why should you invest in brand guidelines?

The value of brand guidelines cannot be overstated. They provide you with a tool kit that lays the groundwork for marketing campaigns; product launches; experiential opportunities; tv and video; and even scripts for your customer-service team. What doesn’t get emphasized enough is how much time and money investing in brand guidelines saves you down the road. Brand guidelines replace the countless meetings to discuss design, messaging, and tone of voice for each new campaign because you’ll have already made those decisions. It also allows you to easily partner with a variety of teams and agencies, when and where you need them. 

what are brand guidelines? 

One of the most important parts of building your brand identity is ensuring your visual identity and messaging are consistent. No matter who sees a brand element or receives a brand message, they should know who it’s coming from and why they’re seeing it. To that end, a brand guidelines document outlines standards and principles for how to use brand elements, allowing you to create brand cohesion across all channels.  

There is no industry standard for what brand guidelines must contain as each brand’s guidelines will be highly specific to their needs. All will contain some variation of the basics: logo, colours, typography, colour palettes, tone of voice, as well as usage rules for other visual and messaging elements.  Bigger brands that operate across multiple channels will have guidelines that span 60 pages or more detailing different use cases, while others only have a page or two to outline everything they need. Basically, it will come down to how many audiences you have, the number of channels you use, and how many messages you have in market.  

brand guidelines vs. style sheet 

Just as there are no industry standards about what must go into brand guidelines, there also isn’t standardized terminology. Some places may call it a branding style sheet, style guide, or brand guide. These are all the same thing, and what you choose to call it is a matter of personal preference. For the purposes of this piece, we’ll stick to calling them brand guidelines. 

why use brand guidelines? 

There are so many benefits to having brand guidelines. They make creating brand consistency much easier, no matter the size of your company. They simplify the process of working with multiple agencies, partners, and stakeholders on different campaigns. And above all, save you time and money on every campaign or product launch as key design decisions have already been made. 

brand consistency 

Ensuring that your branding and messaging are consistent across all channels establishes and grows brand recognition and builds connection with your target audience. Consumers are likely to encounter your brand through a variety of channels, making it all the more important that you create unified and easily recognizable marketing campaigns. This consistency compounds your brand-building efforts, making it easier for folks to connect with. Without it, your messaging or visual cues could be muddy and confused, making it harder for your audience to pick you out of the crowd or remember who you are.  

visual identity 

Your brand’s visual identity is the collection of tangible and digital brand elements that your company creates to foster the desired image of itself to your target audience. Basically, it’s how you look and how you are recognized by your audience, how they associate you. Beginning with your logo, this extends to the colours you use, what fonts are used when, and even the type of imagery you choose. Think Mercedes and VW – both German cars with similar market share but you instinctively know which ad you’re looking at before you see the car or the logo. 

brand values

Brand values are the core beliefs that your company stands for. They represent the standards your company follows and upholds in pursuit of your mission and vision. In more practical terms, your brand values are what inform the pillars of your messaging. These are typically not directly communicated to the consumer but come to life through the company’s actions and branding. Patagonia stands out here, but there are many other brands whose values are woven into their consumer-facing profiles like IKEA or Warby Parker. It’s not always about social responsibility (although worth striving for), it’s often about commitment to consumer promises; quality; timeliness etc. 

multiple audiences (B2B/B2C/B2E)

Whatever the size of your company, you likely have multiple audiences you need to communicate with. This doesn’t mean you need to reinvent the wheel for each. The elements of your brand identity should remain consistent even as you tailor your messaging and/or channel to each audience. For example, Amazon needs to speak to consumers as clearly as they need to attract vendors in order to maintain their business model (okay, maybe not so much anymore but you get the idea). 

scalability

Your company is going to grow, and your brand identity needs to be prepared for this. Will you have new products? A new revenue stream? Launch in a new market? Having scalable brand guidelines is critical for this. They provide a roadmap for how to tailor your branding to wider audiences, new and larger market shares, or expanding product offerings. There are many household names that became household names because they mastered scalability. Think Apple, Phillips, or Cadbury. Each has products that echo their parent branding while still having a unique value proposition. 

channels

Depending on your vertical, who your audiences are, and what kind of marketing campaigns you need, your brand guidelines could have a section for each of the following channels: 

There are also unique internal channels a brand could be using. Your workforce is also your brand reflected in the world, keeping strong and open communication channels (and obviously an excellent working environment) creates brand ambassadors for you. Each and every opportunity can (and should) be reflected in your guidelines. Brands like Starbucks and Google all have exceptional brand recognition on all channels as well as excellent employee engagement. 

work with multiple agencies or stakeholders 

Brand guidelines set out the rules and standards for how to effectively use any of your branding elements. The intent is not to hem in the creative process, but to give clear parameters for every campaign. This makes it much easier to bring new stakeholders or team members up to speed, as well as onboard any number of outside partners or agencies. Since everyone will be working off the same guidelines, there’s less risk of your branding becoming confused or unfocused. No time will be wasted trying to reinvent anything. 

finalizing key decisions saves you time, which always means money, on every campaign 

One of the biggest ways that brand guidelines make your life easier is that all the key decisions about your branding elements have already been made. That means instead of having meetings about colour palettes or font choices for each campaign, you only have to think about how to apply the guidelines to reinforce your brand identity. Each campaign will have its unique message, but how this comes to life will be kept coherent and consistent to the brand. Think of IKEA, McDonald’s or Dove. Their ad campaigns are always unique, yet distinctly on brand. These brands expertly leverage their brand guidelines to stay relevant in an ever-evolving market. 

what can be included in brand guidelines? 

Brand guidelines look different for every company. This is a document that is highly specific to your brand’s current and anticipated needs. There are some fundamentals you’ll see universally, like logos, fonts, and colour palettes. Companies with packaged products will have guidelines for how to design them, while companies that work with brand ambassadors may include script examples or uniforms in their guidelines. Below, we’ve listed some of the most common elements that brand guidelines touch on. 

visual identity 

Visual identity is created by the elements that give your brand its distinctive “look”. Your brand’s visual identity isn’t just your logo, it’s all of your visual elements working in concert to create a cohesive aesthetic. 

logos, logo use, and logo families

Your logo is the symbol made up of text and images that identifies your company. Your brand guidelines will lay out the dimensions, as well as how to use or scale your logo for various media. If your company has multiple products or subsidiaries under the same umbrella, it can be helpful to establish a logo family to signify that these products are distinct yet related. 

colour palettes 

Colour is something that resonates strongly with people. That’s why it is essential that your brand has the right colour palette. Well chosen brand colours will reinforce your brand messaging and cement your company as truly memorable. 

photography 

In an intensely multimedia ecosystem, curating the right imagery for your brand can be make or break. As part of your visual identity, your brand guidelines will lay out the rules and principals for how to choose the right imagery to convey your messaging and invite your audience to explore your brand’s offerings. This can also be used to clarify which of your audiences you are speaking to, in which market. 

iconography 

Icons may seem simple at first glance, but they play an important role in successful branding. You’ve probably looked at dozens of icons today without realizing it, but they help us to assimilate knowledge quickly and to navigate. They serve as visual markers that lead your audience where they need to go without relying on language. Creating guidelines for consistent use of icons across your brand will ensure the icons are useful and relevant to communicating your message. 

patterns and texture 

Patterns and texture can give your branding that added flair it’s been missing and transform your collateral into eye-catching and memorable statement pieces. Having a selection of patterns and textures in your brand guidelines adds a lot of versatility to your branding. 

typography

Believe it or not, a lot of people have strong opinions about fonts. Choosing the wrong front is a fast way to make your brand look dated. Likewise, opting for trendy fonts may have you heading back to the drawing board sooner rather than later. That’s because typography says a lot about the character of your brand. 

messaging 

Consumers are more likely to choose brands that align with their own values and are relatable, making your messaging strategy an essential component of your brand identity. Your messaging is how you tell your brand’s story, as well as communicate core values and unique selling propositions (USPs). To clarify what your messaging is, and to ensure that every campaign stays on message, your brand guidelines can include the following: 

mission

Your mission should be one-to-two sentences that encapsulate the “why” of your business. The statement often answers the question of what your company does and why it does it. 

vision

A vision statement is all about your company’s goals. What are you trying to achieve? What are you working towards, potentially industry wide or further? Answering those questions provides your company with a direction to aim towards and helps to keep your messaging focused on a clear goal for the future. 

tagline

Taglines and slogans are succinct statements designed to stick in your audience’s brains for weeks or months after hearing it. A tagline is for a brand and should be included in your brand guidelines whereas a slogan is for a campaign and wouldn’t likely be included. Your tagline should reflect your mission and brand identity, but not be so wordy as to be difficult to repeat out loud.  

brand story 

The human brain is wired for stories. Storytelling is one of the most effective ways to absorb and internalize new information. Every brand has their own story to tell. Where your brand came from and where it’s going form the basis of your narrative. This is a tangible way of expressing how your brand embodies its mission, vision, and values. 

tone of voice 

How you say something matters just as much as what you’re saying. Guidelines for tone of voice ensure that your brand communications reinforce your messaging. They are often formulated in “we are” and “we are not” statements to clarify what you should be conveying with your tone. Some examples include: 

consumer profiles 

Building consumer profiles is an invaluable exercise for any brand because this is how you learn who your audience is and who they are not. You can’t tailor your messaging to your target audience unless you know who they are and what they need. Likewise, you may have multiple audiences and having profiles for each will help you differentiate their behaviour, as well as your approach for each. Consumer profiles represent market research in a tangible, actionable, and human way. Including them in your guidelines will help you ensure that your messaging is always aligned across multiple channels, for multiple partners/stakeholders/agencies. 

business-to-consumer (B2C)

B2C represents dealing directly with the consumer or end-user of your product. How you market to this audience will more directly reflect the positive experiences you aim to foster for your audience. 

business-to-business (B2B)

B2B is a model where other businesses are your customer base. Your marketing approach is likely to rely on demonstrating how your products or services will be beneficial to a business’s clientele. 

business-to-employee (B2E)

B2E is an approach that focuses on creating a positive employee experience. “Work culture” is not just a buzz word – fostering an environment where your team feels valued and enjoys their work will help you attract talented and skilled employees to your company. 

 

No matter the size of your company, brand guidelines allow you to present a unified and consistent branding across any channel and on every campaign. Brand guidelines not only ensure internal consistency but make the prospect of working with numerous stakeholders and outside agencies much easier. Most importantly, having guidelines saves you time and money on every campaign and product launch because key decisions have already been made.