Today’s consumers want more than the products and services your company sells. They want an experience with a brand that aligns with their values, aspirations and identity. However, many companies struggle to clearly define their brand and even perform actions that are contrary to their brand identity, hurting their business integrity and driving customers away. This is where a brand guide comes in. It provides a clear way to an authentic brand identity that attracts loyal customers and offers direction for your business development.
In this blog post, we’ll outline what a brand guide is, why you should create one and how you can make one for your own business.
What is a brand guide?
A brand guide represents the rulebook by which you present, embody and operate your organisation. It contains specifications on everything that plays a role in the look, feel, and spirit of your brand - from the fonts and colours you use to the language and tonality you adopt.
If you think about your favourite brands, you’ll notice how they’ve shifted their look and feel over the years, some more extreme than others. For example, Google has changed their iconic typography to stay more relevant with the times, while Apple (first Apple Computers) went so far as to change their name, colours and product offer to create the legendary brand that it is today.
Why should you use a brand guide?
When it comes to trust and authenticity, consistency is key. Having a well-laid out set of guidelines for how you want your brand to appear, what content to use, and how to talk about it are essential to ensuring this consistency. Every well-known brand started with a new brand guide to solidify their image, and you can follow in their success.
Whether you want to establish a new brand, build upon your existing brand or completely change the direction of your company, we’ll cover how you can create your own brand guide in five easy steps below.
How to create a brand guide - in 5 easy steps.
When it comes to trust and authenticity, consistency is key. Having a well-laid outset of steps is a key to a successful brand. Let's go through all the crucial parts of strong branding:
STEP ONE - What’s your story?
Every great brand tells a story and invites customers to join in on that narrative. A person using Apple products is projecting a very different story than those who use Microsoft products. Likewise, a person driving a Rolls Royce is assumed to have very different values to a person driving a Ferrari.
Ask yourself what values, vision, mission your company should embody. What would your customers like to identify with and what would they like to aspire to? All of these aspects will help you create a story and narrative that resonates with your customers.
Once you have the answers to these questions, you should put a pen to paper and jot it down. It will inform the rest of your brand guide, so try to put some serious thought into what will last rather than what’s trending at the time.
STEP TWO - Fill in the colour
The first thing you think of when you think of a brand isn’t the logo, the font, or even what they stand for. It’s the colour. Facebook? Blue. Coca-Cola? Red. HubSpot? Orange. This should demonstrate how important setting a core colour palette for your brand guide is.
You can use multiple colour schemes to add vitality to your brand communications and evoke emotions from your customers. They can be used to signal what certain buttons do, the general outlook of your company, or even the product or service functions you offer.
For the purpose of your brand guide, you should select a primary and secondary colour at a minimum. Don’t forget to include the necessary hex codes, RGB values, and CMYK colour codes to ensure your colours are always presented consistently.
STEP THREE - Font up
Typography is a lot like good, professional fashion - it goes unnoticed if it’s done well, but sticks out like a sore thumb if it’s not. Choosing the right font, style, and general typography will add to every company communication you execute.
In general, you need to select one or two fonts that your brand will use. These can be serif or sans-serif depending on the image you want to portray. Once you select the font, try not to deviate from it without good reason, as any inconsistency will make your brand look amateurish
Your brand guide should outline what fonts are used and for what purposes in print and on the web. We’ve created a blog post just on fonts that you may find helpful, here.
In addition to the style of your text, including a visual guideline of images is also important. Here, you want to highlight what images should be used, what emotions they convey and what you want to show.
STEP FOUR - Find your voice
How someone talks is just as memorable as how they look. The same applies to your brand, which is why you need to spend time thinking about how your brand voice comes across. The ideal voice for your brand is one that has a style that resonates with your audience and aligns with the personality of your brand.
If your products or services are serious, then so should your brand voice. No one wants to read puns, jokes, and slang when they’re looking for a doctor or lawyer, and likewise, no one wants to be bored to death when buying soda.
When defining your voice in your brand guide, try to include what vocabulary to use, the correct use of grammar, punctuation, spelling, style, and tone. It’s critical to give a lot of examples to help ensure that your voice stays consistent throughout.
STEP FIVE -Show them how it’s done
Now that you have the right story, colour, font, and voice, it’s time to include as many examples as you can. These can be from other brands or not associated with any - as long as they reflect what you are trying to accomplish.
Additionally, you can now start designing or re-designing your logo with the above in mind. Your logo is the best way to encapsulate the spirit of your brand in a single image. Be sure to make heavy use of your primary and secondary colours and the font style if you have any text. Remember, whatever image you choose to represent your company should conform to your voice, style, and story. If your brand is informal, try to avoid hard edges and realism, while if it’s trying to establish authority, hard edges and clear-cut imagery add to the effect.
Get your brand right, the first time
A brand is the single best asset any modern company has. It helps you stay top-of-mind, builds trust and promotes quality to your customers. Additionally, it can serve as a marketing tool, helping you reach new audiences with a consistent style that is yours to own and promote.
Achieving success with branding begins with a clear and concise message. Without clarity, you risk losing leads and money. We know this because we’ve been there - so many of our clients were saying too much about too little because it’s difficult to be clear. For the past 12 years, Demodia has refined marketing to generate more revenue for our clients, and we can do it for you too.
Contact us now for a consultation. We will provide you with a step-by-step approach to improve your brand story, so you can watch your conversion rates and profits increase as customers uncover your true value.
