Creating a central resource hub #BeyondHQ
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Malcolm Elsworth, Technical Director at Electric Putty recently spoke at #BeyondHQ about creating a central resource hub, see the slides here.
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Creating a central resource hub #BeyondHQ
- 1. Creating a central resource hub Malcolm Elsworth Electric Putty
- 6. What’s inside a brand centre?
- 7. The rules
- 8. The tools
- 9. Print ready artwork • Overhead: minimal • Ease of use: simple • Flexibility: limited • Control: strong
- 10. Desktop templates • Overhead: Marginal • Ease of use: Some restrictions • Flexibility: Very good • Control: Good, if used as directed
- 11. Web editable templates • Overhead: Direct expense • Ease of use: No barriers • Flexibility: Very good • Control: Excellent
- 12. Images • Overhead: Minimal • Ease of use: Good • Flexibility: Very good • Control: Good, but can’t control context
- 13. People power
- 14. The numbers
- 15. Platforms
- 16. File sharing
- 17. Website
Editor's Notes
- We’ve been around since 2004 – celebrating our 9th birthdayWe work with non profit organisations just like youWeuse technology to help them be more efficient.One of the areas we have helped them with is managing their brand - creating online brand management toolsIts off the back of those experiences and what we’ve learnt along the way that I am talking to you this afternoon.
- Some of these scenarios may sound familiar to youYou have a network of regional offices / teams working independentlyMaybe you are communicating on their behalfMaybe some are very active communicators themsleves (set up their own website, create their own comms material, doing things their way)Others don’t communicate as much as you would likeSome really understand your brand and its importance, for others this seems a little frivolous (surely doing the work is the most important thing - not this font or that font)As an organisation it is efficient to de-centralise the comms process, but how do you you go about itYou want to give the teams who are not communicating the confidence to do soYou don’t want to crush the creativity and enthusiasm of the active offices by imposing too many rules
- It can be a daunting process. You are the custodians of one of your brand, you understand it instinctively and know exactly how to use it to communicate effectively.Now you have to set if free.At the heart of this process is the struggle between control and independence;You want (and need) your offices to be able to communicate independentlyBut you want (and need) to be able to control the manner in which they do so For every organisation there will be a sweet spot along this axis, a place which feels right.But there are practical factors which will have an influence on where you have to place it (time / money).However, if you use the right tools you can reduce the impact of the practical factors and let the culture of your organisation have more influence and hopefully fine a place which feel right.
- Brand dissemination has to be a top down process – it has to be co-production not co-creationYou want the users of your to feel empoweredAND You want them to be able to communicate independently BUT it has to be within set parameters.Consistency in; what it looks like,what it sounds likewhat it feels likeHow can we solve these problems – you need a centralised resource hub or ‘brand centre’ but you need to:put the right things in therewith the right guidanceImpose the the right level of control for you And the right level of flexibility so that people want to use it.
- THIS IS AN INTRO – DO NOT GO INTO THESE NOWWe think there are three main things to considerWhat can go in it? – The rules and the tools. What resources and guidance can it support?Who can access it – what user management does it have?How can you measure it’s effectiveness – what reporting does it have?
- WHAT GOES INTO: GuidanceThe foundation is your brand guidelines The dos and don’ts of communicationYou need to make your brand ‘rules’, your brand guidelines, available in a digestible format.Not 90 page PDF but bite-size chunks. You need to give your brand guidelines context, provide practical real world examples of when and how they should be used.An example could be: Rule: ‘use this font once per document for the main heading’Guidance: ‘when creating a poster to be printed make sure you use a high resolution image’
- WHAT GOES INTO: Resources / The toolsWe have grouped the resources you could make available in four types - they all come with their own set of pros and consPrint ready artworkDesktop templatesWeb editable templatesImagesWe will go through these and asses them in terms of (thinking about trying to reduce the practical factors influencing the sweet spot we talked about earlier):The organisational overhead to set up / make availableTheir ease of use for Their flexibility / personalise / localiseThe level of control you can exercise over their use
- Files which can be downloaded and printed, either locally or at a local print shopExample: PDFOverheadMinimal, existing collateralEase of useSimple, download, open and printFlexibilityVery limitedControl: Very good
- Files which can be downloaded and personalised / localised on desktop applicationsExample: Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, inDesignOverheadMay need to be created for this purpose / may already existEase of useRequires specific software / skills . Can be expensive and time consuming to develop the skills FlexibilityGoodControl: Good but easy to break out of restraints – some people may feel too restricted and unlock the template; “I just wanted to use my own image here”
- The crucial difference between is these are edited in the browser before they are downloadedThese have worked really well for our clients.Not an off the shelf file type so each system will behave slightly differently.OverheadRequires a service / application to use so there is a cost associated with setting upTemplates will need to be created – not a by product of any other processEase of useEdited in the browser so no software requirements.FlexibilityWithin the editable regionsControlExcellent – flip side of the limitations of flexibility is that here you can provide as much flexibility as you need. Even tone of voice can be managed by making available pre-defined text in multiple choice formatPlug; I should mention here that we are currently developing a Brand management system and it has this exact feature. We are in the hall outside with a demo machine set up so if anyone is interested come and see us between session or at the end.
- A set of images which effectively represent your brandOverheadWill probably already existEase of useSome understanding of file types / sizes / resolutions may be necessaryFlexibilityExcellent – common file types (jpegs) are universally compatibleControlGood as these are your selected images. You make people use them and where they do you can’t mechanically control context. Guidance of where and how images should be used is a very good idea.Other thoughtsYou could include other media (audio / video)
- You have set up your brand centre and populated it with excellent information, guidance and resources. Its time to empower people and let them in.You need to decide at an organisational who will have access to whatYou need to pick a platform which will allow you to manage access in a way that works for youYou also need to make sure that you have the resources to manage the user management process (ACF example if time)
- How can you measure it’s effectiveness?What reporting does the chosen platform have?You need to know who is using what.What are the most popular resources.What isn’t getting used?It is important?Why is it not being used?
- THIS IS AN INTRO – DO NOT GO INTO THESE NOWThere are three main platforms you can use for a brand centre:A file sharing systemA websitesA purpose built. brand management tool
- Mostly cloud based, SAS services - although there are systems you can install on your serverWorks by keeping a local directory on your computer constantly in sync with a remote master directoryFine if sharing is mainly what you want to do:Can store any type of fileEasy to set up and relatively inexpensive – cloud storage is very cheapCan control access, each folder can be shared with an number of individuals (or groups)To consider:there’s no interface to add ‘the rules’ or context to each file (just files and folders) so you will have to make these available in file formatno custom features – no web editable templates – no option to add these in at a later dateSome potential issues around two way syncingExamples; Dropbox, Skydrive (Microsoft), Google drive
- A place you visit through your browser, can be public or private.You’ve probably already got one, you can use any CMS driven website, e.g. your intranet or even your public site.Unlike file-sharing you have an interface so you can add the ‘rules’ and explanatory web content.In its most basic format you could set up something today by creating a new section on your website.Content: upload your brand guidelines and some resourcesAccess: You may already have a secure areaReporting: Existing stats mechanisms / Google analyticsOr, you create something completely bespoke, customised to your needs.(This is the approach we took with the Army Cadet Force Brand Centre)Specially designed templates for the contentFinely grained user accessReporting thought about up front so you can collect really useful dataCan be very expensive to create, time to scope and implementYou are reinventing the wheel (such tools to already exist)
- Can be software as a service or one off purchase from a 3rd partyHas been built and evolved with brand management features in mindSo more likely to have the features you need to start with or have add-ons availableCould include web editable templatesPotentially expensiveLots of systems are very bloated with featuresNot targeted to not-for-profitsCould be overkill for your needsConfiguration and on going management could be overly complex (e.g. metadata set up) Examples; ResourceSpace, BrandWorkz, our own product BrandStencil
- What problem are you trying to solve? Try and be as precise with this as possibleKnow your users – what is it appropriate for the people in your organisationKnow yourself – make sure you are able to manage whatever tool you choose