Everyone knows that brand dissonance is a very real thing, especially if you have a larger company or are expanding. However brand inconsistency can also be a problem for smaller companies.
You have the rush that you have to get something out. Maybe it is a white paper or a catalog, you have to get out, and perhaps you can’t get access to your “good” logo. You have to recreate it, and you can’t remember what your “blue” is. Trust me; a blue billion is not just a saying.
So you rush, and you put out something that looks, well a little different. Or one of your salespeople has to have a new presentation, and so they cobble something together that looks not quite right. Maybe the type is different, the logo is misplaced, or the colors are wrong.
This is the beginning of brand dissonance. Why is brand dissonance so bad?
Well, look at a company like Coca-Cola. They have been around forever. Their logo is immediately memorable. You can picture it right now. The colors, the shapes, you have it. Now, what if you see the coca-cola logo on a bottle in the store, but it is in orange instead of red.
Not that big a deal, right? But it immediately raises questions. Is this really coca-cola? Or is this some knock-off? I understand that most businesses aren’t like Coca-Cola, but that makes brand dissonance even more of a threat.
Every time you “touch” a prospect you are reinforcing your brand. It takes around 23 touches to be memorable. If you mess up just one of them, you start all over again.
Remember your brand is not just your logo, colors or type, but every time you interact or touch a prospect or customer. Your invoices are part of your brand, your website, your letterhead, how you answer the phone.
They all have to be tied together. That is why you need a brand bible.
How do you go about creating a brand bible?
The first step is to examine all of our collateral.
Logo: The first is to analyze your logo. Try to describe everything about your logo. Typeface, positioning, colors, everything about your logo.
- Where you place it on a brochure or print
- Where should it be on your invoice
Remember that you may send a few different pieces of print copy to a prospect or customer, so make sure they look alike.
When should you use a grayscale version of your logo?
What are your official colors? Make a print square of each color. Then describe the RGB, Pantone, and CMYK below each.
Print: Look at each of your print pieces. How can you make them as consistent as possible? This is for letterhead, business cards, even presentations. Anything that you can conceivably print out print and analyze. Try to come up with one consistent style.
This includes typeface for headlines vs. body copy. What size should each be and what colors are permissible? Write all of this in your bible with examples.
Online: Your website must be as consistent as print. You want to make sure that the online is consistent with the print as much as possible too. If your logo is always in the upper right side of your brochures, make sure it is on the upper right side of your website as well.
Now, most importantly, distribute your bible. Make sure everyone has one and access to it is easy to find. Give it to any partners including your marketing company, printers, trade show house. Everybody.
Want to talk about your brand and how you can make it grow for you? Contact 366 Marketing for a free evaluation.