In the face of growing competition between companiesand brands increase the need to create a unique, rememberable to the consumer image, the selection against the background of rivals. A high-quality corporate style contributes to the solution of these problems. The development of a unique corporate identity is a complex and responsible process. All elements of corporate identity of the enterprise must correspond to its mission and positioning.
The notion of corporate style
Identification of the company - the most important marketinga task that is a guarantee of recognizability and a stable demand for goods and services. It is the elements of the corporate identity that make it possible to achieve recognition of the company and its products among competitors.
Corporate identity, or corporate identity, -it is an individual image of the firm, its character, which is easily recognized by people. It is a component of an integrated, thought-out communication of the organization and assumes that all the main elements of the corporate style will be implemented in a single concept, placed on all products, documentation and company attributes so that by any of its components the consumer easily identifies the manufacturer. The notion of corporate style is formed in marketing, as it serves the tasks of company promotion.
Occurrence
About the first signs of corporate identity, you canspeak, considering ancient cultures. Thus, in the tombs of Ancient Egypt were found products with a unique author's drawing, which allowed the ceramics of a certain artisan to stand out from a number of other similar products. Elements of corporate identity were also found in works of pottery, jewelry, and weaving in ancient Greece. In the Middle Ages in Europe, each guild of masters had their own distinctive signs, which also began to be placed on signboards and buildings. Even bakers and wine makers put stamps on their products. In the 19th century, the first law on the registration and protection of trademarks was passed in Britain. Later, patents for signs appeared in the US, and only then in the whole world. More than 50,000 signs are registered in the United States alone.
In Russia before the revolution, as in all of Europe.were stigmatized masters, for example, the famous jeweler Carl Faberge for each of his work put a special seal, confirming the authenticity of the thing. In times of Soviet power, the need for a corporate style virtually disappeared, since there was no free competition in the country. Although even then the identity existed, for example, we recognize the corporate font of writing the names of the newspapers "Izvestia" and "Pravda" today. After perestroika, Russia began to rapidly overtake the developed countries in creating corporate styles.
Functions
The corporate identity has a number of marketingfunctions, which make it such a significant component of development and promotion of the company. The main one is the identification of the organization. Slogans, logos and other elements of corporate identity are needed in order for the consumer to quickly and easily understand the product of a manufacturer in front of him. Moreover, recognition should occur when you perceive any of the components of the corporate identity and even its parts. For example, the brand melody of the company Coca-Cola in the New Year's television commercials is recognized by the first notes, and the consumer can easily not only remember the name of the producer, but also continue the song from any place.
Next to the recognition is a function such asdifferentiation. In saturated, highly competitive markets, there is an acute problem of detuning from similar goods and services. The psychology of the consumer is such that in each commodity category, he usually remembers from 3 to 7 titles, and it is in this range that he makes his choice of consumers. Therefore, the task of corporate identity is to make a product, company or service different from competitors. For example, in the juices market of the middle price category, there is a fierce struggle for the consumer, the quality of the goods and packaging are very similar to the different manufacturers, and the choice is made by the buyer most often on the basis of positioning, which he learned from advertising. And associate an advertising clip in the associative chain and, for example, the packaging of the juice is helped by the single pictorial elements. Therefore, elements of corporate identity in advertising companies must be present.
Each communication of the manufacturer and the buyershould help memorize these unique signs, which are then recognized at the level of automatism at the time of purchase. And when a person walks past a long counter with juices in a store, he will choose a package with familiar signs that he associates with the manufacturer.
Важнейшей функцией фирменного стиля является formation and maintenance of the company image. Today, increasingly, the consumer when choosing a product focuses not on its objective characteristics, but on its own ideas about it. Therefore, the task of forming a positive image of goods and company becomes paramount. The image is built on such basic elements as the mission of the company, its advantages and positioning.
The task of marketing communications is to create athe consumer's head is a stable image of a set of certain qualities that will arise from him every time he collides with elements of corporate identity. The consumer is willing to pay more for the product, about which he knows a lot, and about which he has his own (as it seems to him) opinion. Familiar goods cause more confidence. And it is the image that becomes the main source of surplus value. But today, in the general pursuit of positive images of their goods and services, the problem of creating a unique image is acute, that's what helps to solve a competent corporate style.
Components
The main elements of the corporate identity are:logos, trademarks or service marks, company block, slogans or text signs, color and font, corporate character, corporate sound. All these elements should be united by a common idea - the positioning platform and the mission of the company. Developing a corporate identity should be based on the ideological platform of the brand. Only understanding the specifics of the company, its advantages and goals, you can develop an effective corporate identity.
Advantages of corporate style
Development of corporate identity is prettyan expensive and serious event. Why spend money, strength and time on it? Corporate identity makes it easier for consumers to choose and make purchases. Formed recognizability helps to allocate the goods among competitors. Elegant corporate identity facilitates the task of bringing goods to the market, reducing the cost of advertising. The mission and corporate identity work to build a corporate spirit within the company, and loyal employees are always valuable assets of the organization. Also stylish design of documents, work places, corporate clothes raises the prestige of the company in the eyes of both clients and employees.
Corporate identity is the unifying principle forall marketing activities, he makes isolated events a unified communication strategy. Thanks to this, the consumer connects all the company's advertising messages in a single information field. This synergistic effect increases the effectiveness of all communications.
Service mark
All elements of the corporate identity will be builtaround the name of the company. Therefore, the trademark is extremely important for the image of the company. Under the sign of service (or trademark) is understood a certain legal spelling of the name of the company. It is a symbol of guarantee and quality since the time of the ancient masters. The organization through the sign broadcasts its reputation, is entrusted for it. There are several types of service marks:
- Verbal. The most common, fixes the owner's legal rights to the title. Examples of such signs are mass: Aeroflot, Mercedes.
- Fine, or visual. A special outline of the name, it is often synonymous with the logo.
- Volumetric. The form of the package or the goods themselves can also be patented and is a sign of a particular manufacturer. For example, the famous glass bottle of Coca-Cola.
- Sonic.Some companies, by virtue of their specifics, can fix sound marks that are associated with its activities. For example, callsigns "Radio Mayak" or a click of a lighters "Zippo". Today there is a tendency to register sound elements of the corporate style of the company, which are assigned to it by law. This way goes the firm "Nestle", "Danone" and others.
Logotype
The notion of corporate identity, the elements of whichwork for company identification, often reduce to one, the main component - the logo. It really is an important part of the image of the company, but not the only one. Logo - this is the original inscription of the name of the company, brand, product group. It usually contains not only a name, but also some visual components that carry important semantics.
It is very important to understand that the logo is not justa beautifully written name is a schematic, simplified representation of the mission of the company. For example, the famous logo of the company "Nike" not only includes the inscription of the name, but also a curved line, which today is already a symbol of the brand and can sometimes be used even without letter accompaniment. The logo should "tell" the history of the brand. For example, Apple's famous apple has at least three corporate myths explaining its significance. The main signs of a good logo are: simplicity, memorability and expressiveness.
Company block
Arrangement of elements of corporate identity forplacing on documents, packaging and other media is called a proprietary unit. Its composition may vary depending on the needs of the company. Most often you can find a combination of a logo, a slogan and address information, which is placed on company letterheads, envelopes, business cards. The combination of the name and logo is usually placed on packages and goods. For example, the company "Adidas" on its products places the logo and company name, sometimes it is supplemented by the name of the line or series.
Company color
An important element of the corporate identity is color.Psychologists have long understood that color has a stable relationship with associations. There are whole tables of pairs "color - emotion". Of course, in this matter there may be individual differences, but colors do have an effect on our body and psyche. For example, red intensifies excitement, increases heart rate and blood pressure, green, on the contrary, relaxes and soothes. Also, when choosing a corporate color, you need to remember the semantics assigned to it in a certain culture. For example, white color is usually associated with light, purity, snow, milk. But in Japan, these characteristics are added sadness, sadness, since this color is traditionally considered a mourning.
When choosing a color, you also need to remember about combinations, aboutrules of contrast and additions. So, the combination of black and yellow is one of the brightest, but at the same time it signals danger. Typically, a corporate identity does not use more than three colors, so as not to create a variegation that is difficult to read and remember.
And the last thing to consider when choosing a color,These are features of its transmission on different media. Thus, a complex combination of lilac and yellow-orange may be incorrectly transmitted by some printing machines.
Tagline
Elements of corporate identity can be not onlyvisual, but also verbal. A short catchy phrase-slogan is also a means of creating corporate identity. It has a special task: it is not only a guarantee of recognition of the company, but also tells the consumer about the main advantage of the company, its mission. For example, the slogan “Manage the dream” of the Toyota car has a deep meaning: dreams are manageable and achievable, our cars are the dream of anyone. The slogan must transmit extremely large content in an extremely brief form (no more than 7 words). Therefore, the slogans are written by professional copywriters who are able not only to put together a sharp phrase, but also to fill it with the necessary content.
Development of corporate identity elements shouldbased on the basic idea, which becomes the starting point for the technical specifications of the copywriter. The slogan must be placed on all products of the organization, on documents, included in advertising messages, thus it ensures the integrity of communication with the consumer, its semantic unity.
Brand character
We have listed the main elements of the corporatestyle, however, there are additional, variable components, such as anthem, legend, features of the layout and design. To additional components of the brand identity can be attributed corporate character. A brand character is a fixed embodiment of the features and the mission of the brand in the person of a hero or some other person. Corporate hero is usually used in advertising communications: commercials, printed samples, events. A character can embody a representative of the target audience or be an authority for her. Also corporate hero can visualize the best qualities of the product. For example, the brand-name brand of Mr. Muskul detergent is associated with its name and is included in all types of advertising.
Carriers
Elements of corporate identity canplaced on various media. Usually the company is branding, i.e. puts its logos on everything that a consumer can touch. The main carriers of corporate identity elements are business cards, documents, envelopes, the organization's website, corporate form, advertising products, souvenir. In addition, elements of corporate identity can be placed in points of sale and customer service, on banners, on gift products, on company vehicles. Also, corporate identity should be used for the presentation materials: folders, packages, racks, electronic presentations.
