This series of posts suggests the steps one must take to complete a brand review or audit, this targeted at entrepreneurs whose business has reached a size where a strategic review becomes a business opportunity. In the previous article I looked in some detail at the perceptions surrounding your brand. I advised you to look at the original vision, mission and strategic statements and presentations and to talk widely with a range of people, that to establish the current set of perceptions about your brand. The purpose of this is to establish your current position. And to begin to identify the gaps that future strategic and operational activity should address.
In this post I look at the visual representation of your brand, which is one of the more important components of the communications you issue. That is not formally recognized as part of the communication mix but is part of the way people observe your brand. That does drive those perceptions.
The audit sequence is very similar to previous thinking. First you must establish what the ideal or desired position is. And that brings us to the first question; do you currently have a clearly defined corporate identity?
And “clearly defined” means it should be written down as a document that your entire team can read, see and use in daily execution of their actions and responsibilities.
You do not need an award-winning printed document. Creating that is an expensive and costly exercise of its own. All you must have is one file that keeps all the elements in one place. And it is useful to have one person in the organisation who is in charge of these records. That is the one person in the organisation all (including yourself) must turn to if they want anything approved.
What is the original brand concept? This collection must include
- All logo details; including colours, shapes, icons and measurements.
- Company by-lines and slogans. Detail of the colours, typefaces and relative sizes that should be applied.
- All stationery details. Every piece of printed stationery including letterheads, business cards, invoices, complements vouchers, memoranda. Do not forget to include an email signature definition.
- A standard or preferred PowerPoint template layout, with an introductory slide, a closing slide and a standard set of colours and logo signature.
- All your sales and technical documents including newsletters, promotional bulletins, posters, product brochures, fact sheets and specifications.
- Include an overall design rule for general items such as offices, clothing, diaries and similar miscellaneous elements.
- And standards for your delivery vehicles. Colours codes and real samples. Logo size and locations.
- Include the social marketing activities. You must have overall design statement and it is worth printing images of what was approved when last you completed that design process. Print images of all portal home locations. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and whatever portals you use.
- Include the formal advertising you do.
- And finally look at how you intended that your services be delivered. What are the defined ways of greeting people at reception? Or on a phone?
If it is possible, first look at original design, concept or approvals, not at recent executions. We are first looking to develop the ideal position, not the most recently delivered.
It is also important in this first step to avoid judgment or taking corrective action. You must build an overall picture before you fix anything, failing that your repairs may add to the complexity, rather than simplify it.
Each component you have now looked at is a reflection of how an independent observer observes your brand. For that observer to perceive you are a single minded, unified and coherent brand that view must reflect that. If what he sees are different colours, different logo sizes, clothing bright and colourful, products unique and innovative yet offices and presentations dull and boring that observer will be confused.
And do not confuse discipline and style. If your design style is light and minimalistic then keep everything that way. If it is heavy and dark, keep it all the that way. If you make a decision and decide that style is wrong for your brand, change it, but change it all. To one consistent style. That is the discipline.
And by now you have done all the hard work. The remainder is simply discipline. What does your brand look like in the field?
- Take photographs of your logos wherever they are used. Focus on logo, company statement, typeface, colour and size. Look at all materials; signage, stationery, business cards, email signatures, presentations, specifications, brochures, online presentations.
- Do the same with presentations. Ask your senior team each to present a presentation he/she has recently delivered. Compare the styles of each. Is there a consistent style? Are they being creative or too simple for your brand vision?
- And look again at your online presence, not simply at the logo. Print the home pages of your web page, your Facebook page, your LinkedIn page and whichever other portal you use. Is there one overall image or are there many different versions?
- Do the same with your company brochures, leaflets and documents? One style or many?
- Take photographs of your company cars, delivery vehicles, company clothing and offices. Is there an overall image you are projecting?
- If you are a retail-oriented brand go out into store and take photographs of the same. Product on the shelves, of the posters in the field, of the promotional messages that your customers are placing; The advertising in their sales leaflets and brochures, in their shops?
One of the easier ways of looking at this in a single view is to print photographs you have taken and place those materials onto the boardroom table. You will quickly see where the wrong message is being delivered, the inconsistencies and the mismatches.
It becomes a simple exercise to separate the good from the bad and prioritize the gaps that must be fixed.
Do not get involved (at this stage) in any discussion that says, “I did not like that anyway” Before you know it you will become involved in time consuming and expensive design discussions. And you are looking for discipline now. You have a design. Everybody must just use that one design.
At this point move that discussion to discipline, not design!
And if you come across issues where the answer does not appear straightforward, you can call in expert consultants. That is one option. Another is to simplify the issue. Perhaps the issue is what should entrance offices look like? Rather than spend hours debating aesthetics, a simple instruction of “no office design for next six months” will suffice. Or look at what big corporate brands do; Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Coke and others are all around us. You will have to find solutions for your business yourself, but these brands do offer great guidelines.
Rectification does not need to be expensive. You might need some design support to establish the rules, but not a complete brand redesign. What is does need is those rules and disciplines.
Once the rules are clearly established, then all must comply; marketing team who produce the communications materials, secretarial staff who print corporate stationery, sales staff and executives who produce PowerPoint presentations, the HR person who approves corporate clothing, the warehouse manager who controls the vehicle and packaging standards. Everybody must follow one set of rules. If you have a large marketing team they can oversee all. But in a small business it is usually all who must take responsibility.
The corrections are extremely visual and “in your face” and once you embark down this road all will know exactly what your commitment is. It will make a difference throughout the organisation.
Next, we will look at industry elements including the target market, the competitors and the suppliers. Each has an important role to play in this brand review process.
About Garth Sutherland
Garth Sutherland has an extensive multicultural understanding.
He has worked with local brands (creating independent strategic positions) and international brands (integrating the international brand vision with the local demand to optimize the “on the ground” brand presence). His strengths include bringing a strong strategic focus into all aspects of marketing delivery, working with multi-agency perspectives, independent thinking & implementing with a consistent and practical teamwork focused delivery.
If you are looking to maximize the strategic value of your brand opportunity, Garth is the ideal resource to task.
You can contact him on +971 (0) 50 459 2536 or at garthsu@gmail.com
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