#Brand guidelines

Never deviate from what customers expect

At Chick-fil-A, there is one way to make breaded chicken, one way to cut lemons, and one way to make coleslaw—and owners and secret shoppers are always on the look out for any deviation from these standards. So, when one team member tried making the slaw prettier by adding in purple cabbage, the entire batch was immediately thrown out. This comes from Chick-fil-A's strong belief that if you don't have operational consistency then you don't have a brand at all.

Guide by principles, not rules

For years, founder Truett Cathy would remind Chick-fil-A restaurant owners of his rule for staff to say 'My pleasure' to customers. And for years, it never took hold—until he began teaching them the principle behind the phrase, not just the rule itself.

As Truett Cathy explained, customers are the reason staff have paychecks, college scholarships, team outings, and parties, and because of that, it is always a pleasure to serve.

Over the years, Chick-fil-A developed a culture led by guiding principles rather than an exhaustive prescriptive list of behaviors and rules. Leaders would share principles with their staff, give the meaning behind them, and coach them on their understanding. This ultimately empowered staff to take it upon themselves to explore new ways of providing remarkable experiences for guests, like changing tires in the parking lot and dumpster diving for retainers.

Marketing

For over 25 years, Chick-fil-A has focused on building emotional connections by using cows in all of their marketing. From billboards to calendars, the Eat More Chikin campaign, has positioned these Cows as endearing underdogs that are in a fight for self-preservation. And just as Chick-fil-A focuses on the freshness of their food, they also put just as much care into crafting the personality of these Cows in what they call the Chick-fil-A Moo Manifesto.

Create a brand architecture with your brand essence at the center

Over ten years ago, Chick-fil-A wanted to relay to its staff, in the simplest visual format, how each brand touchpoint, although separate, connects everyone together across the organization. They started by placing all touchpoints around a wheel design to breakdown the stigma of organizational silos. Everyone is responsible to work around the wheel and have influence in all projects, even if they are not directly accountable. At the center of the wheel, aligning everyone together, is their brand essence.

A brand essence is a short rallying cry created to embody a brand cause, mission, promise, and personality. Chick-fil-A defines theirs as: Where good meets gracious.

• Where: Anywhere, not just in a restaurant, but any encounter with the brand
• Good: Good people, good food, good environment, good service
• Meets: Any encounter shows genuine care for another person
• Gracious: Hospitality with a personal touch that people don't expect

Use honest imagery to show who your core customers are and what they do

For Patagonia, imagery is not about taking photos of beautiful models backpacking the Appalachian Trail on an autumn day—that is too safe. They also don't set up staged shots of non-customers wearing Patagonia gear—that would be dishonest.

Instead, Patagonia's imagery focuses on capturing real people doing real things. Picture a climber "picnicking on the hood of a rusted Chevy at the base of a climb" or a "euphoric skier rising from a face plant." That's the imagery Patagonia wants, and in order to capture that, they use photos of their actual customers taken by actual customers (or their customers' photographers in the image below).

Greg Epperson's The Flying Baby

Define your Gold Standards

To achieve service excellence, you first need to make sure that every employee has a clear understanding of what service excellence means to you. The Ritz-Carlton did this by codifying their service philosophy into what they refer to as their Gold Standards. These include the brand's:

• Motto: The motto the foundation of how employees should see themselves, their coworkers, and guests.
• Credo: Part mission, part brand promise, the credo defines the atmosphere you want to create and the experience you seek to provide.
• Steps of Service: These service steps outline the pillars that your guest experience is founded on.
• Service Values: These values empower employees to take ownership of their roles by providing guidelines, not rules, of what is expected of them.
• Employee Promise: This promise defines how you will protect and care for your employees.
• The 6th Diamond: Based on the idea of the five diamond rating system, the 6th Diamond is what sets you apart from everyone else.

Create a mark that defines you

Inspired by the British Royal Seal, The Ritz-Carlton lion and crown mark were designed as a symbol of elegance and nobility. It then evolved in 2015 to "purposefully maintain the iconic luxury hotel company’s position with a new generation of guests globally."

Define universal and localized brand standards

When defining their brand guidelines, The Ritz-Carlton separates their standards into two classifications:

• Universal standards, which are non-negotiable standards across all their hotels. These consistencies are what guests expect globally, like certain quality linens and textiles, the presence of fresh flowers, and Club Lounge service.
• Localized standards can be customized to each hotel depending on its location. The fresh flowers chosen should reflect the hotel's geographic location, and the Club Lounge food, should align to the guest demographic.

Be honest, be real, and tell personal stories

'Be real and use your best judgment.'

Those seven words make up the entire Zappos corporate communication policy. That's it.

Sound scary? Maybe for some, but with a strong culture in place, Zappos believes that "people step up and communicate both honestly and respectfully." And yes, the policy applies to every communication opportunity.

• Presentations: When giving talks, there is no standard PowerPoint presentation. Instead, each person creates a presentation that shares their own personal stories and perspectives.
• Interviews: When reporters come into Zappos, they are given free reign to wander around and talk to whoever they want.
• Social Media: Zappos encourages employees to constantly film, photograph, and tweet about their culture on all platforms. The only advice they give is to make it 'raw, authentic, and responsible without the hype, polish, and extravagance of produced advertisements.'