Corporate image, the strategy to make a difference.

It is useless to have the best product in the world if the world does not know it. And this is even more true in the digital age, where information is fluid and fast.

There’s a crisis, but don’t panic! The art of kaizen

Antonio was the owner of a small business, with 8 employees. He did not expect things to go this way, but in 2014, overwhelmed by debts, he had to close its doors, leaving the staff out of work. How many stories have we heard from 2008 to today? So many, too many. Often these stories have a common denominator: the difficulty in understanding how to renew oneself in an increasingly demanding and innovative market. This, because while many companies have always focused their attention on the product (and costs), the consumer has evolved and has not been there waiting for them.

It is not surprising, in fact, that many of the small and medium enterprises that have managed are those that have decided to invest not only in the quality of their products, but also in communication. It is useless to have the best product in the world if the world does not know it. This is even more important in the digital age, where information is fluid and fast. This is all the more important in the digital age, where information is fluid and fast. Today’s entrepreneurs, the heroes who ride the crisis rather than suffer it, have therefore learned that to sell their product they must pay attention to market demands and analyze their operating environment. In fact, ROI is not only linked to activities that can be quantified in monetary terms at the end of the day.  As the Japanese teach, kaizen means taking advantage of times of crisis to understand how to improve.

In the post-crisis market, the sense of kaizen is therefore to acquire an entrepreneurial mentality in step with the times, and this implies to review the way in which we relate to the market. Marketing teaches us to take care of all aspects of communication, and in this article we will focus in particular on the corporate image.

Tell me who you are and I’ll tell you how much you are worth

It goes without saying that, it makes no sense to take care of the corporate image, by completely neglecting the quality of the product or services offered, but this has always been important, even before the crisis. Especially considering the fact that consumers are increasingly well prepared and informed, thanks to the internet.  Often, in fact, before making a choice, they check the quality, characteristics and reviews of the product on the web, thus arriving very aware at the final purchase. It is therefore not by adding surplus information that we will be able to shift the needle of the scale in our favour, to make us lean towards our product rather than another. So what can we do to persuade them to choose us?

In addition to the technical characteristics, intrinsic to our service or product, there is the perceived quality. With the same product or service, in fact, what really makes the difference is the added value that goes with it. And one of the main vectors of perceived quality is the corporate image. How many times, when shopping, do we find ourselves choosing one product instead of another basing our preference on packaging? There are packs that give a chic look, others that look cheaper. It is the packaging that defines the value of the product it contains. Well, the same principle applies to our company.
It may seem like a revolutionary concept, however taking care of your image as a means of communicating higher quality is now a foregone practice in the commercial sphere. Just think of the franchises, the way in which the image of the points of sale is coordinated in every detail, or how much the sales agents invest in their appearance, which relate directly to customers.

If, therefore, this way of presenting itself has always been an integral part of the business strategies of companies large and small, it is also true that nowadays, it is no longer sufficient to apply it only in this area. The corporate image must permeate the entire company philosophy, to communicate to the customer the unity of intent and values that represents our entire company. Big companies have understood for many years that even workwear, uniforms, are an effective communication and branding tool (and if you don’t believe it, take a ride at Mediaworld wearing a red polo shirt!). Nothing, however, prevents small and medium enterprises from achieving the same result, that is, transforming a garment into a recognizable icon that identifies the company’s values.

This is why, unconsciously, the added value of a company also passes through the care it puts into its image, creating an organic communication, starting from its presence on the Internet. From the style of its sales points up to including the choice of workwear, for its employees and collaborators.

Taking care of your image can make a difference, it communicates our corporate values, shows the end customer that it is important to us. This will allow us to establish a relationship of trust, what marketing calls loyalty and which will make the customer come back to choose us every time.

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