Corporate branding refers to the practice of promoting the
brand name of a corporate entity, as opposed to specific products or services.
The activities and thinking that go into corporate branding are different from
product and service branding because the scope of a corporate brand is typically
much broader. It should also be noted that while corporate branding is a
distinct activity from product or service branding, these different forms of
branding can, and often do, take place side-by-side within a given corporation.
The ways in which corporate brands and other brands interact is known as the
corporate brand architecture.
Corporate branding affects multiple stakeholders (e.g.,
employees, investors) and impacts many aspects of companies such as the
evaluation of their product and services, corporate identity and culture,
sponsorship, employment applications, brand extensions (see study Fetscherin
and Usunier, 2012). It therefore can result in significant economies of scope
since one advertising campaign can be used for several products. It also
facilitates new product acceptance because potential buyers are already
familiar with the name. However, this strategy may hinder the creation of
distinct brand images or identities for different products: an overarching
corporate brand reduces the ability to position a brand with an individual
identity, and may conceal different products' unique characteristics.
Corporate branding is not limited to a specific mark or
name. Branding can incorporate multiple touchpoints. These touchpoints include;
logo, customer service, treatment and training of employees, packaging,
advertising, stationery, and quality of products and services. Any means by
which the general public comes into contact with a specific brand constitutes a
touchpoint that can affec
t perceptions of the corporate brand.
It has been argued that successful corporate branding often
stems from a strong coherence between what the company’s top management seek to
accomplish (their strategic vision), what the company’s employees know and believe
(lodged in its organizational culture), and how its external stakeholders
perceived the company (their image of it). Misalignments between these three
factors, may indicate an underperforming corporate brand. This type of
corporate brand analysis has been labeled the Vision-Culture-Image (VCI)
Alignment Model.
Changes in stakeholder expectations are causing an
increasing number of corporations to integrate marketing, communications and
corporate social responsibility into corporate branding. This trend is evident
in campaigns such as IBM Smarter Planet, G.E. Ecomagination, The Coca-Cola
Company Live Positively, and DOW Human Element. As never before, people care
about the corporation behind the product. They do not separate their opinions
about the company from their opinions of that company's products or services.
This blending of corporate and product/service opinions is due to increasing
corporate transparency, which
gives stakeholders a deeper, clearer view into a
corporation's actual behavior and actual performance. Transparency is, in part,
a byproduct of the digital revolution, which has enabled
stakeholders—employees, retirees, customers, business partners, supply chain
partners, investors, neighbors—with the ability to share opinion about
corporations via social media.
Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company or business affiliation (usually with a logo) and contact information such as street addresses, telephone number(s), fax number, e-mail addresses and website. Before the advent of electronic communication business cards might also include telex details. Now they may include social media addresses such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Traditionally many cards were simple black text on white stock; today a professional business card will sometimes include one or more aspects of striking visual design.
A letterhead is the heading at the top of a sheet of letter paper (stationery). That heading usually consists of a name and an address, and a logo or corporate design, and sometimes a background pattern. The term "letterhead" is often used to refer to the whole sheet imprinted with such a heading.
Many companies and individuals prefer to create a letterhead template in a word processor or other software application. This generally includes the same information as pre-printed stationery, but at lower cost. Letterhead can then be printed on stationery (or plain paper) as needed on a local output device or sent electronically.
Letterheads are generally printed by either the offset or letterpress methods. In most countries outside North America, company letterheads are printed A4 in size (210 mm x 297 mm). In North America, the letterhead size is typically 8.5 x 11 inches.
An envelope is a common packaging item, usually made of thin
flat material. It is designed to contain a flat object, such as a letter or
card.
Traditional envelopes are made from sheets of paper cut to
one of three shapes: a rhombus, a short-arm cross, or a kite. These shapes
allow for the creation of the envelope structure by folding the sheet sides
around a central rectangular area. In this manner, a rectangle-faced enclosure
is formed with an arrangement of four flaps on the reverse side.
Resources:
Corporate Branding
