One of my clients is having new signage put in front of their manufacturing facility. They’ve had three sign contractors bid and present concepts as to how the brand image will be applied. I was amazed at how little effort was placed on maintaining the integrity of the logo. To make it fit they broke it apart and grouped them differently.
When asked for my input I quickly told them that following our brand standards manual would set the contractors straight as to how the logo was to be used. These contractors broke all our rules. My client was being polite.
Does your brand image have a standards manual? What is a standards manual you might ask? It is a document outlining acceptable configurations and colors to be used. It points out good and bad usage examples. Essentially it is your brand’s rule book to all things pertaining to the brand logo. It can even be just a single sheet of paper. But having it helps your contractors to know “what not to present.” It saves everyone a great deal of wasted time and strengthens consistency.
I was working in a corporate setting back when ISO was the latest and greatest standard for all manufacturing facilities at the time. Our company went through some major changes just to be known as an ISO company.
Standards are what keeps everyone on the same page. If not for standards; people could just change their concepts, mission statements and policies without a any process; this would result in chaos. A standard is a guideline that can change but with thought, communication and agreement.
It is frustrating to think that people (companies) who are asked to bid on a job that will result in getting business, payment and possible references would jeopardize any chance of loosing the bid. Offer suggestions or ask questions if you wish but to blatantly change a design that represents the client is kind of ignorant.
Just my humble opinion.
From my experience Cindi, sign firms change logos all the time to suit themselves. They do it (I believe) simply because most of their customers don’t realize the importance of maintaining standards. Hopefully discussions here and else where will educate them to take back control of their own brands.
branding is one of the most vital structure of your company. its like the face of your business. It’s very good to hear discussions like these.
Thank you for your affirmation on this Dave. One at a time we’ll make a difference.
Hopefully discussions here and else where will educate them to take back control of their own brands.
Branding is truly a reflection of who you are and the products/services you offer. It requires competency, consistency and charisma.
branding is the most important thing in selling our business. once it get hooked in people’s mind it will get good result positively.
Many businesses don’t have a clue why it is so important to have a quality logo and to push their brand. When a person see your company on the internet or in the papers all they see is the logo and some text about your business. They don’t know anything about you so to get their attention to even read the add you must have a brand which stands out!