Communicating Visually - A Novel Model of Corporate Visual Identity Management: The Case Study of the European Fashion Retail Marketplace

Visual images are the very first impressions that businesses make on stakeholders, and they are the non-linguistic and emotionally powerful communication media that engrave marks in consumers’ minds, being considered superior over verbals [1] therefore, they can be perceived as core components of a brand signature. Visual identity is the smart face of an organisation that manifests its vision, emotions, style, and offerings; it is the feel, the look, the touch and the alluring story behind a brand that forms connections with consumers; it is the whispering voice that guides clients through their purchasing journey. Therefore, it is imperative that companies invest significant attention while planning the design of their corporate visual identities (CVI). The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the importance of effective CVI design for the competitiveness of online retailers. It provides branding professionals with optimal know-how on the value of visual identity and its impact on competitive positioning. The paper presents a visual case study that comprises a visual brand audit and a brand health checkup. The review of prior research studies on visual identity developed within the last 15 years sets the literature grounds. The visual case study of European retailers is undertaken to explore the practical dimension of CVI. The findings present the value of CVI from the perspective of its contribution to competitiveness. The study aims to encourage other organisations to pay closer attention to their CVI strategies for future gains.