I am quite interested in the field “Corporate Identity” and I like to surf in the web to find some information or news about this subject. By corporate identity of a company I mean first of all the visible and distinctive characteristics, that permitted to be identify and recognize from inside (within the company) and from outside.

Logo as mean of communication
One of the most important means to communicate and to promote the Corporate Identity is the firm’s logo. I find on internet a very short slideshow made by the International Herald Tribune, which is titled “How to build a corporate identity”. They say that a logo “expresses the essence of a company by summing up how it behaves, what it stands for and what it hopes to achieve”.
This slideshow is a short explanation of how it is possible that two very different companies have the same logo and however have build two opposite corporate identities. These two companies are: Apple Inc., global technology American group and Ann Summers, British chain of sex shops.

In the slideshow I found three important points

1. From Newton to the High-Tech through the Hippies
As you can see on the picture above, logos of Apple Inc. evolved during years. Three of them are very important I will explain you why:

Everyone knows the story of Isaac Newton, this 17th-century scientist who was sitting down next to a tree and who saw an apple falling down, which was the start of his research concerning the laws of gravity. This symbolic discovery was used for the first logo of Apple Inc. It was also the start of the company, and it was judicious to represent the company with a scientific, historical and very descriptive logo as a safe bet.

Then the company developed itself and made a lot of changes in his business. In fact, they became very famous very fast. It was time to change the logo of the company. They chose a very colored and attractive logo. I have noticed that the rainbow colors of this logo correspond very well to the colors of hippies and sexual emancipation of this period (the seventies). And I find this new logo corresponds very well to this situation of development and upward trend of Apple Inc.

The last logo of Apple Inc. is this simple white apple with a little shadow on the middle. I think it corresponds to the consolidations phase of the company. It is more high-tech and serious. They know well their business and their market.

To conclude, we can recognize three steps representing the evolution of the company in these three logos: the start, the development and the consolidation.

2. One logo, two identities
As it is explained in the slideshiw, Apple Inc. and Ann Summers have the same logo: an apple with a chunk bitten out of the right side. But this same picture has two different meanings following the history of the respective apple:

Whereas the apple of Apple Inc. refers to the discovery of Isaac Newton, which represents science/research/technology, the apple of Ann Summers refers, in my opinion, to the forbidden fruit. You know also the story of Eve and Adam, who yielded to temptation eating the one and only forbidden fruit. That represents by extension temptation/pleasure/sex.

So we have here a same logo, but two different historical references and consequently two different carrying images.

3. Uniqueness makes strength
Then, we can notice that the Apple Inc.’s logo is the visual representation of the name of the company. In fact, the name and the logo represent both an apple. This uniqueness strengthens the Corporate Image of the company and makes easier the communication and the promotion of his identity.

If you notice other interesting things about this slideshow or about the Apple Inc.’s logo, do not hesitate to contact me to discuss about it!