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The next time you’re in a room full of marketing execs, casually mention the phrase “brand management practices.” You can expect either: 1) a dizzying list of brand books on the subject, 2) an exhaustive explanation of the latest brand guru techniques, or 3) a deer-caught-in-the-headlights kind of look.
Once considered the least sexy part of the branding process, reserved for a few obscure employees charged with identity responsibilities, guidelines have evolved to hold a starring role for the whole of the organization, internally and externally.
While no brand expert polled could quite remember when guidelines first appeared (brand consulting firm Landor puts the date somewhere in the 1970s for the airline industry), most agree that they began as large, rather cumbersome printed manuals, housed in three-ring binders with a no-nonsense technical tone. Or, as one consultant put it, guidelines were “dry and deadly boring.”
What began as printed guidelines mandating the “rules” of reproducing a newly- or re- designed logo within various applications has evolved to educating a brand’s internal constituents about what comprises the brand—be it the brand promise, positioning statement or the psychology behind a chosen Pantone color.
From the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport to the United Way to the British Film Institute, it’s now commonplace to find brand identity guidelines online in both PDF and website formats. Internal employees and managers as well as third party vendors, agencies and media can instantly access how to properly use or even request the use of the verbal and visual identity for material such as internal presentations, billboard advertising or interactive interfaces.
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What has also evolved is the tone of the written word. Brand owners are talking to actual humans as readers (as opposed to programmable employees) who appreciate clarity, brevity and (dare we say it) even light humor. Jeffrey Marcus, principal of design and branding firm Marcus Associates, remembers, “[…I]n the early 90s seeing a guidelines piece that was really brilliant. They took the time and spent the money to actually make the thing kind of lyrical and fun. It was such an eye opener. Who would’ve ever thought that guidelines could be so enjoyable to go through? That was the first time I had ever seen anything like that.”
Around the same time, CD-ROMs, PDFs and the Internet started to catch on as alternative formats to printed materials due to the advantages of lower production costs and the ability to relatively easily update and change information on an as-needed basis.
International shippers FedEx was one relatively early adopter of an Internet-based system that provides guidelines and a brand approval system. A decade later, designated web pages continue to provide everything from how to apply for a name of a product or service all around the world to literature guidelines, advertising guidelines, and how to use the logo on t-shirts.
Most importantly, FedEx’s Internet hosted guideline system allows brand usage requests to be facilitated directly through the brand management group in Memphis, regardless of where in the world and on what time zone a requestor is.
Says Gayle Christiansen, global brand management director at FedEx, “Most modern companies have something like this, but we think ours is really good. Consistency is the mantra of the brand. You’ve got to be consistent if you’re going to make a great impact. [The system] helps us with consistency so that we have a look and feel that identifies as FedEx around the globe.” Christiansen adds, “Whenever you can simplify processes and be very clear, everyone saves [money], time and makes decisions much easier. It also speeds up time to market.”
In an era of 24/7/365 as well as “living the brand,” some companies and their agencies are creating brand experiences through the guidelines. BrandWizard Technologies has been delivering digital brand management tools to a wide variety of clients, such as Mercedes, IBM, National Geographic and the American Cancer Society, for over five years.
Branding firm FutureBrand also offers interactive brand management tools for companies such as Bank of America and Opel. Says Steve Aaron, director of e-tools at FutureBrand, “We’re trying to evolve to cover a lot more then just how big is the logo or how it should be placed. It’s more about ‘what is [the brand] about?’ It’s really about explaining to everyone why the brand is changing and how they can be a part of it.”
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While many companies view the Internet and sophisticated online tools as the “panacea” of guidelines, printed materials and in-person workshops remain staples of the trade. In addition, there are drawbacks to relying solely on electronic solutions especially for global companies. Says Duncan Daines, client director at Landor in London, “At the end of the day, what we’re asking with all of these [guidelines] is for humans to adopt a slight change in their existing behaviors.” What it takes to actually get people to modify their behavior (be it slightly or drastically) can vary greatly depending not only on the culture of the organization but the culture of the geographic region.
Daines has observed from client experience that different geographic regions have different ways of taking in and processing information based on both their organizational and national cultures. For example, Saudi Arabians continue to need the more concrete printed book versus an educational workshop or reliance on online tools. In Germanic regions of Europe, systematized, process-driven ways are more conducive to online tools as a primary method, whereas in the Nordic regions, it is much more about education through workshops to begin with and then using a website as a supporting and facilitative tool.
If a company happens to be in one or more of these regions, finding a common language and processes to easily integrate regional divisions can be tricky. Says Daines, “It’s really about planning a whole series of activities by using on- and off-line tools that will enable them to easily digest the content. So if they’re not going to respond to an online tool because they don’t have access, or it’s in the wrong language, or it’s not the way they have ever worked, then we seek [alternative] ways and means.”
Marcus of Marcus Associates agrees, “The key is to create something that is really relevant to their situation. It shouldn’t be any more complicated than it absolutely needs to be. It shouldn’t have anything in it that is above and beyond the needs of the user. The tone and the way it’s written become really important. It’s all about easy use. There’s nothing worse than bringing in a team of writers and a team of strategic people who take this thing and make it into something that is just written over the heads of everybody that needs to be using it.”
BrandWizard and brandchannel are both members of the Interbrand Group.
[21-Mar-2005]
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Alycia de Mesa is a brand identity consultant and writer with over 10 years experience from Fortune 100 to start-up companies. She is author of Before The Brand, the definitive brand identity handbook, published by McGraw-Hill (under the name Alycia Perry).
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Oct 24, 2005
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Branding, a Job Well Done -- Dale Buss
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How do major brands like Costco and Ritz-Carlton become household names without relying on traditional advertising? By tapping into their greatest resource: Employees.
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Aug 8, 2005
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Hotel Brands Break the Chain -- Rob Mitchell
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After decades of perfecting the known experience at chains around the world, hotel brands are now trying to create boutique hotels as guests go on a quest for the one-off experience.
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Jul 25, 2005
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Best Global Brands: Focus on UBS -- Robin Rusch
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Among the top five fastest growing brands on the list of 100 Best Global Brands 2005, Swiss financial services company UBS reflects the work in progress of growing and sustaining a global brand.
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Jun 20, 2005
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Growing Pains Small Brands -- Alicia Clegg
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How can a brand remain true while broadening its reach? Popular but small brands like Innocent Drinks, Tyrrells and Hill Station risk losing their original fans in their quest to grow bigger.
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Apr 18, 2005
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Dove Gets Real -- Alicia Clegg
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Unilever’s Dove is the latest beauty brand to use "real" women to sell product. But can this campaign turn ugly?
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Mar 7, 2005
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Should Global Brands Trash Local Favorites? -- Randall Frost
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When P&G, Unilever and Nestlé clean house, they risk losing local markets for beloved brands. Companies like Henkel, on the other hand, retain a portfolio of national and international brands to satisfy both global and local tastes.
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