ABSTRACT
Commercial objectives are relatively straightforward to establish, until one requires inspirational and emotive inputs. Identity offers the potential for sheer surprise and an emotive power often unmatched, even by the product it promotes or works alongside. An important role of an identity is to polarise the audience and act as a selection process for the classification of customer, supplier and prospective employee. Yet when starting an identity programme the opposite may seem true: it may seem like expenditure with no immediate, tangible reward. Topflight management know that to be immersed in an ongoing, pressing and busy work schedule blinds to the wider and more unexpected opportunities that surely surround us. The sell-by date of the average system is sooner than most managers presume. In desperation, or to save face, an inappropriate solution is likely to be adopted or the project abruptly terminated amidst confusion and denial.
