What a Brand Book Is and Why You Need One

A brand book, or literally «the book of the brand», – is the core document that management refers to when working with new employees, contractors or freelancers. Using it helps convey important information in the fastest way and at minimal financial cost. 

The concept of the brand book emerged with the development of brands and the growth of companies. Organisations needed to position themselves correctly on the market, work on their reputation and set their own products apart. To do this, all work on the company's external presentation and communications had to follow certain rules. These were brought together in a brand book to simplify the assignment of tasks to employees and contractors, ensure a unified organisational policy and fulfil its strategic mission.

What a brand book is

The brand book – is a document that can be produced in printed or electronic form. Access to it may be limited to a small number of people. A condensed version of the document may be available to rank-and-file employees or contractors. The full version – only to senior management. A brand book should contain information about:

1. the company's ideology and values. Here it is important to say who you are and what the goals of your activity are. The first section sets out the company's mission and defines the overarching purpose of its operations and its development strategy. It is important to define the brand's value, its positioning, the specifics of its communications and its corporate culture;
2. the corporate identity. It is important to specify every nuance of the logo, from margins and line thickness to colours, which may differ when images are printed or placed online. If there are examples of incorrectly created logos, they can also be added to the brand book;
3. the means of corporate identification. This is one of the largest sections, setting out the design rules for all the external elements that the company's clients and partners come into contact with. These include the official website, business cards, advertising materials, signage, banners, and the exterior and interior design of premises.

It is useful to include a brief history of the company's development in the brand book, and to set out the rules of internal etiquette and principles of interaction. For some organisations it is relevant to specify customer service standards and, where possible, to provide ready-made scripts for training employees.

A brand book is not a static document. It is written throughout the company's existence, supplemented and updated. Organisations that have been around for a long time often change their logo, and changes occur in their corporate identity and design. Following such changes, the brand book should be updated. It makes it fairly easy to convey the updated information unambiguously to employees in all branches and departments. The size of the brand book for newly created organisations may be quite small, while for firms with a rich history and experience – it may run to hundreds of pages.

Why a brand book is created

The main purpose of creating a brand book is to form a holistic picture of the company and to help build and maintain the brand's image. It consists of an ideological part and a visual part. The document can be useful to:

1. executives involved in shaping the brand development strategy;
2. advertising agencies – for building effective external communications;
3. designers – for complying with design standards at various levels – from documentation to the interiors and exteriors of the company's premises;
4. lawyers – for monitoring compliance with the company's ownership rights to all elements of the brand;
5. marketers – for developing advertising campaigns in line with the ideology and concept declared in the brand book.

Thanks to a single document that clearly establishes the basic rules of work, all of the company's departments work towards a common goal and adhere to the key principles. Having one helps in onboarding the organisation's new employees. A brand book also makes it easy to convey assigned tasks unambiguously to contractors. A business needs this document regardless of what stage of development it is at.

How a brand book is created

A brand book – is a fundamental document, and it makes sense to set up a dedicated team to work on it. It includes marketers, brand strategy specialists, professional copywriters and designers. Developing the document consists of several stages:

1. Studying the environment. It is important to analyse the work of your competitors, segment your customers and build a profile of the target audience. 
2. Developing the brand platform. This means forming a unified image of the company that includes its goals, ways of interacting and what makes the brand unique. Remember that the company's mission and values can be your competitive advantages.
3. Creating the corporate identity. At this stage, work is done on all the visual elements. These include typefaces, logos, images and colour shades. 
4. Layout. The document can be prepared for future printing or for use in electronic form. 

Creating a brand book – is not just a nod to fashion. It is a useful, presentable product that brings real benefit to the company's image.