Every business has a unique identity that can be used as a valuable asset. Regardless of the size, all businesses currently face challenges to their identity from a myriad of areas. There are three problem areas regarding identity management.
Ever-Similar Products and Services
This has led to customers purchasing from businesses on an emotional basis – a projected sense of corporate personality and rapport can boost business. But how do you differentiate one product in an industry from another such as with Shell, Texaco and BP gas stations to provide a competitive advantage?
Increasing Corporate Mergers
These have taken place over the last decade and a half where local boundaries have been erased and business management is left with how to create a new identity from two old ones. This occurred when Chrysler and Mercedes merged to form Daimler Chrysler in the automobile industry.
Evolution of Technology with Deregulation and Globalization
Businesses have had to alter their nature and manage corporate identity through change and uncertainty as a result; such as the case with British Telecom.
Business identity provides externally a strong foundation of valuable resources, but usually intangible ones such as goodwill, loyalty and respectful customer relationships. At the same time, it can provide internally a strategic direction.
Defining the Concept of Identity
Business sales take place every day for every organization, regardless of size. In each transaction, a business is presenting itself to the various groups of people that it’s selling their products.
The totality of the way that the business presents itself can be called its Identity.
What different audiences perceive a business to be is called its Image.
A business has to continually manage its identity due to the range and diversity of activities that take place on a daily basis. Identity management is a corporate resource that embraces every aspect of a business.
There are four specific ideas that identity projects for a business: 1.) who you are; 2.) what you do; 3.) how you do it; 4.) where you want to go.
Identity will manifest itself with a business from:
- The environment that it’s situated;
- How you communicate your product;
- How you behave to your employees and the world at large; and
- with the products and services that you sell.
Keep in mind that the balance among these four is rarely equal. In order to create any identity program for your business, you have to determine which of the four ways listed above is going to take priority.
Names, Marks and Logos
At the heart of any visual component of identity is how it is reflected in symbols, logos and marks. The symbol for example is highly visible. The prime purpose is to present the concept of the business with impact, conciseness and immediacy. Sometimes, the circumstance requires that you make changes to a logo. In other circumstances, changing the name of a business for legal reasons or clarity is imperative; but can be used to excite high levels of emotion in the media, no matter if the intention is misunderstood.