Your brand is a living entity, ever evolving. As such, it needs the right kind of nurturing for it to grow and flourish. Every person on your team—from the corner office to the reception desk—should have a clear understanding of your brand. Chick-fil-A is a good example. The book, “It’s My Pleasure: The Impact of Extraordinary Talent and Compelling Culture” by Dee Ann Turner, describes how this fast food giant hires people who exemplify the company’s brand pillars and treats every employee with the same respect as the CEO. As consumers, we experience this company culture through the friendliness of the employees, clean environment, and food quality.

If you read our latest blog on how a brand and culture field guide can help streamline your company’s brand voice, she stresses that your team needs to be unified when talking about your brand, both internally and externally. Here’s how that’s implemented in written form.

Where to Begin?

1. Give your team journals and writing exercises to help them streamline ideas.
2. Encourage your team to read books or blogs on improving their writing. One book we’ve found helpful is, “Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content” by Ann Handley.
3. Practice on social media. Each time a team member refers to your brand personality as they craft content, they gain greater awareness of your brand. One good example is BOLTGROUP client, FOX Rehabilitation, because their social media channels are governed by their creative team. Using their brand and culture field guide as a reference tool, they are able to unify their messaging and, therefore, increase engagement. Their brand culture of celebrating people and abolishing ageism is apparent in imagery and words, attracting potential therapists and patients alike.

Wait, Designers Who Write?

Seems like a disconnect, I know. And believe me, never did I imagine myself spending hours staring at a Word screen. However, we live in a digital age where information and deliverables are easily shared among peers with an upload and click. Thanks to email, Slack, and various hosts of communication tools, we find ourselves typing messages more often than talking face to face.

Writing is an important skill if creatives intend to articulate their design ideas effectively. Design is both a visual and verbal experience. If your design team is able to justify their creations through art and written expression, it gives the presentation more leverage. Plus, it shows that your team has essential critical thinking skills—they have taken into consideration the parameters of the project to execute meaningful designs.

Having a field guide will come in handy when your creative team is called upon to communicate reports. They can boost the value of their concepts by referencing key words and phrases outlined in the field guide. Once they’ve gained confidence in the knowledge of your brand, writing about it comes with relative ease.

And let’s not forget that this makes your company very desirable to potential employees and customers. It’s an implication that your company has made an investment in your team’s expertise and is willing to help them grow. At BOLTGROUP, we challenge conventional workplace ideas and titles, encouraging our fellow associates to think and perform differently. We give team members opportunities to try something new. Just look at our insights page (content written primarily by members with design backgrounds). It has a diverse group of authors. This proves how much we value each other’s ideas. Different voices, unified perspectives.

All it takes is practice and encouragement. Push your team to write about your brand and you will not only boost self-confidence, but will also generate empathic designs that resonate with your audience.