Protecting your brand

A little over a year ago we finished the rollout of a new name, new brand, new corporate philosophy.  It was a huge undertaking and TONS of committee meetings.  Everyone knows that a brand or name change can make or break a company.  Fortunately, our change went off without any major issues.

Boy, it is a continual battle to keep the brand intact.  It’s not that people mean to dissolve the brand little by little, but often they’re so consumed by their job role, their product set or their personal agenda that they miss the big picture of how each little diversion they make affects the company image.

People think that brands consist of logos, colors, tag lines, graphics and that is correct to a point … they did, of course, have to go through the new brand training and sign off on a brand guide.  What they miss is that unless you use those items CONSISTENTLY, your brand is irrelevant.  We initially made one small mistake by not insisting that one person was in charge, with some authority, to monitor and call out brand deviants.  And, we should have insisted that every new employee was trained on the importance of our brand identity.  But, it’s not always the new people or the crazy sales people that are on a mission who do the infractions … nope, sometimes it’s way up the chain, sometimes it’s people who originally served on the brand committee.  Like I said earlier, it’s an ongoing battle.

If you want to protect your brand, here are some thoughts:

* The brand must remain consistent, no deviations from the rules are acceptable

* The brand represents the company culture, it’s not just the marketing aspect

* Enlist a team to monitor and give them authority to keep things in check

* Always remember, your brand is the identification your customers make with your services and products

* Branding correctly is just a part of the total package of what you are trying to achieve — successfully growing a business

* Don’t ever let ANYONE mess with your logo — easier said than done!

* Make sure a legal team has your brand licensed, all future URL options are purchased, and keep the financial people involved too

I’ll end this talk with the first avenue that began to erode:  EMAIL SIGNATURES

We very specifically spelled out exactly how everyone’s email signature should look, colors, fonts and positioning.  A mockup was available from IT for anyone having issues setting up their email signature (that also includes every mobile device).  It wasn’t long before official titles began to change, people added certification logos and unauthorized tag lines, mobile devices became default messages, cell phone numbers went in place of the authorized direct dials.  But my all time favorite is the VP that is still using the old company name.  And, since I work in IT, wow did everything become acronyms way too fast.

Embrace your brand and love it, it speaks to the entire world of who you are and what you do.