Corporate Image is the picture a company’s audiences have of it. It will be determined by all a company’s actions.

The
problem a company faces is that different audiences will interpret a message in different ways. The management of the
corporate image is thus an ongoing task.

Corporate image includes information and inferences about the company as an employer, as a seller, as an investment and
as a corporate citizen. A company will have more than one image depending on the nature of the interaction it has with the
different groups. Since people tend to "humanize" companies (Bayton, 1959), corporate imagemay also include
characteristics often attributed to humans such as "caring", "friendly", and "ruthless" and so on.

The first step in attempting to influence and manage the corporate image of an organization is to understand the process
by which corporate image is formed. The figure provides a conceptual framework of the corporate image formation
process. The framework suggests that there are numerous sources that influence and hence affect the image of an
organization. These sources can be broadly classified into two major groups or spheres of influence: a) internal and
controllable sphere of influence; and b) external and non-controllable sphere of influence

Internal Spheres of Influence

Within the internal sphere of influence are at-least five major sources that help form a corporate image:
a) Corporate Personality and Corporate Identity: Every company has a "personality" which can be defined as the sum total
of the characteristics of that organization. These characteristics can be quantitative (e.g., size of organization, volume of
sales) or qualitative (e.g. reputation, quality of products and services) in nature; and they serve to distinguish one
organization from another. These qualitative and quantitative characteristics collectively comprise the corporate
personality. The term, corporate personality, refers to who and what the company is, rather than how the company is
perceived by the public.
A company also has an "identity" which can be described as an ideal self-image. Ideal self-image is that image which the
company would like the public to hold .

b) corporate advertising : Corporate advertising seeks to inform and influence the public's attitudes about a company's
actions, characteristics, or viewpoints is a tool often used to deliver this information and, by doing so, influence
stakeholders' image of the corporation

c) brand image : Brand image consists of functional, symbolic and experiential aspects of the product or service including
the influence of product advertising on the brand. Intuitively, one would expect a significant interaction between brand
image and corporate image. This is especially true for brand names such as Coke or Sony, where the company name (or a
part of it) is also the brand name. In such cases the interaction effect would be maximum.

d) public relations ; Public relation programs can be used to project an image of a company that is environmentally
conscious which can do wonders for the company.

e) frontline employee behavior : In many situations, direct contact with frontline employees of the company serves to
form impressions about the company. The courtesy and knowledge of the telephone receptionist, the efficiency of the
service engineer or the sincere concern of a sales manager in dealing with the complaints of a customer, will help form or
reinforce an organization’s image.

External sphere of influence

a) Industry Image
b) Country-of-Origin Image Research has shown that knowledge of the country-of-origin affects both the image of the brand
and the company (Darling & Arnold, 1988). This interaction helps explain the halo effect associated with Japanese cars and
German machinery. Consumers, for example, may form an image that Mitsubishi is a maker of high quality automobiles
just knowing Mitsubishi is a Japanese company without ever having had direct dealings with the company.

c) Press Reports: There is also a link between company public relations, press reports and the image of the company.
d) Word-of-mouth: Word-of-mouth is personal communications between two or more people. This includes stakeholder's
conversations with family, friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and so on. In the absence of direct interaction with the
organization, the stakeholder may form opinions and impressions of the organization based on what others say about the
company.

Corporate Image Is The Perceived Sum Of The Entire Organization - Its Objectives And Plans. It Encompasses Products,
Services, Management Style, Communications Activities And Actions Around The World.

Why Do We Need To Care About Image?

● Consumers are more sophisticated than ever before
● There is more distrust than ever regarding motives of big business
● There has been more changes in the last ten years than in the last 80
● There is a clear relationship between a positive image and profitability

Reasons For Image ‘Management’

● General promotion value
● Encourage favorable behavior towards organization
● Build sales
● Attract shareholders
● Attract and motivate employees/build morale
● Reduce cost of capital
● Aid in relations with community/government
● Serve corporate objectives
● Create familiarity and favorability
● Create position in industry
● Can demand premium prices

Key Attributes Of Reputation (Fortune)

● Financial soundness
● Value as a long-term investment
● Use of corporate assets
● Innovativeness
● Quality of Management
● Ability to attract, develop and keep talented people
● Quality of products and services
● Community and environmental responsibility

Corporate Advertising : Corporate Advertising as a basic tool of Public Relations is that broad area of non-product
advertising aim specifically at enhancing company’s image and increasing lacking awareness. It can be defined as “paid use
of media that seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole rather than its product or services alone”
Corporate Advertising is a promotional strategy that is designed to not only interest consumers in products and services
offered by an organization, but also to cultivate a positive reputation among consumers and others written the business
world. The focus of Corporate Advertising is on the company itself, with the attention to the products produced by the
organization being a byproduct of the advertising effort.

Types of Corporate Advertising

The four types of corporate advertising commonly used by organizations are:

● PR Ad
● institutionally Ad
● corporate Identity Ad
● recruitment Ad

PUBLIC RELATIONS AD: it is typically used to improve the company’s relations with labour, government, customers or even
suppliers. Thus, when a company sponsors arts events, programmes on television or charitable activities, they are engaging
in PR. PR Ad is used when a company wishes to communicate directly with one of its important publics to express its
 feelings or to enhance its point of view to that particular audience. They are designed to enhance a company’s general
community citizenship and to create public goodwill.

INSTITUTIONAL AD: otherwise called corporate advertisement

Institutional advertising is marketing designed to promote a company rather than a specific good or service. It can be
designed to make the public more aware of a company or to improve the reputation and image of an existing company.
Depending on the company, this can be a form of brand advertising.

Institutional Ads serve these purposes amongst others:

To report company’s achievement or accomplishment

To position company competitively in the market place
To reflect a change in corporate personality
To shove up stock prices of companies
To improve employees morale
To avoid communication problems with agents, dealers, suppliers, customers etc.

CORPORATE IDENTITY AD:

this is embarked upon on rare occasion such as when organization decides to change its name, logo, address, trademark or
corporate signature or in case of a merger. When such occasions occur, there is need for Corporate Identity Advertising,
this is to communicate the change to the publics.

RECRUITMENT AD: This is used when the prime objective is to attract employment applications. Recruitment advertising,
also known as Recruitment Communications and Recruitment Agency, includes all communications used by an organization
to attract talent to work within it.

Recruitment advertisements typically have a uniform layout and contain the following elements:

▪ the job title heading and location

▪ an explanatory paragraph describing the company, including the Employer Brand
▪ a description of the position
▪ entry qualifications
▪ the remuneration package (not always provided by the employer)
▪ further details and from where application forms may be sought

Advertising and Psychology

The vast majority of marketers aren’t psychologists. But many successful marketers regularly employ psychology in
appealing to consumers.
Smart, skillful, honest marketers use psychology legally, ethically, and respectfully to attract and engage consumers, and
compel them to buy.

Here are a few tips and tricks for using psychology to your own marketing campaign's advantage:

1. RUN EMOTIONAL IDEAS

Studies have shown emotional and psychological appeals resonate more with consumers than feature and function
appeals. In advertising copy, benefits—which often have a psychological component—generally outsell features.
Demonstrating how that new computer will improve a potential customer’s life tends to have more influence rather than
explaining how it works.
Salespeople have long understood the power of emotional appeals. Ex- Fortune edible oil ad

2. HIGHLIGHT YOUR FLAWS

It’s no secret that consumers tend to doubt marketing claims—for good reasons. Many simply aren’t credible. One way to
raise credibility is top point out your product’s shortcomings.
Ex- We don`t have wifi

3. REPOSITION YOUR COMPETITION

In Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, deals with the limited slots consumers have in their brain for products and
services, and the importance of positioning one’s business in the ideal slot.
They also write about repositioning—changing the position a business occupies in consumers’ minds.

4. PROMOTE EXCLUSIVITY
Near the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs pyramid sits self-esteem. People want to feel important; like they’re part of
an exclusive group. That’s why advertising copy sometimes says: "We’re not for everyone."

5. INTRODUCE FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, AND DOUBT

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt, or FUD, is often used legitimately by businesses and organizations to make consumers stop,
think, and change their behavior. FUD is so powerful that it’s capable of nuking the competition.