Why every brand needs a brand bible (plus, how to create one yourself)
Stay on-brand and on time with the help of a brand bible
Welcome to Buhay Copywriter by Regina Peralta! It’s wonderful to meet you.
This newsletter is my way of paying it forward and being the person I needed when I was a young(er) writer.
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Have you ever struggled to capture a brand’s essence while copywriting?
Maybe you’ve been asked to create social media posts for a new brand that doesn’t have a defined niche.
Maybe some stakeholders are struggling to articulate how they want the brand represented — surely there’s more to go on than just “Target Filipinos male and female, aged 20-60”, right?
Feeling lost ain’t fun, which is why a brand bible can be your special copywriting compass.
In this post, we’ll go through what a brand bible is, how to write one, and how to use it for future copywriting projects. With a good brand bible, you can write more impactful content, save time while crafting, and help your entire team stay on-brand.
What is a brand bible?
A brand bible is a set of references that tells creative teams what the brand is and how to present it through marketing and advertising materials.
This is more than just the brand or logo guidelines designers get. And it’s more than just a list of what hashtags to use. A brand bible captures the brand’s essence, sets its “personality”, and puts stakeholders on the same page when crafting brand assets.
Why Filipino creatives need a brand bible
As a copywriter, I’ve encountered my fair share of brands who:
Have inconsistent messaging on their channels
Are new to marketing/advertising, and may brief you with only an ask and a logo
Have difficulty with getting stakeholders to agree on whether a material is on-brand or too out there
That’s why having a brand bible - or initiating the creation of one - can help so many people. Yep, even those outside your advertising team!
With a brand bible, marketing and advertising teams will benefit from the following:
A better understanding of the brand (especially for new team members)
One reference to rule them all: copywriters, designers, creative directors, and clients will all be on the same page when brainstorming and approving
Brand consistency across materials and channels - no more confusion within the advertising team and among customers
Improved productivity during crafting and approvals
Impactful, on-brand materials that can result in increased brand awareness and conversions
How to write a brand bible
Start with an audit of all brand assets so far. Gather website write-ups, brochures, social media posts, videos, and marketing spiels.
Write down the brand’s Vision and Mission Statement. How do they envision the brand and the world they impact? How do they intend to serve their customers and/or the community?
Define the brand’s Principles and Values.
Example:
Proudly Filipino, sustainability, innovation, leadership, transparency, joy
Define the brand’s Unique Selling Proposition. What is that one thing only your brand can offer? What is its edge over others in the category?
Write down the Brand Story. Where did the brand start, and where is it now? What is the world the brand started in, and how is the brand making it a better place?
Define the Brand Positioning. This is how the brand sets itself apart via marketing/advertising. You can use Nine Blaess’ framework where they recommend that you position your brand at the intersection of what your customers want and what your brand can do best.
Examples:
The innovator amidst industry old-timers
The brand that adds a human touch to an increasingly tech-driven category
Create a customer profile/avatar. This provides a clearer understanding of what messaging will relate to the target market. As a team, ask yourselves: Who is your ideal customer? What’s their age, sex, gender, socio-economic status, marital status? What is a day in their life like — what are their goals, pain points, and gain points?
Craft a Brand Persona to “talk” to your customer profile. If your brand was a person, what would they be like? To start, you can refer to brand archetypes like the ones listed by Iconic Fox.
Examples:
The friend who’s always updated on the latest tech
Your cool, party-ready tita (aunt)
Define your Brand Voice. Now that you have a persona, you need to define how it talks. This ensures consistent tone and personality across all communication. Ask yourself: how do you want your customers to remember your brand? Make a list of adjectives. Then, summarize this list in 3-5 words or phrases.
Examples:
Trendy, go-getter, cool kid
Feminine, family-first, warm
Reliable, friendly, a touch of wit
Take the previous points into consideration and write your Brand Manifesto. This poem or manifesto can be a message from the brand to your ideal customer, using the persona and voice you defined above. What’s cool about this manifesto is that it can be similar to a poem or anthem - something we can get quite creative with as copywriters.
This Brand Manifesto is the core example/execution of how to write/how not to write for a brand. You can find a sample of a Brand Manifesto I wrote here.
Next, come up with copywriting guidelines. These are the nitty-gritty parts of the brand bible, and consist of the following:
Do’s and Don’ts — Given what you’ve defined above, how straightforward, warm, or cool must the brand sound? Can you use humor and slang? How about emojis?
Applications to different brand channels — How should the brand be presented through video scripts? Social media posts? Long-form blog posts? Confirmation emails? How about customer service spiels?
Finally, consult other stakeholders and get the brand bible approved.
How to use your brand bible for effective copywriting
Now that you have a brand bible, it will be easier to ensure that ideas are on-brand and that your copywriting will bring out the best of what your product or experience can offer.
You can review the brand bible anytime, but I recommend the following:
Review it before starting a new project
Use it to cross-check content before you get a step in your project approved (e.g. next quarter’s content strategy, next month’s social media calendar topics, or a long-form blog post)
Do remember that the brand bible isn’t there to limit your creativity. Rather, it is the “box” we copywriters get to play with to craft more creative work.
And that’s it for this week’s newsletter! Again, a brand bible is something every person working on a brand should have in their arsenal. It keeps you on track, on-brand, and helps copywriters, designers, and marketers do what we do best.
Sources:
https://www.ramotion.com/blog/brand-bible/
https://www.marcstoiber.com/goes-into-brand-bible/
https://www.brandedagency.com/blog/brand-bible-guidelines
https://chameleoncollective.com/blog/preserving-power-your-brand-brand-bible/
https://pandoraagency.co/the-branding-bible/
https://www.nineblaess.de/blog/brand-positioning-examples/
https://growsurf.com/blog/brand-story