Governance not guidelines

The face of brand management is changing for ever. Global brands have begun to recognise that in an era of Facebook and YouTube it is no longer possible to control every aspect of a brand and that, moreover, there is a growing need to adapt and metamorphose to connect more successfully with changing markets and cultures. Brands of the future need to engage with people on their terms, and integrate their world more directly with other brands and their consumers. Clearly this has a huge impact on how a brand needs to be managed.

80s and 90s ’best practice’ for brand management drove for regimented visual uniformity (following the mantra that a consistent appearance implied a consistent experience), controlled by explicit identity guidelines and a ’logo cop’ attitude. This approach, championed by major global consumer brands like Coke in the 70s, misses the mark today as it leaves no room for flexibility – and ultimately the focus on the logo detracts from caring enough about the content.

Brands of the 00s have to work harder than this. They have to know what they stand for well enough to confidently allow interpretation and adaptation, so that they can build the relationships they need to stay relevant. This apparent freedom implies complexity, which will need to be managed more dynamically. Best practice going forward will rely more on governance than guidelines and market representative co-creation than centre direction.

An example of this approach is McDonald’s who recently adapted the famous ’Golden Arches’ to create three options tailored to suit the different needs of each of its key markets – an adaptation that was supported by a ’free to air’ toolkit including templates and assets for the 30,000 restaurateurs and suppliers who use the brand day-to-day, making the transition easier and creating a platform for ongoing review, co-creation and control.

Other interesting brands leading the change are London 2012 and (RED), both of which were created specifically to interlace and merge their brands with others. The complexity of implementing this day-to-day for London 2012 across many partners is managed through a clear governance process, supported by a full -time resource and a dynamic approval and briefing toolkit.

For businesses who currently ‘do’ brand management through a 250-page logo manual and the occasional row over colour, the change of tack might seem daunting. But – particularly as we all know that guidelines really don’t get read until there is a problem – effective brand management in the 00s quite simply needs to be smarter than this.

31 January 2008, posted by Miles Perkins