Businesses communicate in so many ways these days: websites, brochures, adverts, presentations, social media the list goes on. Keeping up with your brand marketing can be tough.
Feeling like your brand has lost it’s way and your marketing communications have visually drifted is a common problem for many of our clients. If you are seeking a simple answer to your branding dilemma here are a few of the issues to watch out if you want to prevent your brand loosing its edge…
1. Trying out lots of new ideas to break the boredom
Established businesses can often loose focus when trying to get out of a rut. Bored with the same old campaigns being trotted out year after a year, someone may decide to shake things up on a whim and suddenly you find your brand swiftly heading down a route it never intended to take. Trying to put a new mark on things to get a sense of ownership or to break the routine can sometimes weaken rather than improve a brand.
2. Copy errors and typos
When a company has a new product to launch or event looming it’s tempting to get your message out there quickly. Rushing to meet a deadline by cutting corners or doing it yourself may compromise the quality and authority of your marketing messages. Production values can be ignored and the visual direction of your brand may be diluted over time making it harder to find your way back.
3. Compromising on production quality
Poor production is a problem we come across all to often, and the biggest casualty is colour. Whether it’s because you are trying to save time or money (usually both) mistakes creep in and if they are left uncorrected they can become ingrained. We often hear clients saying Colour reproduction is a serious business so always make sure you have the correct colour references and check against what you have done before.
4. Erratic use of font styles and sizes
One of the most common branding rules to get broken is the typography style. It often stems from not having the correct typeface installed on your machine, so you use something ‘similar’ instead or you need to get a headline to fit so you change the font size to fit. Poorly applied typography can undermine the consistency of a branded communication. People are more sophisticated than you may think when it comes to recognizing a brand via its typography. Being easily recognised is a strength for all businesses so be wary of changing your type style without good reason.
How you can fix it
Creating a clear set of brand guidelines is the best way to keep your brand on track. Put together an internal PDF guide of DO’s and DON’T’s which illustrate what you do well on your essential communications and flag up the common mistakes. Upload a copy to the intranet and circulate to new staff members to instil good habits.
Keeping a central archive of templates and examples of good quality and approved communication documents make it easier to quickly adapt reproduce an email newsletter or PowerPoint presentation when deadlines fast approach.
Need some help?
If you would like help with getting your brand back on track, please get in touch. Our Design Health Check service can spot any problems you may be facing and make recommendations to help you fix them. Simply give us a call or drop us a line here.