Don't Be a Barbara Brand
In The Field
October 6, 2022
Hallie Waugh
If your brand lives in one person's brain—or hard drive—it’s time to rethink your strategy.
Everyone knows Barbara. She’s been with the company forever—corner office, solid red heels that clack down the hall at an alarming clip. She’s the VP of Marketing. Or the Director of Brand Strategy. And locked behind a dizzying maze of two-factor authentications, password resets, and retrieval emails scattered across the ether, you’ll find a couple of things:
A catalog of receipts from every piece of clothing Barbara’s ever bought, and
Your organization’s entire brand.
We’re talking logo lock-ups, Pantone colors, slide deck templates, source files for event collateral, primary and secondary typefaces, and the high-res original of the photo that’s plastered across every page of the website.
All is well in Barbara’s corner office; the keys to the kingdom are handled with care.
Until she leaves the company suddenly.
Now, here you are—the New Barbara or a wide-eyed junior team member or the semi-design-savvy employee who’s been asked to help out until they find a replacement.
What happens when you’re inevitably tasked with creating graphics, selecting images, or writing copy that align with the brand?
All this time, the brand started and ended with Barbara. And when she leaves, it’s all too clear that the brand never really had any meaning beyond her.
This is precisely why a brand can’t live in one person’s mind (or computer). For a brand to work—and last—it needs more than a thoughtful visual identity and some guidance for when to use which typeface.
Your brand needs a system intended to promote accountability and longevity.
And since the best system is the one you can stick to, it’s important to keep that system simple.
Mostly, it comes down to your brand being:
Clearly defined
Centrally located
Rooted in strategy
Internalized by your team
That last one is the key.
Your team is your best and longest-lasting brand asset.
When you invest in their understanding of the brand—and how essential it is to the company’s long-term growth—you’re creating a foundation that’s much larger than any one individual. When executed consistently, that foundation will stick around no matter how many Barbaras, Steves, or Kaylees come and go.
