Why You Should Ditch Your Static Brand Guidelines

Are you a marketer or brand manager who's stuck in the past? Clinging to those static brand guidelines like they're your only hope of salvation? Well, it's time to let go. PDF brand guidelines are so 2009. If you're still using them, it's time for a change. Static brand guidelines are relics of a bygone era – an age when marketers had all the control. Today's world is far more complex, and consumers have far more choices. So if you want to win over today's savvy consumers, you need to ditch your static brand guidelines and embrace change. On the surface, it might seem like a good idea to have a set of static brand guidelines. After all, they provide a blueprint for how your brand should look and feel across all mediums. But there are some major problems with relying on static brand guidelines.

The Importance of Brand Guidelines

Brand guidelines are important because they help ensure that your brand is consistently represented across all your touchpoints. They act as a blueprint for how your brand should look and feel, helping to create a cohesive brand identity and user experience.

If a company doesn't have brand guidelines, its branding will likely be inconsistent across different channels. This can create confusion for consumers and make it difficult for the company to build a cohesive brand identity.

Some benefits of having brand guidelines include:

• Ensuring that your brand is consistently represented across all mediums
• Creating a cohesive brand identity
• Helping to build and maintain customer trust
• Facilitating more efficient and effective marketing efforts

The problems with Static guidelines

Difficult to keep updated

Static brand guidelines are difficult to keep updated because they're not built for change. Once a guideline is set, it's hard to make changes without creating a whole new document. This can be frustrating for marketers who need to make quick changes to their branding. The consequences of having outdated brand guidelines can include confusion among customers, a lack of trust in the brand, inefficient marketing efforts, and cause brand sprawl.

Makes version control difficult

Static brand guidelines make it difficult to keep track of changes over time, as they are often stored as a single, static document. This can lead to confusion and errors, particularly if multiple people are working on different versions of the guidelines at the same time.

Slows down the creative process

Another problem with static brand guidelines is that they can slow down the creative process, as designers need to refer back to the guidelines frequently in order to ensure that their work is compliant. This can be time-consuming and frustrating, particularly if the guidelines are lengthy or complex.

Quickly become out of date

Another issue with static brand guidelines is that they can quickly become out of date, especially in fast-paced industries. This can make it difficult for companies to keep up with the latest trends and best practices and can lead to confusion about what is current.

Make digital assets hard to share

Static brand guidelines can also make it difficult to share digital assets, as they are often stored as PDFs which can be hard to access and use. This can be a problem for companies that need to share their branding across different departments or with external partners. 

Wrap it up

So what’s the solution? Dynamic brand guidelines. What are they? They are a living, breathing document that is constantly updated with the latest logo files, fonts, colors and branding assets. They can be accessed quickly and easily by anyone in your company who needs them. Most importantly, they help to speed up the creative process because everyone has access to the most current information. Are you ready to ditch those static brand guidelines for something better? Visit SHO.ai today to get started!