What exactly makes up a corporate brand? Is it its identity or values? The way it communicates or your specific design? “All of the above!” is probably the only correct answer to such a question, as few topics are as multifaceted as building a successful brand. To ensure that many individual factors come together to form a cohesive whole, certain rules are necessary. These guidelines are called Brand Guidelines and serve to maintain consistent corporate communication.
Everyone benefits from Brand Guidelines, not just designers
These principles provide clear instructions on how exactly a brand should communicate. And “exactly” is still an understatement. They set the course for consistent corporate communication across all channels and platforms. This way, information, whether in written or visual language, can be conveyed according to clear standards. The values of a brand must be clearly recognizable and, especially through visual consistency, create high recognition both internally and externally.
Only with clear standards can developed communication strategies be consistently reproduced. This benefits not only colleagues in marketing or sales, but a higher brand recognition value ideally reflects directly in sales. Every employee, regardless of their role or workplace location, can identify the clearly defined values of their employer and, in turn, better represent those values – both in their professional and personal environment. This is the only way a brand can be successful in the long term.
If you feel lost among all the “corporate jargon,” this article will provide a good entry point into the topic: “Brand Design – The Journey from Business to Brand.”
Everything in one place, instead of scattered everywhere – with Design Guidelines
In practice, this means that all relevant information for designing and communicating a brand consistently must be gathered in one place and be accessible to all employees. This is where the so-called Brand Design Manuals, also known as Style Guides or Brand Books, come in. They help both internal and external employees from graphic or marketing agencies adhere to the consistent look and desired appearance of a brand. Depending on the size and diversity of a company, these guidelines are documented in different levels of detail. They primarily include the fundamentals of a brand, such as typography or print patterns for analog or digital media. Creating such guidelines is typically essential for any growing company.
Additionally, Brand Guidelines also encompass Corporate Culture and Corporate Communication. The former refers to the culture and positioning of a company, while the latter defines the way communication is carried out both internally and externally. Finally, Corporate Identity is the interplay of all these factors and provides the reason for the “Why” and “Where” of a corporate brand. It also takes into account the company’s history and defines its brand personality.
Avoid misunderstandings: Unified Corporate Wording and Design Facilitate Communication
Corporate Wording is another key aspect of Brand Guidelines. It pertains to the exact wording of claims, image texts, and advertisements. Which words are used, why, and where? Which greetings or farewells are used in emails or on the phone? Even grammatical rules or the degree of political correctness are recorded here to create a standard for unified communication. Also important are questions of a brand’s tone. This defines how the company should sound or feel when employees and marketing experts convey messages. It is largely determined by the company’s self-image and the target audience it aims to reach.
Corporate Design is the most visible aspect of Brand Guidelines. In general, design affects all visually observable areas of a (corporate) brand. Logos, fonts, and color palettes give a company a unique and distinctive look. Of particular importance is the choice of a corporate font, which specifies text sizes and font styles. Graphics, images, tables, icons, and even paper choices are not left to chance in successful brands but must adhere to strict Brand Guidelines. Only by doing so can it be ensured that the company presents itself consistently to the target audience and creates a higher recognition value.
By the way: In this blog post, the topic of Corporate Design is explored further in-depth: “Successful Branding: The Secrets of a Strong Brand.”
Specific examples from various areas of Brand Guidelines
There are clear examples from the aforementioned areas that can be part of Brand Guidelines. In general, it is important to clearly define what is allowed and what is not. Especially when it comes to fulfilling design tasks, it must be clear which color combinations work in relation to the logo and which must be avoided. For letterheads or business cards, templates are required to leave nothing to chance. Flyers or (advertising) posters also follow strict design grids, such as clearly defining the spacing between the elements depicted. This is particularly important for external service providers to adhere to central standards.
Uniformity in communication is achieved through Stylesheets
Nowadays, much of the communication is done using digitally created templates. This can be seen, for example, in digital presentation templates or websites that companies provide to their employees to fill with content. Letterheads or business cards are also created digitally and then transferred to the physical world – via a printer. To prevent content managers from neglecting or bypassing carefully crafted design or communication guidelines, Stylesheets are used.
They are also called digital format templates and collect information about fonts, sizes, line spacing, text indentation, colors, etc., in one file. After their creation, this file can be processed by a program that interprets the saved information and then formats and outputs it according to predefined rules. The content remains untouched, and only the display adjusts automatically depending on the platform. The exact format templates are stored in a master sheet, which can only be changed by a select group of designers or programmers. This ensures company-wide compliance with central guidelines for consistent communication.
The path to success – with Branding Agencies, everything comes from one source
In the end, Brand Guidelines serve one purpose: making a brand easily recognizable to customers, employees, or partners. True to the saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth,” it is important to define clear standards for daily communication, even among different actors within a company. Regardless of the size of the company, it is of significant importance to consolidate all brand information in one place. This does not only concern designers or the aesthetics department. New employees, in particular, can better understand the self-image and positioning of the company brand thanks to such guidelines.
Creating Brand Guidelines requires a certain level of technical know-how. However, even with sufficient expertise, one challenge remains: the infamous “company blindness.” Employees from within the company often internalize their brand’s values so well that they assume certain aspects of communication are obvious. This leads to important points being overlooked, resulting in cognitive dissonance between the conveyed brand image and the way the brand is perceived by the consumer.
A well-intentioned but poorly executed attempt at establishing Brand Guidelines can make brand communication significantly more difficult. Therefore, it is advisable to seek professional support from branding, graphic design, and web design experts. They can provide an unbiased, objective perspective on a brand, its target audience, and its presentation. This saves you from unnecessary costs and allows you to focus more on what truly matters to you: your core business.