Americans talk about their jobs

Follow me today on my journey into the merciless world of corporate identity consultants about whom I hadn't had the remotest idea until I read the story about Jonathan Chajet.

Basically, according to Wikipedia,
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_identity) corporate identity is all about an organisational philosophy in a corporation which should make the achievment of business objectives smoother through branding and trademarks.

Corporate Identity is seen as constisting of three parts:

1. Corporate design (logos, uniforms, etc.)
2.Corporate communication (commercials, public relations, etc.)
3.Corporate behaviour (internal values, norms etc.)

Chajet, on the other hand, who is an old hand in this business, feels it is all about humanizing corporations. In other words, it is about finding redeeming values in a company and express them in as few words as possible.

In the story Chajet uses Nike to exemplify what corporate identity is or actually, better to say, what it should be. As you all very well know, Nike has its ubiquitous slogan "Just Do It." While most people subconsciously find it to be just another slogan, the truth is that it is far more than that. It is a philosophy which makes sense to anyone. If, for example,a professional athlete questions his life (waking up at four a.m., training for eight hours a day etc.) he'll remember the maxim "Just Do It" and he will do it. Or if a couch potato reads these three simple words, he may be motivated to get off the couch and go running. Everybody in the world can relate to that slogan. It's as simple as that.

For me this whole story about corporate identity and the people behind it is unparalleled. Such a job where you are responsible for a company's success is bound to be exciting yet nerve-racking. Still, I would gladly take such an responsibility on me and endure the ebbs and flows of being a corporate identity consultant. I guess, I would like to have a job which would get my adrenalin going from time to time.

New vocab:

benchmark (noun, adjective and verb respectively):a level of quality which can be used as a standard when comparing other things:
Her outstanding performances set a new benchmark for singers throughout the world.

ephemeral: lasting for only a short time:
Fame in the world of rock and pop is largely ephemeral.