How can you balance brand guidelines with other business priorities?

1 Understand your brand purpose

Before you create or update your brand guidelines, you need to have a clear vision of your brand purpose. What is the core idea that drives your business? What is the value proposition that sets you apart from your competitors? What is the emotional connection that you want to establish with your customers? Your brand purpose should guide your decisions on every aspect of your brand identity, from your logo and colors to your tone and voice.

3 Align your brand guidelines with your business objectives

Your brand guidelines should not be an obstacle to your business objectives, but rather a tool to help you achieve them. You need to align your brand guidelines with your business strategy and goals, and make sure they are relevant and effective for your target market and audience. For example, if you want to expand into a new region or segment, you may need to adjust your brand guidelines to suit the local culture, preferences, or regulations. If you want to launch a new product or service, you may need to update your brand guidelines to reflect the new features, benefits, or values. If you want to partner with another brand or organization, you may need to collaborate on your brand guidelines to create a cohesive and harmonious co-branding.

4 Communicate your brand guidelines clearly and consistently

Your brand guidelines are only useful if they are communicated clearly and consistently to everyone involved in your brand creation and management. You need to make sure that your internal and external teams, such as your employees, contractors, agencies, or partners, understand and follow your brand guidelines. You can use different methods to communicate your brand guidelines, such as creating a brand manual, a style guide, a checklist, or a template. You can also provide examples, feedback, and training to help your teams apply your brand guidelines correctly and creatively.