Brand
Guidelines?
Also
known as brand manuals or brand standards, brand guidelines summarise what the
brand is all about from a strategic perspective and provide detailed
instructions on how the brand identity elements such as the logo, colour scheme
and fonts should be developed, used, and communicated.
Also
known as brand manuals or brand standards, brand guidelines summarise what the
brand is all about from a strategic perspective and provide detailed
instructions on how the brand identity elements such as the logo, colour scheme
and fonts should be developed, used, and communicated.
Why
Should My Company Care?
Your
company should create standards for all the brands in its portfolio in order
to:
- Ensure
the brand message is reproduced correctly, consistently, and in line with the
company objectives across different departments, communication channels and
suppliers
- Help
graphic designers create a unified “look and feel” for the marketing
communication materials
- Allow
the designers to focus on elements where he/she can add value and eliminates
unnecessary changes made for the sake of being different
- Provide
company employees with focus and direction
- Save
marketers time and increases their productivity
- Provide
a one stop source of information about the brand to the new
employees
Your
company should create standards for all the brands in its portfolio in order
to:
- Ensure
the brand message is reproduced correctly, consistently, and in line with the
company objectives across different departments, communication channels and
suppliers
- Help
graphic designers create a unified “look and feel” for the marketing
communication materials
- Allow
the designers to focus on elements where he/she can add value and eliminates
unnecessary changes made for the sake of being different
- Provide
company employees with focus and direction
- Save
marketers time and increases their productivity
- Provide
a one stop source of information about the brand to the new
employees
Who
Will Benefit?
The
document will benefit every person who is involved in managing, interacting and
representing the brand:
- Company
employees
- Outside
service providers: graphic designers, web designers, social media experts,
industrial designers, product managers
- Franchisees
The
document will benefit every person who is involved in managing, interacting and
representing the brand:
- Company
employees
- Outside
service providers: graphic designers, web designers, social media experts,
industrial designers, product managers
- Franchisees
Who
Is Involved in Creating The Guidelines?
The
Marketing department in collaboration with the agency of record is usually
responsible for putting together the document. However all departments should be
involved in the process. Company employees should be trained to become brand
ambassadors since their buy-in is needed to ensure consistency in communicating
the brand message.
The
Marketing department in collaboration with the agency of record is usually
responsible for putting together the document. However all departments should be
involved in the process. Company employees should be trained to become brand
ambassadors since their buy-in is needed to ensure consistency in communicating
the brand message.
Other considerations
Since
the document is distributed to a wide audience with diverse backgrounds, it
should be written in an easy to understand language that avoids unnecessary
jargon. Make sure you include many examples and make it “visual” rather than a
long and boring collection of sentences.
The
guidelines should be accessible by all the parties involved in the brand’s
strategy and communication. Don’t forget to distribute them to every new
employee and service provider. Many companies choose to make the guidelines
publicly available, which show professionalism and dedication to building a
strong brand image.
Brand
guidelines reflect a company’s effort to integrate its visual, verbal and
written communication across different mediums and channels. Let’s
take closer look at the most common sections found in a brand guidelines
document:
Introduction
This
first section provides an overview of the document and explains the purpose of
writing it and identifies its target audience. Usually written by the company’s
owner or CEO, the introductory message usually includes the story behind the
brand and the benefits it brings to the customer. This is what
Honeywell®
writes in their introduction:
“For
more than a century, the Honeywell name has been synonymous with technology
solutions that improve people’s lives. In these complicated times, more than
ever before in our history, customers are turning to Honeywell to help solve
many of the world’s most complex problems.”
Since
the document is distributed to a wide audience with diverse backgrounds, it
should be written in an easy to understand language that avoids unnecessary
jargon. Make sure you include many examples and make it “visual” rather than a
long and boring collection of sentences.
The
guidelines should be accessible by all the parties involved in the brand’s
strategy and communication. Don’t forget to distribute them to every new
employee and service provider. Many companies choose to make the guidelines
publicly available, which show professionalism and dedication to building a
strong brand image.
Brand
guidelines reflect a company’s effort to integrate its visual, verbal and
written communication across different mediums and channels. Let’s
take closer look at the most common sections found in a brand guidelines
document:
Introduction
This
first section provides an overview of the document and explains the purpose of
writing it and identifies its target audience. Usually written by the company’s
owner or CEO, the introductory message usually includes the story behind the
brand and the benefits it brings to the customer. This is what
Honeywell®
writes in their introduction:
“For
more than a century, the Honeywell name has been synonymous with technology
solutions that improve people’s lives. In these complicated times, more than
ever before in our history, customers are turning to Honeywell to help solve
many of the world’s most complex problems.”
Brand
Hierarchy
This
chapter is a must for companies that market their products under multiple
brands. It provides an overview of how the brand portfolio is structured into
master brands, brand extensions, co-brands and endorsed brands. Some brand
manuals include a visual map that shows the different brands and how they relate
to each other. If your company owns only one brand then you can skip this
section.
This
chapter is a must for companies that market their products under multiple
brands. It provides an overview of how the brand portfolio is structured into
master brands, brand extensions, co-brands and endorsed brands. Some brand
manuals include a visual map that shows the different brands and how they relate
to each other. If your company owns only one brand then you can skip this
section.
Brand
Vision, Mission, Objectives and Values
Every
company, big or small, should have its vision, mission, objectives and values clearly defined and communicated. These
elements help the company create a more profound connection with its customers,
and provide inspiration and focus to the employees. The brand guidelines is the perfect place to have the vision, mission,
objectives and values clearly stated. EasyGroup®’s
brand manual contains a slide solely dedicated to their mission
statement:
Every
company, big or small, should have its vision, mission, objectives and values clearly defined and communicated. These
elements help the company create a more profound connection with its customers,
and provide inspiration and focus to the employees. The brand guidelines is the perfect place to have the vision, mission,
objectives and values clearly stated. EasyGroup®’s
brand manual contains a slide solely dedicated to their mission
statement:
“Our
mission is to manage and extend Europe’s leading value brand to more products
and services, whilst creating real wealth for all
stakeholders.”
Brand
Differentiation Strategy
One
of the most important sections of the document, this part summarizes the
company’s competitive advantage, including the main differentiation points and
supporting elements. It is particularly important for the employees and external
service providers to understand the uniqueness of the company in the competitive
environment so they can work towards sustaining that competitive advantage and
properly communicating it.
One
of the most important sections of the document, this part summarizes the
company’s competitive advantage, including the main differentiation points and
supporting elements. It is particularly important for the employees and external
service providers to understand the uniqueness of the company in the competitive
environment so they can work towards sustaining that competitive advantage and
properly communicating it.
Brand
Tagline
An
integral part of the branding strategy, the tagline/slogan summarizes the brand
positioning in a just a few words, and should be included in all the
communication materials. The brand guidelines should address the do’s and don’ts of using the slogan, such as typography,
colour, spelling, punctuation marks, and location on the page and vis-à-vis the
logo.
An
integral part of the branding strategy, the tagline/slogan summarizes the brand
positioning in a just a few words, and should be included in all the
communication materials. The brand guidelines should address the do’s and don’ts of using the slogan, such as typography,
colour, spelling, punctuation marks, and location on the page and vis-à-vis the
logo.
Brand
Personality, Tone and Manner
People
often describe brands in terms of human characteristics: Apple is “cool”, FedEx is “reliable”, etc. Each brand has a unique
“personality” that has to be nurtured and consistently reflected in the
marketing collateral. In order for a designer to create materials that
facilitate an emotional connection between the brand and its audience he/she has
to fully understand when human characteristics the brand should reflect. A brand
builds its personality on multiple elements: heritage, market positioning,
colours, fonts, imagery, and communication style, to name just a few. A
comprehensive brand guideline document provides an in-depth look at how the
brand speaks and behaves.
People
often describe brands in terms of human characteristics: Apple is “cool”, FedEx is “reliable”, etc. Each brand has a unique
“personality” that has to be nurtured and consistently reflected in the
marketing collateral. In order for a designer to create materials that
facilitate an emotional connection between the brand and its audience he/she has
to fully understand when human characteristics the brand should reflect. A brand
builds its personality on multiple elements: heritage, market positioning,
colours, fonts, imagery, and communication style, to name just a few. A
comprehensive brand guideline document provides an in-depth look at how the
brand speaks and behaves.
Brand
Name
One
of the most powerful assets of any company, the brand name should be correctly
communicated and used. The guidelines should describe what the name symbolizes,
the correct spelling, the fonts associated with the symbol, and the inclusion
(or not) of the registration mark. Some companies go to greater details and even
recommend generic names that can be associated with their brand name. Here is an
excerpt from Cerflon®‘s
brand guidelines:
The
®
and ™
after the CERFLON®
and CERTEX™
brand name are necessary every time, whether in the logo brand, in a headline,
or in the text of the document. It must be the same font size or a smaller font
size than CERFLON®
and CERTEX™…It
may be beneficial to use a descriptive or generic term as well as the brand name
when marketing the product. This is acceptable with prior approval from
CRT.”
One
of the most powerful assets of any company, the brand name should be correctly
communicated and used. The guidelines should describe what the name symbolizes,
the correct spelling, the fonts associated with the symbol, and the inclusion
(or not) of the registration mark. Some companies go to greater details and even
recommend generic names that can be associated with their brand name. Here is an
excerpt from Cerflon®‘s
brand guidelines:
The
®
and ™
after the CERFLON®
and CERTEX™
brand name are necessary every time, whether in the logo brand, in a headline,
or in the text of the document. It must be the same font size or a smaller font
size than CERFLON®
and CERTEX™…It
may be beneficial to use a descriptive or generic term as well as the brand name
when marketing the product. This is acceptable with prior approval from
CRT.”
Brand
Colours
Colours
become very often associated with brands. Think of the Yellow Pages or IBM Blue
(Big blue) for example. A typical brand colour system consists of primary
colours (most frequently used) as well as secondary and even tertiary ones (used
for backgrounds, headings, subheadings, paragraph, bullet points etc). The guidelines should include a visual listing of the
colours in each category (including the Pantone number), as well as details on
the proper use of each colour in the communication
process.
Colours
become very often associated with brands. Think of the Yellow Pages or IBM Blue
(Big blue) for example. A typical brand colour system consists of primary
colours (most frequently used) as well as secondary and even tertiary ones (used
for backgrounds, headings, subheadings, paragraph, bullet points etc). The guidelines should include a visual listing of the
colours in each category (including the Pantone number), as well as details on
the proper use of each colour in the communication
process.
Typography
This
section includes the listing of all the fonts that are used to communicate the
brand message. Effective guidelines include many examples of how different fonts
are used in headings, sub headings, main body, footer, etc, slogan and logo.
This
section includes the listing of all the fonts that are used to communicate the
brand message. Effective guidelines include many examples of how different fonts
are used in headings, sub headings, main body, footer, etc, slogan and logo.
An
excerpt from the easyGroup®
brand manual: “The
Cooper Black font has played an important part in building the Easy brand. Its
bold, confident and distinct appearance has made it recognizable and associated
with easy. Its soft friendly curves have given a warm personality to the easy
businesses.”
Brand
Imagery
It
has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. In Marketing,
photography is used to convey the brand personality in a simple and direct
manner. Brand imagery also help position the brand in the mind of the consumer:
Apple, for example, uses product key shots to highlight the elegant design and
leading edge technology. LG®
decided to focus on people rather than objects, as described in their brand
guidelines:
“People photography focuses on smiling people- a connection to the
LG® logo-
in real environments from around the globe. They are happy, confident and
smart.”
It
has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. In Marketing,
photography is used to convey the brand personality in a simple and direct
manner. Brand imagery also help position the brand in the mind of the consumer:
Apple, for example, uses product key shots to highlight the elegant design and
leading edge technology. LG®
decided to focus on people rather than objects, as described in their brand
guidelines:
“People photography focuses on smiling people- a connection to the
LG® logo-
in real environments from around the globe. They are happy, confident and
smart.”
In
order for your marketing collateral to reflect a consistent theme, take time and
write the specific attributes that photography should convey. This will make
your collaboration with photographers, graphic designers and advertising
agencies much easier. It will also makes choosing stock photography faster as
many websites have implemented filters that allow you to get the results you
want quickly.
Real
Life Examples
It
is particularly useful to show examples of how the brand elements are being used
in communication materials (print, web and advertising) and public relation
campaigns. The last pages of the document usually include screen shots of the
website, catalogue covers, newspaper ads, PR announcements, signage,
merchandising, and branded clothing. These real life example really help with maintaining the brand
consistency.
It
is particularly useful to show examples of how the brand elements are being used
in communication materials (print, web and advertising) and public relation
campaigns. The last pages of the document usually include screen shots of the
website, catalogue covers, newspaper ads, PR announcements, signage,
merchandising, and branded clothing. These real life example really help with maintaining the brand
consistency.
Logo
A brand’s logo is the most distinctive element of its identity. It is also the symbol that’s most frequently used by the employees and external service providers. As a result it is important for brand managers to implement strict guidelines regarding its usage, such as the Pantone® colour(s), background colours, alternative colour variations, minimum size requirements, and placement. Make sure you also list the elements that are not acceptable, such drop shadows, boxes, fonts and sizes.
The contents of brand guideline documents vary greatly from one brand to another, and the list above is by no means exhaustive. No matter how simple or complex, a brand guideline document is guaranteed to save marketing professionals time and help them be more productive.
A brand’s logo is the most distinctive element of its identity. It is also the symbol that’s most frequently used by the employees and external service providers. As a result it is important for brand managers to implement strict guidelines regarding its usage, such as the Pantone® colour(s), background colours, alternative colour variations, minimum size requirements, and placement. Make sure you also list the elements that are not acceptable, such drop shadows, boxes, fonts and sizes.
In the link below you will see how Apple control their Logo placement.
The contents of brand guideline documents vary greatly from one brand to another, and the list above is by no means exhaustive. No matter how simple or complex, a brand guideline document is guaranteed to save marketing professionals time and help them be more productive.
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