Communications – Corporate Design Essay Example

their quality, prestige, and style to stakeholders, as argued by Melewar and Saunders (1999). The authors developed a corporate visual identity mix consisting of name, slogan, logo type and/or symbol, typography, and color. While there is no consensus on the components of corporate identity, corporate culture is widely recognized as a core value, according to Bernstein (1984) and Balmer and Soenen (1997). There are two distinct perspectives on the link between corporate culture and identity, as reflected in the viewpoints of marketing academics and organization behaviorists (Alvesson, 1994). The functionalist perspective views culture as a variable and explores its role in organizations, which is the view endorsed by marketing academics.

According to the symbolic perspective or social-constructivist view, culture is viewed as a metaphor and the essential question is the meaning of the organization to its members. This view is widely accepted by organizational behaviourists. Corporate culture plays a critical role in forming corporate identity. According to Kiriakidou and Millward, culture is essential in the development and enactment of corporate identity and values reflect an organization's identity, the type and quality of its products and services, company performance, and corporate behavior. Dowling asserts that corporate culture flows from and is a consequence of corporate identity, which is described as a company's shared values, beliefs, and behavior.

According to Downey (1987), corporate culture originates from corporate identity and serves as the essence of a company, while identity serves as its reason. Ambler and Barrow (1996) equate corporate culture with the values that sustain the organizational purpose and strategy embodied by corporate identity. Similarly, Barley (1983) links corporate identity and culture, considering culture as a complex set of symbols,

values, beliefs, and assumptions which dictate a firm's operational norms. Normann (1991) shares a similar view that culture is pivotal to defining corporate identity and principles that guide normative behavior. Schmidt (1995) views culture as part of his corporate identity model components. The following are some of the constituents of corporate culture.

The paper explored the concept of corporate identity from various perspectives, including corporate structure, organizational structure, and corporate strategy. The research resulted in the development of a taxonomy consisting of interrelated elements that collectively define corporate identity. By specifying the various components of corporate identity, this paper makes a valuable contribution to existing literature in this field. Additionally, a section has been included in the document which discusses related concepts often confused with corporate identity, such as corporate personality, image, and reputation. The paper concludes by outlining possible areas for future research.

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APPENDIX 1: CONFUSION OF THE RELATED CONCEPTS
There are a number of concepts associated with corporate identity such as corporate personality, image and reputation. These concepts are so closely linked that usually they are confused and used interchangeably.

Although not intended to provide detailed explanations and establish relationships between related concepts, this research briefly defines each for guidance. Corporate personality refers to the collective values held by personnel within an organization. It is commonly understood as the organization's distinctive values and characteristics that constitute its identity, as stated by authors such as Baker and Balmer (1997) and Cornelissen and Harris (1999). Many authors such as Bernstein (1984), Birkight and Stadler (1986), Abratt (1989), Olins (1989), Shee and Abratt (1989), Hutton (1997), and Cornelissen and Harris (1999) consider corporate personality as the sum total of

an organization's characteristics from which corporate identity arises.

Corporate personality, which encompasses the corporate philosophy, mission, vision, strategy, and principles, is a primary subset of corporate identity. Corporate image refers to the stakeholders’ collective perceptions of how an organization depicts itself intentionally or unintentionally. This perception is derived from all the stakeholders' experiences, beliefs, emotions, knowledge, and impressions about the organization. Therefore, the corporate identity is embedded within the organization while the corporate image exists in stakeholders' minds. (Spector, 1961; Bernstein, 1984; Topalian, 1984; Markwick and Fill, 1997; Dowling, 1986; Van Rekom, 1997).

Corporate reputation and corporate image are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct differences. According to Dowling (1994), corporate image is the overall impression an organization makes, while corporate reputation is the assessment or respect in which an entity's image is held. Reputation is a reflection of past observed identity cues and potential transactional experiences, while corporate image can be altered swiftly by organizational changes or communication programs. Corporate reputation requires long-term attention and consistent image maintenance, making it more resilient than image. Markwick and Fill (1997) note that reputation can serve as a dependable source of favorability and support in favorable situations (positive reputation), as well as suspicion and avoidance during challenging times (negative reputation).

Corporate identity is crucial for the formation of a company's image as it is how stakeholders perceive and interpret it (Van Rekom, 1997). Corporate identity management aims to establish a positive image among key stakeholders, ultimately contributing to a favorable corporate reputation and a positive disposition towards the organization in the long run. Public relations involves managing communication between an organization and its publics (Hunt and Grunig, 1994). However,

confusion between public relations and other communication functions, particularly marketing, has been noted by academics and practitioners alike (Kotler and Mindak, 1978; Kitchen and Moss, 1995). There is increasing recognition of the integration and convergence of marketing communication and public relations practices (Merims, 1972; Goldman, 1988; Novelli, 1988). Appendix 2 includes the sub-constructs of the corporate identity construct, including controlled corporate communication.

The text lists the different categories that determine the corporate identity construct. These categories include management communication, marketing communication, organizational communication, uncontrolled communication, and indirect communication. Another factor that contributes to corporate identity is corporate design, specifically the corporate visual identity system.

(2) The heading, (3) the slogan, (4) the selected font, (5) the logo and/or icon, and (6) the chosen color palette are all crucial components of design.

(7) A corporate visual identity system can be utilized in a multitude of applications, such as (8) designing products, (9) creating environmental designs, (10) constructing building architecture, (11) shaping the interior design of office buildings, and (12) adding decoration.

(13) The application of a corporate visual identity system goes beyond just landscape use and can also cover (15) stationery and (16) publications.

(17) The transportation of goods, (18) indication of information, (19) garments for clothing purposes, (20) documents for record-keeping, and (21) promotion of products or services.

The text describes various aspects of corporate culture, such as packaging, promotion/give-aways, and the company's philosophy, values, and mission. The information is presented within .The corporation's principles, guidelines, history, founder, and country of origin are all encompassed in this paragraph marked with the

tag.

(9) Subcultures in the corporate world encompass various forms of conduct, such as (1) corporate behavior, (2) employee behavior,

and (3) management behavior. Furthermore, this topic also pertains to corporate structure, particularly with regard to brand structure.

(2) The organizational structure involves industry identity and corporate strategy with two specific approaches: (1) differentiation strategy and (2) positioning strategy. The International Corporate Identity Group's Statement on Corporate Identity, known as the Strathclyde Statement, states that every organization possesses an identity. This identity encompasses the corporate ethos, aims, values, and presents a sense of individuality that aids in setting the organization apart within its competitive environment. Corporate identity, when properly managed, has the potential to effectively integrate the various disciplines and activities necessary for an organization's success.

Effective management of an organization's corporate identity can ensure visual consistency among corporate communications and establish an image that reflects the organization's ethos and character. This creates understanding and commitment among diverse stakeholders, leading to the attraction and retention of customers and employees, establishing strategic alliances, gaining financial market support, and generating direction and purpose. Corporate identity is a strategic concern that differs from traditional brand marketing as it encompasses all stakeholders and diverse communication methods.

Revised from an original statement created in February 1995 at Strachur, Argyll, UK by Van Riel and Balmer (1997), this paragraph contains a list of questions concerning corporate identity elements. Answers to these inquiries are concealed within different aspects of the company's culture, behavior, structure, history, founder, mission, values, philosophy and strategy. The five questions are: (1) Who is the organization as a company? (2) What is the company's stance? (3) Why does the corporation exist? (4) Where did the corporation originate? and (5) Where is it headed?

(6) The company's distinctive qualities, such as its

exclusive skills and essential competencies, are its strong points. (7) Its offerings showcase the products or services that it produces or provides. (8) The way in which the company functions is determined by its culture, behavior, strategy and corporate structure; these variables collectively shape its corporate identity. (9) The arrangement of the organization discloses how the company is structured.

10) The location of the company's production is determined by its industry identity. (11) Corporate behavior reveals how the company operates. (12) Corporate communication, design, culture, behavior, structure, and strategy all contribute to how the company defines itself. APPENDIX 5: DEFINTIONS OF THE SUB-CONSTRUCTS AND ITEMS WITHIN THE CORPORATE IDENTITY CONSTRUCT Corporate communication refers to the collection of official and informal messages conveyed through various media to multiple audiences or stakeholders in order to convey a company's identity (Gray and Balmer, 1998).

Corporate communication refers to the different types of communication a company uses to establish and maintain positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Controlled corporate communication involves managing this communication intentionally to ensure it aligns with the company's vision and mission. Management communication focuses on conveying these values to create a favorable image among stakeholders. Marketing communication supports sales of company goods and services, while organizational communication encompasses all forms of stakeholder interaction in interdependent relationships. Uncontrolled communication occurs unintentionally, without conscious effort from the organization (Van Rekom, 1997; Olins, 1989; Van Riel, 1995; Moingeon and Ramanantsoa, 1997).

Corporate design is a specific design system for a company that encompasses all visual aspects, including typographic style, color, and form (Schmidt, 1995). A corporate visual identity system is a collection of visual cues that enables the identification and

differentiation of a company from others (Bernstein, 1984). A name is a distinct label that identifies a company (Dowling, 1994), while a slogan is a brief statement summarizing the mission or purpose of an organization or the products and services it offers (Baker and Balmer, 1997). Typography pertains to the style, size, and arrangement of letters in printed materials.

Logo type and symbol refer to the visual representation of a company's name or sign used for identification. Corporate culture is the shared values and beliefs that shape an organization's norms, while corporate philosophy represents the core assumptions of management's values. Corporate values are the moral principles and ideals that form the foundation of a company's culture, including language, rituals, and beliefs. Finally, corporate mission is the overarching purpose or objectives that drive a company's existence.

Corporate principles, which encompass the mission, targets and values of a company, serve as the foundation for all corporate actions (Schmidt, 1995). Corporate guidelines, on the other hand, provide an interpretation of these principles for individual areas of business activity and function as a guide for the behavior of individuals within an organization (Fritz, 1999). The founder of a company is the person responsible for its creation. Country of origin imagery, which refers to the picture, reputation and stereotype consumers have of products originating from a specific country (Varey, 1999), also plays a role in shaping corporate identity. In addition, subcultures represented by different departments or divisions in an organization can impact its overall identity (Van Maanen, 1991). Finally, behavior refers to the nature of human interaction and conduct within organizations.

Corporate behaviour encompasses the actions resulting from corporate attitudes that influence

identity, whether planned in line with company culture or occurring randomly. The behaviour of employees refers to their attitude and way of working on a daily basis, while management behaviour reflects the organization's core values to both internal and external audiences. The brand structure of a corporation concerns the branding of its products, business units, and corporate umbrella, as well as their perception by the public. Brand strategy is closely tied to this structure, involving the combination and use of corporate, house, and individual brand names on products.

Organizational structure, according to Melewar and Saunders (1998), is the established pattern of relationships between the component parts of an organization, which outlines communication, control, and authority patterns. Industry identity, as stated by Olins (1995), refers to the underlying economic and technical characteristics of an industry, including industry size, growth patterns, rates of change, competitiveness, and use of technology. Corporate strategy, as defined by Gray and Balmer (1998), is the master plan of a company that outlines its products and market scope, overall objectives, and the policies through which it competes in its chosen markets. Differentiation strategy involves capitalizing on an organization's inherent capabilities that define its basic identity, as put forth by Simpson (1988).

The positioning strategy refers to the process of assigning a distinct position to a company based on its self-perception in order to set it apart from competitors (Schmidt, 1995). Corporate advertising, which accounts for more than $9 billion in yearly expenditures (Belch and Belch, 1996), communicates information about a company. Its primary goal is either to build a corporate image or increase investment (Javagli, Traylor, Gross and Lampman, 1994; Schumann, Hathcote and West,

1991), but it can also affect consumers' knowledge of the corporation's marketed products (Hartigan and Finch, 1986; Winkleman, 1985). It is crucial for brand managers to recognize this impact as they are responsible for creating and maintaining brand knowledge among consumers. While previous research on corporate advertising has focused on categorizing schemes based on different messages and targets and their implications for corporate image (Rothschild, 1987; Schumann et al.).

In 1991, research did not thoroughly explore or empirically analyze the potential transfer of brand knowledge. Additionally, previous brand studies mainly focused on advertising tactics without considering the impact of corporate advertising. This paper suggests that pass-through is possible, but may be influenced by consumers' existing brand knowledge. In a laboratory experiment, we confirmed this theory by exposing all participants to a single corporate ad to establish corporate ad knowledge.

Afterwards, individuals encounter a brand advertisement that may or may not include cues for recalling information about the company ad and a previously familiar brand. The study evaluates the transfer of ideas and assessments about the product. Typically, studies suggest that when an advertisement is viewed, consumers develop memories of it that are stored in their minds (MacKenzie, Lutz and Belch 1986), resulting in an accumulation of knowledge regarding corporate ads.

The process aligns with the conventional intention of corporate advertising to establish and sustain a favorable corporate perception, as stated by Rothschild (1987) and Schumann et al. (1991). Along with corporate advertising knowledge, consumers possess memory-based brand knowledge that also comprises beliefs, affect, and attitudes (Garbett, 1983; MacKenzie et al., 1986; Keller, 1993). These factors can affect evaluations of products.

Consumers usually evaluate products by combining

stimulus information with knowledge they recall from memory (Lynch and Srull 1982; Alba and Hutchinson 1987). Knowledge retrieval is affected by cues such as names or identifying labels, which activate relevant information in memory (Keller 1987). Corporate advertisements and brand knowledge retrieval cues can influence product evaluations. When consumers process products, retrieved corporate ad knowledge may affect their evaluations in various ways. For instance, consumers may use their retrieved corporate ad knowledge to deduce new product beliefs.

Retrieved knowledge is utilized to form new beliefs (Fiske and Pavelchak 1986). If a consumer comes across an advertisement about a product from a company that has previously advertised environmental concerns, they may deduce that the product is environmentally friendly. These believed notions stem from corporate advertisement knowledge but are linked with the promoted products. Additionally, consumers may alter their pre-existing product beliefs based on retrieved corporate ad knowledge.

Crocker, Fiske and Taylor (1984) revealed that processing new and relevant information can alter preexisting beliefs. For instance, consumers may enhance their already held views on product quality if they encounter an advertisement from a company known for their corporate advertising on quality matters. Moreover, changing or inferring new product beliefs can lead to a modification in existing product attitudes. To test for pass-through effects, we will examine product evaluations in the presence and absence of corporate ad retrieval cues, using a product ad without brand retrieval cues as a starting point.

In this circumstance, the retrieval cues of corporate advertising, such as the name of the corporation, are anticipated to result in varied product knowledge among consumers. As noted earlier, consumers formulate assessments of products within the framework of their

retrieved knowledge (Lynch and Srull 1982). Hence, by utilizing the methods described earlier, retrieval cues linked to corporate advertising knowledge should result in higher pass-through. The second matter pertains to factors that moderate pass-through.

Considering that research has shown that information processing is influenced by consumers' pre-existing knowledge (Alba, Hutchinson and Lynch 1991), it is reasonable to assume that pass-through is similarly affected. Thus, we will examine the impact of brand retrieval cues, such as the brand's name, on a product advertisement. If the presence or absence of corporate ad retrieval cues has a different comparative effect when brand retrieval cues are present versus absent, we can infer that pass-through is moderated by consumers' brand knowledge retrieval. In such scenarios, we anticipate no alteration in product evaluations despite the presence of corporate ad retrieval cues. Although these cues may assist consumers in recalling their relevant corporate ad knowledge, there are two reasons why they are unlikely to use it to evaluate the product.

According to Alba et al. (1991), consumers are less likely to use a specific knowledge source if they have retrieved several sources from memory. Additionally, Lynch, Marmorstein, and Weigold (1988) suggest that when retrieving multiple knowledge sources, consumers tend to prioritize the most diagnostic one due to the limited capacity of short-term memory, while disregarding others. Since corporate ad knowledge has less impact on product evaluation compared to brand knowledge and ad information, the presence of brand retrieval cues should not affect product evaluation through corporate ad retrieval cues. Therefore, the retrieval of pre-existing brand knowledge by consumers should moderate the pass-through of corporate ad knowledge. The experiment conducted demonstrates that although corporate ad

pass-through to brand knowledge is possible, it is moderated by consumers' pre-existing brand knowledge retrieval.

Our research confirms the intuitions of managers and researchers (Hartigan and Finch 1986; Winkleman 1985) that pass-through occurs in corporate advertising. This means that even though corporate ad information is not directly related to brand quality, it still affects both brand beliefs and attitudes when passed through. By providing empirical validation of pass-through, our study extends the corporate advertising literature and broadens the scope of ad processing models within the brand literature. Additionally, our findings highlight the importance of advertising memory on consumers' brand information processing, which is significant for brand managers.

If brand managers want to benefit from positive corporate advertising knowledge, they should consider utilizing specific tactics. These tactics include incorporating corporate ad symbols or slogans into brand advertisements and featuring the corporate name prominently in product names. By doing so, consumers may transfer their corporate ad knowledge onto the brand. Additionally, tracking studies should be conducted to measure corporate ad knowledge and its impact on brand ad effectiveness and changes in brand knowledge. It is important to note that the results of this research are subject to limitations commonly found in academic advertising research, such as the use of student samples and a single, forced ad exposure. Other limitations of the study offer potential avenues for future research. While we did not assess evaluations of corporate and brand names, variations in relative evaluations may moderate pass-through.

Future studies should investigate how varying evaluations of corporation and brand names impact pass-through, as extremely negative evaluations of the corporate name may still be processed despite knowledge of the brand. It is important

to note that, while we manipulated brand knowledge retrieval, brand knowledge itself was not altered. Our research utilized a moderately familiar brand, New Balance, but future studies could explore whether pass-through differs dramatically depending on how familiar consumers are with a brand. Our findings indicate that familiarity plays a significant role in pass-through onto brand attitude. Gaining a better understanding of these moderating effects can guide managers in utilizing corporate advertising to prepare markets for new product launches (Garbett 1983). Furthermore, it is worth noting that all subjects in our study were exposed to the same corporate advertisement.

In actuality, a range of messages and creative techniques are utilized in corporate advertising (Garbett 1983). Further investigation could reveal that the effectiveness of pass-through is affected by the methods employed in corporate advertising. One instance of this is 3M's corporate advertising campaign that showcases its innovative approach by featuring a visual of its Post It Notes product. This tactic may potentially increase the likelihood of pass-through. Overall, we assert that investigating pass-through in corporate advertising can yield valuable insights for both managers and researchers.