Image,Identity and Reputation

Identity is the visual manifestation of the company’s reality as conveyed through the organization’s name, logo, motto, products, services, buildings, stationary, uniforms, and other tangible pieces of evidence created by the organization and communicated to a variety to a variety of constituencies. It is very important to tap the mind of the consumer for which we need to have a strong identity. Hence shaping the identity must be a key feature where the central to it is a vision that encompasses a company’s core values, philosophies, standards, and goals. The next important feature is Names and Logos to help illustrate the conscious actions organizations can take to shape their identity and differentiate themselves in marketplace.Consistency is a key; organization’s vision should manifest itself consistently.

I would like to mention the example of FedEx. They changed their name from federal express to FedEx and demonstrated that it was in touch with their customers wants from their company and made a promise to emphasize this throughout their organization.
To maintain the Identity, we need to conduct an identity audit, set identity objectives, develop design and names, develop prototypes, launch and communicate and lastly implement it.

Image is a function of how constituencies perceive the organization based on all the messages it sends out through names and logos and through self preservation, including expressions of its corporate vision. Constituencies have certain perceptions about an organization before they begin to interact with it. Perceptions are based on industry and what they have read about the organization and what others have told about their interactions with the company. After interacting with an organization, the constituencies may have a different image of it than before, they have to ensure their image is better than worse.



Reputation, any type of reputation, is just the outcome of one of the many applications that can be built from identity. Where your identity is



Reputation differs from image because it is built up over a time and is not simply a perception at a given point of time. It differs from identity because it is a product of both internal and external constituencies whereas reputation is based on all constituencies. Reputation is assessed based on the perceptions of all its constituencies. Good Reputation matters as it can attract and retain best talent, as well as loyal customers which contribute to growth and commercial success. It helps to weather crisis more effectively. Every organization needs to consider corporate and social responsibility when thinking about its own reputation.

http://www.clipperz.com/tags/dickhardt_0
http://www.landor.com/?do=cPortfolio.getCase&caseid=25

The above mentioned articles give us a clearer idea on the whole topic. The first article tells us about how reputation and identity are different and cannot be misunderstood for one. The second article talks about the FedEx case.

In my experience Rin Supreme bar, the most premium bar in its category being migrated as a Surf Excel bar is a wonderful example for this topic. Surf Excel is already a premium brand in powders, while Rin is positioned on the whiteness platform, the communication exercise for the `new' surf Excel bar is expected to focus on both whiteness and stain removal. In the commercial, a kid conveys the mixed news (bad news since Supreme bar is no longer going to be available and good news since Surf Excel bar is coming into the market). The company officials said that Rin Supreme bar is already a top-end bar and it helps when it is being migrated to an already premium brand such as Surf Excel.

On a concluding note I would like to add that a close assignment between the identity and image generates a strong reputation