In an increasingly integrated world with digitally savvy consumers, how does your brand achieve consistency across multiple channels?

1. How tobuildaconsistentdigital
brandexperience
by
ActivateMedia

2. Contents
Introduction
5Keyelementsofbrandingontheweb
Analyseyourbrand'sonlinepresence
Adaptyourbrandguidelines
Getthecorrecttechnicalspecifications
Planyourguidelinesforsocialmedia
DesignforthedeviceDesignforthedevice
Casestudiesshowingthe5Keyelementsofbranding
SevenDials
MillsLtd
DavidClulow
Conclusion
AboutActivateMedia
1
3
4
7
9
12
1414
19
20
21
22
23
24

3. Introduction 1
Wheredoyourcustomersgotofindoutaboutyour
service?Perhapsit'sfromaGooglesearch,areviewsite,
socialmedia,amagazine,theirfriends,etc.Theanswerto
thiswillvaryfrombrandtobrand,butthepointisthat
today'sconsumersnowhaveamultitudeofwaysto
interactwithyourbrandthatisn'tlimitedtotraditionalor
evendigitalmedia.Withthesmartphoneandtabletboom
-yourbrandnowhastheopportunitytointeractwith-yourbrandnowhastheopportunitytointeractwith
consumersonthego,acrossmultiplechannels.
Themainchallengeformarketersishowtobuildastrong
brandthatcrossesovertodigitalinthismulti-channel
environment?
Consistencyistheessenceofbrandingandusersexpectto
recogniseandabsorbabrand'sidentity,valuesandpurpose
immediately.Iftheycan't,well,there'sthedangerof
losingyouraudiencequickerthanthetimeittooktobuild
thatsameaudience.
Buildingaconsistentbrandonlineanddoingitwell
requiressomebodythatcanensurethesamebrandvalues
aredeliveredacrossallchannels.

4. “ ”
Forbrandingconsistency,abrandadvocate
shouldmanageyourmessage.
Fordigitalprojects,itmakessensethat
theprojectmanagerisadigitalspecialist.
JimPrior,CEOofThePartners,aWPPbrandingagency
2

5. 5Keyelementsofbranding
ontheweb
Therearefivekeyelementstobrandingontheweb.Get
theserightandyou'llbemuchmorelikelytodeliver
onlinesuccessforyourclients.
3

6. 1.Analyseyourbrand's
onlinepresence
4
Abrandshouldbeconsistentinthewayitmakespeople
feel,asitisconsistentinhowitlooks.Oneverypageof
yourwebsite,ineveryemail,everyadandeverytext,your
brand’spersonalityshouldcomeacrossconsistently,
whereveryourcustomersencounterit.
ConsiderhowyourbrandisperceivedonlineandseeConsiderhowyourbrandisperceivedonlineandsee
whetheritmatchesyourofflinebrandingandyourgoals.
So,howdoyougoaboutmeasuringyourbrand'sonline
presenceandseewhetheritneedstoevolvetoengagean
onlineaudience?

7. 1.Analyseyourbrand's
onlinepresence
5
Talktoyourpeopleaboutyourbrand,gettheirfeedback.
Don’ttakeourwordforit.Surveyyourcustomersand
prospectsonbothyouronlineandofflinepresenceas
you’redevelopingit.It’saneffectivewaytofindout
what’sworkingandwhat’snot.
HerearesomeexcellenttipsfromHerearesomeexcellenttipsfromLondonFusiononhow
topickusersfordesignresearch,whichyoucaneasilyuse
forgettingfeedbackonyourbrand.
1.Setagoalforthefeedbackexercise
2.Selectasamplesizethat'smanageableenoughtogo
deeperwithyourquestions.Butmakesureyoupicka
cross-sectionofpeople,intermsofage,gender,
preference,etcpreference,etc
3.Testyourfeedbackexerciseoncolleaguesandfriends
outsideofyourcompany
4.Variouswaysofgettingparticipants;wordofmouth,
localcontactsandorganisations,webforums,find
peoplewhoareinterestedinthetypesofservicesyou
provide,advertsonnoticeboards
5.5.Keepanopenmind-evenconsiderfeedbackfrom
peoplewhodonotengagewithyourtopic.The
extremeswillgiveyouperspectivesthatyoumightnot
havehadbefore
6.Designyourquestions,makingsureyouaskclear
questions,avoidjargon,listenmorethanyoutalk,and
avoidambiguityandleadingquestions

8. 1.Analyseyourbrand's
onlinepresence
6
MeasureBrandingReach
Therearetoolstohelpyoufigureoutthebestwayto
promoteyourbrandonline.Manyofthemarefree,and
anyonecanusethem.Usethesetoolswithawellthought
outbrandstrategy.
Forsentimentanalysis:SocialMention.
ThistoolcanfindmentionsofyourbrandandattitudesThistoolcanfindmentionsofyourbrandandattitudes
towardsitsoyoucangaugehowit’sbeingjudgedonline.
TomeasureSEO:SEOToolbar.
SetupsomequickSEOmeasurementstoseehowyour
websiteranksforcertainsearchtermsandwhichwordsare
associatedwithyourbrand.
Thesearejustsomeofthemanyexcellent(andoftenfree)
onlinetoolstohelpyoumanageyourbrandonlinewhenonlinetoolstohelpyoumanageyourbrandonlinewhen
usedalongsideawelldefinedbrandstrategy.Bydoinga
Googlesearchfor“freebrandmeasurementtools”,or“best
freemarketingtools”,etccanproducesomemore
suggestedonlinetools.Ifyouwouldlikesomemoreofour
recommendationsjustemailorsendusatweet.

9. 2.Adaptyourbrand
guidelines
7
Brandguidelineswrittenbefore2007aremostlikely
tobeoutofdate.
Why?BecausebackthentheycouldnothaveconsideredWhy?Becausebackthentheycouldnothaveconsidered
smartphonesandtabletsbecausetheysimplydidn'texist.
Butthathaschanged.Thegrowthofsmartphonesand
tabletsandtheirwidespreadusehaschangedhowpeople
interactwithbrands.Haveyoureviewedyourbrandin
lightofthismulti-channelenvironmentthatnowincludes
smartphonesandtablets?

10. 2.Adaptyourbrand
guidelines
8
Understandthemulti-channeluser
TheBBCisanexampleofastrongandestablishedbrandTheBBCisanexampleofastrongandestablishedbrand
thathassuccessfullycrossedovertodigitalbycreating
brandingguidelinesacrosstheirmultiplechannelsof
communication.Mostoftheirbrandguidelinesisavailable
forpublicviewhere:http://www.bbc.co.uk/gelandyou
willseehowtheyhavecreatedseparatesectionsforweb,
mobile,tabletandTV.
YoucanfollowtheBBC'sexampleandadapttheirYoucanfollowtheBBC'sexampleandadapttheir
approachtoyourbrand.
1.Recognisethemaintouchpointspeoplehavewithyour
brand-internet,phone,email,facetoface,post,etc
2.Identifythedevicespeopleusetoconnectwithyour
brandonline
3.Understandthewaytheyuseeachdevicetoconnect
withyourbrandandadaptthecontentaccordingly

11. 3.Getthecorrecttechnical
specifications
9
Standardbrandguidelinesdon'talwaystranslateeasilyfor
onlineuse.Fontsmaynotbecompatiblewithsome
browsers,imagesmayneedtobemodifiedandlogosmay
notlookaseffectiveondigitalscreensastheydoonprint.
Asuccessfulonlinebrandpresencejoinsallthedotsand
makessureeverythingisconsistentfromtheget-go.
Successfulintegrationstartswithastylesheet,whichneeds
toincludestrictguidelinesontypeanduseoffonts,
spacing,paragraphs,colours,graphicsandmore.

12. 3.Getthecorrecttechnical
specifications
10
Hereisanon-exhaustivelistofthingstoconsiderwhen
movingyourbrandonline:
Fontsandtypefaces
ApartfromdecidingwhichfontsandtypefacestouseApartfromdecidingwhichfontsandtypefacestouse
online,youshouldbeawarethatyourexistingfontsmay
notbecompatiblewithsomebrowsers.Youwon’tknow
thiswithouttesting,whichcantaketime.Also,makesure
theyfitcorrectlyondifferentdevices.
Multimedia
Howwillimagesandvideobesourced,whenwilltheybeHowwillimagesandvideobesourced,whenwilltheybe
used,andwhatsizeshouldtheybe?Rememberthatfor
online,picturesandvideosmayneedtobemodifiedto
helpyoursitedisplayquicklyandconsistently.
Logo
Astandardlogodoesn’talwayslookaseffectiveonasmallAstandardlogodoesn’talwayslookaseffectiveonasmall
screenasitdoesonstationeryorpostersandmayneedto
beadaptedtofitdifferentonlineplatforms-e.g.social
mediaplatformsandmobile.Indefiningdifferentusesof
yourlogo,includeexamplesofitscorrectandincorrect
use.
Mobile
IsyourbrandexperienceconsistentacrossthedifferentIsyourbrandexperienceconsistentacrossthedifferent
platformsthatvisitorsusetoaccessyourwebsite?Will
yourcustomersgetasgoodanexperiencebyviewingyour
siteonmobileasondesktop?Ifnot,theyshould.

13. 3.Getthecorrecttechnical
specifications
11
Socialmedia
MakesurethestyleofyoursocialmediapagesareMakesurethestyleofyoursocialmediapagesare
consistentwithhowyourbrandlooksinothermediums.
Althoughthesenetworksallowyoutoadaptyourpage,
therearerestrictionsonhowthiscanbedone.Digital
agencieswillhelpyounavigatearoundtherestrictionsthat
eachsocialmediaplatformimposes.Here'sausefulsocial
mediasizingcheatsheetcoveringthesizeandpicture
dimensionsforallthemajornetworks.dimensionsforallthemajornetworks.
Colours
Apartfromdecidingonyourcolourpalette,forcolour
consistencymakesureyouusethecorrectHexformatfor
websites.ThesedifferfromtheCMYKformatusedin
printmedia.

14. 4.Planyourguidelinesfor
socialmedia
12
Asyou'reaware,socialmediahasgreatlyinfluenced
today'sconsumerbehaviour,soitmakessensetoincludea
sectiononsocialmediainyourbrandguidelinesonhow
yourbrandwillapproachsocialmedia.
Mostbrandsnowrecognisethatsocialmediashouldbe
usedasawaytointeractwiththepublicratherthana
broadcasttool.
Today'sconsumersexpecttobeabletohaveatwo-wayToday'sconsumersexpecttobeabletohaveatwo-way
conversationwithbrands,andsocialmediamakesit
possibleforanyone(brandsandconsumers)to
communicatewithalargeaudiencequickly,easily,andfor
free.Brandsarguablyhavemoretolosewhentheygetthis
wrongthanconsumers.It'sthereforeimportanttohavea
wellthoughtoutsocialmediasectioninyourbrand
guidelines.guidelines.

15. 4.Planyourguidelinesfor
socialmedia
13
Dependingonyourbusiness,thesocialmediasectionof
yourbrandguidelinesmightaddressallorsomeofthe
following:
Purposeofsocialmediapresence
Relevanttopics
Toneofvoice
Staffbehaviourguidelines-includeshowtouse
technology,responsetimestoqueries,etctechnology,responsetimestoqueries,etc
Crisismanagementprocedure
Don'tspreadyourselfthinly
Notallsocialmediaplatformsaresuitableforallbrands;Notallsocialmediaplatformsaresuitableforallbrands;
banksmayfindlimitedinterestonPinterest,forinstance,
butmostbrandscanbenefitfromexposureonaselection
ofsocialnetworkscateringfortheirtargetaudience.Do
yourhomeworkandjointhesocialnetworksthatyour
targetaudienceusesthemost-fromthemainstreamones
likeFacebook,Twitter,andLinkedIn,tomorenicheones,
perhapstargetedataparticularindustry.
Seewhichofthemainsocialnetworkswilldeliverthe
mostimpact:TheSocialMediaLandscapetoolbyCMO.

16. 5.Designforthedevice 14
Asageneralrule,shorterisbetteronline.Peopleareused
toscanningratherthanreadingindepth,andtheeasewith
whichtheycanclickawaymeansyouhavetofightfor
theirattentiononallfronts.
Establishingahierarchyofcontentisessential,withshort,Establishingahierarchyofcontentisessential,withshort,
fundamentalmessagesoninitiallandingpages,funnelling
throughtomorein-depthcontentifrequired.An
experiencedwebarchitectcanaddgreatvaluehere.
Contentmayalsoneedtobeoptimisedformobile,makingContentmayalsoneedtobeoptimisedformobile,making
iteasytoaccessandreadwhateverthesizeofthescreen.
You'llalsoneedtoconsiderthedifferentbehavioursand
likelyneedsofmobile,tabletandlaptopusers-thesizeof
screenandlocationswhereit'slikelytobeaccessedmay
alsodictatedifferenthierarchiesofcontent.

17. 5.Designforthedevice 15
Designconsiderationsformobilewebsites
Herearesomethingstoconsiderifyouwanttobuilda
customer-centricmobilewebsite.
Screenresolution
Screenresolutionsdifferfrommobiletomobile.Itisn'tScreenresolutionsdifferfrommobiletomobile.Itisn't
practicaltorecreateapageforeverymobileresolutionout
there,soyouwillneedtocheckyourdatatoseethemost
popularmobilescreensizefromwhichyourusersaccess
yourwebsite.
Simplenavigation
Decideonthemainfeaturestoincludeinyourmobilesite,Decideonthemainfeaturestoincludeinyourmobilesite,
andusetheseasthemainnavigationcategories.Thinkof
howtodisplaythisnavigationtobestserveyourusers.In
theimageontheright,wehelpedDavidClulowselectthe
thekeynavigationcontentfortheirstartpage,whichwe
displayedastextwithinbigpaddedbuttons.

18. 5.Designforthedevice 16
Intheimageontheright,fashionbrandASOSoptedfora
largeimagebackdropwiththreelargepaddedboxeswith
textshowingthemainprioritiesoftheirmobilewebsite-
toincreasesignups,andtosellonline.
Cross-channelintegration
ThelogicbehindcrosschannelintegrationistokeepyourThelogicbehindcrosschannelintegrationistokeepyour
messageconsistent,convenient,connectedandcontextual
acrosstime.Sohowdoesthisaffectyourmobilewebsite?
Maintaincontinuity-bysigninginontheTescomobile
website,Icanviewandmanagemyshoppingcartand
bookmydelivery,justasIcanonthefullsite.
WhenIreadabookonmyiPhone,IcancontinuefromWhenIreadabookonmyiPhone,Icancontinuefrom
whereIleftoffonmyiPad.Eveneducational
establishmentscangetinonthefun-forexampleby
scanningaQRcodeatamuseumwithmyphone,I'llget
accesstofurtherinformationabouttheexhibitions.

19. 5.Designforthedevice 17
Optiontoenterthefullsite
Whilethesimplifiedmobileversionmightsuitmost
mobilevisitors,forwhateverreason,sometimesamobile
usermightneedaccesstoyourfullsite,soit'sgood
practicetomakethatversioneasilyaccessibletothem.
Killpop-ups
Intrusivepop-upsareannoyingatthebestoftimesonIntrusivepop-upsareannoyingatthebestoftimeson
largerscreens,soimaginehowpainfullyirritatingthey
wouldbeonmobiledevices.Yourusershavelesspatience
onmobileandwillneedtoaccessthecontenttheyneed
quicklyandeasily,soremovethepop-ups.
Minimisetheneedtoscroll
Recognisethatifyoucan'tgetawayfromaddingascrollRecognisethatifyoucan'tgetawayfromaddingascroll
function,makesureitisvertical,asthisisthemost
commondirection.
Replacetextentrywithtick-boxes
Usingyourfingersontouchscreencanbefiddly,soyou
shouldtryandimproveyourmobileuserexperienceby
replacingtheneedtomanuallyentertextwherepossible
withtick-boxoptions.
Geo-location
Takeadvantageoftheabilitytodeliverrelevant,Takeadvantageoftheabilitytodeliverrelevant,
contextualinformationtoyourusersbasedontheir
locationinreal-time.Thisisespeciallyhelpfulifyouhave
abricksandmortarbusiness.Forexample,ifyou'rean
opticians,youcanhelpyourvisitorslocatehowfaryour
storeisfromwheretheyare.Youcanalsoofferincentives
forvisitorscheckingintoyourpremises.

20. 5.Designforthedevice 18
Fontsize
Asageneralrule,shorterisbetteronline.Peopleareused
toscanningratherthanreadingindepth,andtheeasewith
whichtheycanclickawaymeansyouhavetofightfor
theirattentiononallfronts.
Establishingahierarchyofcontentisessential,withshort,Establishingahierarchyofcontentisessential,withshort,
fundamentalmessagesoninitiallandingpages,funnelling
throughtomorein-depthcontentifrequired.An
experiencedwebarchitectcanaddgreatvaluehere.
Keepitsimple
Tryandminimisetheeffortrequiredforuserstogetfrom
pointAtopointBonyourmobilesite.Createacontent
hierarchyandprioritisethefunctionsyourusersmostwanthierarchyandprioritisethefunctionsyourusersmostwant
whenaccessingyourmobilesite,reducecategories,and
useshorterforms.Alsoremembertodesignforportrait
andlandscapeviewing.
ShortURLs
KeepURLsshortforeasierviewingandtoavoidexcessive
keypaduse.
Images
Striveforabalancewithyourimagesizes-getyourStriveforabalancewithyourimagesizes-getyour
imagesasbigandboldasyoucangetthemwithout
slowingdownthesite'sloadtime.

21. Casestudiesshowingthe
5Keyelementsofbranding
WeatActivateMediahaveimplemented5elementsof
brandingontheweb,andadaptedthemwhereneedsbe,
formanyofourclientwebsitesovertheyears,ranging
fromrelativelysmalllocaltradersto
internationalorganisations.
19

22. 5Keyelementsofbranding
ontheweb
20
SevenDials-Onlinebrandingconsistancy
www.sevendials.co.uk
WhenthegroupresponsibleforcentralLondonshoppingWhenthegroupresponsibleforcentralLondonshopping
villageSevenDialswantedtotransfertheirnewidentity
online,weworkedwiththemtofirstestablishexactlywhat
materialwasrequiredbyonlineusers,andadaptedthe
group'sbrandingforuseonline.Evenseeminglysmall
detailscanbeimportant.
SevenDials’fontdidnotworkonline(itappeared
differentlyindifferentbrowsersandondifferentscreens),differentlyindifferentbrowsersandondifferentscreens),
andhadtobeswappedforsomethingsimilarwhichwould
beconsistentwhereveritwasviewed-essentialfor
maintainingaconsistentlyprofessionalapproachlike
Facebook,Twitter,andLinkedIn,tomorenicheones,
perhapstargetedataparticularindustry.

23. 5Keyelementsofbranding
ontheweb
21
MillsLtd-Ecommerce,simplifyingsearch
www.millsltd.com
Sellingonlineisanincreasinglysophisticatedbusiness,it's
importanttomaintainaconsistentbrandexperienceacross
theplatforms.
London-basedcablingsupplierMillshadanextensiveLondon-basedcablingsupplierMillshadanextensive
rangeofproductsthatitinitiallyplacedonlineinafashion
similartothecompany'sprintedcatalogue.Itdidn'twork,
asitdidn'techothesimplicityofbuyingfromthe
catalogue,afeaturewhichcustomersloved.Thechallenge
wastodevelopasitethatwouldreplicate,andeven
enhancethecatalogueshoppingexperiencewhile
retainingMills'sbrandvalues.retainingMills'sbrandvalues.
Weestablishedthatmostusersdidn'tbrowsethesite,so
streamlinedthesearchandcategorisationfunctionsfora
moreefficientsearchprocess.
Therevisedsiteisprovingtobesuperiortothecatalogue,
makingiteasiertosearchforspecificproducts.Mills'
customerscanevensearchwhenthey'reworkingon-site
viatheirmobilephoneortablet.

24. 5Keyelementsofbranding
ontheweb
DavidClulow-Brandingonmobiledevices
www.davidclulow.com
WithmobileaccesstotheinternetexpectedtosurgebyWithmobileaccesstotheinternetexpectedtosurgeby
66%eachyearoverthenextfiveyears,andwithupto
61%ofinternetuserssayingthatifawebsiteonmobile
doesn'tmakeiteasyforthemtobuy,they'llsimplyswitch
toanothersite,it'sessentialthatwebsiteslookeverybitas
goodonsmartphonesandtabletsastheydoondesktops
andlaptops.
KeepingwiththethemeofbrandconsistencywasaKeepingwiththethemeofbrandconsistencywasa
challengepresentedtousbyDavidClulow,anational
opticianchainwithawellrespectedbrandthathasbeen
praisedby'QueenofShops'MaryPortas.Activate'stask
wastoadaptthelayoutoftheircontentrichmainwebsite
toformatcorrectlyonsmallerscreenswhileretainingthe
essenceofthebrand,includingglamorousphotosanda
senseofspace.
Inachievingthisweusedthebrand'swebanalyticsand
customerfeedbacktofindoutwhichelementsweremost
importantforusersaccessingtheirsiteonmobilephones.
Whatresultedwasamobilewebsitewhosemainfocuswas
asophisticatedmappingandbranchfinderfeature.We
resizedtheimagestomakethemmobilecompatible,andresizedtheimagestomakethemmobilecompatible,and
adaptedtheuseoftextandwhitespace.
1
2
3
22

25. Conclusion 23
Movingabrandonlineisanincreasinglysophisticated
affairthatrequiresmorethanamock-upofstaticpages
anddecidingwherelogoswillbeplaced.Thereare
nuancestodigitalbranding,whichrequiretechnicalskills
thatonlydevelopmentprofessionalsareequippedto
handle,likehowtotranslatebrandguidelinestodigital,
allowingfortheinteractivityofonline,whilekeepingthe
consistencyofthebrand.consistencyofthebrand.
Howconsistantisyourdigitalbrand?
Requestafree2-hourdigitalreviewandlearnhowto
provideaconsistentonlinebrandexperiencewithinyour
business.
Foundthisebookuseful?SharethisebookonTwitter

26. AboutActivateMedia 24
ActivateMediaisadigitalagencyinLondon,dedicatedto
strategy,designanddevelopmentforweb,mobileand
socialmedia.Wehavebeenguidingclients,fromagencies,
tolocalbusinesses,andinternationalbrandsthroughthe
pitfallsandhazardsofdigitalbrandingsince1995.
Source:CiscoSystemsreport,Feb2013
Source:Googlereport,Sep2012
Source:DailyTelegraphOct2012
Connectwithus
t:+44(0)2088101003
e:hello@activatemedia.co.uk
w:www.activatemedia.co.uk1
2
3