Do it yourself — Corporate brand standards manual

by. Joe Swatek

I’m not much of a handyman, so when I thought of a Do It Yourself slant to this topic, I had to laugh. But you really can create a Corporate Standards Manual for your bank or credit union.

First, let’s cover the importance of a manual and why you need one.

Your marketing materials should all be recognizable as coming from your financial institution. People should be aware they’re seeing a promotion from you in one media that they’ve seen elsewhere. Building recognition for your “brand look” is vital.

You might think, sure, we do that. But the key is to remain consistent over time. These are some of the problems you face if you don’t have a Corporate Standards Manual…

• Agencies, printers, and other vendors don’t know your brand guidelines as well as you. They need to see what standards you follow. • Staff turnover means those who knew your company brand aren’t around any longer and probably didn’t pass along their knowledge to the new crew. There must be a reference guide.

• The “How did we do that?” factor. Over time, standards tend to be ignored. A manual keeps everyone on track. – See more at: http://fi.deluxe.com/community-blog/deluxe-blogs/corporate-standards-manual/#sthash.9gMLmpJX.dpuf

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