Search results

Describes the initiation and development of a corporate identity/visual identity programme, using a major UK university as a case study. Concludes that assessing a visual identity can be useful in identifying organizational weaknesses. However, whereas a weak visual identity may be a symptom of corporate malaise, a new visual identity, although powerful, should be used as part of an integrated approach when repositioning an organization.

Despite a well‐established corporate identity construct there is still ambiguity and disorientation regarding the corporate visual identity construct. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the inconsistent use of terminologies such as “symbolism” and “corporate design” as well as pointing towards an insufficient conceptualisation of the corporate identity and visual identity construct vis‐à‐vis other sensory dimensions.

A review of existing categorisations and conceptualisations of the corporate identity and visual identity construct is provided.

The paper presents a remodelled corporate visual identity construct that takes a holistic sensory perspective and proposes the corporate sensory identity construct as a more adequate and flexible reflection of current business reality.

The paper offers fundamental guidance for managers regarding the integrated and holistic utilisation of a set of sensory communication activities as part of their corporate identity management.

This paper contributes to the further understanding of the complexity of corporate identity management by addressing additional sensory dimensions apart from visual identity management. Moreover, by stressing the particular relevance of music and sound, this paper stimulates the integration of the auditory dimension as additional facet of a communication tool kit.

Although the prominence of social media for companies is widely acknowledged, a close examination of the literature reveals a lack of empirical research pertaining to the effect of consistency specifically on social media. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in social media communication concerning the effect of consistent visual identity on social media users.

The study executed an experiment 2 (corporate visual identity condition) × 2 (organization type) between subjects design to map the effects of consistent visual identity on social media users appreciation of the visual identity, attitude toward the company, reputation and intention to commit to a company on social media.

The results of the study indicated the significant effects of consistent visual identity on social media users over the inconsistent conditions of visual identity on all dependent variables. Furthermore, there were insignificant main effects of organization type on general judgment, credibility, distinctiveness and reputation of the company.

This study presents the effects of consistent visual identity on social media platforms. The research will help marketing academicians, graphic designers and social media practitioners in online marketing by using its practical implications to strategically positioning their corporate brand in a social media environment.

This study provides novel insights on the impact of consistency on social media users. This is the first study to determine the role of consistent visual identity in the social media environment. It thereby adds to the literature of visual identity by developing the sphere of influence of consistency and its effects toward the user’s attitude.

This paper aims to investigate how and when visual referents in brand visual aesthetics (i.e. colours, shapes, patterns and materials) serve as design applications that enable consumer diasporic identity.

This paper uses an innovative methodology that triangulates 58 in-depth interviews with diasporic consumers, 9 interviews with brand managers and designers and a visual analysis of brands (food retailer, spices and nuts, skincare, hair and cosmetics, ice cream and wine) to provide a view of the phenomenon from multiple perspectives.

This study illustrates how and when particular applications and compositions of product and design referents support diasporic identity for Middle Eastern consumers living outside the Middle East. Specifically, it illustrates how the design applications of harmonising (applying separate ancestral homeland and culture of living product and design referents simultaneously), homaging (departing from the culture of living product and design referents with a subtle tribute to ancestral homeland culture) and heritaging (departing from the ancestral homeland culture product and design referents with slight updates to a culture of living style) can enable diasporic identity in particular social situations.

Although applied to the Middle Eastern diaspora, this research opens up interesting avenues for future research that assesses diasporic consumers’ responses to brands seeking to use visual design to engage with this market. Moreover, future research should explore these design applications in relation to issues of cultural appreciation and appropriation.

The hybrid design compositions identified in this study can provide brand managers with practical tools for navigating the design process when targeting a diasporic segment. The design applications and their consequences are discussed while visually demonstrating how they can be crafted.

While previous research mainly focused on how consumption from the ancestral homeland occurred, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine how hybrid design compositions that combine a diaspora’s ancestral homeland culture and their culture of living simultaneously and to varying degrees resonate with diasporic consumers.

The aim is to review and discuss main conceptualizations, themes and assumptions within organizational-level visual identity (VI) in order to identify potential avenues of theoretical advancement of VI as an independent construct.

An integrative review approach offers a structured, nuanced perspective on the concept by synthesizing extant literature through an iterative, critical and qualitative process.

The synthesis identifies three overlapping terms [corporate visual identity (CVI), visual brand identity (VBI) and VI] and two main themes (visual consistency and authenticity). The dominant assumptions underpinning consistency and authenticity are challenged by alternative understandings, which provide a platform for perceiving visual consistency and authenticity in new ways.

The review offers an overview of organizational-level VI that helps define the concept as well as critical reflections which open up for additional research avenues that may develop it and point to potential areas for exploration.

The review provides practitioners with a platform for discussing how to approach visual identities with regards to consistency and authenticity.

The review contributes with a synthesis of VI literature covering 50 years. It offers a structured presentation of and critical discussion on the underlying, dominant assumptions. By challenging these dominant assumptions, a palette of future research opportunities, with potentials to nuance and develop the concept as a unique construct, are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how a professional accountants' Institute has projected its changing professional identity through its annual reports. Extensive research has shown that the annual report is one of an organization's most important documents to communicate with stakeholders. The New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants celebrated its centenary year in 2008. It is therefore timely to explore how this influential professional institute has projected its evolving identity to its stakeholders over 100 years of annual reports.

The paper uses a content analysis of archival records. The type of information and the manner of presentation via textual information and visual images in the Institute's annual reports are used to track a changing professional identity.

The analysis did not find any definitive statements of professional identity by the professional accountants' Institute. Early annual reports used a singular visual image to project authenticity. Increasing use ansd complexity of visual images and mission/vision statements projected an identity of expertise, integrity and global relevance, paralleling the impacts of globalization and advances in technology. The last decade of the Institute's annual reports reveals a sophisticated use of visual images and printing to enhance textual information. This marked a dramatic turn in the projection of professional identity whilst retaining the communication of a basic reality and professional traits to its members and stakeholders.

The paper is valuable as few other research studies have investigated the projection of changing professional identities via identity statements and visual imagery in annual reports.

Entrepreneurial identity is a complex concept. It has been recognised as a subjective and dynamic socio-cognitive factor which is not stable over time and is part of an iterative formation process. This chapter explores the journey of adopting, implementing and reviewing visual methods, in order to examine entrepreneurial identity, from the researchers’ perspectives. A critical standpoint is offered which explores both the benefits and challenges that presented themselves in the search for rich data.

When a new logo is released, it does not have an established meaning in the mind of the viewer. As logos have become more highly scrutinized by consumers and critics, it has become more important to understand viewers’ initial responses to logos. While other studies have researched the impact of aesthetic choices on viewer reaction to logos, this study aims to understand the effect of the surrounding visual identity system when a new logo is introduced.

This study combines a content analysis of 335 posts on the logo review website Brand New with the voting data from their polls to understand how visual context correlates with a viewer’s initial response.

Increased amounts of visual context correlate to an improved response from viewers. Different types of context that can be presented – from logo variations and environmental examples to videos and animation – have varied effects.

When releasing a new logo, companies and organizations may receive a better response from viewers if they provide more visual context. Animations may also provide an improved response.

This study takes a novel approach to exploring viewer responses to logos by combining content analysis with voting data. While most studies use fictitious or abstract logo designs, this study uses actual logos and context to better understand viewer responses.

Despite the significance of sound, hitherto the auditory dimension has been widely ignored with regard to corporate identity management and corporate communication. This paper aims to expand the domains of corporate identity and corporate communication by focusing on the auditory dimension as a component of company‐controlled communication.

Based on an extensive review of corporate identity and corporate communication literature, a set of hypotheses is proposed that reflect antecedents of corporate auditory identity management.

The paper not only illustrates the importance of the auditory dimension as part of corporate identity management, it also provides initial suggestions of antecedent factors that are expected to determine the utilisation of sound on a corporate level.

The presented discussion about the role of auditory identity vis‐à‐vis corporate identity management provides initial guidance for managers when considering the auditory dimension as a potential ingredient of their communication tool kit. Moreover, this paper advances existing knowledge by providing initial insight into the relationship between domains such as auditory identity and corporate identity, visual identity and corporate communication.

Designers have used Corporate Visual Identity Systems (CVIS) to widen the communications mix. Using name, symbol and/or logo, typography, colour and slogan, a CVIS helps transmit a company’s visual identity through fixed assets, such as buildings, vehicles and other business collateral. This wider view of business communications adds an eighth P, publications, to the seven Ps of service marketing: product, price, place, promotion, participants, physical evidence and process. Managerial literature suggests that firms who standardise their CVIS anticipate communications benefits beyond the usual marketing mix. A comparison of multinational companies with and without standardised CVIS supports this view.