How To Maintain The Sheen On Your Corporate Image
Maintaining a corporate image is much more about just working on a logo or changing its tagline. At any point of time, to maintain and or transform your corporate identity effectively, you will need to ensure all materials are aligned with your mission, values, and purpose.
International branding expert Landor & Associates’, Lulu Raghavan informs that, “The wrong way is to change only the logo and nothing else about an organization, with the expectation that the company’s image will automatically follow suit.”
We don’t want this to happen. Every corporate and the service or product it is offering represents certain perceptions and mental image. Unless the corporate is consciously working to alter or change it, the preconceived one needs constant maintenance so that the image sustains its sheen (literally). Here is how you should go about it:
Have an effective PR mandate
Public Relations is the sum all of people’s perceptions, mirror images, follies, misrepresentations and then correcting them all, to come back to the where you started from- what the brand or product really stands for. Therefore, it is wrong to think that you can continue to bask in the glory of past achievements of being the best in the world of watches, and living with ease that no one can threatened that position. Instead, best is to continue to reiterate and maintain what is already there- a perfect brand or product image.
Use Social Media Seriously
Social media is undeniably taken as a serious medium of communication and opinion building platform today. It works well both for individuals and corporate alike. These include platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Keep a track of what is being posted and said about your company online. One negative comment can snowball easily into tarnishing a well established corporate image. The resulting effects could vary from loss of sales, poor customer retention rates and lack of trust in your brand. It is important to be active on social media so that you can deal with any contentious issues surrounding your brand. Connect with your clients, create engaging conversations and be ready to respond to their questions and problems.
Good Communication Channels for Employees
Move away from only using websites and social media to communicate your brand and company’s value system to your employees. Remember, employees also talk and carry the brand image ahead, with their persona and mindset in social settings, meetings and casual gatherings as well. Every single individual in the company is a brand ambassador. Hire carefully and create a positive corporate culture. Set and enforce the right tone and make sure each employee knows the values the organization stands for. Make sure they know how the organization operates and what quality of service you intend to deliver.
Customer is King
Going up the ladder as a successful brand or corporate, keep your channels of communication with your client open and transparent. Remember, nothing works better than sincere feedback from your client. Make it a point to devise ways to interact directly with the clients to improve and keep building your corporate image. You can try experiential marketing where you give first customers free trials of your products or services. You can organize a special event in the neighborhood and invite your target audience.
