When Corporate Identity Becomes Restrictive

[suzib001]

Is there anyone else that thinks corporate identity and business image are beginning to become restrictive to the talented people that may have to hide behind these rules.

This post stems from me being asked to do a PowerPoint presentation this morning by my manager having spent a while on this project I emailed it to my manager for her approval she then sent it on to her superiors for final approval. Despite my manager loving the presntation saying I had captured exactly what she was intending to say and her superiors agreeing I was told it would have to be redone as it did not fit the company corporate image! I have now had to transfer it onto the basic backgrounds/fonts and things that we should now use in order to maintain our identity and to be honest it doesn't have quite the same impact.

I have to ask the question are we basing our image on being boring and predictable and our we branding ourself for a fall - When you look at Global chains such as Nike and Adidas they do have a corporate image but is it much more subtle for their market after all would we keep buying their trainers if their adverts were the same everytime.

Can we take this whole image thing to far or is their still room for individuality and flare alongside this corporate fad?

[Jackie G]

Suzi

Corporate image is important, but yes, within that, there should always be some level of scope for creativity and flair.  Obviously without the exact particulars (and please don't give them to us!) it's hard to be precise about what route that creativity and flair can take.

If the background and fonts your company uses are so plain, is there a reason for this or don't they know what is available to them?  Remember, some folk have never changed their Word settings from the default Times New Roman font - ugh ugh ugh ugh ugh!

Who is your manager giving this presentation to?  The first thing I would say is, keep your original presentation and by all means make it using the corporate stuff but don't lose your original one.

Then, depending on who your manager is giving her presentation to, could she get away with using YOUR version?

OR

Is there a route here to go to senior senor management and say, hey look at this!  It's a snazzier, cleaner, (you choose the words here!) more up to date format for presentations - how about we move into the 21st century?

Either way, be sure to come back and tell us what transpires!  As Andrea loves to say, enquiring minds want to know!

Jackie
www.secretarialsummit.com
Peer Moderator

[bethalize]

You're going to love this, Suzi. I'm afraid I don't agree with you. I subscribe to the crystal goblet school of design - like a crystal wine glass, the design of something should be beautiful in itself but hardly noticeable by the reader. This comes from an essay by Beatrice Ward - see http://www.nenne.com/typography/crystalgoblet1.html for full details - but the point is that to decorate something is to hide it.

It is also very difficult (especially with presentations) to avoid irritating people. The whizzy breaking sound on slide 15 might truly be witty and funny, but if your client has no sense of humour, it's not going to help your cause.

I'm sure presentation was great, but I would say that uniform slides, documents, figures etc all make a company look together and professional.


Bethalize
Peer Moderator

[lauragfoss]

I agree with Bethalize.  Companies have reasons for doing what they do, and I feel when a presentation is made by anyone in the company, it should have a nice, consistent look from person to person and department to department.  Not saying that that look can't be snazzier than the norm, but if you're looking to be creative in your job there are industries just for that--advertising, for example, as you yourself cited in your post.  If you want to use flair, you need to be in an industry that embraces that.

[suzib001]

Sorry I think I may have missed the point with my post .. I wasn't necessarily talking about just presentations and Powerpoint and it was not that I was just irate that my version was not excepted. I understand the need for corporate image .. and the professional edge it creates in things like presentation.

I was after a general opinion regarding corporate image rather than response to my specific personal experience... any more opinions would be excellent!!

Whether you agree corporate image is going too far or is it the way of the future??

[mathwhizchick]

Since Corporate Image equals BRAND for many, I would hazard a guess that it's here to stay.
To corporations, at least, Brand is crucial.  For many of us, Brand is pervasive....
In the US, we don't ask someone for a tissue; we ask if they have a Kleenex.
We don't overnight something--we FedEx it.
We don't photocopy something--we Xerox it..

The list goes on.

[msmarieh]

I think it is only going to increase in the future. Corporate image is created, among other things, by consistently portraying the same "face" to the world. Presentations and marketing materials build up over time so that in a person's mind, even the simplest element becomes associated with that product and company. Witness the McDonalds arches, the Nike "whoosh", the Microsoft Windows icon.

Marie