Communications - Corporate Visual Identity

Every business needs a persona for it to be identified by customers. Logos and slogans are the vehicles for businesses and brands to catch the eyes of the public. They are the first point of contact in the chase for customers, so well designed logos with distinguishing styles and colours and slogans conveying appropriate messages can bring forth direct competitive advantage and marketing success. Companies are willing to invest heavily for that success. Now, this need is not confined to businesses.

Public organisation such as educational establishments, research organisations and professional institutions are seeing that they have customers too, so they need to seek for recognition of their presence and the value of their work.

Universities and professional institutions see the advantage of having support from their stakeholders – students, members, employees and the government. They also need recognition from other businesses and employers.

Visual Identify programmes have to be designed with a strong fashion sense. They have to be in trend and should not be restricted to local applications. As the world has become closer (thanks to technology and communication advancement), styles and designs must have global appeals. The HSBC slogan of ‘The World’s Local Bank’ is an excellent example of designing with an international and local flavour.


‘Tradition’ has always been a symbol of quality – that the products or services have stood the test of time. The royal crests in Britain are symbols of respect and authority, and used for selling the values of history and ‘tradition’. However, crests are now being seen to be somewhat complicated for the eye and symbols of being out of touch. University of Warwick, among other traditional universities in the UK, felt that their crest does not reflect well on their modern and innovative philosophy so they have now updated their image with a modernised, ‘clean-cut’ visual and typography.

ACCA have had several logo changes in the last two decades. In 2007, they were criticised for spending £85,000 on a new logo. Neil Stevenson, the Marketing Director of ACCA explained that the new logo is more suitable for the internet age. Besides the logo, the professional body refreshed their advertisements and publicity materials. It was claimed that the new approach to publicity could be a major reason for the 6.1% increase in membership in 2007.

In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Institute of Chartered Secretaries (HKICS) also revamped their visual identity. Along with a new logo, they also have a new tagline – ‘More than meets the eye’. By these new images, HKICS hopes to enhance their professional profile and the value of their members in strategic decisions within an organisation. Although quantifiable results are still unknown, professional recognition and contribution of HKICS is strongly felt in the community.

Visual Identify is only a part of any Corporate Identity programme. For any effort for corporate image refreshing to be effective, updating of the logos and slogans must be carried out in sync with other publicity plans. Corporate communications experts and writers T.C. Melewar and Sibel Akel, have stressed that corporate imaging projects need to be approached with serious consideration being given to Communication and Visual Identity, Behaviour, Corporate Culture and Market Conditions. Without these, organisations’ corporate communication plans will not be effective, and money involved would easily go down the drain.