When you hear the word Nike, what comes to mind? You see it, right? The black and white swoosh, or maybe you hear the whisper of the slogan, “Just Do It.” And while marketers know that brand matters, it often gets overshadowed by its louder, attention-seeking cousins like lead generation and performance marketing.
“You can’t rely only on lead gen or performance marketing and forget about brand,” says Matt Sailor, creative director at Act-On. “You might be getting leads, but if people don’t really know who you are and your reputation, marketing efforts can hit a wall.”
Investing in brand helps you reach people in the dark funnel—the ones still researching, having conversations, and deciding which solution is right for them before they ever fill out a form or trigger a measurable action.
As marketers revisit their strategy and key brand elements, returning to the fundamentals can help create a stronger foundation. That foundation makes it much easier to reach prospects in the dark funnel and build trust before they ever officially raise their hand.
Mission, Vision, and Values
Matt describes good brand development as a form of “brand archaeology.”
“The most effective brands really come from deep within the culture and the history of the company,” he explains. Instead of creating an identity from scratch, he recommends digging into what’s already true about the company.
Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan is a great example. It’s one of the most recognized taglines of all time and reflects a spirit that athletes connect with. To apply this idea to your own company, ask yourself: What do I hear over and over in conversations with customers and coworkers? What ideas keep coming up in meetings?
“It’s deep research and almost a celebration of all the things that make your company what it is,” says Matt. “I think that’s how you get to the authenticity piece, and that’s how you define your mission and values.”
These themes often hold more power than anything manufactured in a team brainstorm. Creating something authentic means unearthing what truly makes your company different and finding the right words to express it. Matt also recommends looking at your competition to make sure your message is markedly different, so you’re not just repeating things across your industry that have been said many times.
Positioning and Messaging
Once your mission and strategy are clear, the next step is to express them in a way that genuinely connects with your audience.
“Many companies get too generic with their positioning and messaging,” says Matt. “That often comes from risk aversion—not wanting to say something that might not resonate or catch on in the market. But ultimately, it’s much better to be memorable than to blend in.”
That’s why he encourages teams to be a little bolder. Try ideas that might feel slightly outside your comfort zone. Matt also believes brands should aim to be more approachable in the way they communicate.
“I really stand firm in the idea that we don’t stop being people when we go to work,” he says. “I’ve seen B2B messaging and positioning that could challenge that notion, packed with jargon and sounding way too mechanical.”
There are times when technical language might be necessary, but when it comes to positioning and messaging, Matt recommends focusing on emotion. Ask yourself: What do I want my audience to feel?
Make sure your messaging is emotional, human, and immediately clear to the people you’re trying to reach. And if you’re not sure where to start, there’s a great resource for branding guidelines that lets you peek into what other brands are doing to gather some fresh inspiration.
Tone and Voice Guidelines
Matt notes that he’s seen and created many tone and voice guidelines, and he believes what separates the so-so from the really strong ones often isn’t what marketers expect. The biggest differentiators are being understandable, approachable, and intuitive. In other words, do people actually understand it?
“I’m sort of an ultimate word nerd, and tone and voice are a big obsession of mine,” says Matt. “And personally, I’d love to write guidelines that are very language nerdy. But we have to remember that not everyone who uses them has a writing background, and those kinds of documents might not feel very accessible.”
He recommends creating tone and voice guidelines with a broader audience in mind.
“I’m a big advocate of having training and workshops to talk through how to use these guidelines,” says Matt. “Get the people who will actually use them into a room. It might be the writers, but it could also be customer service or sales. Bring everyone together with a few examples and open up the conversation.”
He also suggests building one-pagers, workbooks, or other quick-reference resources. These help your team get on board without needing to sift through a 65-page PDF. If you’re looking for inspiration, check out how Slack and Audi approach voice and tone in a clear, accessible way.
Visual Guidelines
Strong visuals help your audience recognize your brand consistently, whether it’s a product screenshot, event banner, or LinkedIn ad. But to keep those visuals aligned, you need more than a list of rules. You also need real-world examples.
“Great examples are almost as useful as the guidelines themselves,” says Matt. “That includes mockups showing how to apply brand colors, use the logo, incorporate iconography, and more.”
Without those examples, visuals can vary, especially across different teams or external vendors. Matt recommends addressing this by clearly outlining both what to do and what to avoid. Add guardrails. Show before-and-after examples. Help users understand the creative space they can work within, without letting things veer off brand.
For example, Google publishes its brand element guidelines online, which include plenty of examples showing the proper use of visuals.
He also highlights the importance of regular updates. If something isn’t working or is causing confusion, that’s a signal to revisit your guidelines. Your visual identity should evolve right alongside your brand.
Key Brand Elements: Logos, Colors, and More
When evaluating your key brand elements, Matt recommends stepping back and taking a more holistic view. “I’m not looking at a single deliverable or a single image, but at everything at a high level. I would say, find yourself a process to do that.”
He suggests reviewing your brand components once or twice a year. Take time with your team to assess what you’ve created, and do a brand teardown or critique. You might say, “This seems to really be working” or “These pieces don’t really seem to resonate when we use them.”
“You also want to listen to the people who actually do the work,” says Matt. “Are your designers able to stretch creatively and explore new directions with the brand? Or are they feeling boxed in? Are they coming up with fresh ideas, or does it seem like the same thing is happening again and again?”
As you refresh those components, one of the areas that comes up is concern about losing brand equity. How do you retain the brand equity you’ve already created? Matt suggests thinking of your brand as a pyramid. At the top are your mission, vision, and values, which should flow through everything else.
“The way you make sure those refreshes don’t lose brand equity is to keep laser focused on the top levels of the pyramid, right?” says Matt. “Focus on that mission, vision, and value, and constantly ask yourself: Is this living up to that? Are your visuals, for example, communicating your mission, vision, and values, or are they going astray?”
He also points out that while there are certain things that your brand won’t likely change, such as Nike with their swoosh, the best brands continue to experiment, test exciting and interesting things, and go to new places.
The Trickle Down Effect of Brand
As marketers, making the case to invest more in brand isn’t always easy. Sure, we know it’s important, but exactly how important is it? If your lead generation efforts feel stuck, brand might be the tipping point. It helps you move the needle and make more impact with all of your other marketing efforts.
“You might get leads, but do they really know who you are?” says Matt. “Brand helps you reach people, but more importantly, it builds trust. That way, they already know and trust you before they ever become a lead.”
Want to learn more about key brand elements and how to build and measure brand loyalty? Check out how brand is also the path to retention for B2B companies.