CEO of Greenhill McCarron, the Tim Greenhill interview
Wednesday 14th May 2008
Brand power has never been stronger, and companies are willing to pay a premium to tap into established namesCan corporate identity influence corporate performance?
Try this logic. 1) Castrol sold to BP for six times net asset value. 2) Why did BP pay such a premium? Because they bought the power of the Castrol name. 3) How do you get a corporate brand that powerful? By creating a distinct and consistent impression in the minds of your audiences. 4) How do you create such consistency? By deliberately managing what you do, how you do it and how you communicate it. 5) Corporate identity provides senior management with the tools to deliberately manage all aspects of their business to achieve relevant consistency. 6) Relevant consistency creates value in the brand name. Corporate mission, vision, and values. Are they soft nice-to-haves, or valuable business tools?
Can you define success for your organisation?
In a way that it will impact behaviour? In a way that will drive strategy? In a way that is more meaningful than ‘to be the best/leading/number one’ or a set of numbers? Creating a set of words that define the corporate ambition, and how it is going to be achieved, is a fundamentally focussing exercise and provides a consistent context for decision-making. Disney’s ‘To make people happy,’ for example, informs what everyone in the company should be doing everyday to deliver corporate success.
How do you know whether your identity is doing a good job?
When you are looking at your existing logo, or your desk is covered in alternative new design proposals, how will you know which one is right? How will you be able to select the design that will help you achieve your business ambition that you will be able to justify to your investors, staff and customers? To my business, corporate identity is communication, not just decoration. We take the subjectivity out of these soft, but vital decisions, giving you and your management team common grounds for decision-making. You should have a design that you’re proud of, but also you should know why you’ve got it and how they will help your achieve your business ambitions.
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