5. MAP your brand’s key touchpoints
Your branding must be consistent across all your touchpoints. Consider the key places your brand appears and make a list of all your materials. From digital touchpoints like your website, videos and social media to more tangible things like signboards, brochures, business cards and office signage you’ll be surprised how long the list is. And don’t forget to consider new ways to apply your brand.
Think about your business holistically and go beyond where the visual elements of your brand will appear. It’s also about the overall client experience and how your team represents your brand values every time they make contact with a client or potential client.
6. ENFORCE your brand guidelines
Create brand guidelines to give yourself, your team and your suppliers a guide to work from when creating and using material for your brand. The guidelines will be your brand ‘bible’. Include a general overview of your brand values, details of the visual elements such as the logo, colours and fonts, as well as photography recommendations, printing parameters, examples of brochures and other material. The more detailed this document is, the stronger and more consistent your brand will be, as there will be less room for error and misrepresentation of the brand.
7. PROMOTE your brand widely
Whether you’re starting from scratch, doing a refresh or undergoing a complete rebrand it’s important to communicate your brand to clients, colleagues and the market so they know who you are and what you stand for.
A few weeks before you launch, put together some teaser communications to let everyone know that something special is happening. A brand launch party will also help to make everyone aware and get them involved in your brand from the get-go.
8. MONITOR the usage of all brand elements
The key to a strong brand is consistency, so appoint someone to monitor your brand usage. They will be the person in your business that knows the brand better than anyone else and is the keeper of all the brand assets. When you have a team of people applying your brand across a wide range of mediums, it’s common for inconsistencies to crop up. So having someone responsible for all approvals is essential.
If you do happen to find that inconsistencies are arising, consider having a team training session or updating your brand guidelines to clarify the application of your brand.
TIFFANY WILSON is the Director at Chronicle Republic.