It is remarkable how easily so much good work can be undone with a lack of follow through. An organization devotes invaluable resources to developing its brand into something special – something to be proud of, something powerful to its audience. And then undermines all that investment by simply not putting in the time and effort to ensure it is used correctly.
Brand compliance is about taking the extra, critical steps necessary to take care of your brand and be diligent about its consistent, proper use. At Fryed Egg Productions, we know that a brand is only as good as the way it is used, and we can help your brand stay strong and effective by creating a focus on brand compliance that will protect your brand – and maximize its impact.
Consistency is critical
Your brand is the story you tell your customers. Without brand compliance, that story will never be the same. An inconsistent use of your brand will render it meaningless. One of the common ways that brands are used inconsistently is that their use varies across different mediums and channels, essentially painting a different picture of your brand depending on where you encounter it. For instance, do your digital ads and service trucks align or tell two different stories? Inconsistency is a killer for your audience. If their impression of your brand varies based on how and where they view it, then they will find your brand elusive. For this brand, they will fail to connect with your brand and your message will never resonate with them.
A branding package
Brand compliance starts with a branding package. A branding package provides clear guidelines on the proper use of your brand while also offering the digital and physical resources to make following those guidelines simple and straightforward. The package anticipates the many ways that your brand may be used and details how it should be used in those circumstances, touching on everything from your logo to your colors and fonts. It provides clarity on messaging and your vision and values. It also provides all the physical and digital tools that your team members and partners might need to use your brand, ranging from letterheads and presentation templates to photos and versions of your logo. Branding guidelines are not about limiting creativity but about making the use of your brand simple and turnkey.
The follow through cannot be skipped
Unfortunately, building a brand and detailing how to use it still isn’t enough. You can’t just trust that everyone will follow those guidelines. You have to govern your brand’s use and make sure it remains aligned with your organization’s identity, values and quality standards. Brand compliance is about remaining in control of it. Once you have a brand and guidelines, you need to determine the process for ensuring its proper use and the personnel who are going to monitor its use and communicate when that use varies. That means creating a strategy to stay vigilant about guidelines being followed for every use of the brand by team members. For many organizations, the bulk of the burden for compliance falls on the marketing team, but it cannot be all their responsibility. Brand compliance needs to be an organization-wide effort. All team members should be thoroughly educated on the brand guidelines so that it becomes second nature and they can quickly recognize inconsistencies and misuses and help prevent them from occurring, both internally and externally.
At Fryed Egg, we help organizations build brand identities that reflect who they are -- from their name itself to their logo -- and then develop comprehensive marketing strategies to protect and advance those brands. We can help you pinpoint what makes your organization special, diving deep into your values and vision, and make sure that your brand reflects that. If you want to see if Fryed Egg is the right agency for your marketing needs, contact us at (813) 478-0494 or [email protected] or visit www.fryedegg.com.