The brand book of the company as a corporate style standard. How to develop a brand book: steps, rules, examples

In this article we will tell you how to develop and properly use a company’s brand book. But first, let's figure out what this document is and why your company needs it.

What is a brand book?

Brand book is official document, which contains your company's visual style standards. There are no two identical brandbooks. While some companies focus on design aspects, others create a more detailed document with an overview of the company and rules for interacting with clients and business partners.
At the first stage of work, you must decide how relevant such a document is for your project, and also determine the range of issues that will be described in the guide.

Why does a company need a brand book?

If you don't have a single set of rules, then every designer and marketer you bring in to solve certain problems will implement their ideas in accordance with their vision. There is nothing wrong with diversity, but in some situations a lack of unity can have disastrous consequences. If you use different design styles and communication methods, you will not be able to build a strong brand and convince potential customers that your company is the best in its segment.

A brand identity guide will be especially helpful for new employees. By familiarizing yourself with the rules in advance, newcomers will quickly navigate the brand system. It's better than learning by making annoying mistakes, right? This way, you won't have to interview new employees and explain to them that they broke a rule they didn't even know existed. Thus, a well-written brand book saves your time and reduces the number of awkward situations.

What do you need to know before developing a brand book?

First of all, adhere to the principle of the golden mean. The rules you develop should not be too rigid, because this will limit the creativity of employees, forcing them to stick to boring, proven solutions. But at the same time, the rules must be clear and not allow for double interpretation.
There is a common misconception that corporate identity guidelines should be developed by the head of the organization. We hasten to reassure you: this is not so. The manual is the result of the joint work of managers, designers and copywriters. And if your organization has a branding department, then developing guidelines is the direct responsibility of such a team.

Work on the document should be coordinated by a person who participated in the development of the corporate identity and has sufficient authority to accept and implement it important decisions. If employees do not know about the existence of a brand book or do not take into account its rules, then all the work done will go down the drain. When hiring a new employee, you must provide them with a manual for review. We'll talk more about this at the end of the article.

What does a brand book include?

As we have already written, no two manuals are exactly alike. Each company includes rules in its document that correspond to its values, goals, business model and other characteristics. However, in a standard brand book there are 3 main sections.

Brand

In this section we're talking about O mission, values and target audience companies.
The size of this section depends on the level of detail in the document and your goals. Many companies skip this chapter altogether because they don't see the point in rewriting boring clerical text from one document (such as a business plan) to another.

Form style

Logo: colors, placement, variations, size and proportions, examples of effective and ineffective use of the logo.
Trademark: usage options, colors.
Tagline: where to place the slogan. Read how to create a slogan.
Colors: what colors (color combinations) should be used in marketing products.
Fonts: a list of fonts to be used in the text (for heading, regular text, list, etc.). The best logo fonts you can find
Photos: Tips for creating photo sets, requirements for images.
Other graphic objects: icons, patterns, textures.

Rules of interaction

Language: In what languages does your brand communicate with the outside world?
Grammar and Formatting: abbreviations, capital letters, numbers, acronyms, dates and titles.
Readability: light sentences or succinct formulations.
Style: technical or official or slang, etc.
Communication manner:(formal/ friendly/ discreet/ humorous, etc.).
Emails: basic design of a letter, an example of an electronic signature.
Blog: requirements for blog posts, their formatting, topics and structure.
Social platforms: purpose, posting time and types of posts for each social network.

Brand book design

To develop a brand book design, you will need a professional. Before committing to a project, talk to the designer and make sure you share his vision. Ask the designer to show him his favorite examples of brand books and tell him what he likes about each of them. If there are no such examples, show the specialist the brand book options listed below and ask them to make a list of favorites. This will give you an idea of how your designer sees your future management. For example, does he plan to use large fonts and short paragraphs on each page, or does he prefer a more compact structure?

Please note one important point. The manual itself must comply with the rules it contains, i.e. be visually appealing and easy to understand. When the first version of the manual is ready, it would be a good idea to show it to other specialists to get their opinion. Remember that the brand book should be a reflection of the brand, not your personal preferences.

Do not hurry. Allow as much time as necessary to make changes. Once your team is happy with the end result, all that's left to do is add the finishing touches.

Examples of brand books

What is a ready-made guide to using a corporate identity? We have collected several examples that you will want to scroll through forever! Get inspired and create!
Apple Brand Book (PDF)

Who uses brand books
Many large companies provide a brand book to their distributors and other partners. This is how they ensure that their brand is presented in the same style throughout the world. However, the vast majority of brand books are intended for use within a company.

How to use a brand book

So, you have developed rules for using your corporate identity. But that's only half the job. Now you need to enforce these rules. Otherwise, what's the point of creating a document that no one looks at?

First of all, inform your employees about the existence of the brand book. Send out the document in your newsletter and ask your colleagues (all colleagues, not just designers and copywriters) to familiarize themselves with the rules and standards it contains. Any employee can become a brand representative (ambassador). Let's take developers for example. Although they are not directly involved in branding, they can quickly spot and correct mistakes made in the design.

Next step– appoint an employee responsible for compliance with the rules. Ideally, this should be the same person who coordinated the process of creating the brand book.
About a month after the release of the manual, it would be a good idea to hold a meeting to monitor compliance with the rules for using corporate identity. Also ask your colleagues about difficulties they have encountered in complying with the rules.

In conclusion, brands - just like people - are constantly changing. In this regard, get into the habit of regularly reviewing and updating your brand book (at least once a year). Remember that the rules for using corporate identity should be in line with the current goals and values of your company.

The importance of developing a unified corporate identity is becoming increasingly understood by entrepreneurs. Recognition of a company by corporate symbols, colors, and logo brings real profit. In order not to rely on chance, it is necessary to thoroughly work out everything, describe the technique and clearly indicate when, where and how to serve it. For this you need a brand book. This is a kind of instruction for the development and implementation of a corporate style.

What is a brand book

IN literal translation The term "brand book" means a book of a brand. which reflects the main features of the corporate identity. Books are usually published in the form of a printed catalogue. It contains information about the company itself, its mission, values and idea. Then the booklet provides samples of logos, and they are presented in several versions (in different scales, colors, black and white).

A brand book is a collection of elements of a company’s recognizable style with clear descriptions of every detail (from logo to business card), indicating ways to promote and popularize the brand. As a rule, companies produce very detailed and colorful publications, some of which are examples of high art.

Brand book structure

So your book must have three (conditional) sections:

In the first section, place general information about the company itself, its values, and the idea that it promotes. Here it is necessary to mention the circle of persons involved in the development of corporate style. Explain how certain elements of style will line up when working with consumers, partners and employees of the company.
The second part is devoted to the main provisions of building and applying the visual range of the brand. Corporate colors are prescribed, elements by which your company will be identified (recognized).
The third section provides information on the use of corporate identity elements on advertising media. You clearly indicate exactly how your corporate identity should be reflected in the commercial, on business cards, in outdoor advertising, on the Internet.

Of course, creating a brand book is a creative process. And its structure may ultimately differ greatly from the above. Sections may not be clearly visible; at first, inexperienced glance, the colorful edition will not contain the information that you expect to see there.

But if you take a closer look at the proposed brand “identity” guide, you will see that its content reflects the key provisions for creating a memorable company image.

Thus, a brand book is a set of forms, methods and means for developing and popularizing a brand. These are promotional guidelines. marketing strategy to bind the client (consumer) to a certain image. That is, all elements of the brand book are aimed at streamlining and systematizing the technique of using corporate style elements. When working with partners or clients, you will be sure that you will be recognized literally by one detail.

Of course, we must not forget about the quality content of the brand. Behind the beautiful façade there must be a strong and reliable building. Your product should be a standard of quality. Otherwise, all your efforts to visualize the brand will result in people starting to react negatively to your symbolism, associating it with a bad product or service.

About the importance of the logo

The development of a brand book is unthinkable without tightly linking all the elements of the corporate identity. IN general outline, a logo is a special outline of the company name, often accompanied by some kind of symbol.

It is important to take a responsible approach to such a visual embodiment of your company. The logo reflects your personality; it is bad if it overlaps in appearance with the logo of another company. You don't want any confusion, do you? Yes and litigation will not add joy. And they will be if another organization decides that you have used their branding.

When creating a logo, avoid any negative associations. It is better to start from details that carry a positive charge. Or design the logo in a neutral way.

The abundance of nuances in the development of a logo will require remarkable knowledge and talents from you. Therefore, it is better to entrust this matter to professionals.

Elements of corporate identity

But the company's image is not limited to just the logo. Other elements should also be included in your brand book. Corporate identity is your business cards, notepads, calendars, envelopes, stationery, letterheads.

Only then the development of a corporate image is considered complete, when your employees are recognized by the same business cards, made in the same style. When your partners and clients receive letters on letterhead, in envelopes adorned with a familiar logo. When your employees use company office.

Branded folders, CDs, flash drives, diaries and planners, even branded key chains - their descriptions must be in the brand guide. These subtle touches make up the image of your organization.

Development stages

Making a brand book is not a matter of minutes. Only in the process of discussion, information and approval of various positions is a truly clear, understandable set of rules for promoting a corporate image born.

When ordering a brand guide, you don’t need to rely only on third-party specialists. You must conduct your own marketing research to position your company.

Highlight the main features that are unique to you. Give your company human traits: friendliness, responsiveness, reliability, cordiality. Consider how these features will be reflected in your style elements.

Don't forget about long-term planning. Imagine how consumers will perceive your brand. And this will depend on what mission you put into it. Consumers, employees and partners should not only recognize you, but immediately identify the principles that you follow and broadcast.

Who develops

If we talk about who exactly should create a brand book, then there are two ways.

You can gather a department under your wing that will deal with the creation and popularization of a corporate identity. This department must include analysts, marketers, PR specialists, and designers.

You can do things a little differently. Develop the analytical part yourself. But everything else is entrusted to professionals who ate a dog on the creation of brand guides. You are just discussing and amending the brand book. The sample obtained at the exit, you once again carefully evaluate and, if the outcome is favorable, you approve.

Both options have their pros and cons. In the first case, you need to gather professionals, and it’s not a fact that you will continue to need their services. In the second situation, you need to evaluate the quality of services provided by third-party specialists. Remember that a good brand book will not be cheap.

Implementation

A colorful album should not become another decorative element in the manager’s office. A brand book is a working tool. It serves to ensure that you systematically implement its provisions in life.

When conducting an advertising campaign or concluding long-term partnerships, use positions from your company book. Cooperation will be more effective if you provide your brand book (pdf format) for review.

It will be easier for partners to understand the basic principles that you have laid down in your image. They will know how to use your logo more correctly, how to depict it in print media, in electronic resources, and on the Internet. You will not have any misunderstandings with the production of letterheads, business cards, flyers, and booklets.

Brand book is mandatory document in any company for which its image and status are important. With its help, you can solve many issues: from regulating relations with distributors to protecting the face and prestige of the company, as well as creating new ways to position the organization.

Brandbook- the most important strategic document, which contains all the information about the brand: from a description of the concept and philosophy of the enterprise, positioning strategy and ending with the smallest nuances for creating a corporate identity.

A brand book is needed in order to create a brand taking into account all necessary elements: mission, goals, objectives of the brand, rules for developing components of corporate identity, logo and outdoor advertising options.

One of the objectives of the brand book is also to form the correct attitude of employees towards the brand, draw up a code of conduct for employees, and create the image of the enterprise in the eyes of customers.

The brand book has a number tasks, which have no possibility of being resolved otherwise. Eg:

Creation of competent positioning and comprehensive coverage of the brand that will be promoted.
Correct and cultural use of corporate identity. The brand book helps to monitor the coherence of communications, starting with business cards and ending with signs that were made by designers for considerable sums of money. In other words, with a brand book at hand, a non-design secretary will be able to easily check the materials produced for compliance with the established standards.
Introduction of uniform corporate style standards throughout the enterprise and optimization of corporate relations and culture. Employees of the organization are informed about how to wear a special uniform, what kind of written forms exist in the company, and for what purposes they serve, what images can be used when working with internal documentation.
All external relations and communications are combined with the help of a brand book, which helps customers recognize your company among many others.
If your work is built on the basis of a dealer network, then a brand book is an integral part of your business process. Thanks to him, it becomes easier to design points of sale and work with the system of production of goods in the field.
A brand book can help a brand increase its level of recognition through standardized positioning and become more visible against the background of competing companies, which will help increase sales.

Most often, enterprises decide to create in the following cases:

National or international brand. If a company operates and develops within not one region, but several or even several countries, the creation of a brand book is simply necessary. It will make your work in the field of marketing and advertising easier, allowing you to save and correctly use all the graphic elements of your brand.
Entrusting marketing or advertising activities to third parties. In order for marketing and advertising services of outsourcing agencies to be performed clearly and correctly, you must provide specialists with a clear technical specification containing all necessary requirements and design rules advertising products. Having a corporate brand book in your organization makes this much easier and faster.
Expansion of the company's activities. The brand book minimizes your time spent on training new employees. Thanks to the brand book, they will be able to independently familiarize themselves with the main idea of the enterprise and the features of using corporate attributes. In addition, a brand book can be useful if you open branches and outlets - working with the graphic elements of the brand book will be easy and simple.

What is the difference between a cut guide, a brand book and a guideline?

The documents that regulate working with the brand make up three separate books:

Brand book, which was mentioned earlier .
Passport of standards (guideline). It contains templates for business documents, business cards, envelopes, folders, sometimes press samples, advertising and souvenir materials.
Cut guide. The cat guide describes algorithms for creating corporate documents that are used on websites, in offices and when interacting with staff. Sometimes this also includes merchandising plans and training programs.

Each of these books is an independent unit and has a limited scope.

The brand book is a closed document at the enterprise; it helps in solving strategic problems. For employees, companies often create a shorter version of the brand book. A standards passport is required for the advertising, marketing and printing departments of an enterprise. The cut guide is used primarily by contractors and within the organization’s team. All documents differ from each other in content and are intended for different target audiences.

Situations when the entire package of these documents is required are rare. More often, each of the three books is used separately. But using all three books at the same time will enhance the effect of integrating standards for an existing or created brand.

Expert opinion

A brand book can be used to position a company in the market

Elena Vinogradova,

Head of Marketing Communications at BOYARD

Our company has set itself quite bold goals for 2011: to achieve a leading position in the market, increase the distribution of goods, and raise the level of profit. To achieve your goals in marketing, a breakthrough is always needed. There is a need to improve the positioning of our brand among the target audience, which includes:

furniture manufacturing companies operating in the mid-price niche,
intermediary companies between our company and manufacturers.

In order to assess the situation, we needed to collect data from various sources on how our brand is perceived: to do this, we interviewed customers at exhibition events and distributed questionnaires for feedback. When it became clear to us what our advantages and disadvantages were, a system of measures was developed to improve the perception of our brand.

Development of a corporate style and creation of a brand book was precisely one of important steps in this system.

We needed changes in the color design of advertising materials. In return gray color, who was present in large quantities in our information materials, it was necessary to choose more vibrant and bright colors so that they would “sell”.

Gray color symbolizes reliability and stability, but in terms of sales, it is ineffective. To optimize the corporate style, we turned to a special agency. This is how our corporate brand book appeared, which reflected the requirements and standards that must be adhered to by both own employees enterprises and partners (if we are talking about the design of advertising, exhibition spaces and stands):

how to use the logo. For example, a white logo is always placed on a red background. Other requirements regarding sizes, colors, etc. are also indicated here;
how to draw up business documents;
how to design printed and souvenir materials (on what surfaces and objects the logo can be applied);
how exactly the logo should be written (for example, only in Latin or only in capital letters).

In accordance with the established style, we designed all printing and advertising materials. The function of monitoring the implementation of all requirements regarding the corporate style and its use by clients was entrusted to regional managers. They also worked with deficiencies, if any.

Expert opinion

The brand book has become a reference book for our company

Peter Polinkovsky,

commercial director of Pax-metal, Skhodnya (Moscow region)

Four years ago, we decided to start working on creating our own brand. Those were not better times: our product was popular, but nothing was known about us. As a result, numerous fakes of our products appeared on the market. Low-quality goods began to be sold allegedly on our behalf through small intermediaries (unscrupulous competitors used the abbreviations SHRM, SHAM).

More established competing companies also did not have a clearly defined competitive strategy. Despite the fact that we were ahead of them in terms of production volumes, they simply began to “crush” us. And when the competition gets tougher, our little name recognition turns into a huge disadvantage. To stay afloat, it was necessary to urgently increase the number of its consumers, making a loud statement about itself.

We turned to the services of a consulting agency to develop an idea for creating a brand book. Together with specialists, a corporate identity was developed, corporate colors were chosen for the logo and the color model of the branded vehicle. The brand book also contained information about what restrictions exist on the use of the logo and what actions are prohibited.

To bring the ideas outlined in the brand book to life, we created a team of six specialists. The General Director approved all the provisions of the brand book and the budget for the project. Our costs amounted to about 50 thousand US dollars.

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Where to start creating a company brand book

The foundation on which the brand book rests is the target audience. All efforts related to brand promotion and advertising are ultimately aimed at customers.

The main task of a brand book is to tell the end consumer what your brand is, what it can bring to the client’s life, and what changes for the better. However, first it is necessary to determine the target audience itself, to understand its main features, nuances, features, ideas, expectations, wishes.

Eat different kinds models that can be used to build a brand. The 4D model is one of the most common. In accordance with it, a brand must take into account consumer perception from four angles:

Functional. Why is it beneficial for a buyer to cooperate with your brand? How does he benefit from your product?
Psychology. The sphere of emotions and feelings: what does the consumer feel when planning a purchase, acquiring and parting with a product?

What is the significance of the “lost toy” and reacquisition effect?

Sociology. What kind of consumer should be who is ready to buy your product? What impact will your brand have on the buyer's status?
Spirituality. What benefits, besides material ones, does the client receive by purchasing your product? What spiritual component does your brand have?

Since the brand book contains an accurate description of the corporate style and all its features, it is extremely important to control the output of printing defects. If the company does not have a brand book at all, this will always lead to a distortion of the style.

What is included in the brand book: main sections

Brand strategy

This section briefly explains the content of the brand. Often, readers of the brand book do not pay close attention to this information and go straight to the images, however, information about the important components of the brand must be present to the management of the enterprise: this will include the history of the company, its mission, values, principles of cooperation and work with partners and clients, description characteristics of the target audience and the image of the end consumer.

Features of communication

The originality and uniqueness of a brand lies largely in its communication features, in what particular tone is chosen for communication. Positioning style can be different: simplicity and openness, accessible and game uniform interaction or, on the contrary, sophistication, elitism, and privilege of the brand. Such nuances are determined once and for all and require strict adherence in future use at brand promotion events.

This even includes special words, expressions, terms, slogans, grammatical rules - everything is described carefully so that subsequent reproduction is accurate and error-free, as well as for competent rebranding, if required.

Logo

A logo is one of the most important components of a corporate identity. The rules for its use must be given special attention. Some enterprises even have special books with rules for working with logos - logobooks.

The brand book should always include:

logo options (with and without an explanatory inscription);
examples of templates with specified logo size limits;
a list of all acceptable backgrounds and surfaces on which the logo can be placed, and options for its location;
colors that can be used together with the logo in one promotional product;
logo option used for the smallest sizes;
The main version of the logo is for standard advertising materials, as well as two additional ones - for adaptive website layout (for tablets and smartphones). Adaptive versions will not allow you to lose brand recognition.

Color spectrum

To ensure your logo displays correctly in print and online, equip logo professionals with CMYK and RGB digital values. You must also specify PANTONE parameters for all colors that are present in the original logo sample. The brand book contains information about primary and secondary colors.

Fonts

In your brand book, describe branded fonts (needed for printing, elements of outdoor advertising and making souvenirs) and system fonts (for designing online communication with customers). The design of headings and texts should be unified.

The brand book lists in detail all the characteristics of the fonts used: color, typeface, style, size, kerning and leading.

DOS and DON'TS

Here are examples of acceptable and unacceptable uses of the logo and corporate identity. Such visual information makes the work of marketing and design specialists easier.

“Security field” of the logo

“Security field” is a kind of logo protection zone, that distance from the logo itself, which should always remain unoccupied by any other graphic or text elements. In this section you can find examples of how the logo can be positioned in relation to elements of corporate graphics on advertising materials.

Photo style

It defines the style of photographs that can be used for advertising purposes: it describes the background, foreground, acceptable image themes, style features, and principles for selecting photographs for packaging and advertising.

Layout templates

This section stores samples of corporate style elements: various business cards (personal and corporate), letterheads for documents, design for presentations, design features of corporate vehicles, exhibition stands and furnishings of retail premises. Such templates provide great support to design specialists and reduce their possible mistakes to a minimum.

Overview slide

An overview slide combines all the elements of visual communication and components of corporate style; it is necessary when the enterprise has many sources of advertising. Using this slide, you control the disclosure of the brand idea through visual means in combination with original samples of advertising media.

Check list

Using a checklist, it is checked how well the characteristics of advertising materials correspond to the visual constants of the brand.

What determines the content of a brand book?

data on workwear for workers working in retail premises,
badges with staff names,
various order forms,
cash and receipt orders.

The volume of a brand book can also vary: for the entire enterprise it is usually larger, for one brand it is smaller.

In most cases, one voluminous brand book is created, containing different thematic sections (on product design, creation of advertising modules, etc.). If the brand for which it is necessary to create a brand book is large and very unique, with a strong personality, then in such cases a separate manual is created.

For shopping and entertainment centers a necessity is the development of visual features of signs, maps, brochures, with the help of which visitors shopping center can navigate it. It is not an easy task for shopping centers to place advertising materials for tenants: on the one hand, they are independent units of the trading process, on the other hand, they must fit into the general concept of the shopping center itself, which is perceived by visitors as a single whole.

For a restaurant it is necessary to think over samples of souvenir products (pens, lighters, ashtrays, glasses), special interior details and clothing, booklets, napkins and ways to design cards or menu books.

From large manufacturers their own are also observed distinctive features on creating a brand book. For such companies, it is important to think through not only advertising options in the media and on public transport, but also ways to design branded vehicles, as well as exhibition equipment and packaging materials.

The structure of a brand book can be developed in different ways. Basically, changes in the structure of the brand book occur due to the tasks assigned to the company. For example, if you look at the brand book of a corporation and the brand book of an individual product, you can see the difference in the volume of the document and in the method of creation.

A brand book is a closed document; it helps solve strategic problems and is intended for people managing a company. Often a special version of a smaller volume than the original is created for staff. The standards passport is necessary in order to provide it, if necessary, to advertising, marketing specialists or to the printing department of the enterprise. This is the field of application of the standards passport.

The cut guide is used mainly by contractors and some company employees holding responsible positions. Thus, all three documents are intended for different purposes and tasks and have different content.

Expert opinion

What is included in a typical store brand book

Natalya Faustova,

CEO retail branding company ADLIBITUM, Moscow

The store’s brand book reflects everything standard options design:

ceiling and walls;
commercial equipment;
lighting fixtures;
signs;
shop windows;
navigation is an important part of the interior atmosphere of a retail space, helping customers navigate a wide range of products and creating a special mood with the help of emotional elements and brand image transmission.

The brand book develops and fixes all the components of the corporate style and design elements of retail premises, including a thorough description of the technologies and materials used, indicating the dimensions and scaling system. With this data it is easy to launch new ones outlets and branches, spending minimal funds on the services of design specialists.

Step-by-step development of a company brand book

Stage 1. Briefing and problem statement

Before starting work, the creative team receives technical specifications. It contains a description of the objectives of the corporate block as the main component of the corporate style. During this period, we work to determine the goals and objectives of developing a corporate identity, and also discuss wishes and limitations based on the results of the upcoming work.

Stage 2. Concept creation

At this stage, marketing and design specialists begin joint activities. Their work usually lasts about two weeks, during which ideas and concepts of corporate style are determined. Each concept is unique. It is based on the original sign, which is complemented by font features and color elements.

The three most effective concepts are selected and a presentation is created and shown to the customer. Shows how each concept works in different media: e.g. business card, letterhead, entrance design.

Thus, the presentation itself gives an idea of exactly how the brand will live and what concepts will work most effectively in it.

Stage 3. Development and finalization

After one of the design concepts is approved, work is carried out to establish the logical relationship of all components within the corporate style, and the rules for their application are formulated. This is the stage of developing a corporate style depending on the situations of its use. Design specialists work on creating samples of corporate identity media, after which they are prepared to print them. Serious adjustments regarding the stages of work can be made to the brand book in accordance with the direction of the company’s activities.

At the same time, work is underway to create practical guide on the application of corporate style, an electronic presentation is being developed, as well as a printed publication. Only a few copies are produced. Printed book (as opposed to electronic version) acts as a collection of standards that can be compared when working with various elements that make up the brand’s style.

How much does a brand book cost?

The final cost of developing a brand book will depend on exactly how many style components will be created, so the price of the brand book will be different each time. For a large corporation and a small manufacturing company, they will be very different both in volume and content.

A brand book for a corporation will regulate standards for the design of business documents, store design concepts, an internal corporate cultural code and many other nuances. The brand book of an individual brand is smaller in volume, but it has its own characteristics: important attention will be paid to the creation of packaging, advertising plots and various other elements of brand promotion.

7 rules for developing an effective company brand book

Rule #1. You need to understand the purpose of a brand book from the very beginning and not confuse it with what it is not.

Its main goal is to consider the essence of the brand. You should not pay all the attention to the appearance of the logo, its placement methods, think about whether it is worth changing the name of the product, and what should be the restrictions in the scope of the brand.

If you understand the essence of the brand, you can present the main idea of the company, reveal what its mission is, and demonstrate the uniqueness of the brand. It is necessary to have complete information about all the advantages and disadvantages of a brand in order to skillfully emphasize its originality and competently promote the product under the name of this brand on the market.

Try not to collaborate with specialists who mix into the brand concept those elements of the brand book that have nothing to do with the essence and main idea of the brand.

Rule #2. A brand book should not be large in content.

A brand book should not look like an encyclopedia. Typically, among customer expectations, there is an opinion that a voluminous brand book can more effectively influence the promotion and development of an enterprise. The larger the brand book, the more useful and relevant information it contains. As a result of such representations, the brand book turns out to be difficult to perceive, difficult to read and understand, and partners use it incorrectly.

The head of the sales department switches to a more active mode of work, seven days a week, in order to work through the entire volume and comprehend the content of the brand book. Due to the impossibility of understanding all the rules at once (due to their large number), a decision is made to follow only some of them. This approach cannot provide positive influence for brand development.

To avoid such an incident, do not try to create a brand book that is too voluminous. To begin with, carefully analyze exactly what tasks the brand book should solve and for whom your product is being created. A brand book is not a guide to running your business; there is no single form of presenting information in a brand book. The company’s brand book will always be original and unique, so it will reflect the real needs of a particular brand.

At the next stage, it is important to convey to the client that the large volume of the brand book is not its advantage, but rather the opposite. And finally, develop a brand book that meets the interests and needs of the company, the rules of which will be simple and understandable.

Rule #3. Many clients, turning to brand makers, think that a brand book will reduce the costs of developing and distributing a brand on the market.

This is how the vast majority of clients think. But that's not true. A brand book in itself does not guarantee the promotion of your brand in the market. A brand book is not an advertisement, it is a collection of recommendations for working with corporate style. Having created a brand book, the customer, in any case, will have to engage in full-fledged promotion and positioning of his brand on the market in accordance with the recommendations described in his corporate brand book, investing funds and resources in these processes.

Rule #4. You need to be able to manage a brand book.

For the most effective implementation of the ideas described in the brand book, a strict hierarchy of dedication to its content is necessary. A brand book is a closed document, the full contents of which are open exclusively to persons managing the company. The work is divided into different areas: some employees are engaged in product guidelines, while others are tasked with catguides.

Sales professionals don't need to learn information meant for designers. Full information owned by brand manager. All material is clearly distributed among departments and groups of relevant specialists, this contributes to faster and more efficient implementation of ideas and elements of the brand book.

Rule #5. The brand book should not be difficult for the customer’s company employees to understand.

Brand makers must skillfully handle the information contained in the brand book. When working with company specialists and conveying brand book concepts to them, it is important to maintain clarity, clarity and structure. You should not delve into too specific terms or complex formulations. All that is needed is to explain the brand promotion strategy to the sales department as clearly and in detail as possible.

When working with designers, the art of a brand maker will also lie in a simple and understandable presentation of his vision for advertising. Each group, having received information from the brand book, is obliged to thoroughly understand this information. If any of the departments cannot cope with the information, and it is difficult to understand the data as a whole, this can lead to a delay in the process of implementing the ideas contained in the brand book.

Rule #6. A brand identity guide must be well thought out.

The main condition for creating an effective and correct brand book is that it must be relevant and meet all the requirements of its audience. Specialists working with a brand book must clearly understand what its essence is. At the first stages, brand makers find out the target audience of the brand and its features, then study the company itself with its advantages and disadvantages.

The next step is the description of the brand book itself. The authors consider in which direction the company will best develop, what changes are needed for this, what measures, steps, actions should be taken, how to develop a strategy for promoting the product on the market in order to maintain demand for it at a high level.

Each element of the brand book must be subjected to strict and objective verification. At the stage of creating a brand book, changes, additions, and adjustments are welcome.

Rule #7. It is imperative to include the identity in the corporate style guide.

A brand book without an identity is ineffective.

What a properly developed brand book looks like: examples of famous companies

Lufthansa

Year founded - 1953, Cologne, Germany

In 2011, a book was published about changes at the major airline Lufthansa. Today this company is known all over the world; it was founded in 1926, the company's style was created in the 60s. The author of the company's unique style is German graphic designer Otl Aicher. By the way, it is interesting that it was he who developed the design for the Olympics in Munich.

Eicher's work is considered one of the best corporate styles that were developed in the twentieth century. The book, entitled Lufthansa and Graphic Design: Visual History of an Airline, talks about the dynamics of the development of the company's identity over the years of its existence. In the book you can also find a guideline that was created by Eicher in 1963.

British Airways

Year founded - 1974, Waterside, England

At British Airways, the brand book and guideline are combined: in this book you can find an explanation of the brand’s values, its brief history and recommendations for the use of the components of the brand’s identity. Rules for how to apply a logo, corporate colors and fonts are presented in detail and occupy the bulk of the book: on 100 pages you will find many tables and detailed explanations.

NASA

Year founded - 1958, Washington, USA

The 1976 NASA Brand Book contains different rules, which must be followed in the process of creating materials (booklets, brochures) that tell about space transport, branded cars and equipment for astronauts.

Montreal Olympics

Year: 1976, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

The logo for the Montreal Olympics was created by designers Georges Huel and Pierre-Yves Pelletier, it is called among the most successful, as well as the symbolism Olympic Games in Munich and Mexico City. There is also the 1976 Guideline, which to this day is a coveted goal for many collectors, as well as souvenirs from the Montreal Olympics.

I Love NY

Year of foundation - 1977, New York, USA

Few people know that this now well-known logo was in the past part of a large-scale campaign to attract tourists, which was carried out in New York during the economic crisis. In 2008, in conjunction with the relaunch of the campaign, the I Love NY brand book was released, in which you can find the history of its founding and development, values and aspirations, audience analysis and manifesto.

You can also see various elements of I LOVE NEW YORK style in this edition.

Braun

The Braun logo, captivating many with its simplicity and conciseness, is familiar to many design specialists. Interestingly, this logo remains unchanged for a very long time. It was created in 1934, in 1952 it underwent some changes. One of the company's values is to stay true to its corporate style.

Thus, one of the personnel manuals, published in 1989, says that advertising of Braun equipment should be modest and concise.

McDonaldland

Founded in 1940, Oak Brook, USA

In the 1970s, a fictional world called McDonaldland was invented and shown to the public, the inhabitants of which were Ronald McDonald and other heroes. There is a special book McDonaldland Specification Manual, which spells out exactly how the characters of this company should look and what colors are acceptable when used on advertising products or materials.

NEXT

Year of foundation - 1985, California, USA

The NEXT logo was created by popular designer and creative director Paul Rand in 1986 as a response to a request from Steve Jobs. Rand came up with a logo-book, which described the designer's ideas and thoughts, as well as recommendations for using the logo. Jobs was delighted with this book, gave it as a keepsake.

Coca-Cola

Year founded - 1886, Atlanta, USA

The Coca-Cola brand book contains the history of the brand, its philosophy, main idea which is the enjoyment of life and happiness. In this brand book you can see rare company logos, such as, for example, the logo released for the 125th anniversary of its founding or for the American Music Awards.

In the brand book you will also find the main style-forming elements, slogans, terms used in the company, samples for outdoor advertising, corporate transport and points of sale of the drink.

Apple

Year founded - 1976, Cupertino, USA

A very detailed guideline for companies selling products from the Apple brand. The rules for designing online stores, posters for outdoor advertising, and other materials related to the sale of Apple products are described. This guideline also contains a list of common mistakes made by company intermediaries in the sales chain.

Nike

Year founded - 1964, Portland, USA

A great example of a concise and clear brand book is the Nike Football Guide (2012). Three words convey the company's core values: Inspiration. Innovation. Enablement. The brand book also contains 11 design commandments of Nike Football with comments on each of them, samples of the use of the logo and corporate fonts, and requirements for photographic materials for advertising are presented.

The main part of the brand book is photographs of popular football players and Nike sports uniforms.

Information about experts

Elena Vinogradova, Head of Marketing Communications at BOYARD. Elena Vinogradova graduated from the Ural Academy in 2005 civil service, in 2009 she took the course “Marketing and Sales Management” at the Kaliningrad Institute of International Business. Since 2004, she worked in the telecommunications group “Motiv”, from 2007 to 2011 - head of the PR and event department. Since 2011 - in current position. BOYARD is a manufacturer of furniture fittings, selling products on the markets of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus. The company was founded in 2002. The head office is in Yekaterinburg, branches are in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnodar and Minsk. Staff - 200 people.

Peter Polinkovsky, commercial director of the Pax-metal company, Skhodnya (Moscow region). Founded in 1991, the PAX-metal group of companies is today the undisputed leader in the metal furniture market. The organization offers the widest selection of products for any purpose. In 20 years successful work company, the name of the trademark “PAX-metal” has become synonymous for partners and clients with a guarantee of quality, reliability, comfortable and mutually beneficial cooperation.

Natalya Faustova, General Director of retail branding company ADLIBITUM, Moscow. ADL LLC. Year of creation: 1995. Services: comprehensive retail branding and design of shopping and entertainment centers, shops and retail chains of various profiles. Project management from developing the brand positioning concept, name, corporate identity to the design project and supervision of the turnkey implementation of the project. Clients: the networks “Seventh Continent”, “Azbuka Vkusa”, “Perekrestok”, Vinberry, “Pekarti”, “Capital Lights”, “Tarelochka” and others. More than a hundred completed projects in Russia.

There is no question for anyone about why an enterprise needs a charter, job descriptions, safety documents. All this ensures the quality of work of each individual employee. But what about coherence? A company is a single mechanism, and each part of it must understand how and why it works. Every employee should have a clear idea of the company’s positioning and mission. It is most convenient to present it in the same format as the documents listed above, which is why a brand book is created. Let's figure out what a brand book is and what it consists of.

Why do you need a brand?

There is a lot of confusion around the concept of “branding”. Decades ago, it was defined as a name, slogan, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of these elements, that identifies a company's products or services. The brand was determined only external signs that differentiate the product from its competitors. Today, the brand is a little more complex and important, because modern business depends on marketing.

So, brand is the first thing a consumer thinks of when he hears or thinks about your company or your products. Tasks that a good brand performs:

confirms your authority;
emotionally connects your company with consumers;
motivates to buy;
creates customer loyalty.

The process of creating a brand is called branding. It is the foundation of marketing communications because it serves as a guide to understanding business goals. This allows you to adjust marketing plan with the company's goals and develop a comprehensive strategy.

A well-known brand not only attracts loyal customers, but also creates permanent employees. He gives them something to believe in. This helps them understand the purpose of the organization or business.

Brand book, guideline and cut guide

Brand information will not immediately reach consumers - your employees must understand it first. For this purpose, three documents are created: brand book, guideline and cut guide. Sometimes they are combined into one if the company is small.

A brand book (from English brand book) is a book that describes the company's philosophy. Its mission, values, corporate identity, message to consumers, target audience. In other words, it is a reference tool that helps maintain consistency among employees, as everyone needs to understand how the company positions itself in the market.

Guideline (from English guideline) is a set of rules for the use of company brand attributes. This includes logos, fonts, primary colors, ways of placing company signs on different media. Previously, the guideline was part of the brand book, but later it was separated as a separate document.

Katguide (from English cut guide) in a broad sense is a detailed instruction of a certain process. In branding, there are a variety of cutlines: from creating a company website to displaying products in supermarkets.

Among these documents, the main one remains the company’s brand book. Let's consider it in more detail.

Who makes it

Ideally, a brand book, like a guideline, should be developed by an experienced graphic designer or marketing agency. It happens that a company already has a logo, although there is no brand book. The best solution would be to do the opposite, but if this happens, there is practically no turning back. After all, the logo is the face of the company, and its radical change can harm sales. You can hire a designer (preferably the same one who created your logo) to develop a brand book.

Indeed, it is important to spend time and money on developing a brand book, because the battle for customers is intensifying day by day, and nothing will retain them better than a strong brand.

Brand book development

This document consists of several parts: main, visual (which may be replaced by a separate guideline) and communication. Let's take a closer look at what is included in the brand book.

Basics

Creating a brand book starts with the basics. The first part should be a description of your company as a whole. If you use a brand in conjunction with a franchise or multi-unit, these recommendations are crucial, because you are associated with other companies and are responsible for them just as they are for you.

Includes the following brand attributes:

Full company name.
The main goal, mission and values of the company.
Brand: its characteristics and positioning.
Types of businesses you want to work with (if you're going to be presenting a brand book to other companies. Be careful that this information doesn't fall into the hands of competitors).
Target audience, portrait of your client.
Description of your pricing policy.

Communications

This includes all elements of marketing communications that you use to promote your products. Their list may vary for different companies depending on the marketing strategy. For example, you can create a brand book that includes the following communications:

The main message of your company that should be conveyed to customers.
Tagline.
Images to be used in advertising.
Merchandising Guide.
The types of communication messages you want to convey.
Copywriting style (the so-called tone of voice - in what key and what intonations you want to convey information to the consumer. For a bank, this will be an official tone and reliability in every word, for a new line of children's products - friendliness, care and a deep understanding of the problems of young people parents).
Internal communication concept (what you want to convey to your employees. A well-written concept will increase corporate spirit and encourage employees to work not only for the sake of salary, but also out of love and respect for your brand).
Instructions on how company profiles on social networks should look.
Preferred communication channels.

Visual component

As already mentioned, this part can be designed both as a separate guideline and as a visual component of the brand. Essential elements:

logo, this item often includes not only detailed technical description pictures that became your logo, but also examples of errors;
company colors;
signage of your shops;
product packaging design;
site layout;
additional media for your company brand: from a variety of pens, notepads and bags to advertising on your trucks and cars;
design of printed advertising materials (flyers, billboards, business cards, brochures, etc.).

What will it look like

Your finished brand book should be user-friendly. Preferably this will be a PDF document that can be sent to the right people: suppliers, partners, intermediaries. There must also be a printed version that can be effectively presented at a meeting at any time. Of course, this book should be in color and contain diagrams, graphs and pictures that make it easier to understand.

Some companies include their brand guidelines on their website. This is not a complete brand book, but most often a mission, general goals of the company and positioning.

How to use a brand book

The brand book is made for employees, so everyone in the company should have access to it. This is useful not only for the marketing department, which directly works with the image and brand, but also for everyone else. Top managers must rely on the company's values when making important management decisions. And ordinary employees must understand well why they work. This improves the quality and coherence of work, and also shapes the corporate culture.

When promoting your brand, you often have to hire third parties (i.e. advertisers, designers, photographers, layout designers, etc.). But there is Great chance that employees don't fully understand your brand. When meeting with them to discuss your goals, provide them with a copy of your brand book. This way, they will be better prepared to create tools to promote your products.

What happens when you don't provide your suppliers with brand guidelines:

inconsistent, incorrectly coded messages that lead to poor sales;
misuse of your logo and signature;
incorrect use of colors, fonts and other design elements;
creating communication motives that are not suitable for the target audience;
an error in the color scheme can make your logo look like your competitors’ logo;
a change in the positioning of your company, which can lead to big problems and loss of customers.

Brand books of famous companies

Below are brands that everyone knows. They didn’t become like this overnight - a team of marketers and designers worked on each one. Let's look at excerpts from the brand books of two companies cellular communication. Thanks to these illustrative examples, you will understand more clearly what a real company’s brand book is.

So, let's begin. MTS company and its brand book. What the MTS brand is and how it positions itself is indicated in the first paragraph. Text and image work well together to create an image of triumph.

This brand book also includes a technical style guide. The photo shows the practice that was already mentioned above: examples of incorrect logos.

Beeline company. The photo shows printing, that is, printed materials of the brand, which will be distributed among potential consumers.

And here are the brand's souvenir products.

Good evening!

The other day, a businessman turned to us for help, good man. Him flower shop. He said that they drew a cool logo for him, created a corporate identity, in general, “everything is as it should be.” It would seem, live and be happy. But the secretary did not know which logo file to send to the partners, and sent the first one she came across. But it turned out to be too small that you couldn’t even make out the name of the company. And then the manager who served the advertisement let us down. The corporate style there was distorted beyond recognition. Trouble. But our friend no longer has such problems, because he has a brand book!

If you already know what this is and want to create a magical book for yourself, contact Essence to familiarize yourself with it. And if not, let's move on)

What is a brand book?

The brand book is an official document of the company, it is issued in the form of a beautiful and small book, in which the philosophy and mission of the company are spelled out in detail. And most importantly, it tells and shows how to use the logo, corporate identity, all sizes are indicated and drawn. A kind of guide to using the brand. An irreplaceable thing, if you decide to thoroughly and competently package your business.

Beginning entrepreneurs mistakenly think that a brand book and a marketing kit are one and the same. A marketing kit is a company’s selling catalog that reveals the company’s history. It is often used for presentations, demonstrated during meetings, and sent to potential partners. But in the marketing kit there is nothing related to the logo, corporate identity, and especially guidelines for their use.

Thus, the brand book is used within the company, and the marketing kit is used outside it.

This magical “brand manual” helps solve all problems related to the use of company attributes at once. It should definitely become a reference book for all employees: from managers to designers. Some call it the bible of the brand and this is not easy.

Why do you need a brand book?

Every company starts small and ends up as large corporations. McDonald's, Subway, Zara need their own standards, norms and rules. This is simply necessary to maintain visual identity. If you have a goal to develop a franchise network, you should pay maximum attention to creating a brand book. Otherwise, you will face difficulties in the future. Partners may understand your brand identity differently, and every franchise business will be different. And this will have a bad effect on the company's image.

Brand book is one of the main documents
if you decide on a BUSINESS franchise

Brand book structure

1. Introduction.

Here it’s worth talking about the company’s philosophy, its values, and ideas. After all, it is on these three pillars that the advertising campaign and promotion system will be built. When registering positions, it is better to number them.

2. Main section.

It is dedicated to the application of a brand's visual strategy. The logo, color options, minimum acceptable sizes, and indents are shown. What is also important is that it is indicated which options are not acceptable for using the logo. Any distortions are prohibited. We are also talking about branded fonts and colors. All information is supported by illustrations.

You clearly indicate how exactly the corporate style should be presented on business cards, on the Internet, in outdoor advertising, in interior design, souvenirs and even corporate vehicles. Of course, everything is with illustrations so that it is immediately clear what we are talking about.

Who makes the brand book?

Making a brand book is a labor-intensive process that takes no more than a day or two. A true plan of action is born only in the process of discussion, with complete immersion in the business. With the attitude “Oh, look at our website, everything is written there,” you cannot create a competent brand book. After all, the main meanings are always at depth and need to be brought to the surface. Of course, you can gather employees from all departments and think together about creating a brand book, or you can trust us, we won’t let you down!

Sincerely, Your Essence!