Why your corporate identity is more than just a logo

When it comes to creating and embedding a brand, the difference between the firms which develop really strong brands, and the firms where the brand remains weak, is a matter of strategy.

The job of building the brand needs to be embedded in the business strategy and is so much more than choosing a pretty logo.

The process starts with identify your DNA; your values, mission, ethos and the way you do things. We advise working across your team to delve into who you really are, because that way you will reflect your integrity in your brand, rather than trying to be something you are not. And (we would say this, but it's true), we strongly recommend having an external brand specialist come and facilitate this for you.

Not only does the brand specialist get the most from everyone - for example making sure everyone's involved - but they also gain a really strong knowledge and feeling for how to interpret who you are, in terms of visual identity and copy.

One of the important things about getting everyone involved, is partly to ensure that the brand is just as much about the quiet, thoughtful team members as it is about the extroverts who find it easy to share, and partly to gain total buy-in to the brand.

You need to ensure that every person lives the brand consistently throughout every aspect of your company. When they are involved in its development from the outset, they are far more likely to feel they belong to it, and vice versa.

The business strategy

A company usually has some kind of business strategy by the time we get involved in developing the brand, and it's important that the brand is embedded throughout the strategy; this means the directors responsible need to champion the brand for their departments such as:

Receptionists, customer service and salespeople need to demonstrate the brand as they are the front line

HR - in recruiting, training and developing the people who can carry the brand forward

Finance & accounts - in the way that customer and supplier interactions happen so that they are consistent with your brand values

Operations - so that products and services are delivered in a way that's integral to the brand

The creative strategy

The business strategy can then be used to develop a creative or brand strategy . This creative strategy will help to ensure that any brand which is developed, including the design and messaging, will clearly represent and benefit your business, and take it forward.

The creative strategy will explain how all of the branding elements, the tone of voice and the messaging will help to drive your business and will include guiding principles to protect and govern your brand.

Getting corporate identity right is paramount to securing a successful future for your business going forward and our dedicated creative team will use their knowledge and expertise to understand your business and create an identity which is you.

Positioning and messaging

With the strategy in place, then it’s time to get creative and develop an identity which will meet all of the strategic objectives. A complete identity will include how you position your business in the marketplace; how you communicate to your key audiences; what your key messages are; how you differentiate from competitors.

All of these elements will need to be considered and captured to develop a positioning and messaging approach for your company. Once we have developed these, it will enable all corporate marketing and branding to be carried out consistently.

Design and branding

Your logo, imagery, corporate colours, font and design style all need to reflect your business personality, appeal to your target audience and help to achieve your business goals. It’s important to spend time to get this right.

The design and style needs to work with the key messaging and positioning – for example, if you are positioning your business as a serious corporate enterprise you probably don’t want to use cartoon-style imagery.

We’ve worked with companies to create new brands, refresh existing ones, and design brand guidelines so that you have a clear, consistent image and the rest of your team understand how to use it.

How can LCM help?

If you’d like help with selecting imagery or any aspect of building your brand, please get in touch with us at LCM and we will be happy to talk through what you are trying to achieve. We will ask you guided questions to find out if you need our kind of input, or if another route is best for you.