Brand: An impact manifesto

Who are you? What makes you different? Why should people care? Arts and cultural organisations must have strong brand foundations to make a bigger impact. Done right, it’ll have instant impact and create enduring value. It’s the starting point that makes the rest of your marketing flow naturally. Done right, it’ll galvanise your team, and hook the outside world. Done right, it’ll last.

If you’re considering updating your brand (or creating a new one), these eight principles will help you make the most of your brand. Think of this as a better way of being.

Be clear

Why are you doing this? What’s the objective? What does success look like? Set clear timescales, budgets and success criteria at the beginning. It makes it easier to see the impact achieved against your objectives.

Be realistic

How big is your team? What skills do they have? How will you implement it? You’ll want to carry on getting value from your investment, and that means time, energy and resources pay off in the long term.

Be open

Who’ll be involved? Who’s it for? What could it do for us? Get a cross-section of people involved from senior to junior, new joiners to lifers and front-line and back office. And you’ll want to ask your audiences too. The process may surprise you along the way. It’s not always linear and it’ll probably meander. And you may end up somewhere different from where you thought you’d be at the beginning.

Be strong

Who are we? What makes us different? Why should people care? Get these strong foundations right and everything else will flow naturally. And these foundations will keep you strong into the future.

Be authentic

Where have we come from? What’s happening now? Where do we want to be in the future? All the best brands have an air of self-confidence that often combines the Founder’s story and the long-term strategy. It all starts with the words be true to yourself – and don’t be swayed by fashion.

Be different

How do we cut-through? How do we stand-out from the crowd? How can we show off our difference? A compelling and bold story and identity will help put you on the map.

Be consistent

What physically needs to change? What do we need to do differently? How does everything connect? A brand will shape all aspects of your organisation from your website to advertising, ticketing to social media, partnerships and funding.

Be proud

No question – stick with it. Respect your brand and it will last.

It sounds simple as all manifestos do. With the right team by your side you can create real and sustained impact for your organisation.

Find out how we worked with The Story Museum to apply the manifesto. The Story Museum is the most unusual museum in Oxford. Through immersive exhibitions, gallery spaces & events, they celebrate story in all forms. Following a major refurbishment, DC&CO rebranded the museum with the positioning ‘A surprise around every corner’. We created a flexible design system based around a new distinctive logo to work across everything from posters to digital and social media.