Deregulation has been a critical factor in many industries. For instance, as a result of the court-ordered breakup, AT&T has had to develop a new strategy and a more aggressive marketing-oriented culture to adjust to its new realities. Concurrently, the telecommunications giant adopted a new logo and initiated a communication program to help convey its new identity. In another example, deregulation of the financial services industry has allowed savings and loan associations to expand their services and compete with banks. Consequently, firms such as Glendale Federal Savings and Loan Association and California Federal Savings and Loan Association have changed their charters to become banks. Their new names are Glendale Federal Bank and California Federal Bank, respectively, and they have fittingly redirected their corporate communication programs.
Globalization has been still another catalyst in the rise of corporate identity programs. To illustrate, American Express Co. originally was a freight company in the North American market. As the company matured into a global credit card, banking, and travel organization, it wisely developed a corporate communication program aimed at projecting its new identity. American Express understood that a strong and positive global image can be a powerful weapon for firms expanding internationally. IBM, McDonald's, and Baskin-Robbins are examples of other companies that have been able to expand to all areas of the world with relative ease because of their global prominence.
A related factor is that as a corporation expands its operation internationally, or even domestically, through acquisitions, there is a danger that its geographically dispersed business units will project dissimilar or contrary images to the detriment of corporate synergy. British-based Courtaulds has a globally dispersed organization but until its latest identity review allowed its operating companies to use their traditional names. As a consequence of this policy, there was little cooperation among these units and no cohesive corporate identity. Courtaulds remedied this problem by instituting a common naming policy and a correlated corporate communication program.
Still another factor stimulating the current interest in corporate identity is society's growing expectation that corporations be socially responsive. One salient manifestation of this trend is that many of today's consumers consider the environmental and social image of firms in making their purchasing decisions. Companies such as Ben and Jerry's and Tom's of Maine have built their strategies around this idea and consequently have grown very rapidly. Another manifestation of the trend is the rise of socially responsible investment funds.
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