MAM
Five Faces of Corporate Image
Every corporation has a face, captured by its name identity and its image, including the overall image delivery system to push that name in the marketplace. Whether you like it or not, your corporate image is out there and is fully exposed. Following are the Five Faces of Corporate Image. The question is not which one, rather which is the best suited for you and why. All images are good if they really ring the cash registers, otherwise these masks are sometimes the main reasons for the sinking of total marketing strategies and business plans.
Five Faces of Corporate Image
HIPPIES: When the image of a corporate identity is simply a spinning burst of soft colors like a freeze frame slice from a kaleidoscope and you can hear bee bop music from the sixties, then it’s about time for everyone to ride a painted microbus to a peace rally. It would project that everything is very cool and it moves very slow, sometimes to a rhythm. This type of image is very common in consumer-packaged goods. Colors are often very pale and very soft. The names are overly slip-n-slide. Today a very large number of companies have adopted this style to appease the consumer.
MORTICIANS: The image is of dull and dark colors fading to black. Dark suits are a must. Artificial smiles, firm hand shakes and powerful scents. Some distant sound of an organ piped throughout the organization. It would appear all to be hypnotized. This kind of image is very common in professional or financial services and recently banks are dropping this altogether to adopt the earlier image on a fast track basis. This image has too much rigidity and often named after the founders, some great landmark or a city or country.
IVY LEAGUERS: Here is some distinct element of intellectual snobbery. Sometimes it really exists and most of the time it is just a show. In both cases, the image is driven with an elitist language and style, Times Roman fonts and formal lingo. Money and sense of security is the prime thrust. Dark green, dark burgundy and dark blue are the most sought after colors. Famous and literary types of names are used as the corporate monikers. The Internet has made a big punch in style of corporate communications. Now everyone can appear smart and savvy.
CYBERNAUTS: Here, things are mouse driven, what you see is not what you get. It is here today and gone tomorrow. Ingenuity and stupidity are both displayed in a simultaneous interaction. Just don’t blink too fast. Great ideas, packaged as silly brands and named in the most ridiculous fashion is the standard. Colors are mostly transparent, total imagery and business model is translucent and corporate name identity is transient. As the technology changes, so do the names. There is a constant surgery to an existing name, primarily for trademark conflicts and secondly the names do not match the business.
DINOSAURS: Here the long corridors and the stale smell of the office will lead you to the graveyards. Grey and dull color schemes and overuse of florescent lights of the squarely placed HQ speak loud and clear of the glories of the past. The corporate names are several feet long. Some get telescoped or initialized to some weird and strange acronym and initials. Sometimes one can trace the bloody battles of mergers and acquisitions of the past in their lineage as each has left a distinct mark on the corporate name, sometimes a word or others a letter or two.
Then there are also images of No Bodies. Here nothing makes a difference and nothing is so important. What name? What image? What identity? The corporation is like a humongous school project. Run by the seat of the pants without a blueprint. Chasing opportunities in a panic and in the dark. Welcome to the largest group on companies gathered on this planet today. These groups of corporations with images of No-bodies are derived from two main sources; those that have no appreciation for building a proper image and do not care and those who see this as a direct threat to their other priorities and keep pushing aside their desires to do this professionally one day. Sometimes the day comes and often it never comes.
Makeover-Techniques
No matter what, keep an open mind and study the subject and the best way is to measure the cost of your current advertising and branding budgets over the existing name identity and it’s personae. You can bring in brand new knowledge in your organization on how to make a brand new makeover. First it is very easy, very inexpensive almost a small percentage of what you are spending now and once you project you name and image correctly you will boost your market positioning very fast. It is a sophisticated system and not to be confused with the traditional branding circus. Makeovers are easy things. Best we look in the mirror.
MAM
Lessons from global media markets on building enduring content franchises
Rose Audio Visuals COO and CFO Mitesh Patel.
MUMBAI: The global media landscape has undergone a fundamental shift. Success today is no longer defined by a single hit show. It is defined by the ability to build intellectual property (IP) that travels, evolves, and compounds over time.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this shift is central to how we think about content pitching and creation. We are no longer in the business of just making shows. We are in the business of building IP ecosystems.
From Hits to Franchises
Globally, the most successful content is designed to extend beyond its first outing. It travels across: Seasons, Platforms (TV → OTT → Digital), Formats (series → spin-offs) Shows like Stranger Things and Money Heist are not just successful series they are multi-layered franchises with global recall, fan engagement, and long-term monetisation. The key learning is simple: If content cannot scale beyond one season or one platform, it remains a project not a franchise.
Local Stories, Global Impact
One of the most powerful global trends is the rise of culturally rooted storytelling. Platforms today reward local authenticity combined with universal emotion. Stories that are deeply regional are no longer limited by geography they are amplified by it. Consider the global impact of Squid Game or India’s own Sacred Games. The takeaway is clear: The more authentic the story, the greater its potential to travel if the emotion resonates universally.
Monetisation Begins After the First Window
A critical global learning is that the true value of content is not realised at launch, it is realised over time.
Strong franchises unlock multiple revenue streams: Licensing, International remakes, Brand integrations, Digital extensions , Events and immersive experiences
Global players like The Walt Disney Company have mastered this approach, turning content into long-term ecosystems that extend far beyond the screen.
The first window is just the beginning. The real value lies in what follows.
At Rose Audio Visuals, we increasingly evaluate projects not just on commissioning value, but on their long-term franchise potential.
The Rise of Creator-Led Franchises
An important global shift is the emergence of creator-led IP ecosystems.
Creators today are not just content producers they are building full-scale franchises across platforms, formats, and businesses.
A powerful example is MrBeast. What started as YouTube videos has evolved into: Multiple content formats, Global audience scale , Brand extensions and businesses, High-impact experiential content This is a fundamentally different model digital-first, audience-owned, and infinitely scalable.
This model is still in its early stages in Indian but it represents a massive opportunity.
The next wave of Indian content franchises may not come from traditional studios alone but from creators who think like media companies.
Balancing Data with Creative Instinct
Streaming platforms today are deeply data-driven. Data helps Identify emerging genres, Predict audience behaviour , Inform commissioning decisions However, global experience shows that data alone does not create hits. Data informs scale, but storytelling creates impact.
Talent is the Foundation of Franchises
Enduring franchises are rarely accidental they are built through long-term creative partnerships. Globally, there is a clear focus on nurturing Actors, Writter, Show runner and director. Franchises are not built on scripts alone they are built on creators. This is an area where we continue to invest deeply building long-term relationships with talent rather than project-based collaborations.
Multi-Platform Thinking from Day One
Content consumption today is inherently multi-platform. A successful show must be designed not just for its primary platform, but for: Short-form extensions, Social media amplification, Digital-first engagement. Every show today needs a second life beyond its original format.
India: A Market at an Inflection Point
India today stands at a unique moment in its content journey.
We are seeing significant opportunity in Regional markets (Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and others) Emerging formats such as micro-dramas, Scalable, franchise-driven fiction IP
India does not lack stories. What we have historically lacked is structured franchise thinking something that is now beginning to evolve.
The Way Forward
The biggest lesson from global markets is this: The future belongs to companies that do not chase hits, but systematically build franchises. Because while hits may deliver immediate success, franchises create long-term value, recall, and compounding growth.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this belief shapes how we develop, greenlight, and scale content across platforms.
For content companies today, the question is no longer “Will this show work?” It is: “Can this become a franchise?”
A Personal Note
Having worked across content, business, and strategy, one thing has become increasingly clear to me, the most valuable companies in our industry will not be those that create the most content, but those that create content that endures.
Building a franchise requires patience, conviction, and a long-term lens something that the industry is only now beginning to fully embrace.As we continue this journey at Rose Audio Visuals, our focus remains simple: to move from volume-driven creation to value-driven storytelling. Because in the end, stories may start conversations but franchises build legacies.
