Authenticity. The big dream for B2B brands that want to be seen, believed, maybe even a little loved. It’s an ambitious ask though – especially in a sector where brands dare not show their face without honed and buffed brand guidelines shaping their every move.
Such guidelines, of course, are needed. A brand book can be shared across a business, protecting it from careless or wanton visual corruption. Brand rules keep every stakeholder on the straight and narrow, from designers in multiple agencies to the Sales team.
But what happens when the guidelines designed to protect the brand become a blanket that smothers it?
A brand is so much more than a suite of colors, fonts and logo clear space boundaries. A brand is its history, its points of view, the conversations it shares, the people who represent it, the experience customers have when they encounter it, in the real world or the digital. The balance then is to craft rules that keep your brand’s integrity intact – and set its character free.
10 Ways to Escape the Brandcuffs
- Think playground, not cage. Use guidelines to inspire and channel creativity, not shackle it. Allow your brand to adapt and grow organically.
- Cultivate conversations. Turn brand touchpoints into dialogue, not a monologue dictated by rigid guidelines.
- Let guidelines evolve. Guidelines should be a living document, not a sealed one, able to evolve exactly as your business and your markets do. Keep track of the obstacles you encounter, and let those experiences shape your guidelines’ evolution.
- Focus on feelings, not just fonts. How your brand makes someone feel is as important as its visual identity. Much is made of emotion in B2B marketing, but that’s not just about the big campaigns. Your brand can connect on a human level anywhere.
- Get people on board. Help your teams to bring their own understanding and personality to the brand within the framework of your guidelines. Even a simple one-pager of dos, don’ts and brand behaviors can turn employees into brand ambassadors (with the help of a bit of reward and recognition).
- Find the consistency/flexibility sweet spot. Great brands have killer brand assets that let them be recognizable but not predictable. Consumer brands are masters at this – like Kelloggs leaning into their ‘og’ brand signifier OOH campaign. Such brand fame may be harder for B2B brands to attain, but you can still aspire to be big in your customers’ worlds
- From rules to tools. Think of guidelines as tools to solve creative problems, not rules that stifle innovation. Dare to have big ideas, then consult the guidelines to execute them.
- Tell stories. Your brand guidelines should facilitate storytelling, helping to weave narratives that resonate on a personal level. Crucially, how you tell those stories will vary by channel. Good brand guidelines will encapsulate your brand’s personality. Use that to inform the storytelling in different contexts. For example, in an exhibition space you might consider how you bring that personality to life in a multisensory way – not just how the brand looks but how it smells.
- Leave room for local flavor. Globalizing sounds tempting, but a one-size-fits-all mentality won’t quite connect with anyone. Allow adaptations that reflect local cultures and tastes, making your brand relatable wherever it goes. Work with an Agency that can deliver globally, intelligently.
- Embrace imperfection. Let go of pixel-perfect ideals and identikit repetition. Real influence happens in the untidy, important human interactions your brand fosters.
For more, check out Bray Leino’s 2024 masterclass, Escaping the Brandcuffs, on Propolis. The one-hour deep dive builds on the above themes, with insights from specialists across strategy, creative, digital, media, and events, revealing how to bring your brand to life and let it shine.
