If you’re not familiar with graphic design, going through your business’s new brand guide might be overwhelming. You might find yourself frustrated wondering why a red has to be precisely Pantone 199, or why anyone cares if you use Times New Roman instead of Arial. Have no fear, your brand guide is much more a companion than a contractual obligation.
How your business presents itself to the public is its “brand.” Having a unique brand is important because it allows your business to stand out amongst competitors—and staying consistent is key to its identity. If your business switches up its logo and thematic colors every so often your consumers won’t be able to pick you out of a lineup.
A brand guide’s job is to be a consistent reference for a company and its employees to ensure a consistent brand—leading to brand recognition among your audience. Would Nike ditch its iconic swoosh? Would Starbucks write its menus in Comic Sans? Of course not, as consumers we would find it out of character and confusing.
If your business just got a new brand guide or you haven’t fully implemented the one you have, here’s 5 reasons you should start today!
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No more guessing. Having a brand guide means you don’t have to wonder what font to use or what color to make a business report. Stick to the branded fonts and business colors. You can even reference it for specific HTML color codes you can input into word, no need to scroll through a color chart.
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Consistency is Key. It may seem ridiculous to have specific rules determining proper fonts to use or what specific color your logo must be, but it matters. From its website to its business cards and even merchandise, your business should have consistent branding throughout (text, logo usage, color scheme etc.). Being consistent shows your audience that you know who you are and what you are doing.
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Get recognized. When you stay consistent following your brand guide your audience will start recognize your business. Resonating with your audience will help bring more consumers.
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Create Loyalty. When your business stays consistent with its branding, your consumers will start to have a sort of affinity and attachment towards your business. This builds a loyal consumer base who will expect consistency from you. There’s a much more subtle reason that when you’re thirsty you crave a specific brand.
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It looks professional. Having consistent branding will show your audience that you know what you’re doing. All big brands have consistent branding. By sticking to your brand guideline you show consumers that you have the same business smarts of globally successful companies.