Many large companies and agencies, including ours, get caught up talking about the ways a solid corporate identity attracts consumers. There is a good reason for that – it is true. But perhaps, some may have undervalued the importance of a strong corporate identity as an internal aspect of your company.
Internal branding is a key component of a company’s image, creating consistency within. It is just as important to market your brand to your employees – your lifeblood – as it is to market it to existing and potential customers.
Brand identity is important for the internal relations of all businesses, both large and small. But the bigger the business, the more important it becomes to establish a clear and convincing corporate identity. In businesses with a large number of employees, it is easy for individuals to receive little to no attention. And because it is a long process for information to trickle from the top, some individuals might never have a clear grasp of the purpose they serve. When that happens, productivity thins.
Let’s review a typical basic corporate identity package: a logo, website, letterhead, business cards, and brand book guidelines. When these aspects of corporate identity are high-quality and effective, employees are more productive. When employees are more productive, they produce better work. And when better work is produced, the corporate identity is reinforced externally.
Good Corporate Identity Educates Employees
No one wants to do something they don’t know how to do. Tasks become burdens without proper education. Corporate identity, especially the brand book guidelines, teaches employees about their company’s boundaries. These limitations are beneficial. The fewer ways there are to do something, the easier it becomes to start doing it. You don’t have to waste time figuring out which path to take. When an employee gets an assignment, they know that the approach must encompass the established guidelines. Good corporate identity allows employees to know what they are getting behind.
Good Corporate Identity Motivates Employees
Many people won’t do something if they don’t know why they are supposed to do it. Motivation is a product of purpose. And you can’t have a purpose without having a reason. Knowing why you have to do something a certain way increases the likelihood that it will get done right. Corporate identity provides the reasons why a company exists and the reasons why it does things the way it does. Through the carefully crafted look of the brand identity or the precise wording in a brand book or website, a corporate identity makes it more likely for an employee to live up to the ideology behind the rules. Good corporate identity allows employees to know why they are doing things the way they are doing them.
Good Corporate Identity Asserts the Beliefs of Employees
Some people can’t believe in something without seeing it. For others, seeing it certainly helps. Corporate identity makes the intangibles of a company tangible. Brand guidelines influence the logo, and then that logo influences the website, the letterhead, and the business cards. Logos must operate on at least two levels. They should look pleasing to the eye, and mean something. When a logo does this, positive emotional reactions are created. The corporate identity becomes a flag, and the employees are free to wave it. Good corporate identity allows employees to be proud of where they work and share it with others.
