Corporate and generic identities: lessons from the Co‐operative Bank

In recent years corporate identity has become a fashionable and much talked about, if little understood, management process. Provides a brief overview of the literature on corporate identity and discusses the importance of corporate identity in UK banking. Examines the historical evolution of the Co‐operative Bank’s identity and its attempts to position itself within the context of two generic identities; that of the Co‐operative Movement and the generic identity of the banking industry. Argues that the Co‐operative Bank has achieved differentiation by drawing on the philosophy of the Co‐operative Movement ‐ a generic identity ‐ in order to position itself within the generic identity of the banking industry. Senior managers having responsibility for an organization’s corporate brand might usefully contemplate on Balmer’s assertion that organizations, in examining their past sometimes find their future.