- 1. Win over the sceptics
- 2. Use multiple channels of internal communication and roll out the new brand face-to-face with workshops or presentations.
- 3. Ensure your senior management team are visibly involved
- 4. Create inspiring values that are easy to remember
- 5. Make sure staff and volunteers can sum up your charity on the spot
- 6. Bring your brand to life
- 7. Recruit Brand Champions and set up a Brand Steering Group
- 8. Give staff and partners tools to manage the brand and protect your Intellectual Property in contract
- 9. Make sure staff behaviour and customer service matter
- 10. Create an effective creative briefing process and monitor your brand at regular intervals
7. Recruit Brand Champions and set up a Brand Steering Group.
The responsibility for protecting the consistency of your brand should be shared across the organisation and should not rest with one team or individual. The more people who understand the merits of brand management and the impact of a strong consistent brand the better. The sooner the organisation takes ownership of the brand and its management, the more likely it is to be accepted and properly utilised.
A number of leading charities, including Cancer Research UK, have established a scheme of Brand Champions. Brand Champions are members of staff who promote and protect the brand throughout the charity. Depending on the capacity of your internal design studio, Brand Champions can be trained to check communications materials before they are published (logo size and positioning, colours, website address and registered charity number). Cancer Research UK runs weekly brand clinics where Brand Champions can bring their queries to the Brand Team, as well as providing a dedicated email address for brand-related questions (brand@cancer.org.uk). Cancer Research Brand
Champions also receive regular training and are used to disseminate information on the brand to their own teams and departments. Several charities also facilitate a Brand Steering Group, meeting every quarter, to help them manage and develop their brands. The group dynamics vary, but they are commonly chaired by a Brand Manager or somebody in a design and/or marketing communications role, with representation (Brand Champions) from each division.
The introduction of a Brand Champions scheme or Brand Steering Group involves both time and commitment, but it is well worth the effort. There is no better way to promote and protect your brand, embedding it across the whole organisation.