Maybe you have an interesting idea, and you even managed to launch it into implementation, but the desired development is not yet visible. Perhaps these are temporary difficulties, or you forgot to consider something really important and the business is in decline. Do not wait for the point of no return and analyze the current situation as quickly as possible. This will help you find what your startup needs in time. Today we’ll talk about such an important component of a successful company as a corporate identity created according to the requirements of a brand book. If you do not yet have a unified company style, then perhaps the reason for the slow progress is this. Let’s consider it in more detail
Why is the Corporate Identity so Important and How It Differs from a Brand Book
Since the brand book deals with the requirements for corporate identity, these two concepts are often confused. Let’s see what the main difference between the two is in order to prevent such a mistake in the future.
Brand Book
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It is an official company document that serves as a corporate identity guide. It describes every detail of the brand, from logo sizes to features of the target audience. All elements of the corporate identity should strictly follow the requirements of the brand book. This document is intended for internal corporate use, as well as for interaction with partners and designers.
Corporate Identity
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It is the appearance of the company, consisting of corporate elements. Corporate identity is designed to be spread among the target audience in order to attract customers. It serves for freelance use and, above all, is focused on the consumer. Pursuing an advertising and image goal, it is placed on all style-forming elements.
What Functions does Corporate Identity Perform?
In order to understand the importance of a high-quality identity in the development of a company, you should understand what functions it performs. Let’s look at the main tasks of the corporate identity and how it deals with them.
Image Creation
The presence of corporate identity indicates the status and organization of your company. This contributes to a positive perception of your brand, the formation of confidence in the quality of goods and services of the company.
Differentiation and Identification
Differentiation of offers of your company from similar ones by competitors is conducted due to the unique corporate style. Customers often choose products or services with a familiar logo.
Company Advertising
First, you actively distribute elements of your corporate identity, and then when they become recognizable, they begin to advertise your products and services. This will help you with the advertising strategy for a new product.
Where is Corporate Identity Used?
In order to provide the identity of your company with fertile ground for the implementation of its functions and customer attraction, it is necessary to actively distribute it on all style-forming media. Let’s see, where you can use corporate identity.
On Packages, Labels, Bags, and Boxes
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Your products will be surrounded by competitive products on the shelves of the shops. But the presence of a high-quality logo and corporate identity on packages, labels, bags or boxes will make their design brighter and more professional. In this way, the product can stand out. Corporate identity will also help the buyer remember you at the time of choosing the product and thereby ensure repeat sales.
In the Design of the Interior at Work
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The logo and other elements of corporate identity can become the best decoration in the interior of your commercial building and serve as a type of advertising. If the type of your business does not imply direct meetings with clients at the workplace, then corporate symbolism does not become less relevant. In this case, it will serve as an excellent inspiration for teamwork.
On Business Documentation
Types of business documentation, such as a form, business card, envelope, invoice, etc. are the parts of business ethics. When working with partners or other institutions, you show respect for your cooperation by providing neat papers with the presence of corporate identity elements. Moreover, such a gesture indicates your viability and organization, which, of course, increases confidence in your partnership.
On Souvenir Products
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Branded souvenirs include any product that has a clear practical purpose, but is also able to advertise your company. For example T-shirts, cups, pens, notebooks, key chains, etc. Such souvenirs are actively distributed among employees as an incentive gift. After all, they are able to enhance team spirit. They can also be used at exhibitions and other demonstration events.
As Outdoor and Web Advertising
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No matter how recognizable your corporate identity is now, advertising requires its presence. If the logo is still not well known to anyone, its active use will change this situation, and the popular corporate sign will become an excellent advertisement for your new product or service. Depending on the device: a small smartphone screen or a huge billboard, the size of the logo can change, affecting its aesthetics. Therefore, monitor scalability.
Nowadays, the use of QR codes is gaining great popularity in marketing. You can add a corporate logo to the QR code and encrypt the link to the company’s website, application, or any other page. If you don’t have a QR code yet, you can use a QR code maker.
On the Internet Resource Pages
It is best to create the website in corporate colors and place the logo in the header in the left corner. Also, use a small sign option to create an accessible favicon. Post your identity on the pages of social networks as profile pictures, watermarks on videos and images, pictures for posts and background images. This will increase brand awareness and ensure user loyalty.
The Main Elements of the Corporate Identity
In addition to the brand name, corporate identity also consists of other elements. Familiarize yourself with the most important components of a company’s identity and their features before developing a corporate identity.
Name
The name of the company is the text element of the corporate identity, which is one of the first to be remembered by customers. It is important that it is accessible and accurately conveys the essence of the company. To do this, you need to identify the idea of your business and submit it in an attractive and memorable form.
Logo
A logo is a graphic or text element of a corporate style that evokes visual associations with the company and attracts customers to buy your products. The logo serves as the basis for the layout of other components: name, slogan, icon, font, and color.
Color Scheme
Corporate colors are those colors that accompany your entire corporate identity. Pick up no more than 3 different shades that match your niche type. To do this, use the Color Theory, which tells us about the psychological effect of colors on a person.
Typography
Corporate fonts are needed to design the name and slogan. This is a very important element in case you’ve decided to create a text-only logo. While decorating your text with original typography, keep it simple and accessible so that customers can read it easily.
Other Corporate Identity Elements
There are other elements of corporate style such as branded character, melody, block, form, etc. Regardless of which identity set you plan to use, each of its new components should be combined and correspond with the existing ones.
How to Create a Corporate Identity: Best Tools
There are many ways to create a corporate identity. But using online services is the fastest and most affordable of them. Therefore, we advise you to familiarize yourself with a few online tools for developing a high-quality identity.
Looka
How to create a logo and an entire corporate identity in just a few clicks? It is possible with this online service. 10 minutes are enough to develop a high-quality identity of your own company.
Logotypemaker
Just enter the name of your company – this is enough to start developing a corporate identity. Check out the ready-made logo layouts, and indicate the type of your business to make your search more specific. Then select some options you want to edit.
More tools for brand identity creation you can find in this article.
Conclusion
Do not reject your company’s corporate identity. After all, this marketing component is able to help your company develop and attract customers. Moreover, the creation of a logo and other corporate elements using online services is available to everyone and takes no more than 10 minutes. So don’t procrastinate and get started right away.
