Corporate image and product positioning
A corporate image should be consistent with the positioning of the company’s product, product line or brand. Any incongruency between the overall corporate image and the positions of individual product offerings will be confusing to potential customers and will tend to reduce sales revenue. For example, an oil company that has the image of being environmentally unfriendly will not be successful selling products that they try to position as “green”. A company in such a situation should either: withdraw from the “green market”, invest in promotional activities that will recast their corporate image in a greener hue, and/or follow a more environmentally friendly path. A good overall corporate image can be seen as the sum of all the images associated with the firm’s individual product positions.
The corporate name and logo must also be consistent with the overall corporate image. If you wish to craft a scientific/technical/innovative corporate image you would not call your company Mystic Sunchild, nor would you use a logo like the NBC peacock.
Likewise with advertising themes and distribution partners; they must also be consistent with your overall corporate image. If, for example, you wish to create a luxury/high-end corporate image, you should not distribute your products through Walmart nor use slapstick advertising themes.
A successful corporate image must also be believable. That is, the image must be relatively close to your actual behaviours to be credible.
10 Comments