Every organization has various assets that define their brand. But to use them effectively and consistently, these assets need to be well organized and easy to find.
Your brand assets include everything from messaging to visual elements. When working with designers, partners, sponsors, or other vendors, it is best to have all of your brand assets organized in one place.
What are your key brand assets?
Your key brand assets are anything that a designer, sponsor, or other vendors may need to work on a project with you or promote your event. These will vary depending on the organization, but the minimum assets are:
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LogoFiles - Make sure that you include several file formats of your logo for use in any application. Your logo library should include:
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- Vector logo files (AI, EPS, PDF)
- High resolution CMYK files (AI, EPS, PDF/TIF)
- Web resolution RGB files (JPG, PNG)
- Style Guide - Your style guide can be a website or PDF that outlines in detail how your messaging, logo, and other brand elements may (and may not) be used. Style guides typically include details regarding colors, fonts, logo placement, overall tone, and photography samples.
Some style guides also include specific instructions such as how to answer the telephone or how to apply your logo in other ways such as embroidery for apparel or vehicle wraps. If your organization uses a PDF format for your style guide, be sure the version is clearly marked to ensure everyone is using the most recent version. If your organization uses a link to access the Style Guide, include the link in your documentation. If your organization does not have a formal style guide, document your brand's elements as listed below:
- Colors - Include a list of the colors your brand uses and include CMYK, RGB, Hex, and PANTONE values for each.
- Fonts - Include a list of your brand's approved fonts as well as links for where to purchase them if your license does not allow you to share them.
- Photo/Video Library - Include your approved photos and/or videos in high resolution format.
- Messaging - This could be anything from your mission statement to keywords to sample social posts.
Storing Brand Assets
There are a variety of options for storing your brand assets. We'll go through a few options below but keep in mind that, wherever you end up putting them, make sure you place everything in one folder that can be accessed with a URL. Allowing partners to access the assets with a URL makes sharing them and keeping them updated much easier than sending files back and forth via email.
1. Google Drive or Dropbox Odds are, your organization already uses either Google Drive or Dropbox to manage and share files. Just set up a folder, upload all of the relevant files in clearly-labeled folders, and share it with your team or via URL to partners and vendors.
2. Airtable If you want to provide a little additional order to your files, check out Airtable. Think of it as Excel but with a ton more features including the ability to share sheets and upload files into individual cells. Using this format, you can also easily share links to press articles or other assets that would be more cumbersome to provide in a folder.
3. Create a Thinsite Use a product like Brandfolder to create a landing page that showcases your brand assets; take a look at this sample Brandfolder to see how you can organize and share your assets. If you have access to your own web developers, your team can create something similar for you.
Is it time to refresh your brand? We're here to help.
