0_00 Welcome to the Symantec Brand Playbook. A short, entertaining (I hope) look at how to use the brand, and why that’s important.
0_01 Wait, don’t go anywhere, this is going to be fun! Okay, maybe not ha ha fun, but better than reading through the whole booklet yourself, right? So lets get started.
0_01a (Yes) Excellent, let’s get started!
0_01b (No) Well, that’s too bad. Come back when you have the time.
1_00 So let’s talk about the brand strategy. I know what you’re thinking. Brand strategy. A lot of rules about colors and fonts.
1_01 Well, yes, we do have those, but this is something else. It’s why we have all those rules. And no, the answer is not just to keep the people of Branding busy.
1_02 A good brand is a great asset. Look at BMW, Coca Cola, Nike. Strong powerful brands that stand for something. Brands that promise something, and deliver. That’s what we want from our brand. Our brand is not just a logo and a typeface. It’s our reputation. And our reputation is affected by a lot of factors.
1_03 It’s affected by how we act, the quality of the products we make, our customer service, our phone manners, how we present ourselves. So what is our reputation? What single word best represents our brand?
1_04 Come on, you know that’s not the answer.
1_05 It’s true, some people are confused about Symantec, but maybe if you started using the playbook, that might change.
1_06 Bingo. Confidence.
1_07 Why? More and more interactions happen online. It’s critical for people to feel confident their connections and transactions are safe.
And Symantec is in the best position to make them feel that way.
Cell # Spoken Text Time
1_08 In the mind of our customers Symantec should equal Confidence. Confidence… in a connected world.
It’s that simple. When customers equate Symantec with confidence, we succeed.
1_09 But right now, we’re not quite there. We have different products, sub brand, acquired brands. It doesn’t all add up… yet.
Our goal is to make it all add up.
1_10 Today, we’re perceived as an antivirus company. Our goal is to be understood as a global brand, a strategic partner brand vital to business and consumers.
1_11 So we’ve organized our brand into a coherent brand architecture where the acquired brands and sub brands fit logically into the Symantec master brand.
1_12 And to help you understand how to take advantage of that architecture, we’ve created a handy dandy map! This may look a little daunting, but before you put it in the round file, consider this…
There are seventeen thousand employees here. Which means seventeen thousand possible ways of representing the company. If everyone is doing it differently, what kind of message does that send?
(pause)
You Don’t Know?
1_13 Exactly.
The Brand Map has been developed as a reference to help you consistently position the company when you are developing a presentation or messaging.
1_14 The words here were chosen specifically by leadership. These are the words and themes we want you to use.
1_15 Translation: you really ought to use this. Training is available if this is not clear. Cell # Spoken Text Time
2_00 When we create a piece of communication some decisions are easy. Where to place the logo, what color yellow, which type face. Those things are all spelled out in the logo usage guidelines. But there are other choices to be made that can’t be so clearly articulated.
What tone of voice when writing; what kind of photography captures the essence; what style of illustration: these are more subjective questions.
Our creative philosophy was developed to help answer those questions.
2_01 Underlying this is a brand personality. Which is a way of saying, what tone do we use when we communicate? We had a lot of options, but selected four.
See if you can guess which.
2_02 Confident, knowing, vigilant and dynamic.
2_03 These are the personality traits of our brand. These are the characteristics that should guide how we choose photography…
2_04 …when we use illustrations if at all, how to know if humor is appropriate.
Detailed examples of each can be found in the playbook.
2_05 In general it’s important to remember Symantec is the fourth largest software company in the world. Customers and partners trust us with their most important and fragile asset: their information. We should always look and act like a company that is worthy of that responsibility
3_00 The Symantec Identity Guidelines explain how to consistently and effectively apply the most visual elements of the Symantec brand.
Keep in mind, however, our brand is much more than the mechanical application of these rules. It’s how we project ourselves, how we answer the phone, how we treat our customers and it comes with every solution and service we sell. That’s why each of us has a chance to make it stronger every day. Our core visual brand elements are simply meant to reinforce and extend the power of that brand through design and communications. Cell # Spoken Text Time
3_01 These elements are designed to convey elegance, simplicity, and sophistication, the hallmarks of the Symantec brand. They’re how we project an image consistent with our standing as a leading technology company.
3_02 As such, their integrity is vital. And a lot of time and effort has gone into creating template and guidelines for you to use.
We won’t go into them all here, because that would take, I don’t know, hours.
3_03 But the importance of complying with these guidelines cannot be overstated.
Failure to do so will result in serious jail time…
3_04 …oh wait, my producer is telling me that program has been abolished.
3_05 Instead, you are expected to remember that whether you’re building a powerpoint presentation, or writing a letter or creating a brochure, or whatever, the playbook illustrates how to be consistent with the brand.
It’s a tool for you.
4_00 Congratulations, this is the last section of the playbook. It hasn’t been so painful, has it? Well, just wait.
Actually brand application has nothing to do with cattle.
4_01 How we advertise, how we name products, what our powerpoints look like and sound like, videos, multimedia, banners, collateral, promotional objects and even email signatures are all extensions of the Symantec brand.
As a result, you will need to know how to use various brand elements in these applications.
4_02 The last section in this playbook is here to help you.
How we apply the elements is equally important as the elements themselves, perhaps even more so. If done well, all the work we do helps to deliver on the brand promise of Confidence.
It’s all about creating a consistent brand experience at every customer touch point.
4_03 The Symantec Playbook has everything you need to consistently and accurately reinforce the Symantec brand in the marketplace.
And it looks good on your desk. Particularly if it’s open when your boss walks in.
4_04 That’s it, the Symantec Brand Playbook. Thanks for looking. We hope you’ll find it useful. We have intended this to be an important reference tool in helping you to build the Symantec brand and success.