's (organization's) buildings in which operations are conducted are of central importance. The geographical location of the buildings and the architecture of these can very well create an identity for the company, in addition there are also signs the company uses to identify themselves and their business, the interior of the company, which is part of the company's environmental profile, the advertising the company uses in its communication with consumers. is often a visible part of the company's identity in the market.
The company's stationary nurtures the image
One must also not forget the design of the stationary used in the daily communication with all parties who in some form meet the company.
A stationary should not be linked to advertising as such but is more closely related to the company's care of the brand as such. In addition, the use of different types of gift items. Companies often want to give gifts to their most loyal customers and in various contexts to strengthen their identity. It is therefore important that you choose gift items in a thoughtful way and do not choose anything at random that can damage the image of the company's identity.
The employees are ambassadors.
Every employee at every conceivable level acts as an ambassador for their own company. The language that the employed salespeople use when they meet the customers can be decisive for the consumer to feel confident in the company or not. The language use of the sellers is strongly linked to the own sales material used and therefore the language use in the sales material and the graphic communication must be as close as possible to the verbal language used by the sellers. When we talk about the personal meeting between the company's employees and its customers, one should also take a closer look at clothing. In many companies there is a dress code that is decided by the management. Companies with some form of retail business are often truly clear when it comes to the company's uniforms, as are companies in the travel industry and within the airlines. They work in a good way when it comes to attire as customers should easily see the difference between the guides for the company I myself have chosen as a customer and the competing companies.
Sellers' language
Every employee at every conceivable level act as an ambassador for their own company. The way in which the employed salespeople use when they meet the customers can be decisive for the consumer to feel confident in the company or not.
The company's products create identity.
According to postmodernism, consumption is identity creation and production is an ongoing process. Is design a way to reach consumers in a society where more and more products are becoming more global and increasingly aligned?
This is something that has now been seen to an increasing extent since the great wave of internationalization in the mid-1980s, which created global markets and moving resources. Product design is gaining an increasing role in a company's overall Design Management.
the product SnowSteady give identity to Swedish Sport tech company YbotX
It was Design Management that was one of the main factors why Ericsson chose a partner like Sony when it did common cause and merged through the SonyEricsson brand. With the merger, Ericsson gained a greater design asset than they had before, Sony and the other side gained access to greater technology knowledge and Ericsson's other business areas in mobile telephony. Together, they were able to face the increasingly demanding market (consumers) for many years than they could, if possible, complete on their own. That they have now left the mobile market behind is probably primarily since they lacked the thing that the market-leading company Apple has; loyal customers from all over the world.
With the introduction of I-phone, Apple succeeded in strengthening its already existing brand and has since created a culture of loyal customers who cannot imagine another brand than just I-phone.
When I-phone leads the market with its design, they lock in the partners who want to collaborate with them to operate on their own technology platform.
When software set the company brand
One interesting thing is that the competitors to Apple have instead united around the common operating system Android which is developed by the company Google. Here it is openess that applies as Google has an interest in as many manufacturers as possible joining to use Android in their systems. The brand loyalty is of course also here, but then not to the operating system but more to the manufacturers of the phones. For the past ten years, mobile phones have been designed around the standard that Apple first set. The question now is, when will we leave this era to move on to the next new approach to mobile communication.
The company must think through the way in which the products are to be sold, which distribution channels are to be chosen. Should the company only sell the products in its own stores or should it apply retailers. If it is done, in which case which should be used so that we still get the desired image we want.
Now that the environment has become an important factor in the corporate image, online stores and online merchandise trading have become an increasingly important factor. Another factor that has played into this is the ongoing Corona (COVID-19) pandemic that is taking place where online shopping is the only possible way for consumers to make their purchases.
Now that the market for online commerce has matured, this way of distributing goods is starting to be more profitable for them to sell their products and services through retailers in stores.
What you as a market communicator should ask yourself, however, is; What does the sale of our products and services via the Internet do with our Image?
Paste the company logo on the company car? Should our company have any vehicles? If so, the choice of vehicle can also serve as a way to profile oneself. A courier company in the big city may concentrate on owning small cars that can get around in all sorts of different environments, while a courier company that is adapted to the countryside sets completely different requirements. Through their approach, the vehicles can show a side of the company out in the traffic (away with all traditional fuels, we drive on water).
In recent decades, the importance of sustainability has increased steadily and nowadays, sustainability is not just a state responsibility, sustainability is an excellent way for companies to show that they have an environmental responsibility. Something that, depending on your company's target market can be of greater importance than putting a company logo sticker on the car.
Concept of Sustainable Strategic Brand Management is a subject that are growing stronger by every month and can be easily shown by companies using vehicles. Maybe even own company cars are not a good choice for your brand. Maybe you communicate your brand better if all vehicles are electric bikes or if all employees stop commuting and work from home, a subject grew strong during the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Stay home, stay safe.
For a company to have their own Reception and Telephone switchboard used to be a thing for medium sized and big companies and a way to communicate the company's individual profile together with competence and training issues. But, using today’s modern companies and modern small business owners with employees having flexible working hours and do most their work by teleworking, Digital receptions, cloud Switchboards and softphone solutions could be a great way of showing a generic good front for your company.
For the digital company with flexible working hours this new era of front your company brand through a so-called cloud switch for your mobile phones and or a softphone solution for the company computers.
A softphone is a software program for making telephone calls over the Internet using a general-purpose computer rather than dedicated hardware. The softphone can be installed on a piece of equipment such as a desktop, mobile device, or other computer and allows the user to place and receive calls without requiring an actual telephone set.
People who work in direct positions where they have customer contact are important profile carriers for the company and the way customers feel welcomed and treated by the people in the company is of the utmost importance for the whole.
Symbols and trademarks on clothing and other objects we wear; gives us, as individuals, the opportunity to proclaim our identification with other individuals in the same team. It can be a football team's supporter shirt as well as the hottest fashion brand for, for example, casual clothes, suits, and suits or jewelry and fragrances.
When we choose to drink a Pepsi, to put on a pair of Lee or Calvin Klein jeans or a sweater by the brand Everlane or Nadaame, we give (whether we are aware of it or not) our surroundings a picture of ourselves as individuals. One thing must be mentioned here, however; the picture is of course very subjective - for everyone who looks at us in these roles. In the brands we choose, our consumption pattern goes far beyond the need to 'quench your thirst' or to choose 'something to wear'. Supporters of a team do not wear their team cap, scarf, or team shirt to stay warm, nor do people wear clothing brands designed by well-known designers just to stay warm. There is much more to our brand choices, it is our way of expressing our own identity.
It has become increasingly common for different celebrities to advertise different types of brands such as Nike, Kia, Snickers. When a brand appears in a consumer relationship with these people, they become more than just a brand, they become a symbol of a way of being, they create a group affiliation. By consuming these specific brands, we identify with and show others that we feel close to that group of individuals and what they stand for. We also give an expression of our own identity, a subtle statement, or a symbolism of our surroundings about ourselves. So, in this way, our consumption of a specific brand becomes a way for us to express our identity, who we are, how we are as a person, what we stand for, what we like to do, what we value, who our friends are etc.
Examine different slogans and mottos on ads and think about how the subtle and unmistakable allusion to how the brand reflects its own identity, as part of a group, and how you, by consuming this specific brand, express something about yourself:
‘The best a man can get… Gillette’, ‘Coke is it!’, ‘Pepsi… Generation next.’, ‘Red bull… gives you Wings’, ‘You meet the nicest people on Honda.’
Moreover, consuming a specific brand becomes a way of sharing, participating, representing something, or identifying with something. There is something special about belonging to a group. Even a mental membership has its privileges!
We can identify privately with someone or something without having to tell or show it to anyone else. In this way, the identification becomes something very private. The other side, however, is that we often want to signal our sense of identification - who we are and what we stand for - to our surroundings. We do this without using words by using various symbols, behaviors, gestures, idiomatic expressions, and flags for our non-verbal messages to the outside world. We show different symbols (wear a pair of Lee, Levi’s, or Calvin Klein jeans; drive a Mercedes, a Volvo or maybe a Tesla), or we use products that are symbolically associated with our favorite identities (Omega, Nike, Reebok).
It is usually easier for a supporter of a particular team to show up with his team jersey after a big win than after a loss because then we belong or are closely related to a successful larger group of individuals.
As more and more products tend to be too similar, consumers become confusing. What product or service should I buy? What determines is the perception, the trust, and the relationship you have with a certain company or its goods and services. A strong brand in other words.
The identity or personality of a company or organization is the sum of all the signals that are directed to the outside world. This is done, among other things, through information materials, advertising, and the composition of the product range, but also through the staff's behavior. If the signals struggle in completely different directions, the image becomes fragmented and unclear.
It is becoming more and more important to be seen and heard in an increasingly tough competitive situation with an increased range of products and services that are equal. To cope with this, it is important to coordinate all signals into a whole and to be able to communicate this whole effectively both externally and internally.
The difference between success and failure often lies in the ability to be clear and consistent.
Controlling and coordinating a company's or organization's design issues is called in English Design Management. In Swedish, the term ‘Overall Design’ is sometimes used.
In the process of creating a clear and unified identity, one must be clear about what the purpose of the measure is. You must also have a common idea of what the identity is if you work with the personality of your existing company. Below are a few questions you should keep in mind when working to create a company personality:
What does the company stand for?
How do the staff experience themselves?
How is the company experienced by others?
Are there measurements?
What impression does the company want to give?
Who does the company want to make an impression on?
Consideration of the company's history?
Should the company change radically and get a completely new profile?
To get an answer on how the outside world has previously perceived the company / organization, you should do a proper survey among customers, previous customers, suppliers and one of the more important points, among the company's own employees. It is often best to let an external consultant do the survey to get as true a picture as possible.
Comments