Prevent Erosion | Preserve Integrity | Police Consistency
BRAND MAINTENANCE
Maintaining your brand involves everything your organization does after a new brand is created: every business card, every radio spot, every film clip, every social media post. Brand maintenance is the everyday and the large-scale, the commonplace business card and the new building sign. Careful upkeep of your brand involves following a regimented and strict standard for each use of the logo, interpretation of the brand style, duplication of the colors, and more. The job of preserving your brand crosses all media, involves many people, and requires constant diligence. The only way to avoid brand erosion—the slow but steady denigration of your brand over time—is to be constantly vigilant and even rigid in your conservation of the established look, feel, and style.
AVOID BRAND EROSION
Respecting the investment that you and the branding team put into this process is critical to the brand’s longevity. The time spent determining each detail and the story behind the decision-making is what makes your policing of the standards so important. If you have a question, come back to Masterpiece Marketing at any time for feedback or insight. We are here to help guide you back to the original intention of the brand design and avoid slipping into a messy, muddied, watered down version of your formerly distinct image.
INTERPRETERS OF THE BRAND
Remember that it is a risk to hand the keys of your brand to someone who isn’t invested in its integrity. Knowing that the moon is much closer to us than the sun doesn’t make you an astronaut, and being able to use Photoshop doesn’t make you a graphic designer. Consider the importance of introducing your brand story—the heart of your organization’s story—which is only built over time.
It may seem like just the introduction of a new font, an altered gradient, or a slightly brighter green; but before you know it, you’ll find your distinction is lost in a jumble of disconnected, unrelated pieces. Rigorously policing your brand for consistency is your only defense. Print magazines and newspapers will offer to design your ads. Your neighbor’s nephew will ask to set up your new website, but the fonts and colors could be inconsistent. Your local print house will say they can create cheaper business cards, but they might change the logo’s position and run the text too close to the white space barrier. A sign company may put your logo in a box, on a dark background, or stretch it to fit their standard size vinyl. You may not notice right away, but all of a sudden, the brand creep will shock you, and it will be an uphill climb to get back.
Please respect the time invested in your brand enough to say “no” to these offers, and be true to the original principles of your brand. Insist on the best, and decades in the future, you will be proud that you’ve stayed the course and maintained your organization’s distinctiveness.
The only way to avoid brand erosion — the slow but steady denigration of your brand over time — is to be constantly vigilant and even rigid in your conservation of the established look, feel, and style.
THE UNLIKELY BIGGEST CULPRITS
Today, you likely feel excited about your brand. It is fresh and new! However, some of the greatest temptation to brand corruption comes from the very people who invested so much time in the brand creation. Why? Because these keepers of the brand are likely the people who look at it the most! However, it is critical to remember that you are seeing your own logo, fonts, colors, and style dozens of times each day, while your target audience is interacting weekly or less. To them, each experience with the style is striking and new. Don’t be tempted to say ‘it’s time for a change’ after your 10,000th view of the brand when the people you are seeking to reach would still consider it “new.”
WHY?
You’ve spent hours, months, years, invested in your organization. You’ve built trust. You’ve established relationships. You’ve earned confidence. Your brand represents this reputation to your community and the audiences you serve. Your new brand speaks and reflects your mission, vision, and values. All that you’ve built are represented in this look, feel, style, logo, and messaging. Let’s not allow that value to be eroded. Stay the course, and put in the effort, and you will reap the rewards.
