A video style guide defines the ‘look and feel’ of video content produced by your brand. Your existing brand guidelines may already cover aspects such as logo placement, colour palettes and typography. But that’s only the beginning.
The guide extends these rules to the daily decisions of video creators: how colours shift under different lighting, whether transitions should cut or fade, and what a voiceover should sound like.
For instance, your brand video guide could specify that your primary colour is #2E5090. A video style guide specifies the LUT that creators should apply during editing to ensure consistent colour across phone footage and studio productions. It covers territory that static guidelines cannot reach.
The Key Elements of Great Video Brand Guidelines
Focus on the elements that actually change the appearance and sound of your content, giving it a distinctive quality without appearing too experimental or forced. Think of the Old Spice Guy or Coca-Cola’s Christmas adverts.
Visual Identity Components
The bread and butter. This is where you solidify the foundation that can be used across everything.
- Specify the placement, minimum size and safe zones. Then provide the actual files, such as transparent PNGs, vector versions and animated formats. Don’t leave creators to improvise.
- Create or license a LUT that editors apply during color grading. This is a more robust color suite that allows for a range yet keeps things subtly consistent between videos.
- Choose fonts for on-screen text and stick to them. Include minimum sizes for mobile readability.
Netflix exemplifies this approach. Their color grading and logo animation stay consistent across documentaries, trailers, and social clips. Not to mention the famous ‘ta-dum’! That’s excellent branding.
Motion Graphics and Transitions
It’s important in video to add a sense of motion and liveliness to your brand identity. This isn’t just your static logo. Think of Disney’s castle sequence, we see the castle light up and the shooting star animation frames it.
- Intro/outro animations. Keep them short. Two to three seconds maximum is the new standard. You want to bite into that sense of familiarity and let the viewer confirm it’s you, but not waste their time.
- Transition styles. Pick one approach and use it consistently. Clean cuts work for most brands.
- Lower thirds and title cards. Templates are the way to go here, they’re visual and keep things consistent.
Salesforce’s Dreamforce content shows this principle in action. Hundreds of session videos share identical lower thirds, transitions, and title cards. Template files are what allow for this.
Audio and Music Guidelines
Don’t ignore sound. Jingles were the go-to marketing move for decades for a reason.
- Audio signatures. Remember Netflix’s “ta-dum”? It’s genius. If you have a sonic logo, document exactly when and how it plays.
- Music style. Be specific. “Upbeat” can mean so many things to different people. “Electronic, 120-140 BPM, instrumental only” gives creators something to work with. Especially helpful is pre-approved tracks and examples for reference.
- Voiceover direction. Define pacing and tone. Should narrators sound authoritative or conversational? Always provide examples.
The brands that document sound standards create content that feels cohesive even as the visuals change.
Tone and Messaging
Even once you have a brand visual and audio style guide, a third element is the ‘personality’ and messaging of your brand. Essentially, your brand voice.
- Brand voice. Document the personality. Think of your audience and the kind of image you want your brand to portray: is it young and trendy, professional and respectable, edgy and controversial? There are many ways this can go.
- On-screen language. Standardize calls-to-action. Every video should direct viewers to take the same next step.
Your brand style guide should extend beyond visuals into how your brand speaks and moves. The combination creates a more complete experience for viewers.
Signs That You Need a Brand Style Guide
Sometimes, it can be hard to know when putting the effort into a style guide is necessary. Here are some of the tipping points that you can consider:
- Video output is increasing. We’re seeing a trend of the average marketer creating 18 videos per year, with larger organizations producing even more. But this kind of volume without standards leads to poor results and unwatched, expensive video content.
- Multiple creators are involved. When content comes from internal teams, agencies, and freelancers, interpretation varies. Each creator makes reasonable choices that don’t align with others.
- Inconsistency is visible. Different fonts, wandering logos, or shifting tones across videos mean your brand erodes in real time. 71% of companies report inconsistent brand usage as a significant problem.
- Quality slips as you scale. More content, lower standards. The pattern repeats across organizations that don’t use unifying documentation and templates.
- Onboarding takes too long. If explaining your video brand requires whole sessions of onboarding, consider moving into more video templates, examples, references, and mood boards. The less direct writing / long reports the better.
- You’re investing in short-form video. The short-form video is the #1 trend marketers are investing in for 2024. Guidelines ensure consistency across platform-specific formats.
How to Create a Video Style Guide for Your Brand
Start today and keep it simple.
- Audit what exists. Watch recent videos. Note what works and where the inconsistencies creep in. An obvious move is to examine the patterns in your best-performing content and identify what makes it recognizable.
- Document visual standards. Logo placement, color palette, typography. Create the actual files creators need.
- Define motion and audio rules. Intro duration, transition styles, music direction. Include examples and pre-approved assets.
- Clarify messaging. Brand voice, key themes, standard calls-to-action.
- Build templates. Lower thirds, title cards, intro animations. Make them downloadable in one location.
- Share and iterate. Distribute to all creators. Update quarterly based on what questions arise.
A brand video style guide can transform disparate content into valuable brand assets. Document your visual, audio, and messaging standards.
Create templates to facilitate compliance. Every video will then become a valuable asset. Keep it simple and start soon.
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