You Have a Brand Book, Now What?

Now that you have your shiny new brand book, it’s time to implement it. There are plenty of ways to introduce your modern brand standards. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as handing out copies to your employees and hoping for the best. Having a successful brand implementation requires some strategy and elbow grease.

Here are a few tips to get started

Identify Your Brand Manager

This role doesn’t necessarily have to be a marketing person. Still, they should understand your new brand identity inside and out… and be a major cheerleader of the rollout and brand announcements. This brand manager should be known to all employees in the company and available to answer questions, guide others and ensure everyone in the organization is aware of the brand standards and is following them.

Ensure Everyone Reads the Brand Book

Introducing your brand book to your employees is the first step. You want to ensure everyone understands and aligns with the core values and brand pillars. Set up a meeting time company-wide or with each department individually. Make sure your team knows their role in implementing the rollout and allows space for questions. When your team members understand their part in the larger brand story, they will be more excited to put the brand standards into practice. It’s essential to ensure the brand book is accessible to everyone in your organization, like Google Drive or another shared folder system. This way, your team can always refer to the new standards in the implementation process.

Create an Action Plan

After familiarizing your team with the new brand standards, you can start pinpointing the first areas for transition. These priority areas include updating your website, creating new business cards, updating social media, and revising your email signatures. By assigning tasks to team members, you reinforce that the rebrand is a company-wide effort and that everyone plays a vital role in making it successful.

Incorporating Brand Book in Onboarding

New hires should be introduced to the brand book as a part of their onboarding process. It’s especially important for new marketing hires; as champions and messengers, they need to know your brand archetype and brand voice. Human Resources should also utilize it in employee training as well as professional development activities. You will bring the entire organization up to speed by providing training opportunities to current team members.

Lead by Example

As the leader of your organization or brand manager, it’s up to you to set the tone for the rest of your team. Ensure that you follow the brand book guidelines consistently yourself. Providing clear guidance and feedback to your team is important too.

Patience is Key

It’s important along this process to remember it will be an adjustment for everyone and will take some time. By following these tips, you will successfully implement your brand book into your organization.

If you’re looking to build a brand book for your organization or want more tips on implementing your current brand standards, reach out to one of our HAVEN Mavens™ today!