How to Use Identity Guidelines to Protect Your Cannabis Brand

Start With A Catchy Brand Name And Logo

When it comes to successful branding, choosing the right brand name and logo is crucial. Your name should be memorable and conjure up a positive image when customers hear it. Similarly, your logo should be eye-catching and distinctive. This will help you make a bigger lasting impact with new customers.

You should avoid generic names for your brand. For instance, naming a CBD company “Online CBD Store” won’t help it stand out among the many other businesses with similar names. Many successful brands start by choosing unique names and working hard on defining their image to stay in the minds of customers.

Your logo should also be distinctive enough to stick in the minds of customers. Many cannabis companies stick to logos of green leaves, but choosing a unique color scheme or unique imagery can help your brand stand out among the crowd. It’s worth discussing your ideas with a professional logo designer or branding company to ensure you get the best logo possible for your brand.

Create Visual Guidelines

Branding involves a lot of visual content. For instance, you might want to create social media videos for your brand. You’ll also want to build an enticing website to attract customers. When you’re working with marketers or web developers, you’ll want to establish a solid set of visual guidelines for your branding materials.

Your visual guidelines should include how to use your logo, how large it should be, and what color scheme to use. Some brands even include specifics, such as how much clear space should be around the logo, what position it should be in, and what font should be used. These guidelines can help build consistency in your visual branding.

Visual guidelines can be applied to your website, brochures, signage, videos, and even custom-branded cannabis products. As such, you’ll want a concise list of do’s and don’ts to give to anyone creating something visual for your brand. You might want to enlist the help of branding experts to help you create your visual guidelines.

Stick To A Set Of Brand Values

Brand values are a huge part of each brand’s identity. These are the principles that a company sticks to in everything they do. Not only does it cover how they operate and how they treat customers, but it also includes the causes they stand for and the organizations they support. Customers often choose which brands to buy from based on brand values.

For example, you might want to build a brand that focuses on affordable pricing and sustainability. You can mention these traits in your slogan, advertise your low prices via your website, and use sustainable packaging for all your products. You could also create a webpage talking about your values and how you maintain them.

Staying consistent with your brand values is important for building customer trust, so make sure you include them in your identity guidelines. Whenever you’re working with marketers, you’ll need to explain what your brand stands for. You’ll also need to ensure you avoid partnering with influencers or organizations who go against your values.

Make Your Identity Guidelines Accessible

Your brand guidelines should be easy to understand for anyone who needs to see them. It also helps to make them easily accessible. Brands often include their brand identity guidelines on their website. That way, they can let everyone know how their branding assets can be used.

A simple style guide is often helpful for ensuring your visual branding is consistent. However, you should also make your brand mission and values as clear as possible. Many brands create a simple list of do’s and don’ts for using their brand assets.

Creating a list of easily-accessible guidelines is especially helpful when working with marketers, influencers, and designers. It can even help you let consumers know how they can share your brand without crossing any lines.

Take Steps To Protect Your Brand

After establishing your brand and building a solid reputation, you’ll want to take steps to protect your brand. Your identity guidelines can help you guide your staff and partners on how to use your branding materials. However, you might also want to take some extra steps to avoid your brand being tainted.

Unfortunately, cannabis brands in the US can’t obtain a federal trademark registration due to the legal status of cannabis. However, some states allow state registration of cannabis-related trademarks. You should take this opportunity if it’s available. 

Even if you can’t register your marijuana brand as a trademark, you should still protect your brand materials as much as possible. If you notice your brand assets being misused or used without permission, take steps to stop it. Avoiding these problems can potentially help you register your brand as a trademark in the future if legal restrictions change.

Conclusion

Learning how to use identity guidelines can help you protect your cannabis brand whether you’re operating a dispensary, CBD store, head shop, or any other kind of cannabis-related business. From creating visual guidelines to ensuring your brand assets are used correctly, these methods will help you build a stronger cannabis brand.

Of course, you’ll also need to put some effort into boosting your brand recognition and visibility. Many methods can help with this. Social media marketing, content marketing, and influencer marketing can help cannabis brands generate some buzz. You should also place your logo on custom cannabis products. For high-quality branded products, visit Cannabis Promotions.