Successful businesses recognize the value of branding, and a brand guide helps organizations maintain consistency and quality in their messaging.
A brand guide is a reference manual that identifies the look, feel and style of an organization. All stakeholders – management, employees, board members, investors and others – should be familiar with the document’s contents. A singular brand voice should be represented across public relations, social media, marketing, advertising and other communication platforms.
Months of research, self-study and strategic visioning sessions help shape a brand guide. Priority Marketing’s team of creative professionals have worked with dozens of businesses and nonprofits to create branding documents. In some cases, this process is the first time an organization has sought to truly identify its brand.
This FAQ Friday video helps explain several key elements of a brand guide.
Elements of a brand guide
Top brands thrive with consistency. That means everything from business cards and brochures to social media posts and speeches carry similar messaging, tone and imagery.
A brand guide contains many elements. Always include these three components:
Key 1: Brand positioning statement. Create a few sentences or a paragraph that describes what your business does, how it is different and the unique value you bring to your target market.
Key 2: Brand visuals. The most recognizable part of a brand is its logo. However, brand visuals also cover essential elements like the brand color palette, fonts, graphics and sample photography.
Key 3: Brand messaging. Every word and phrase should reflect the brand. Make a list of brand-defining words and use them to describe your brand voice and personality.
Tip: For each key listed above, be sure to include examples. Other individuals within the organization may not be as familiar with the concept of branding. Examples help others connect the dots, and ultimately showcase your brand in the best light.
Brand guide: An example
Priority Marketing partnered with the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce to develop a 32-page Brand Standards Guide. The document is a comprehensive guide that formalized the chamber’s overall brand. It starts with a target market analysis before moving into brand positioning, key messages, graphic standards and samples.
The document begins with this purpose statement:
WHAT IS A BRAND?
Our brand is a combination of who we are and who we want to be as an organization. Brand perception is what our audiences think about us – the thoughts, feelings and behaviors we generate through our communication (or lack thereof). The goal of branding is to strategically shape brand perception, so it more closely aligns with our brand.
This brand standards guide is a great starting point to achieve brand continuity, which is critical to our branding effort. It should help communicators align on our brand position and thoughtfully develop communications that achieve the brand perception we desire for the Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce!
The bulk of the Chamber’s Brand Standards Guide is devoted to brand positioning and tools. It defines brand pillars and brand words, as well as the brand ambassadors expected to share key messages with the community. Graphic standards outline logo usage, social media hashtags, digital media, color palettes, typography, icons and photography. The document concludes with sample executions to indicate the quality and consistency expected of materials produced by the chamber.
VIEW: Brand Standards Guide: Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce
Building a brand guide
Brand consistency builds awareness and understanding, which leads to trust and credibility. Eventually, this unlocks the potential for brand loyalty. Would your business or nonprofit organization benefit from a brand guide? Priority Marketing has a team of branding experts on standby!
VIEW: Our Creative Portfolio
Please give us a call today at 239-267-2638 or send an email to LetsTalk@PriorityMarketing.com.
