COMPANY IMAGE - How Important is it?
by Karen (Hock) Philip 

Have you ever thought about how many marketing tools impact your company image?
There are so many, as business owners, sometimes we are too close to see this. Your company image is very important to the growth of your business. In today’s questionable economy we cannot afford to take chances in
any area of our business. Let’s take a look at a few areas that impact our image and think about where you
are at in your business:

COMPANY LOGO: 
A company logo is a special graphic and or lettering representing your company. Do you have one? This can be as simple as using a particular typeface. How important is a logo? Let’s look at the logos we know without even seeing the company name: Golden arches (McDonald’s), the swoosh (Nike), globe with lines through it (AT &T).
Color is also a very important component that should be repeated in everything you do.
Keep in mind the logo should be designed in a way that it can be easily transferred to other marketing items.

BUSINESS CARDS: 
How many times do you see someone’s business cards where there is a little man holding a hammer , then there is the one with a little house in one corner? What are your thoughts? These are clip art pieces that really say nothing personal about your company image. Many other people have those same clipart pieces. I’m not implying that this is a bad thing. Just think about at some point in time developing your own personal logo.

ENVELOPES: 
This goes without saying, of course, that they should match your letterhead.

COMPANY VEHICLES: 
Does the lettering on your vehicle match your business cards? This can be one of your best guerrilla marketing tools. Your logo and lettering should be on your company vehicle – straight, not crooked or done with cheap paint or peel ons that will come off. 

PROMOTIONAL PRODUCTS: 
When you hand out promotional products imprinted with your company name and logo on, make sure they are quality products. Keep in mind, your image is at stake here. If you give a client an inferior product what will they think of your company. It is a direct reflection on you. When purchasing imprinted t-shirts check the quality of the shirt and print. Cheap isn’t always the best for your image.

ADVERTISING MEDIA: 
Does the newspaper ad include your logo? This too should match all your other above products. Again, when people see your company name it should be consistent so they don’t confuse you with someone else.

This is just a broad overview on company image. It is meant to give you some food for thought. As a screen printing/embroidery/promotional company owner I see this all the time. Consistency is so very important in the overall scheme of things.

Where does your company stand?

Karen (Hock) Philip , President, Kinteco, Inc. in business since 1984. 
Very active in the local Chamber of Commerce as well as many other civic organizations.
Karen can be reached at Karen@kinteco.com
This article cannot be reprinted without the owners permission and her byline. 2001