Marketing and Collateral Materials
Your marketing materials probably have the most impact on the recognition and image of your business of anything. Whether it's print, broadcast, or your exhibit booth, it should have a look consistent with everything else you are using. A designer can help you set up the initial designs, but in the event that designer is no longer around, you'll also want to have guidelines about how new materials should be set up in order to blend with the old materials.

All of the standards we talked out previously, such as fonts, colors, paper stocks, etc. will also carry over to your marketing materials. If you have locations that prepare their own materials, you'll at least have guidelines for their printers and designers to use.

Pre-printed drop-in sheets
If your staff have the need for low quantity customized "flyers," it may also be helpful to have templates set up that they can use to enter text and create professional-looking and customized documents on the fly. These types of documents can be printed via laser printer onto a pre-printed, but mostly blank, paper stock. The information that is pre-printed onto the sheet could simply be the company logo and some graphic design elements that pull the sheet into the standard look of the other company pieces. This method is a very cost-effective way to produce quick and inexpensive marketing materials. The pre-printed sheets can be printed in bulk and distributed for use by anyone within the company. The key is the use of the template files so the final product has the same text formatting and look as everything else. Spacing and fonts are very important.

Good instructions should be included in your written guidelines outlining the proper usage of the drop-in sheets, as well as how to go about doing it with various software programs. You should also set guidelines about when the quantity produced ceases to be "small" and should be printed professionally. Most offset presses have no problem over-printing onto this type of pre-printed stock. In fact, you might use this pre-printing technique for other types of literature needs. Use your imagination. It's a good way to get more color into your materials at a lower cost.

Promotional Items
Most likely, you'll order all of your promotion items like imprinted pens, mugs, notepads, etc. from a central source and either store them until needed, or distribute them among locations (if you have several locations). This is another item that needs guidelines in the event you have others placing their own orders for new items. If you will be having several employees or locations ordering their own premium items for trade shows or special events, then it's important to set some boundaries. Those catalogs make you think you need all of that junk (I mean stuff)!

First, assemble a list of approved types of items with the level of description you think necessary to limit the items to what you want to approve.

Second, create a graphic guideline for how the logo should be placed on each item and how it can be altered. Remember the example we used about the logo shirts? If you have to reverse the logo then at least you can feel comfortable with how it will look.

Third, set up an approval system that will ensure you have final say over the ultimate design. This may seem a bit extreme, but remember some of those "premium" items can be cheesy enough by themselves without having your logo mangled upon them.

Print advertisements
Print ads your company runs in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, or other media should also have an established design that is strictly adhered to. Determine layouts for several ad sizes and shapes that follow the same design. Below is an example of some of the specifications you may want to include.

Set up guides for each ad size and shape you expect to need. Since most print media will have their own specific ad sizes, you probably won't be able to set up standard ads that can be used anywhere. If you do, watch out for publications that say they can alter the ad for you. You may end up with a squished or stretched version of the original! Have a new ad set to the specified size whenever possible.

Press releases
Though not quite as important in layout as content, your press releases should at least follow a standard press release format stating the release date, contact information (yours), and the subject clearly at the top of the page. We'll talk more about style guides and voice for written text later in this article.

Product packaging
This may be beginning to sound like a broken record, but.... yes, your product packaging should not take a drastic leap away from the established image of the rest of your company. It's possible the packaging is the only thing some customers ever see of your company's "look." If this is the case, and it will depend of course on the type of business you have, then pay extra attention to the consistent look and design of your packaging.

Don't stray from the color palette, although you may end up having to expand the palette if you have an extensive product line. But at least select colors wisely and make sure they complement the other standard colors. Then, make sure any supporting literature and advertisements for that product use the same colors. Color is a very memorable part of our world. Research has shown that consistent use of a color in the marketing of a product has significant impact on recall of that product.

Presentations
It's a good idea to have presentation templates set up that employees can use for sales presentations, training courses, or other presentation needs. These templates can be part of your library of templates, documents, and master files.

Photos, art, and images
Another important piece of the image puzzle is the photos and artwork that accompany most pieces of literature, presentations, and other media. Assuming you have unrestricted use of these photos and images, it is recommended that they also be a part of your "library" so employees can use them as needed. Again, instruction will be need be provided about how to use the images along with restrictions of use such as alterations or misuse.

You may have an extensive list of documents and materials that you'll need to write guidelines about, but doing so will ensure you don't have a lot of bad stuff floating around!

Property Issues
The signs and other physical attributes that announce the location of your business are another important area that must remain consistent in regard to look and image. Particularly if you have more than one location, you'll need to make sure that each has a consistent look. Some large chains like Toys 'R Us and others make sure that every store is set up the same way so that customers can quickly find what they are looking for regardless of which location they are at. That takes a lot of planning and attention to detail. You can do that too, even if you don't have multiple locations in every state!

Exterior and interior signs
If you have a single office location then you probably don't have to worry so much about the layout, colors, and design of your company's signage -- other than making sure it follows your established "image."

If you have several locations, either through acquisition or simply expansion, then you do need to deal considerably with directing the design, production and placement of signs outside and inside of your locations.

The first thing you should do is determine the material, layout, size and placement that you think is necessary for your business's signs. This would include deciding between aluminum signs with vinyl lettering verses painted or even hand-carved wooden signs, all depending on your business and its image.

There may also be restrictions by building landlords. Check with them prior to setting your standards, or allow for exceptions for certain locations. Some towns and cities also have restrictions about the height, size, and even the colors of business signs. Check town ordinances regarding these issues.

Vendors
Once you have nailed down the design details, and know the restrictions about what you can and cannot do, then you can move on to setting up your guidelines. You can consider either having all signs created by a central sign company and shipped to each location, or selecting a national vendor who can produce the same product in all the cities in which you have business locations.

If you go with the latter, you need to have sign material guidelines such as backing material and letter material, specific color selections (you probably won't be able to indicate a PMS color for sign shops), font selections, size, and layout. Most sign shops can work from a computer-printed sample layout that indicates sizes, layout and other specifications. Some can even take electronic logo files and output machine cut versions for your signs. Interview some sign shops, find out their capabilities and requirements for art.

Placement
Where you place the signs is also an issue that should be addressed in your identity guidelines. As we mentioned above, however, you may be restricted by your landlord (if you have one) and others so make sure you check first.

Other things that should (or can) be standardized
Details, details, details. The more attention you give them, the more professional and organized your business will come across to customers. Obviously, different types of businesses will have very different details they need to deal with. Below are some details that may play a part in many businesses.

Some of the other issues you should consider standardizing include:

• Phone messages - Phone etiquette is an often overlooked part of business. How your locations answer their phones, set up voice-mail messages, and even leave messages for clients can have an impact on your overall business. Guidelines for these areas, particularly if you have several locations, can help create expected and consistent communications to your clients.

• Protocol and policies - Protocol guidelines for unexpected events can also be helpful. For example, if your business has an inclement weather policy then there should also be protocol for how customer interaction and communication is addressed during these weather-related closings. You might, for instance, establish a protocol that instructs employees to put a specific message on their voice mail systems, direct callers to a central number in another location not affected by the closing, or even establish a designated emergency home-based number for clients to call.

• Vehicles - Company-owned vehicles are another area that might need consideration. Do you have employees who travel to client locations in company cars? Do those cars have proper signs identifying them as being part of your business? Would this be necessary for your type of business?

• Uniforms - Employee uniforms may or may not be specifically "issued" pants and shirts. It may simply mean a type or style of dress for specific occasions such as exhibiting at trade shows, or conducting seminars. It may be as relaxed as requiring khaki pants and a company logo-imprinted polo shirt. This is just another area that might need some thought and some type of established guidelines.

Voice and Style
Another often forgotten, but still important, image aspect is the style and voice of your written materials, correspondence, and advertising. Does your company want to put forth a light, humorous image, or a stoic, dignified, and perhaps more professional image? The word choices and syntax of your written documents, and even the phrasing of market- or industry-specific issues may need to be examined and standardized.

Do you have employees performing training seminars that use different pronunciations for industry buzz-words? That is something you may need to correct. Use your own judgement and get as nit-picky as you need to. It does make a difference over the long haul in how your customers perceive the cohesion of your business. This may, in turn, effect how they perceive the overall quality of your business.

What is voice?
Voice is the tone that your written statements relay to the reader. It is the feeling and often emotional impact that the word choices and phrasing evoke. It can be conversational, formal, informal, colloquial, and can fall into various levels of each. The intonation you use is important, as well as the sentence structure. Think about how differently a news story is written from an editorial story. Of course, the purpose of the editorial is to relay the opinion of the author, but there is a distinct difference even when comparing the descriptions of the basic information of the story before the opinions take over.

Should your business voice follow a more formal, institutional voice that strictly adheres to the facts and leaves out any emotion or personality? Or, should it follow more informal patterns as in conversation and spontaneous speech? The decision will lie, once again, in your type of business, your level of relationship with your clients, and what types of written materials you produce. Are you a consultant? If so, you may have more of a personal relationship with some of your clients. This might lead you to decide that a more conversational tone is needed in your written materials. Do you write "How-to" books? Then you should definitely use a more conversational tone. You don't want your readers to have to translate what you're saying into everyday language. Make it easier on them.

Of course, many businesses can't operate that way because using more conversational tones may lead them to leave out some detail that might leave them vulnerable. For example, the legal industry must make sure every written statement covers all of the bases and doesn't leave anything to a potentially incorrect interpretation.

Look for answers to these questions when determining the most effective voice for your type of business. Then clearly describe the voice and tone you expect. Give examples and offer a point of assistance such as a company spokesperson or communications manager.

Style guides
Don't forget about style details such as:

• how your company name is written out -- Do you use ", Inc." after the name, do you put periods after any initials, do you spell out the word "and" or use an ampersand (&)? This also applies to other industry- or market-specific phrases.
• optional spellings of words you use often
• titles and designations of employees and managers
• use of trade marks and their symbols

Once you have established your written style and voice, make sure that they are incorporated into all of your written materials including:

• all marketing communications
• your web site
• your newsletter
• all proposals, letters, and reports
• e-mail
• public relations releases
• published manuals, books, and users' guides