Definition: Brand Guidelines
Brand Guidelines (also called corporate identity guidelines) are the rules that describe how an organization's corporate identity should be applied. This protocol provides both instructions on how the corporate identity could be used and rules on what is and is not allowed. There are different elements and brand assets that make up the corporate identity such as the logo, the colors and fonts, but also the tone-of-voice or the type of images and visuals used in various expressions and media.
What are Brand Guidelines?
The Brand Guidelines describe how employees, suppliers and stakeholders should apply their organization's corporate identity internally and externally. The guidelines are often described in a (digital) document or on the intranet with examples, also called a Brand Guide or corporate identity manual. This corporate identity manual provides instructions on how the corporate identity should be used, but also defines what is and is not allowed.
An example of a section described in the Brand Guide is the explanation of how to use the logo in various expressions. It is often stated that a logo should not be distorted or rotated and that the colors should be the same in every expression. In addition to the logo, it also establishes, for example, the font or type of graphics used. Establishing these guidelines and overseeing their use often lies with the organization's marketing department or brand manager, or this is outsourced to an external agency.
Brand Guidelines and brand consistency
The goal of Brand Guidelines is to ensure that the corporate identity is deployed as intended, providing a consistent and neat appearance to the outside world. This consistent appearance is also known as brand consistency. Brand consistency contributes to brand recognition among (future) customers. In addition, it creates trust and strengthens the relationship with your customer and your employees. In other words, consistently applying the Brand Guidelines strengthens the value of your brand.
All your brand guidelines in one online corporate identity manual?
To efficiently manage, communicate and share all your Brand Guidelines, it is imperative that this information is stored in one central location and that the most up-to-date versions of all brand assets are readily available. Comrads' Brand Portal module is an interactive and cloud-based Brand Guidelines solution that brings together all current brand guidelines and files, both visually and textually. In this way, brand guidelines can be easily retrieved and shared with colleagues, stakeholders and (external) partners.
Protecting your brand guidelines with Digital Asset Management
Brand managers and marketing teams can secure their Brand Guidelines through Brand Management software. Through a Brand Portal, employees, offices, suppliers and partners always have access to the latest Brand Guidelines, instructions and examples. Directly integrated with a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system, one also has one central location for storing, sharing and managing all brand elements, media and digital assets. The brand manager can easily determine who has access to which content and brand assets and monitor what they are used for. So your brand assets are protected and brand consistency can be ensured.
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There are many different Brand Management systems and DAM providers. So check out our DAM benchmark to compare solutions based on your functional requirements. Download the comparison guide completely free of charge.