When someone mentions BMW… most people think about great engineering and high performance. And when someone mentions Apple… they probably think about clean, simple design and reliable technology. What do people think about when they hear your organization’s name?

Video, more so than any other media brings your brand to life. As Media Managers, we have an opportunity and responsibility to be active brand stewards.

Think about your organization’s brand attributes…the aspirational characteristics you want your organization to stand for. We are swift, agile, customer focused, innovative, etc… Now look at the video being produced in your company from the POV of your customers, and stakeholders. Does the video look, feel, and sound like those brand attributes?

We’ve all been trained to know the guidelines around proper use of our organization’s logo. These are generally clearly spelled out and very specific. These guidelines we’re driven and perfected by the print industry. This was a challenging task, but, at the end of the day, it only addressed one static image – the logo itself.

But as motion media has evolved and been democratized – we suddenly realize that people will judge our brand by the pictures, we show, the sounds we include, the pace and cadence of the video and most importantly, in the emotions we express. All of these components and more become our brand.

Writing guidelines around these elements is far more challenging, but, vitally more important than the guidelines around use of a logo. As a Media Manager, you have an opportunity to champion the cause of bringing your brand to life. But, it comes with the challenge of developing guidelines that are clear, measurable and enforceable.

Well written video standards and guidelines are an important key part of governance. And as user/employee generated content becomes more commonplace, standards and guidelines become more necessary. Being proactive in developing these standards and guidelines helps position you and your team as the experts and gives you the tools to manage and control the video that is produced in your organization.

Without clear guidelines and standards, video becomes the wild, wild, west leaving you and your team with the feeling of trying to address a forest fire with a small garden hose. And more importantly, the raging fire of video that looks, sounds and feels arbitrary and inconsistent, is creating an impression of your brand and organization that can at best be inconsistent and at worst be detrimental to the brand your organization has worked so hard to create and maintain.

So, if you have not begun creating some brand standards and guidelines for your organization, get started. It’s not easy, but, the rewards can be huge for your organization and can help you and your team gain credibility as not just technical and creative advisors, but as a core part of preserving your organization’s most valuable asset – your brand.

This article is contributed by Bill Marriott, CMMA Board Member