Deloitte recently released a Global Marketing Trends report aimed at guiding C-suite leadership teams in developing their marketing strategy for the decade ahead.
The body of the report opened with a simple statement – “purpose is everything”.
Hold on. Corporate Purpose and how does it relate to Corporate Identity?
You might be thinking, what’s “purpose” got to do with the bottom line of a business and your Corporate Identity?
Sure, purpose is great, but shouldn’t we be focusing on the more tangible aspects of lead generation? Why would Deloitte, one of the world’s largest multinationals draw this conclusion?
Well, it’s simple. Deloitte found that:
“purpose-driven companies witness higher market share gains and grow on average 3x faster than their competitors, all the while achieving higher employee and customer satisfaction.”
So, purpose really is everything.
This then begs the question: how can you become a purpose-driven company and reap these benefits?
In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the idea of Corporate Identity, unpacking what it is, why you need it, and (most importantly) how it can help your organisation soar to new heights WITH PURPOSE. So, let’s start with the basics.
Your Corporate Identity is how you articulate the foundational purpose of your organisation in a way that your team, partners and customers can identify with.
It is an umbrella term for the personality and characteristics associated with your company’s name and presence in the minds of both your team and your customers.
From Corporate Messaging to Corporate Branding and Design, your Corporate Identity requires a cohesive combination of voice and visuals to answer important questions about your organisation. These include:
From here, the people who matter to your organisation are driven to act, and act in unison – let’s dive deeper.
Intentional or otherwise, all corporations develop some form of identity over time, yet often, they struggle to be proactive in shaping or articulating its essence. This means most corporations simply exist and fail to create a prosperous culture that everyone understands and appreciates.
Without a clear understanding of what drives your organisation, a problem of incoherence arises:
“Companies often wind up serving so many different customer segments and so many different needs with disconnected product groups, capabilities, and strategies that it’s impossible to define what the company is really about.”
The result?
Misaligned teams who aren’t clear on their purpose or the value offered by their organisation.
With the effectiveness and engagement of your team and the actions of your customers dependent on people relating to and acting upon what it is that you stand for, developing a corporate identity becomes critical.
It’s time you developed a clear corporate identity – and the best way to do that is through corporate identity development services.
A distinct corporate identity is one of the most powerful assets your company can have – that is, if you can define it.
When carried out by Corporate Identity specialists like Melotti Media and Font & Swatch, Corporate Identity development begins by first understanding your business, its goals, its values, and its mission.
From here, it’s all about conducting a workshop to articulate your identity with Corporate Identity Guidelines.
This document provides a communication framework that captures your organisation’s culture, mission and purpose, guides future communications, and empowers your team to embrace your corporation’s true identity.
Once the messages inside your Corporate Identity Guidelines are developed, they must be illustrated and displayed so that your team can follow and embody your Corporate Identity. They must also be applied to all of your internal and external corporate collateral and organisation materials to deliver a consistent look and feel.
But before we go any further, you’re probably wondering…
Remember the report from Deloitte?
Well, shared and visible Corporate Identity Guidelines are how organisations create a purpose-driven culture.
In other words, a clear corporate identity drives buy-in, fulfilment and a sense of belonging, increasing productivity and retention within your organisation.
Corporate identity development also helps to crystallise the culture and personality of your organisation, so potential employees and customers don’t rely on assumptions to interpret your value.
Instead, every person who engages with your organisation will be able to understand its value on an emotional level, dictating their decisions in the context of your business.
As we’ve learned, when it comes to marketing – purpose is everything – and Corporate Identity Development is how you get there.
Together, Melotti Media and Font & Swatch are branding specialists. They can help you synthesise and express your company’s unique culture to reinforce a united team, purpose and direction.
It’s all done through our Corporate Identity Development Service.
Combining expert Corporate Messaging with Branding and Design, we offer you: two agencies, one solution and multiple applications to empower your organisation to unite its teams for improved productivity and enhanced purpose.