Brands are subject to powerful currents. Macroeconomic conditions, markets, and technology keep shifting. Most of all, the behavior and needs of target audiences are changing. Because brands must respond continuously, they are always evolving.
In the past, brand guidelines were static, elaborate, and strict. Thick printed manuals shaped the world of brand design and brand identity. Rules were defined to the millimeter, and every medium was spelled out – sometimes down to the tiniest detail. In the 1990s, the digital shift began. Digital brand guidelines made everyday work easier for designers and marketing teams, and implementations became simpler. Still, the static mindset lingered in the manuals.
In the years that followed, new digital developments opened fresh possibilities. Brands and touchpoints came to life—interactive, animated, even cinematic. Brand-specific interaction patterns and individual user experiences moved into focus, and the first immersive brand worlds emerged.
As the rulebooks loosened, brands began to operate under fluid, adaptive requirements. Channel-specific constraints fell away. The brand universe turned into a playground with user-centered guardrails, and ready-to-use, user-optimized assets now live in online portals.
Deutsche Telekom, which ranked among the world’s most valuable brands in early 2024, shook the field with its “liquid design” and instantly legible design systems. Teams can build entirely around users and implement at speed. That is the new premise: show up across touchpoints quickly and easily, tailored to each audience. The aim is self-similarity with maximum brand mobility.
New game changers are in play: automated marketing tools and AI. The world of brand implementation is leaping forward and reorganizing itself. Workflows are being rethought, processes are more agile and much faster, and many steps now run on new tools. Using HubSpot or ChatGPT is second nature in many teams. Employees at large companies already receive training to generate AI imagery for brand communications. The pace is rapid and needs to be reassessed almost monthly.
Because the toolbox is overflowing, guidance matters more than ever. Brands must rest on a strong brand core, emotional stories, and convincing brand content. They need a stable framework to show up distinctly across every medium and be recognized at a glance. An emotional bond with the brand is more important than ever.
Pragmatic “golden rules” can distill a brand’s essence, but because conditions keep shifting, brands should be reviewed regularly. That’s why we run brand audits: we examine the brand, including its assets, tools, templates, and touchpoints, against a comprehensive set of criteria. Our audits surface weaknesses and gaps, and, above all, opportunities.
We ask whether the guidelines are still adequate and current, whether every channel and medium is considered and used to its full potential, and whether the channel strategy should be adjusted. We check if all relevant employees, agencies, and partners have access to the guidelines and the implementation support they need, where deliberate exceptions to the rules make sense, and whether the brand is recognized and understood at every touchpoint.
Our brand audits give you a clear view of your external brand presence, show how to reach audiences more consistently and effectively, and make your brand future-ready. They also help streamline brand management and processes, assess new tools, and identify capability-building needs.
Goodbye, brand confusion. We design brands, assets, templates, and guidelines to be as pragmatic and cross-channel as possible, and we factor in specifics like sustainability and accessibility. Get in touch. We’re happy to help optimize your brand, strengthen your asset system, and elevate your brand management.
Image generated with Midjourney.
