Lecture 3: Corporate identity, branding and corporate reputation Flashcards
Three strategic advantages of investing in the development of a corporate image
Distinctiveness: helps stakeholders recognize an organization, which establishes a “we” feeling by allowing people to identify with their organizations
Impact: can be favoured by stakeholders, which impacts the organization’s performance when the stakeholders support the organization for instance through buying the products or investing in the company
Stakeholders: consistency in corporate identify and branding allows stakeholders who have multiple roles (e.g. employees are often also customers) to trust the company, as they perceive the company as having integrity
Corporate identity (Birkigt and Stadler model)
Corporate identity consists of:
Symbolism: corporate logos and the company house style (stationary, etc.) of an organization
Communication: all planned forms of communication including corporate advertising, events, sponsorship, publicity and promotions
Behaviour: all behaviour of employees (ranging from managers and receptionist to front-line staff such as salespeople and shop assistants) that leaves an impression on stakeholders
Corporate Image (Birkigt and Stadler)
Corporate image: the way the organization is perceived by stakeholders - this is often the image that organizations project through symbolism, communication and behaviour
Corporate personality vs corporate identity (Wally Olins)
Corporate personality (organizational identity): (core values) the soul, the persona, the spirit, the culture of the organization manifested in some way
Corporate identity: (construction of an image of the organization) the tangible manifestation of a corporate personality, which projects and reflects the reality of the corporate personality
Social identity (social, organizational and corporate identity)
How individuals define themselves in terms of memberships of certain groups, such as a profession or department
The group membership contributes to a person’s sense of self.
There’s a quest for positive distinctiveness, meaning when people’s sense of self is defined in terms of ‘we’ (i.e., social identity) rather than ‘I’ (personal identity), they strive to see ‘us’ as different from, and preferably better than, ‘them’ in order to feel good about who they are and what they do.
Important that the organization ensures no group differentiate themselves within the organization in an unhealthy way that unsettles common goals for the organization
Organizational identity (social, organizational and corporate identity)
Overall self definition of the organization (the personality)
Corporate identity (social, organizational and corporate identity)
Distinct image that is projected by an organization and its members to external stakeholders
Monolithic corporate brand
A structure where all products and services, buildings, official communication and employee behavior are labeled or branded with the same company name
E.g. Disney, Coca-Cola, Nike
The brand is focused on all stakeholders of the organization, whereas product branding is only focused on customers and consumers
Transparency
a state in which the internal identity of the firm reflects positively the expectations of key stakeholders and the beliefs of these stakeholders about the firm reflect accurately the internally held identity
Toolkit to assess alignment between vision, culture and image (Hatch and Schultz)
vision: senior management’s aspirations for the organization
culture: the organization’s values as felt and shared by all employees of the organization;
image: the image or impression that outside stakeholders have of the organization.
Vision-culture gap: management moves the organization in a direction the employees do not understand or support
Does the organization’s vision inspire all its subcultures?
Does the organization practice the values it promotes?
Are the organization’s vision and culture sufficiently differentiated from those of its competitors?
Image-culture gap: misalignment about what the company stands for
What images do stakeholders associate with the organization?
In what ways do its employees and stakeholders interact?
Do employees care what stakeholders think of the organization?
Image-vision gap: organizations do not listen sufficiently to their stakeholders
Who are the organization’s stakeholders?
What do the stakeholders want from the organization?
Is the organization effectively communicating its vision to its stakeholders?
According to Hatch and Schultz, they warn against hyper-adaptation where instead of their own inner strengths, companies fashion images quickly to meet fleeting stakeholder expectations - they instead suggest companies wait for the onset of a defining moment when a new set of conventions across stakeholders or a new cultural story is emerging
Vision-culture gap
management moves the organization in a direction the employees do not understand or support
Does the organization’s vision inspire all its subcultures?
Does the organization practice the values it promotes?
Are the organization’s vision and culture sufficiently differentiated from those of its competitors?
mission culture gap
misalignment about what the company stands for
What images do stakeholders associate with the organization?
In what ways do its employees and stakeholders interact?
Do employees care what stakeholders think of the organization?
Image-vision gap
organizations do not listen sufficiently to their stakeholders
Who are the organization’s stakeholders?
What do the stakeholders want from the organization?
Is the organization effectively communicating its vision to its stakeholders?
