Corporate Identity

Terminology

The term corporate identity is fairly new, but the phenomenon it describes is old. There were always companies with stronger and weaker identities and cultures. But at the end of the 20th-century companies and their products were getting more and more indistinguishable. That was mainly the case due to globalization and communication getting faster so companies could adapt more quickly to the leaps competitors made. Due to that businesses had to stand out in other ways. This brought more attention to the Identity of a company. That was the birth of the term corporate identity.

Concept

The core principle of the corporate identity is, that businesses, organizations & other social structures appear to their environment the same way a person does. Even though they are made up of multiple different human beings they are seen as one unified individuum. That means a company does not only sell products or services but like every human individuum they also "sell" values, attitude, messages, etc.

By giving companies these identities they also gain personality which is a big part of the CI. The oxford dictionary defines personality as the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual's distinctive character. Besides the visual appearance, these characteristics would, for example, include age, history, values, goals, intelligence, knowledge, skills, crafts, creativity, temper, human interest or social skills etc. All of those characteristics have to be defined to make a company distinguishable.

Not a by-product

Some decades ago terms like corporate identity, corporate communication or corporate behaviour were seen as a trend. But now they are a fixed part of every business plan and seen as a major key to success. Earlier it was assumed that a corporate identity was created as a side factor of entrepreneurial success. Today we know that getting a strong corporate identity is work on its own and not only created as a by-product.