Saying that you have a brand when you only have a logo is like saying that a brick is an entire house. A huge part of success for many companies relies on a well defined identity.
Las week I went to a restaurant just because of an ad I saw. It was far away from where I live, but I decided to go anyway because of how much I liked the concept its logo transmitted.
However, when we arrived, surprise surprise, a whole different mood dominated the place. Some people liked the music, but we couldn’t. The restaurant failed to deliver what its concept promised. It failed to properly define a target group. Needless to say, I’m not going back.
Can you imagine seeing a duck with a cat’s tail and barking? Well, some brands are like that! They haven’t defined their identity. Many of them don’t know it, but they are wasting time and important resources trying to attract the attention of consumers.
What is a corporate identity?
A corporate identity is the set of both tangible and intangible characteristics within a company.
Identity has an internal and external face: the internal facet is represented by the values, ideas, methodology, and strategies. On the other hand, the external facet is everything mentioned before but through a corporate image. It is, basically, what makes a company unique and different from the others, what gives it personality.
Psychoanalyst Carl Gustav Jung said that there are universal patterns of behavior through which every human being identifies. He defined 12 personality archetypes of brands, which can be used in marketing to give an identity and segment markets. The 12 Personality Archetypes are:
- The Innocent
- The Orphan/Regular guy
- The Explorer
- The Sage
- The Hero
- The Rebel
- The Magician
- The Lover
- The Jester
- The Caregiver
- The Creator
- The Ruler
Each one has its values clear, therefore, it has different messages and has different clients. If you are interested you can take a look at what Carl Gustav says of each of them and learn what characteristics match perfectly with your brand. If you want a deep analysis of each one, let us know in the comments.
Why is corporate identity so important?
Mainly, because it gives you three key things to a successful brand:
- Differentiation from the competition
- Emotionally connection with your target audience
- It lets you know what kind of marketing strategies suits you.
How to define it?
To create your corporate identity, you need to do the following:
- Who you are? What do you love? What do you hate? What will you never be?
- Have clear if the brand is: Serious or Funny?, Classical or innovative?, Premium or low-cost?, Artisanal or technological?, Practical or Inspiring?
- Consider the following: Who will be the ideal client?
Keep in mind that your ‘target audience’ is a group of people who want or need what you and your competence offered and are more receptive when buying a product or service.
But the ‘ideal client’ is a different story, because he or she will value your product, have no problems paying for it, and even recommend it.
Everything a brand does must be consistent with its identity. Therefore, you have to plan appropriate behaviors to generate correct meanings and position the brand in the way you want.
For example, a brand cannot pretend to be friendly if its employees are serious or don’t like to deal with people. Everything your identity says must be shown 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
After defining an internal identity, you can create a name, an image, and positioning strategies. Because a company more than just selling has a promise with consumers.
en Mérida, Yucatán