The Impact Of Corporate Identity – A Two Part Blog Series Exploring The Importance Of Art In Business

Part One – What Is Corporate Identity and Where Does Art Come Into It?

Businesses and organisations are increasingly recognising the impact that Art has on their success and positioning in the marketplace, but why?  What has Art got to do with it and why has art in business become so important?

Image versus Identity

What is corporate image and why is not the same as corporate identity? Corporate image is the public perception of a company, over which it has very little control whereas corporate identity is how the company wants to be perceived by the public and is usually controlled and clearly defined.  Corporate identity is a company’s visual appearance. corporate brand identities

The corporate identity is decided upon by the organisation itself and is reflected in its branding and marketing techniques.  Corporate image is the mental picture that springs to mind at the mention of the organisations name.  The corporate image can be altered by circumstances, for instance Tesco was a well loved brand until the horsemeat scandal (from which it has since recovered).

Media coverage, performance, an organisation’s reputation or goodwill affects the public’s perception of a business and its corporate image can change overnight from positive to negative, or vice versa.

Corporate identity however, is fixed by the company itself.  Organisations invest a great deal of time in cultivating the right corporate identity with the aim of making themselves more attractive to clients, employees, investors and suppliers. Corporate identity is the way the organisation presents itself and much like every person, every organisation has its own style.

Why Is Corporate Identity So Important?

Modern organisations use various devices to build their corporate identity including branding, trademarks, logos, product design, advertising and public relations and even the way HQ is kitted out (take Google’s offices for example). All these things contribute to a strong corporate identity, but what is the overall impact and benefit for the business itself? corporate office

A strong physical look affects how people think and feel about your organisation and helps your business to maintain its place in the market in the long term.

Your business identity should communicate your company’s overall message and promote your business goals. It can do this in a number of ways.

Personality

Applying the companies values to visual elements that will be used to promote your business gives you the opportunity to show some of your personality. Corporate identity is the visual representation of the ethos and personality of your brand.

How you present yourself, visually, evokes specific feelings and allows you to make a connection with your clients, suppliers, investors, all the people who are involved in your business.

Consistency

Having a clearly defined corporate identity means your message is coherent and consistent across all your marketing materials and channels. Having a cohesive branding package built around the corporate identity makes your business instantly recognisable. Business cards and my book

Raises Brand Awareness

When your corporate identity is strong and well defined your brand can be at the forefront of everything you put out. The more places and more often your brand is featured the more contact it will make with the people you are trying to reach and the more memorable it will be.

Loyalty

When your corporate identity is well thought out and is a true reflection of your organisations values and goals it is more likely that people will make a genuine connection when they come into contact with it. When your brand and identity strike a chord and resonate with people you begin to build trust and loyalty.

Where Does Art Come Into All This?

Artwork can convey messages and meanings and summon a multitude of feelings and emotions. The Artwork that organisations choose for their buildings and grounds is as important as their logo and branding. Large painting in a boardroom

Paintings, photographs and sculptures all project a certain image. The art is a reflection of what the company wants to say about itself. How do you want your clients to feel about you and what is the message you want to convey?

In Part 2 of this blog we will be examining the relationship between art and corporate identity, the importance of art in the workplace on employee engagement and productivity and lastly, why successful organisations want to grow their corporate art collections – this is something I talk about in Part Two of this series.

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