Designing e-logos in corporate identity strategy
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FOO CHECK-TECK was on the board of advisers of the International Corporate Identity Studies Group based in the UK and is currently the coordinator for Asia of the International Corporate Identity Studies Centre based at the University of Strathclyde. Besides his associate professorship at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore he is also visiting professor at the New York Institute of Technology, USA and honorary research professor at Copenhagen Business College, Denmark. He is a winner of the UK Literati Club’s Award for Excellence 2000 for his contribution to Corporate Communications: An International Journal.
Abstract The rise of the Internet as a primary means of corporate communication has led to two parallel developments: the profusion of competing firms that exist virtually, and the proliferation of visuals by these firms. Given this, the paper argues why firms ought to review their corporate identity, especially in terms of design. This argument is illustrated by empirically appraising the e-logos of firms drawn from the information technology industry. It is found that perceived attractiveness of a corporate e-logo is associated with greater complexity and with greater use of symbols rather than just more letters, but not with more use of colour. From these results a summary model is put forward.
INTRODUCTION
Foo Check-Teck Nanyang Technological University, MPE Centre for Engineering and Technology Management, Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 Tel: 65 790 5713; Fax: 65792 1911; E-mail: [email protected]
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The effective communication of corporate identity is one major source for creating competitive advantage.1 Intuitively, even without the Internet to compete for human attention, a suitably and attractively designed corporate logo is a most useful tool; a visual tool for communicating positively about a product or company. For example, the triangular Mercedes logo for the German vehicle manufacturer communicates both stability (triangular symbol enveloped in a circle) and status (the upper tip of the triangle implies an apex). Such a statement is arguably more valid in the Internet, screen-based, global environment than in mainly printed-page means of communicating the product or company in the old economy (notwithstanding radio and television).
More importantly in the cluttered realm of the Internet, a corporate elogo is essential to communicate a sense of the corporation or firm being present out there to surfers. The cheap, easy, immediate availability of the Internet is turning top management to focus more on the design2 aspects of corporate identity — for example, on how people respond to their corporate e-logos seen off the computer screen. Aesthetics3 grows to become an essential component in the strategic aspects of corporate marketing. Growing emphasis on the design aspects of corporate identity does not mean less emphasis is to be put on the operational significance of identity building, for example, on impacts among staff internally.4 Issues such as the goodness of internal fit5 remain
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