Take a moment to think about the most memorable brand to you. Now try to remember all the moments you interacted with this brand: physical touchpoints, digital, maybe even an experiential touchpoint from an event you attended. If you really think about it, you might notice that all these touchpoints felt like they belong to the same brand universe (even ones without a visible logo).

Seems pretty obvious right? Well, if you've ever run a company, you'll know that it's not as easy as it sounds to keep brand consistency in a growing business. Often times, as small businesses grow, they will experience some typical brand growing pains. The larger it gets, the more chances it has to mix up the brand colors resulting in a variety of different tones that don't match, they might have different fonts for print materials versus digital materials, and some even end up with different logos from different versions of development in each touchpoint! This creates confusion to the point where those businesses could lose lots of their audience, or even worse, become forgettable.

Most likely, the company you were thinking of before, has invested in a solid brand book. To achieve a professional level of brand consistency, you need anyone and everyone who works on your brand to collaborate efficiently. The best way to do that? Set clear guidelines for them to follow.

In case you never considered creating brand guidelines, or you’re just learning about this now, here are our top 5 benefits (to name a few) of having a brand book for your company:

1. Consistency makes your brand messaging clear to customers, which in turn, builds brand trust. When your branding is consistent, your customers will start to relate the content you create with your brand. This connection helps your audience see what you’re really about, and helps them understand what makes your brand unique and special. Not to mention, it elevates your brand to be more professional and put-together.

2. Creates an easy and accessible database of your brand’s assets. A brand book (sometimes referenced as a brand bible or brand guidelines) should contain all of the necessary information about how your brand should be portrayed. Specifications about logo usage, fonts, colors, photography, etc are crucial for consistent execution across your company.

3. On-boarding and education of your current brand standards is a lot smoother. A brand book is the best way to educate new (and current) employees about your brand standards. This ensures that everyone who’s involved with asset creation is well-versed with how your company should be applied. It serves as an essential tool when on-boarding new talent.

4. Consistent branding make marketing and collateral more effective, leading to increased sales. When your branding can be recognized as a system, each collateral piece will be contributing to the larger brand picture than just serving as stand-alone pieces. This system can amplify your marketing efforts, with each recognizable piece of the system becoming more effective. This in turn can lead to increased sales for your company.

5. Easily extend into new endeavors. Whether it be a new marketing campaign or branded swag, once you have your brand book, the sky is the limit for rollout! A good brand book will have enough detail so that no matter the endeavor you choose, you'll be able to translate your brand into any new medium with ease (saving you thousands when compared to designing each piece individually!!)

After learning about all of the benefits of having a brand book, you might be wondering "now how do I get a brand book for my company?” – Turning to a branding agency or studio is your best bet to create a quality brand book. At HIYO DESIGN we offer agency quality at a fraction of the price. Learn more about our branding packages by clicking below!

Also take a look at this related Blog Post: 3 Top Reasons Why Investing in a Brand Style Guide Could Save You Thousands of Dollars, or this article on brand marketing.