Truelio Brand Protection Series
Installment 2
The Importance of Brand Compliance:
How to Protect Your Brand Identity
If you have not already done so, we invite you to read installment one of our Brand Protection Series to learn why brand compliance is a must-have for any company.
Building brand equity is a painstakingly long process that requires heavy lifting and careful decision making. It’s easy to lose the pricing power and reputational capital you’ve worked diligently to earn. Unfortunately, earning brand trust doesn’t end with your strategic and tactical execution. It’s equally important to ensure compliance across your entire brand and customer experience.
Here are seven strategies that deliver a consistent, authentic and reliable brand experience.
Your brand playbook (or guidelines) is your corporate gospel. It’s the instruction guide and user manual for your brand. The traditional playbook contains visual identity (logo usage, color palette, typography, imagery and other design elements) and verbal identity (voice and tone, mission statement, brand promise, tagline, boilerplate, corporate descriptor, etc.) components. It’s important for your brand story to be a central element of your playbook. Your corporate narrative is the centerpiece of your brand identity and should integrate with your brand ecosystem. Your playbook should be used to support brand compliance measures. It should also be incorporated as a staple in your new hire orientation and shared externally to demonstrate transparency and the underlying values of your operations and corporate behavior.
Centralized Brand Asset Repository
Consider using a Digital Asset Management system to store and share brand assets and ensure that employees and partners have access to the latest versions. This includes sanctioned templates for standardized documents and, most critically, internal and external presentations.
Continued Brand Education and Training
Brand management is an ongoing commitment. Schedule employee training sessions that stress the importance of brand compliance. Use these sessions as opportunities to reinforce the brand tools available and introduce new brand assets. Partner with Human Resources to ensure that brand compliance is included in the new hire curriculum.
Standard Recurring Brand Audits
Audits are important tools in your brand management planning. Schedule periodic reviews across your entire brand experience and customer channels. Embrace the role of employees in the audit process by creating a feedback system that empowers them to report non-compliance issues.
Police Your Brand Policies
It may be an obvious standard, but your branding is only as good as your oversight. Establish a review and approval process for materials created across your organization that involve brand elements. It’s helpful to develop simple brand checklists that help business units adhere to your brand guidelines before materials are shared externally or printed.
Technology is Your Brand Ally
Invest resources in integrating a brand management software solution. It will be time and money well spent. Such software will automate and manage your brand compliance strategies and planning. It will also help you monitor brand compliance across multiple platforms and channels.
Communicate, Communicate and Communicate More
Understanding is key when it comes to brand compliance. Ensure that everyone in your organization is up to speed on your guidelines and the importance of brand compliance. It’s equally important to clearly communicate your brand guidelines to your external partners, vendors and other third parties.
Hopefully, these seven steps are already in your brand compliance tool kit. By integrating them into your brand management tactics, you’ll be able to maintain brand integrity and ensure that your communications and customer experiences are consistent and aligned with your brand identity.
At Truelio, we understand the incredible investment required to deliver a consistent, authentic and dynamic brand experience. We invite you to contact us for a complimentary consultation to learn how we can support you in your marketing and branding efforts.
