Revamp Your Company Image
When it’s time to update your business’s image, follow these basic steps.
Q:My business could use a new look. How do I build a great company image?
A: Establishing a new image starts with a few major moves that need to be replicated throughout your company. They range from the really monumental, such as changing your company’s name, to the less significant, such as adopting a new corporate slogan or motto.
If you’re in business, your company name is probably one of your most valuable assets. An effective name establishes a strong identity and describes the type of business you’re conducting. Name changes can reflect a change in the focus of your company or a change in the market. But you shouldn’t change your name on a whim. A name change can cause, at least temporarily, confusion among customers, vendors and suppliers.
To build an image for your business, your company name should become a visual symbol. A logo is a symbol that expresses the company’s image and identity. A trademark, on the other hand, is a symbol that’s used to stamp the company’s identity on its products.
A trademark is a corporate symbol that contributes to the image the company is trying to build. Like a logo, a trademark can be a combination of color, type style and shape, or it can just be shape and color, like the McDonald’s golden arches.
There is also a legal side to the term trademark. In the legal sense, a trademark is a form of protection of your corporate symbols from use by unauthorized parties and is filed through the , part of the Department of Commerce.
Using corporate slogans to spur growth is common among America’s giant companies. When carefully crafted, they can effectively convey a company’s key characteristics to a variety of audiences, from investors and customers to suppliers and job applicants.
The bottom line: Your company’s image should be simple and straightforward. Making these basic decisions about your new image and then implementing them carefully in everything you do will go a long way toward establishing a new image for a growing company.
More Solutions
Q:My business could use a new look. How do I build a great company image?
A: Establishing a new image starts with a few major moves that need to be replicated throughout your company. They range from the really monumental, such as changing your company’s name, to the less significant, such as adopting a new corporate slogan or motto.
If you’re in business, your company name is probably one of your most valuable assets. An effective name establishes a strong identity and describes the type of business you’re conducting. Name changes can reflect a change in the focus of your company or a change in the market. But you shouldn’t change your name on a whim. A name change can cause, at least temporarily, confusion among customers, vendors and suppliers.
