Nowadays, most big brands update their guidelines regularly to match the speed of transformation in all mediums. This action makes us wonder if it is vital to have brand guidelines at all.
When it comes to building a new brand or rebranding an existing business, we need to think of almost every material and application they need to use in their business. Therefore, the brand guidelines resolve the conflict that most companies fall into when implementing their branding to the actual applications. Brand guidelines are a crucial step in maintaining the qualities and standards of any business while communicating to its audience.
In other words, how a brand speaks, looks, or behaves on specific occasions should be according to a guide that keeps the brand communications aligned with its initial objectives based on the study of its brand strategy.
The lack of guidelines makes any attempt to create new marketing/ advertising material inconsistently and ineffective in the long term. Every time a material comes out, it’s mainly based on personal taste and perspective.
In a nutshell, brand guidelines are the tool to keep a brand consistent. How is that happening? Guide the designers, marketing agencies, or subcontractors a business deals with by setting the rules to correctly implement the brand assets and materials.
Also, more rules should be defined, such as typography, the usage of a font and its family, and how designers should use them in various media applications. Furthermore, visual language, photography, stationery, and digital communications are essential elements in the guidelines of any brand to help the brand communicate clearly and effectively in a consistent manner.
Brand guides should be flexible in a way that gives a sense of freedom for creatives and designers, yet they should be rigid to ensure brand recognition easily. A key element for a successful business is to stay consistent across different mediums.
Ultimately, brands need guidelines to ensure their communications and appearances are never misrepresented, no matter who creates their communication materials.
To conclude, it is highly recommended to have a brand style guide that empowers your brand communications, marketing, and advertising materials without confusing their audience with different messages, looks, and feels.
