Brand Identity

The Importance of Visual Identity

Corporate identity has been defined as the "communicated essence" of a corporation. A visual identity attempts to project what makes a firm unique. And it provides a visual pathway for memory.

Visual Pathways

The development of marketing tools is solidly rooted in the history of our cultures. In fact, the development of logos—the modern equivalent of heraldry—parallels the rise of capitalism. Throughout time, no one has doubted the power of the image. Before humans could read, they could understand symbols, learning to love them or fear them, hate them or laugh at them. On that foundation, that basic activity of memory, rests the tradition of the corporate logo. Logo has come to mean the graphic associated with a company, product or service.

What is a Visual Identity?

Of course, the logo is just one visual element in the identity scheme. Though it is the cornerstone of the identity program, only the consistent application of that logo, coupled with a family of colors and selected type styles, gives your clients a memorable vision of the firm or company. Inconsistent messages are confusing. Consistency, the spirit of effective communication, can't be overdone. Most businesses have too few opportunities in front of clients to waste them with more than one message.

The style of illustration or photography you choose—even the shape of your materials and the paper choices—influence memory and affect the impression your audience retains about your service firm. Why? Services are intangible, and therefore their quality and reliability cannot be felt or seen or heard. So consumers place inordinate emphasis on the tangible indicia of you and your work—such as your letterhead, your business card, your fax form and your brochure.

Chemistry is so important in business relationships—and what influences chemistry? Your appearance, posture, tone of voice, conversational style—and your printed materials. This is nothing other than your personal visual identity! Extrapolate to the entire firm and you will understand the idea: Visual identity attempts to create a firmwide chemistry.

Consider IBM and Apple. Each has a distinct personality, but they provide look-alike services. Consumers understand what each has to offer because the companies have communicated their unique personalities (their corporate identities) through words, images and music—all your senses they can reach. A service firm should communicate its visual identity, its image and personality, in all materials—from letterheads to labels, brochures to the Web.

What a Visual Identity Can Do for Your Firm

A clear, distinctive identity gives the firm a platform for doing business. A well-managed identity can become the basis for building relationships:

• among partners. Building consensus is difficult when individuals have no allegiance greater than their individual goals. A clear identity requires shared values and shared goals. Building consensus is made easier by consistent, tangible expression of a firm's culture through an identity program.
• in newly merged firms. A clear identity can guide and motivate a firm in transition. And it can also make a firm being acquired appear more valuable.
• among recruits. Professionals want to join a firm they understand. Recruiting the best and brightest, and retaining them, is critical to profitability. A firm needs to present prospective hires with a clear definition of itself. A visual identity, properly developed and implemented, communicates stability, as well as the firm's philosophy, energy, and market position.
• among clients. Clients deserve the same succinct definition. A strong firm identity signals for clients a firm's clear position in the industry and the marketplace, that the firm knows who its clients are and why it is in business.
• among employees. Employees like being left out of the picture even less than they like being underpaid. If they understand the firm's objectives, and where their work fits in, their satisfaction increases. A shared identity helps employees understand these qualities, and it can motivate superior performance and develop emissaries for the marketing effort.
• with the firm's administration. Poorly coordinated identity systems cost firms thousands of dollars each year through waste and inefficiency. Thirty-two percent of all printed materials are thrown away because they become outdated. A well-designed identity system often pays for itself in savings.

Consistency Is the Goal

Very few companies have the opportunity to reinforce their visual identity with the entire American public every day. To achieve that level of awareness, those companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars! To achieve more-limited awareness, a few regional or local companies spend millions of dollars. All these companies understand that each impression has value, thus each presents a consistent impression to squeeze the most value from its advertising and promotional dollars.