Identity, Image, Reputation

Corporations have to decide how to advertise, who their constituencies are and what kind of message they want to send. They first need to have an identity. This is created by the company and displayed thru their logos, stationary, building etc... They also need to know what their image is. This is created from the viewpoint of the constituencies. When their image and identity are aligned they end up with a solid reputation. In class when Ford's logo was displayed on the screen comments such as "junk", "unreliable" where made. I'm sure this is not the image Ford wanted it's constituencies to have when they saw it's logo. In order for companies to achieve a good image and reputation, they need to first start with their employees. If the employees don't buy into the image of the company, their is no way that the constituents will. Companies need to determine what their image and reputation are. They may assume it is one thing, but after asking constituents and employees, they may find out it is actually something else. In some cases the company may switch it's identity. An example of this would be FedEx. Years ago the company was name Federal Express but after finding out how many constituents referred to the company as FedEx the company decided to change its logo and go with the identity that the constituents had created.







Personal Experience
Not only do companies have an identity, image, and reputation, but so do people. When I was in high school I had an identity based on my image and reputation. I was involved in many activities such as chorus, county chorus, band, county band, newspaper, art club, yearbook staff, drama club, and a majorette. I also worked as a lifeguard in the summer time and taught swimming lessons. With those activities a certain image is portrayed. When I went off to college, I found a new identity, image and reputation. No one knew who I was. I started over. My high school was very small, so when someone said my name, pretty much everyone knew who I was. Now that I was in College, no one cared what you did or didn't do in high school. It was a new start and I could decide what kind of image, identity and reputation I wanted these students to have of me. I could decide to be in activities or put my emphasis on my school work. By joining a sorority, that also helped to develop a new identity.


References
Here are some websites that can help you understand the importance of Identity, Image and the Reputation of a company:
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/small/Co-Di/Corporate-Image.html
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Con-Cos/Corporate-Identity.html
http://www.mbs.ac.uk/research/corporatereputation/reputation-chain.aspx