The corporate brand or identity is the sum of characteristics, values and beliefs with which a company identifies itself and which are transmitted through a defined brand image.
In reality, it is about giving the company a personality and highlighting what makes it unique and different. The name of the company, its slogan, logo and colours are key elements in that corporate brand, but so is its office.
Corporate branding and hybrid work
The new flexible and hybrid working models are presenting companies with an unprecedented challenge: How do you make people feel part of a community and live the brand values when they work in isolation and outside the office for a large part of their working day?
Experts say that language is essential for successful engagement, but even more so is non-verbal and emotional communication, as it can connect people’s emotions. What is the best setting for such non-verbal communication?
Now more than ever, people need spaces where they can share and feel that they are part of a group and have a common purpose.
Avatel offices
The office, the best expression of corporate branding
In this new context, more and more companies are discovering how workplaces can become the expression of that purpose, of the corporate brand, and how in this way spaces become powerful tools for the engagement, motivation and emotional bonding of workers with the company.
The appearance and ambience of the office can convey as powerful a message as an advertisement, both externally and internally. By creating a workplace that reflects who you are and what you do, you can create a stronger connection between your staff and the purpose of their work.
But to do this, workspaces must not only meet aesthetic or functional criteria, they must also reflect the company’s organisational culture. Beyond logos, the workplace can serve to show what is important to the company and what behaviours are necessary to achieve success.
Offices are, in this sense, the body of the company. And, as with people, the body says a lot.
Roche Gis offices
A single glance at their workspaces tells us a lot about a firm, from its leadership style to what kind of wellness policies it has in place for its workforce.
A workplace that is able to express what the organisation is like through design elements gives an immediate impression of what its priorities and goals are. Office redesign is therefore an opportunity to strengthen staff engagement with brands and their commitment to the organisation’s purpose. It is also an opportunity for effective and engaging external communication with all stakeholders.
Different spaces for different cultures
For an office to support our culture and group values, we must take into account the colours, materials, distribution, and furniture, among others. And especially, the definition of its different spaces.
In Ofita’s latest ebook, “3×4 = 12 – The formula for new workspaces”, twelve scenarios are defined that can be found in new offices, depending on the activity to be carried out, the level of privacy required and the type of user.
An office, for example, that uses Agile methodologies will need spaces for innovation and informal areas. People can also choose the type of space they want to work in according to their mood.
Forthink
The role of furniture in corporate branding
How can office furniture contribute to corporate branding through the workspace? Its contribution is key, basically in two areas.
- Through personalisation, adapting its design to the brand image of each company. Speaking of brands, this capacity is one of the attributes of Ofita’s brand DNA.
- With the incorporation of colours and other elements of its corporate identity in the furniture.
- Providing the functionality and comfort necessary to facilitate the work dynamics of each person, team and workspace set up in the office. In other words, if we are talking about a soft seating area, for example, for an informal meeting, the furniture must be as comfortable and inspiring as possible.
Pilates rooms, green spaces, cafeterias, play areas… These are some of the elements that, with increasing frequency, can be found in the facilities of many companies. The aim is to create comfortable and inspiring spaces for employees to feel more at ease and work better.
Savills Aguirre Newman – Madrid
How does this impact on employees? It increases their motivation, promotes collaboration and helps them feel identified with the mission, vision and values of the organisation, i.e. with its corporate brand.
Do you want to turn your company into a corporate environment?
At Ofita we help you create work environments that offer people what they need now and in the future, and that at the same time express and promote the values of each brand. Humane, sustainable spaces that evolve with the business and help you succeed.
A place where people will work not because they have to, but because they want to.
