How To Create MVP Brand Guidelines
A guide for startups, nonprofits, or those strapped for cash
At Whiteboard, we’re often approached with questions like, “Can you help us communicate? Can you help us reach our audiences through email? We want to tell stories. Will you help us build a brand? How do we make sure we’re communicating consistently?”
The answer for each of these is yes, absolutely, and amen. But before thinking about any specific communication, marketing channels, or initiatives, we must build the foundation for a solid brand.
A “brand” is defined as the sum of all associations your audiences makes with your organization.
We can’t get inside our audiences’ heads to define their perceptions — that would be unethical, and not to mention, creepy.. but we can guide through communication. And succinct communication is one of the strongest ways to differentiate yourself, inspire action, and establish credibility — especially if you are a young brand.
Succinct communication is one of the strongest ways to differentiate yourself, inspire action, and establish credibility.
In this post, we’ll learn how to build MVP brand guidelines*.
This will be especially useful if you live in startup world, are a nonprofit, or if you’re strapped for cash. (Much to do, little resources to do it, am-I-right?) Creating MVP brand guidelines allows you to use your team’s internal knowledge to succeed through consistent communication.
*In this post, we won’t touch on the inherent part of all branding: design. I’ll leave color palette, logo, typography, etc. to the myriad of people who could design in their sleep.
So now, let’s look at how to create brand communication guidelines using minimal resources.
Before you put pen to paper, take time to define your audiences.
The most important thing to keep in mind is who will be using your brand guidelines. Depending on the size of your organization, you may have any number of staff, contractors, and external audiences who could all benefit from succinct brand guidelines. As with any other communication, define your audiences first, then focus on empowering them from start to finish.
For example: you’re a new nonprofit, and you’ve been contacted by several media outlets for a story. You could send over a press release, sure, but wouldn’t it be great to be prepared with your Mission & Vision ahead of time? Or maybe, for the time being, you’re simply looking to create consistent language among your team’s leadership.
A great place to start is with the question, “Who will use these brand guides the most?” Make a list of all potential audiences and define your primary one, whether that be:
- Internal leadership & staff
- Contract writers, designers, & photographers
- Media outlets
After you’ve defined your audiences, choose your most valuable players.
This is no time to panic. The stakes are high, but you got this. Based on your primary audience, choose the 3 most valuable players to include in your brand guidelines. They could be Mission, Vision, Core Values, Persona, Voice & Tone, or any number of other core assets.
For example, if your primary audience is contract writers, your best case scenario may be Vision, Voice & Tone, and Persona. If your primary audience is media outlets, you may want to choose Mission and Vision.
Below, I’ve included examples of each, because we all know the best way to learn is by doing. Use each as a template when crafting your own brand guidelines.
- Mission. 20 words on the purpose of your organization. Here’s a solid example from Nike.
- Vision. 60 words on how you live out your organization’s mission. Take a look at Charity Water’s version on page 5.
- Core Values. 3–5 guiding principles for your organization. You can pull from heart language like Preemptive Love Coalition, or keep it simple like Coca-Cola.
- Voice & Tone. How your organization sounds when communicating. Here’s the classic example from MailChimp. (Really, you should read more than just Voice & Tone.) Or the more relaxed Spotify, starting on page 27.
- Persona. The personality that attracts people to your organization. In this example on page 8, Acano expresses its personality through a set of traits.
Finally, it’s time to write the dang thing.
After you’ve picked your MVP Team of 3, see what you can accomplish with internal resources in a day — or if you’re feelin’ extra saucy? Half a day. Your staff will be the best crop of writers* for an MVP approach because they’ve got a day-to-day relationship with your organization.
*And don’t forget, the clearest ideas use the fewest words.
When thinking about your end result for MVP brand guidelines, don’t bother with designing a presentation. The magic of this is, an old school word doc (no frills) does the trick. Google Docs makes collab buttery smooth, especially if you use Comments for larger feedback and the Suggesting feature for grammar.
Effective brand guidelines feel like a natural outcropping of your team culture.
After your team takes their first stab, wait two or three days, then swoop back in for edits. In the editorial process, focus on simplicity. If there’s a choice between two directions for copy, choose the one that’s most natural for your organization. Effective brand guidelines are a natural outcropping of your mission and team culture.
As your organization and team grows, look for ways to grow your brand guidelines from the initial MVP version. Iteration is powerful in maintaining that sense of “organic” team culture. One way to add immense value and reflect the nuance of shifting tone, is to include potent quotes from your leadership, and change them out over time.
After you’ve considered your audiences and chosen your most valuable players, it’s time to write the dang thing.
Don’t get discouraged — trust your internal team to do the heavy lifting. When it comes to brand guidelines, you’ll thank yourself later if you Just Do It.
(Thank you Nike, for allowing me to be amongst the hundreds who have used your tagline for a personal article.)
Next Up:
So you’ve created brand guidelines. Now what?
How to distribute brand guidelines to gain traction
