While most firms are adept at defining product brands, they're less sure-footed with their corporate brands. What exactly does a parent company's name represent, and how is it perceived in the marketplace? A strong corporate identity provides direction and purpose, boosts the standing of products, aids in recruiting, and shores up a firm's reputation. To help organizations define theirs, the authors have devised a tool called the "corporate brand identity matrix." It guides teams through an examination of the nine components of corporate identity, which include mission, culture, relationships, and core values and promises. Often that exercise reveals broken links between the elements that executives need to align and strengthen. This article describes how companies have used the matrix to clarify their relationships with daughter brands, retool their identities to support new businesses, revamp their overall image, evaluate targets for acquisition, and more.