Managing the Multiple Identities of the Corporation

R ecently, companies have been experiencing a period where the corporate identity landscape has become more active and more crowded. For example: • Mergers, spin-offs, acquisitions, and alliances have led to many new or meaningfully changed companies, in turn calling for new identities by name and/or business focus. • The proliferation of dot.com and new technology companies created many new (and differentiated) company identities, alheit often shortlived. • Some existing companies undertook "re-imaging" as they sought, substantively and/or via communications, to make their identities more technology-oriented. Consequently, corporate managing of identity and image has become more salient, especially in and for the financial marketplace and for the media. In short, corporate identity has emerged as a "hot topic" for senior company