Positioning
Who the brand is for and what it claims, so every description starts from the same place.
Brand strategy · Brand manual
Write the brand down so someone else can keep it consistent.
A brand manual in Mengo documents the brand strategy, voice and visual rules in one place. Freelancers, new hires, clients and partners can then create on the brand's behalf without asking you how it should look or sound.
- Strategy, voice and visuals in one document
- Built from what you have already defined
Brand manualIllustration
- Positioning and storyFor: anyone writing about the business
- Voice and toneFor: copywriters, support and sales
- Visual identity rulesFor: designers and anyone making a document
- Logo and asset usageFor: partners, printers and event organisers
An example of how a brand manual is used. Simplified for illustration.
The problem
A brand that only lives in the founder's head cannot grow past the founder.
Every freelancer brief, every new hire and every client handover starts with the same questions: which logo, which colour, how formal should this sound?
Without a manual, those questions are answered from memory, differently each time, and the brand drifts with every person who touches it. A brand manual turns the decisions you have already made into rules other people can follow.
Start from the brand profileBriefs repeated from scratchEach new collaborator gets a slightly different explanation of the brand.
Tone left to interpretationWithout written voice rules, writers guess, and the brand sounds different on every channel.
Visual rules nobody can findColours and logo use get copied from the last file instead of from a source.
What a brand manual documents
The rules someone needs to create on the brand's behalf.
A brand manual brings together decisions made elsewhere in the module, for your own business or for each client.
Story and key messages
The brand story and the points it repeats across channels.
Voice and tone
How the brand writes, including the language it uses and the language it avoids.
Colour and typography
Exact colour values and fonts, taken from the visual identity.
Logo and asset use
Which logo goes where, and how to keep it readable on any background.
Imagery style
How photos, graphics and icons should look across assets.
How it works
From decisions to a manual others can follow.
A simple sequence for producing a brand manual in Mengo.
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Define the brand first
Complete the brand profile, tagline and visual identity, so the manual has real decisions to document.
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Produce the manual
Bring strategy, voice and visual rules together in one document.
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Share it with collaborators
Hand it to freelancers, new team members or clients, so the brand stays consistent without you in every conversation.
Where it is used next
A manual makes every other branded asset easier to get right.
These are the assets most often produced by someone other than the founder.
Brand strategy & identity
More in the brand module.
The brand manual documents the rest of the module. Open the part you need next.
Turn your brand into rules others can follow.
Tell us about the business or the clients you market. We will show you how a brand manual is produced in Mengo from the strategy and identity you have defined.
- Strategy, voice and visual rules in one document
- How a manual keeps collaborators consistent
- A straight answer on fit for your situation
Rather write directly? Email info@mengo.si.