as a previous brand designer, this is so true. no one in any other department knows how to use the brand book, what we need to be making are playbooks!
This piece hits hard—finally, someone saying what we’ve all been thinking. A brand isn’t its positioning statement; it’s what it does. You can’t just slap some buzzwords in a doc and expect to become the next Nike or Liquid Death.
The whole “Brand Playbook > Brand Guidelines” argument makes so much sense. No one gets excited over a logo usage guide, but a Playbook full of fire campaigns, collabs, and actual moves? That’s what makes a brand feel real. The Liquid Death and Abercrombie examples prove the point—these brands didn’t just tweak their vibe; they lived it through every product, partnership, and post.
The best part? The push to include unexecuted ideas. Brands need to stop waiting until something is perfect to document it. If the vision is strong, the ideas should always be flowing. This piece gets it: The brands that win don’t just talk the talk—they act the brand every single day.
Really great and wide-ranging, which is so often missed by brands. I also find the opposite is true, though—that some non-social-savvy brands *overutilize* their basic brand guidelines, and their content becomes a big giant mess of logos and brand colours. So basically, bland, and not dynamic.
Great tips. I think brand guidelines are one of those generic things founders feel they need to tick box to have on hand but actually thinking about the storytelling and execution piece is what creates emotional resonance and memorability. Thank you for sharing!
Agree. Another issue I have found in building Brand Playbooks is that the team is excited to launch it but then it gets shoved into a folder. Rarely does the team sit down to do an audit of the work and actions the brand is taking in the real world and assess it against the playbook. The book should be a living document that adjusts as the brand evolves, includes new work as the brand creates more actions, and keeps the team focused on the goals and actions by keeping the playbook front and centre. I would suggest marketing teams revisit it quarterly.
Yes, 1000% this. Instead of a pdf why not a google doc that can be added to? Or a document that is refreshed with the brand's latest and greatest every quarter? Love that idea!
Jumping into the conversation because everything here really resonates with me! When you talk about a living document, I totally agree—it makes a huge difference. I feel like tools like Brandpad.io or Frontify.com could be great for this, keeping these assets digital, collaborative, and easy to update as things evolve
i’ve actually been feeling like there was an element missing from a brand i am helping design and i have a clearer direction after reading this stack. infinite thanks for sharing your wisdom!
Yessss couldn’t agree more with a brand playbook - I think this translates to creator/influencer playbooks and many other facets of marketing, through product into customer service interactions 🤝 not spon but moving across to frontify helped my team soooo much with this, the platform gives you so many options to play with and invites creativity - it’s a real gift
as a previous brand designer, this is so true. no one in any other department knows how to use the brand book, what we need to be making are playbooks!
soo agree. Brand guidelines tend to get underutilized
This piece hits hard—finally, someone saying what we’ve all been thinking. A brand isn’t its positioning statement; it’s what it does. You can’t just slap some buzzwords in a doc and expect to become the next Nike or Liquid Death.
The whole “Brand Playbook > Brand Guidelines” argument makes so much sense. No one gets excited over a logo usage guide, but a Playbook full of fire campaigns, collabs, and actual moves? That’s what makes a brand feel real. The Liquid Death and Abercrombie examples prove the point—these brands didn’t just tweak their vibe; they lived it through every product, partnership, and post.
The best part? The push to include unexecuted ideas. Brands need to stop waiting until something is perfect to document it. If the vision is strong, the ideas should always be flowing. This piece gets it: The brands that win don’t just talk the talk—they act the brand every single day.
Really great and wide-ranging, which is so often missed by brands. I also find the opposite is true, though—that some non-social-savvy brands *overutilize* their basic brand guidelines, and their content becomes a big giant mess of logos and brand colours. So basically, bland, and not dynamic.
Great read, very insightful!
Great tips. I think brand guidelines are one of those generic things founders feel they need to tick box to have on hand but actually thinking about the storytelling and execution piece is what creates emotional resonance and memorability. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for the insightful comment - this is a great way to put it!
Agree. Another issue I have found in building Brand Playbooks is that the team is excited to launch it but then it gets shoved into a folder. Rarely does the team sit down to do an audit of the work and actions the brand is taking in the real world and assess it against the playbook. The book should be a living document that adjusts as the brand evolves, includes new work as the brand creates more actions, and keeps the team focused on the goals and actions by keeping the playbook front and centre. I would suggest marketing teams revisit it quarterly.
Yes, 1000% this. Instead of a pdf why not a google doc that can be added to? Or a document that is refreshed with the brand's latest and greatest every quarter? Love that idea!
Let's redesign the Brand Book format!
Jumping into the conversation because everything here really resonates with me! When you talk about a living document, I totally agree—it makes a huge difference. I feel like tools like Brandpad.io or Frontify.com could be great for this, keeping these assets digital, collaborative, and easy to update as things evolve
i’ve actually been feeling like there was an element missing from a brand i am helping design and i have a clearer direction after reading this stack. infinite thanks for sharing your wisdom!
Yessss couldn’t agree more with a brand playbook - I think this translates to creator/influencer playbooks and many other facets of marketing, through product into customer service interactions 🤝 not spon but moving across to frontify helped my team soooo much with this, the platform gives you so many options to play with and invites creativity - it’s a real gift
I really like this. So often brand guidelines can feel generic, don't result in anything tangible, and never get updated.
1000%%% Bring on the brand sizzle reel
Needed this. Thank you!
Brilliant marketing. With products like that, it is also about the brand personality that can pull the right stunt.
Such a good read!