Monday, February 14, 2011

If your organization has a tight marketing budget, you need the highest return out of every piece of communications. Every design, printing and mailing expense should bring you a clear return in terms of much-needed brand-building. But if your organization has been less than consistent in stewarding its brand, chances are you may be seeing a brand-building net loss.

Take out every piece of communications your organization has produced in the last few years and lay it on a table. No piece too small—annual reports to postcards to t-shirts. What do you see? Does all of it look consistent? Does it speak a common language? Or are there a wide and competing array of colors, typefaces, photographic styles, writing styles (I’ve even seen organizations that use inconsistent logos from piece to piece)? And just as important, is each piece furthering your brand message?

Consistency in branding and messaging, over time, builds the momentum needed to reach the tipping point of instant brand recognizability and credibility. And this is a crucial step for growth. So what are some day-to-day strategies that you can adopt to bring scattered communications into a tightly-run brand?

1. If you haven’t yet, select a staff member to be the organization’s brand steward. Usually from your communications team, this is the point-person for brand-related matters. The brand steward should know the brand guidelines and oversee their day-to-day implementation on all communications.

2. Make sure your brand program allows for both consistency and flexibility. A good brand program provides you with guidelines for headline and body typefaces, a palette of colors, visual elements that can be used in different formats, and, when necessary, horizontal and vertical logo adaptations. If the brand guidelines are too brief—giving you only one typeface and one color, for example—then any attempt to bring in variety becomes an invitation to personal interpretation and inconsistency. Speak to your in-house design team or design consultant about developing a more flexible system.

3. Don’t neglect the writing. Establish a tone (buttoned-down and professional, or friendly and conversational) that is appropriate for your organization, and get your writing team on board. If possible, establish a copy editor to oversee consistent, quality writing.

A well-run brand suggests a well-run organization. Your brand is your first chance to put forward the notion that you’re good at what you do. So build it and tend it with patience and discipline. It’ll pay off.