Part - I

Today, there is a major shift in thinking on how to build a major corporate personality. To play the game, one must clearly figure out the secret powers of e-commerce and the role of new technologies in contrast to traditional print and old-fashioned, mass-advertising driven models.

During the last century, mega corporations throughout the world followed the prime rules of building corporate image and name identity in the strictest sense. Their goal was simply to achieve an elite, world-class image by having their name and logo brightly displayed on skyscrapers in every city. They ran massive advertising campaigns to promote their identity and claimed ownership to specific colors and designs, all in an effort to create a single visual global icon. They used every opportunity, from naming stadiums to sponsoring parades. The objective was simple: to demonstrate their exclusive power and their domination by big image.

Internet-Savvy Age

This expensive shotgun approach often created successful and powerful images for a period, but at times, it also created the corporate images of rigid, monolithically dysfunctional giants. The last decade can easily summarize the winners and losers of this expensive corporate identity game, but in an Internet-savvy age of global cultures, this approach has proven to be unsuitable for today's corporations. Today, there is a major shift in thinking on how to build a major corporate personality.

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* Contributed by -
Naseem Javed, author of Naming for Power and Domain Wars, is recognized as a world authority on Global Name Identities and Domain Issues. He introduced The Laws of Corporate Naming in the 80's and also founded ABC Namebank, a consultancy established in New York and Toronto, a quarter century ago.