Your brand represents everything your organization is. It encompasses the visuals, the messaging, and even your organization’s personality. That’s why when it comes to presenting your brand to the public, you want to get it right.
Why do you need a brand guide?
As a company reveals a new or updated logo, it may seem like all employees are initially on board regarding its usage.
But what happens when Nadia in marketing is creating a new social media profile picture and skews the size of the logo to make it fit her needs? Or maybe Alex in accounting decided to have some T-shirts made for a golf fundraiser, but preferred a different shade of gold than what was approved for the logo?
When it comes to protecting, promoting and presenting your brand, consistency is key. That’s why creating and using a brand guide is so essential. A good brand guide will accommodate creativity while policing the parameters.
The Value of a Brand Guide
- Helps maintain control of the brand
- Helps provide direction and focus, keeping everyone on target
- Spells out and reinforces the tone of your organization
- Empowers employees to keep the brand cohesive
Applying aspects of your brand willy nilly or allowing employees to have a free-for-all with the logo is equivalent to not even having a brand at all. It’s essential to have and maintain brand standards that all employees will follow.
Components to the Brand Guide
A brand guide can be as in-depth as what you might imagine a company like Walt Disney would utilize, or it can be short and sweet, depending on your needs and budget.
Visual – Every element of your brand, from the logo to stationery to supporting graphic elements needs to be consistent. Colors, typography and even details such as the amount of white space around your logo, should be carefully outlined in your company’s brand guide. This guide will define the parameters within which you communicate your brand at every level.
Voice – How your organization presents its tagline or other standard language will also be outlined in the brand guide. When, and how, you use this messaging, as well as its legibility, are important aspects of branding.
Tone – Every organization has a particular way in which they interact with their audience. This can mean they take on a friendly and helpful tone or perhaps more of an authoritative, industry expert approach. The brand guide will help define your organization’s personality, which will be captured in industry messaging moving forward.
A brand guide can be distributed in print format, although, increasingly, companies are making it available in a digital format, either as a PDF or a microsite. It’s important to know that the brand guide will constantly evolve as new issues come into play. Be sure to work with your design firm to keep your brand guide up-to-date.
Want to take a fresh look at your company’s brand guide?
Give us a call at 301-776-2812.