Developing the business image

Consistent image is a company’s most important resource in achieving and maintaining market leadership

When developing a business platform, image is everything.

Why? Because image forms perception and in the consumer’s mind, perception is reality. For the general public the vast majority of businesses, both large and small, are unknowable beyond their corporate identity.

A consistent image is a company’s most important resource in achieving and maintaining market leadership. It is the face that communicates and defines a company’s personality, determining how it is perceived by clients and staff alike. Corporate Image distinguishes a company’s products and services from those of its competitors, reinforcing their value. It can also be an important source of motivation for its staff.

You are in control

Indeed, corporate image is not merely a name and a logotype. It is a personality, an expectation and a contract that advises the consumer that in return for their trust and loyalty they will be rewarded with a certain quality of experience. We can either allow others to determine this personality and experience or we actively manage it ourselves.

Every point of public contact is an opportunity to either reinforce or dilute. By linking all our actions, behaviour and communication back to the business’ core values, the meaning and value are maintained and enhanced. Design, communications, culture… every item that can be used for image creation plays an integral role in overall corporate image.

It is this nett impression we leave with our audience that forms the very foundation of our reputation. The success or failure of a business is determined by this impression, positive or negative.

Image Management

The rewards of creating and nurturing a successful corporate image are high and so is the price of failure. The cost of getting it wrong is to weaken trust and loyalty, both internally and externally. To maintain a successful corporate image, we must constantly monitor its effectiveness and ensure that it is keeping stride with current trends, whilst also looking to the future. It requires constant vigilance and total commitment to the business’ core values.

This is the integral skill and value of image management. To ensure that what we say with the corporate image is delivered. To ensure that all points of contact communicate with the same voice and to let our audience – potential or current – know that what the business stands for is something that adds value to what they are trying to achieve.

Consumer Perspective

The essence in building the long-term structure of a business’ marketing is to look at it from the consumer’s perspective, not from an internal one. For the business to be profitable, it has at some stage to solve a ‘consumer driven’ problem.

Not all members of the target audience are in the buying cycle at the time we would wish them to be. So, all communication from the business will have two effects that must be considered at all times:

Specific – the times when members of the target audience are ready to buy and communication prompts this behaviour.
General – the times when people are not ready to buy but communication has a latent effect.

This culminates in the business being ‘first to mind’ when they are shopping around.

If we are building the business off an established base we must first find out:

1. What does your target audience currently think of you? What is your reputation? Is research required?
2. What do you WANT your target audience to think of you?
3. How do we make those changes?

To find the answers, we need to move into a strategic planning stage, where marketing objectives can be decided.
The first step is a meeting, at which these questions will be discussed.

To learn more about how Smarthinking can help your business in the area of strategic planning, contact Steve Osborne at attract@smarthinking.com.au or 0411 713 003