Branding Book

Every brand, from the smallest website or startup, to corporate giants such as Nike or McDonald’s, need a set of branding guidelines and rules to maintain their identity. This document, which can range from a couple of pages, to several hundred, is the thread that holds together what the public sees from a company.

A Brand Book establishes the voice and personality of a company, as well as who the public will see, and it governs every aspect of communication from the company. The Brand Book is the basis for all interactions on behalf of a company – personal communications, social media, advertising and design.

A Brand Book is a document that establishes distinct guidelines on how all aspects of a company’s brand will be handled. It should establish rules for creating a unified and identifiable presence for your brand. This includes everything from the design of a logo and how it can be used, to letterhead, the look of a website, personal communications and how it all looks.

The Brand Book is meant to help employees properly use and communicate the message of a brand. It outlines brand goals and the company philosophy. Further it answers a few key questions: What is the correct spelling and use of the brand (and afflicted) names? What images are associated with the brand and product lines? In what ways can/should the company logo be used? What are people allowed to say about the brand? What marketing tactics are preferred or encouraged versus what marketing tactics should not be used?

It also serves as a guide for designers and employees to understand how the brand should be used and communicated about.

Top reasons why you need a brand manual:

• 1. To enhance marketing and sales efforts so that effective use of the brand logo, design and expression generate a positive impact,

  2. To avoid physical distortions and deviations from the true design and character of your brand, and

  3. To remind people that behind the brand is a company that invites trust and confidence.

Because you DON'T have a brand manual, are you prepared to deal with:

• 1. inappropriate or indiscriminate use of your brand, its logo and its tag lines?

  2. wrong colors, different characters and improper positioning of the logo and slogan on promotional material?

  3. careless handling of the brand causing confusion and "cheapness"?

  4. discrepancies in brand elements - no cohesion or harmony in presenting the various elements into a unifying whole?

  5. inconsistent messages that result in poor sales?

• • Golden Circle - The brand definition comes from Simon Sinek's book Starts With Why. The Golden Circle explains why the brand exists and what they offer to their customers.

  • Brand Position Statement - The brand position statement outline can be referred to at BPS.

  • Slogan - What is the current company tagline being used in advertising.

  • Keywords in Search - What are common words used by the company in advertising online.

  • Sponsors - Who would best expand the brand, given the brand position statement?

Additional Reading

• • What is a Brand Book? by Tisha Oehman

    • • Follow the 11 Steps at the bottom of the page

Vocabulary

• • Brand Book

Student Activity

• • Complete the Brand Book for the company project.