Corporate Identity (abbreviated to CI) is a key notion in marketing: how does a company wish to present itself and be perceived?
CI encompasses the planned interplay of image, communication, and behaviour. The concept is based on the notion that companies can possess an identity similar to a personality. The company’s personality arises when the optical appearance as well as the manner of communicating and acting result in a uniform image. The CI includes visual identity (corporate design); behaviour towards the public, customers, suppliers, employees (corporate behaviour); internal and external communication (corporate communication); the company’s philosophy and culture (corporate philosophy, corporate culture), and a company-specific language (corporate language). Product design can support the corporate identity, for example when it is used by the company as an instrument for conveying its mission statement.
