I have seen hard-nosed businessmen at each other’s throats about subtle changes in colour and hue and the exact shade required to convey the right message.
What should the company mission statement and strap-line be? What should be depicted in the logo? Should we use an established font or create one of our own? Opinion is often divided, and therein lurks a greater issue.
Branding is merely the tip of the iceberg. If individuals can’t agree on the core values of the company, then they would do well to invest time into addressing those issues before wasting effort on their corporate branding.
Having everyone working towards the same goal, singing off the same hymn sheet or being ‘on the same page’ might be a dreadful list of clichés, but if core values are at best confused and at worst missing entirely, then this is an early indication that the business may not be destined for success.
In businesses that are already well established, this is an even more serious problem as deep conflicts may exist around the overall direction of the company, which will have an effect on culture and efficiency and spill over into the realm of customer perception also.