Content Creation

6 ways to empower your frontline employees for maximum content creation

Content creation is the lifeblood of modern marketing.

From a consistent cycle of blog posts, emails and social media posts, to powerful one-off videos, landing pages and billboards – great content campaigns are the key to connecting with your audiences worldwide.

With 97% of professionals saying they experience at least some level of success with content marketing, brands must keep up with growing consumer demands. But this is much easier said than done.

Maintaining a constant flow of content across multiple channels is a prevailing problem for marketing teams. Despite innovations in AI software and automation tools, the struggle persists, placing a lot of demand on creatives, designers and your head office to maintain pace with an ever-growing number of platforms – all in the face of ever-shrinking budgets.

If you’re reading this and you can relate to this familiar strain, your frontline staff – the people who interact with your customers, manage your outlets and take care of your day-to-day obligations – may be the key to scaling your output to new heights.

Here we’ll explain how, with the right tools, strategies and incentives, you can empower your frontline employees to become the beating heart of your content marketing efforts.

What do we mean by frontline employees?

First, we should clarify what we mean by “frontline employees”. As noted above, your frontline workers are the people who directly engage with your audiences and keep your operations running smoothly.

They’re the baristas serving customers in your cafe. The shop assistants stacking shelves in your supermarket or department stores. The customer service representatives answering people’s questions and concerns. Simply put, they’re the backbone of your organization.

The challenges impacting today’s content marketers

Now, what are the prevailing challenges today’s content marketers face, and which of these could be resolved by a helping hand from your frontline workforce?

Lack of trained personnel

First, there’s the simple problem of demand for content outstripping available resources. With 51% of companies saying they use over 8 channels, many marketing teams need additional personnel to produce and maintain a continuous flow of content on each of their active platforms – especially if they have visions of scaling up in future.

Personalisation and localisation

Beyond the number of channels, global companies also have to consider the pressing need to tailor content for specific audiences and regions. With personalized content now a growing expectation among consumers, this adds another layer of complexity for already burdened content marketers.

Maintaining brand consistency

Attempting to churn out content at pace can allow inconsistencies to creep in – mistakes which can subsequently damage your image in the eyes of your customers. Brand consistency is critical to a strong reputation and sustainable brand equity – when this falters, it can take a long time to fully recover.

Managing content and campaigns

With multiple marketing campaigns in motion across several locations, maintaining control and oversight of every asset is a time-consuming, painstaking burden. The more time your marketing team devotes to coordinating assets, the less time they can dedicate to evolving your content strategy.

Dependence on designers and agencies

To relieve the burden on the central marketing team, many organizations delegate content creation to freelance designers and specialist agencies. This can reduce the stress involved, but it comes at a cost – and not just a financial one.

Using professionals outside your organization places your content production schedule in their hands, adding complexity to the pipeline and concerns over their capacity to fulfill your needs.

How does empowering your frontline employees address these issues?

A lot of the fundamental issues affecting content marketers could be resolved if there were simply more people who could contribute to your content creation process. People who understand your business, your brand and your customers. So, what better than boosting your frontline employees into this role?

Now if it were as simple as that, every company in the world would already be doing it. If you’re keen to mobilize your frontline workers, there are several hurdles you have to clear first:

Tough obstacles that, with the right combination of tools and some top-line direction from your marketing leaders, can be overcome to make frontline content creation a very real possibility in your organization.

6 steps to enhance your employees’ involvement in your marketing

1. Utilize intelligent design templates

The biggest barriers between your employees and your content are a lack of design expertise and available time. Using on-brand design templates addresses both of these concerns and can instantly inspire your employees to share quality content.

Content creation solutions with this capability provide an intuitive framework for users, fixing all necessary brand elements in place so there is zero risk of inconsistency. From there, your employees then have the freedom to create and adapt materials to their requirements, without compromising your company’s identity.

This can have several practical benefits, such as:

  • Enabling anyone to produce high-performing assets, no matter their skill level
  • Cutting down asset creation times to a matter of minutes
  • Allowing users to tailor languages, imagery and wording to their audience or region
  • Permitting the production of content for multiple different channels in one location

By also incorporating safety measures, such as approval workflows and a library of professionally designed content templates, you lay the foundation for an employee-generated content revolution – one that can scale up your in-house marketing and reduce your reliance on freelancers and agencies.

2. Centralise brand guidelines and directives

Your content production tools shouldn’t stop at design templates. While these tools help lock down consistency while reducing production times and costs, it’s just as important that your frontline employees understand your brand inside and out before you allow them to start generating assets.

Your brand guidelines are the crux of this requirement, so it’s essential that they’re accessible to your entire workforce. You might think that this is a given, but while 85% of companies say they have documented guidelines, only 30% enforce them consistently.


Establishing a central, online destination for your brand guidelines and similar resources helps ensure that your frontline staff, wherever they’re based, can engage with and educate themselves on your identity. A brand portal can be a valuable tool in this process, storing this key information in one online place that your teams can access whenever required.

3. Provide education and training

Alongside these capacity-expanding tools, it’s beneficial to introduce designated training sessions with frontline workers who are interested in content creation. Hosted by members of your central marketing team or other executives, regular sessions with your team can help them understand what’s expected and feel more confident engaging in this process.

While on the surface it may seem like trading one time-consuming task for another, it’s all a matter of perspective. What is more time-costly: a monthly training session with your internal teams, or the hours you devote to creating, proofing, amending and distributing content to your outlets worldwide?

Plus, opportunities for learning and development are massive motivators for the latest generation of frontline workers. So not only can this scale up your content development – it may also enhance your overall employee experiences and job satisfaction. 

4. Incorporate content creation into your onboarding process

The employee onboarding stage sets the expectations for your new recruits, so they can fully understand your processes and their responsibilities. By introducing your content creation tools and brand management solutions at this early phase, you can help ensure that this is understood and embraced by your newest employees.

This means that by the time they have fully settled into their new role, your content creation process can already be second nature to them. Over time, this can create a culture of content production throughout your frontline workforce, rather than the sole responsibility of your central marketing teams.

5. Create a single source of truth for your content

If your entire frontline staff are engaged in content generation, assets can quickly become muddled, misplaced or lost altogether, adding to your workload instead of streamlining it. Preventing this requires a single, centralized repository for assets developed across your organization – a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system.

Investing in a DAM solution allows you to consolidate all your branded content, assets, imagery, videos and beyond into one combined library – accessible to your teams across the globe. With the ability to tag assets, set permissions and distribute these to your outlets worldwide in real time, a DAM can put you in total control over the consistency and frequency of your content.

If you want to learn more about DAM, check out our ultimate guide to Digital Asset Management.

6. Establish an employee recognition and rewards programme

Finally, encouraging your employees to play a more conscious role in your marketing operations through tangible incentives can help ensure that this is not an on-again, off-again occurrence, but a fixed, reliable approach. 

While each employee will have their own unique motivations to get involved in such a scheme, some examples to help inspire your staff include:

Reap the rewards of empowering your frontline workers

Empowering your frontline employees to be at the core of your content creation efforts is not straightforward. But by following the techniques above and investing in the tools and training required to execute this, you open the doors to a whole host of benefits:

Scaled-up content output: With more hands available, your teams can create more content than ever, with increased productivity and better cost-efficiency.

Greater consistency: As work is created in-house by professionals who know your brand, consistency can be locked down on every channel and location.

Extended reach: Scaling up your content generation means you can build a bigger presence on new and existing channels, and tailor content to specific regions and audiences.

Faster times to market: Turnaround times for content can be cut significantly, and employees are enabled to capitalize on fleeting opportunities to capture sales.

More engaged employees: By getting involved in your content generation, your employees can forge stronger, more meaningful bonds with your brand.

Capacity for strategic thinking: With the pressure of content generation eased, your marketing team will have more room to plan, reflect and evolve your brand.

Empowering your frontline employees to create collateral takes time to perfect, but with every piece of content your teams produce, the closer you come to a state of marketing self-sufficiency.

We hope this has given you the motivation to see where you can scale up your content creation in the long term, and harness your professionals at every level of your organization to make a positive impact on the future of your brand.

Rebranding

The Never-Ending Timeline of a Rebrand: A Realistic Template for Your Rebranding Project

Rebranding projects often feel like they’ll never end. Decision-makers understandably want swift results, but a truly effective rebrand requires a strategic and phased approach. This isn’t a quick fix; it’s a transformation.

This post provides a realistic template, highlighting the importance of alignment across the three foundational elements of the Forrester Brand Lifecycle Framework (corporate, functional, and measurement) for a successful and sustainable rebrand.

The 10 steps of the rebrand process - Audit, strategise, design, message, engage, communicate, generate, roll out, monitor, manage - Papirfly Infographic

Phase 1: Discovery & strategy (4-6 weeks)

Why are you considering a rebrand? Before proceeding, validate your reasoning and assess if this can justify such an extensive initiative. Rebrands can consume anywhere from 10-20% of an organization’s marketing budget and involve significant portions of team members’ time, potentially impacting 30-50% of overall available resources during peak periods.

Papirfly branding infographic - Good vs bad reasons to rebrand list

Phase 1 is a foundational phase that sets the stage for success. On average, what firms anticipate as a 3-6 month project can stretch into a year or more, depending on the project’s scope and complexity. Centralized information management and collaborative tools are essential for effective planning. As Forrester notes, “Brand is a strategic asset for B2B businesses and drives impact throughout the company,” making thorough initial planning crucial.

  • Brand Audit, market research & competitor analysis: Understand your current brand’s strengths, weaknesses against your competition and identify opportunities for differentiation. Data integration and analysis tools can significantly streamline this process.
  • Define objectives & KPIs: Clearly define your goals to measure success. Project management tools are essential for tracking progress and ensuring accountability.
  • Develop a rebranding brief: A comprehensive document outlining the overall rebranding strategy. A centralized repository for this critical document and related materials is essential.

When B2B marketing leaders neglect to perform the foundational work to secure alignment and measure the impact of their brands, they hamper their ability to successfully fulfill brand objectives that are aligned to business strategy. – Forrester

Phase 2: Essential tools for rebranding (2-4 Weeks)

Before rolling out any changes, it’s crucial to establish the right tools that support the rebranding initiatives. They ensure consistency and streamlined processes throughout the lifecycle of the rebrand:

  • Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems: Implement a DAM system to house all brand assets. This includes features such as a brand portal for showcasing the new brand, enabling easy access and sharing of brand elements like logos, images, and guidelines.
  • Marketing material creation: Utilize on-brand content creation (OBCC) systems to create templates and develop new marketing materials (e.g., brochures, ads, social media posts) aligned with the new brand. Rebranding software that empowers employees to create on-brand marketing materials quickly and efficiently are a must.

Phase 3: Brand design & development (6-8 weeks)

This creative phase benefits from efficient asset management and collaborative tools:

  • Brand messaging & story: Develop compelling brand messaging aligned with your target audience. Maintaining consistent messaging across all materials requires a centralized system.
  • Visual identity and style guide design: A comprehensive guide detailing the visual and messaging standards including logo, color palette, typography, and visual style guide. Version control and easy access to design assets are crucial for maintaining consistency, as well as efficient distribution.
  • Brand tone of voice: Define the personality of your brand. Consistent application of your defined brand voice relies on readily accessible guidelines.

Phase 4: Internal rollout & training (4-6 weeks)

Securing internal buy-in is critical.  Forrester emphasizes the need for “Functional interlock,” where “Marketing, sales, product, customer service, HR, finance, and other functions must embrace their role as brand ambassadors.”

  • Internal communication plan: Inform employees about the rebrand, address concerns, and build enthusiasm. Streamlined communication and content distribution to employees are key, rebranding management software can support this.
  • Employee training: Provide training to educate employees on the new brand guidelines and ensure consistent application. Centralized access to training materials is critical.
  • Internal branding materials: Create internal communication materials to support the rollout (e.g., presentations, FAQs, style guides for internal use). 
72% of employees don’t have a clear understanding of company’s brand strategy - Source: IBM

Phase 5: External launch & ongoing measurement (6-8 weeks+):

Efficient workflows are key for a successful launch. Forrester’s framework highlights the need for “Measurement interlock” to demonstrate ROI.

  • Public relations & media outreach: Announce the rebrand to the media and generate positive press coverage. Maintaining brand consistency in your press kit and assets is critical.
  • Post-Launch monitoring & analysis: Track key performance indicators to assess the rebrand’s effectiveness and make necessary adjustments. Data integration with analytics platforms is invaluable.
  • Brand maintenance & evolution: Ensure consistent brand application across all channels. A robust system for managing brand assets and guidelines is necessary.. A flexible system that can adapt to changing market conditions and future brand evolution is essential..
4 rebranding success metrics - NPS, social media engagement, customer retention rate, revenue growth - Papirfly Infographic image

This rebranding template provides a roadmap, but remember that the true value of rebranding lies in its capacity for ongoing evolution. Consistent application of your brand strategy, continuous monitoring of performance, and agile adaptation to changing market conditions are crucial. A well-defined framework—one that facilitates data-driven decision-making and enables agile adaptation—is essential for maximizing the long-term ROI of your rebranding initiative.

Ready to kick start your rebranding project?

The right tools can streamline workflows and manage stakeholder engagement. Discover a home for your rebrand.

Brand management

Driving sustainability and Corporate Branding success in the Nordic energy sector

The Nordic energy sector has become a global leader in sustainability and innovation, setting benchmarks in renewable energy adoption and environmental responsibility. With sustainability embedded into corporate strategies, organizations in this sector face unique challenges in communicating their vision and values effectively.

As businesses in this region adopt forward-thinking practices such as circular economy initiatives, maintaining a consistent and compelling corporate brand becomes increasingly vital. Audiences—whether customers, investors, or regulators—demand authenticity and transparency, making on-brand content creation a cornerstone of successful corporate branding.

At Papirfly, we understand the pivotal role branding plays in the energy sector’s transformation. By harnessing the power of our Digital Asset Management (DAM) and content creation tools, organizations can ensure every piece of content reflects their sustainability goals while reinforcing their brand identity.

Circular economy goals drive sustainability messaging

The adoption of circular economy principles is more than a trend—it’s a paradigm shift. Forrester predicts that by 2025, over a third of Fortune 100 companies will commit to circular economy goals, driven by new ISO standards, regulatory requirements, and rising customer expectations. In the Nordics, where sustainability is deeply ingrained, these goals are particularly relevant.

The Nordic countries have set ambitious targets for renewable energy and carbon neutrality. For instance, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have all met their 2020 targets set in the EU Renewable Energy Directive ahead of schedule, demonstrating a strong commitment to sustainability.

Organizations in the energy sector are reducing waste and extending the lifecycle of resources to meet these commitments. However, articulating these efforts to diverse stakeholders requires a unified and impactful approach.

Papirfly provides a solution by centralizing all sustainability-related assets within a DAM. Teams can seamlessly access approved materials like infographics, reports, and social media templates, ensuring every piece of communication aligns with the brand’s sustainability narrative.

Advantages of circular economy principles aligned with sustainability

Personalization amid brand loyalty declines

Brand loyalty in the Nordic energy sector is declining due to market liberalization, which has increased competition and made switching providers easier, heightened price sensitivity amidst economic pressures, and greater consumer empowerment through digital platforms and comparison tools. These dynamics have shifted consumer priorities toward pricing and convenience, diminishing traditional brand allegiance​.

Forrester’s 2025 Predictions reveal a projected 25% decline in brand loyalty, attributed primarily to price sensitivity and shifting consumer priorities. In the Nordic energy sector, where competition is fierce, personalization is key to maintaining meaningful connections with stakeholders.

Rather than relying on one-size-fits-all messaging, companies must craft tailored campaigns that resonate with their audiences. Whether communicating with customers about renewable energy solutions or addressing regulatory bodies on sustainability efforts, the need for precision is clear.

Papirfly enables energy brands to personalize their messaging without compromising consistency. Through its on-brand content creation tools, teams can quickly adapt core assets to suit specific audiences, geographies, or platforms. The result is a unified brand presence that adapts to local needs while preserving global alignment.

By 2025, 25% of brand loyalty in the Nordic energy market will decline, Foresster

Corporate Branding as a strategic asset

The Nordic Region aims to be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030, with a strong focus on activities that support the green transition and the shift towards an economy based on sustainability and climate-neutral energy.

As Forrester highlights, corporate branding in 2025 will demand a balance of innovation and consistency. For energy companies in the Nordics, corporate branding isn’t just about marketing—it’s about showcasing leadership in sustainability and reinforcing credibility in a rapidly evolving sector.

Papirfly’s tools empower organizations to manage their brand assets with precision. By centralizing branding materials and simplifying content creation, Papirfly ensures every piece of content—from investor presentations to customer-facing campaigns—adheres to the brand’s identity and message.

In an industry driven by trust, this consistency is crucial. With Papirfly, marketers can ensure their sustainability story is conveyed authentically, building a strong foundation for long-term engagement with stakeholders.

Papirfly DAM for the energy sector

Case study: “How SSE’s brand consistency powers a sustainable, circular future”

SSE, one of the UK’s largest energy companies, has embraced a dynamic brand management approach to ensure consistency and impact across its communications. By implementing a centralized platform for brand governance, SSE has enhanced its ability to tell a cohesive sustainability story, reinforcing its commitment to a circular economy. By maintaining brand integrity while promoting sustainability initiatives, SSE effectively communicates its role in shaping a greener future.

Papirfly helped SSE deliver:

  • Centralized brand governance to ensure consistency across all marketing channels
  • Increased efficiency in content creation, reducing time spent on asset production
  • Empowered teams with self-serve access to on-brand materials, improving agility
  • Enhanced storytelling around sustainability and circular economy initiatives
  • Strengthened brand trust through clear, unified messaging
  • Reduced unnecessary duplication of brand assets for a resource-efficient approach
SSE review of Papirfly quote

Strengthening Corporate Branding in the Energy Sector

The energy sector faces unique corporate branding challenges, especially in the sustainability-driven Nordics. Companies must balance innovation, regulation, and public trust while maintaining a strong and consistent brand presence.

Papirfly provides a centralized and scalable solution to help energy organizations streamline their branding efforts and deliver impactful, sustainability-focused content:

DAM
DAM

Centralized Digital Asset Management
Ensure brand and sustainability messaging consistency across teams, regions, and communication channels with a structured, easily accessible asset library. Organize everything from logos and campaign materials to sustainability reports and ESG content in one place.

On-brand content creation
On-brand content creation

On-Brand Content Creation – Empower teams to create compliant, high-quality marketing and employer branding materials that reinforce both corporate identity and sustainability commitments. Ensure that messaging around renewable initiatives, carbon reduction, and ESG goals stays aligned across all brand communications.

sustainability storytelling
sustainability storytelling

Sustainability Storytelling – Effectively communicate your sustainability strategy and impact to build trust, engage stakeholders, and strengthen your employer brand. Showcase your efforts in clean energy, circular economy initiatives, and environmental responsibility with compelling, on-brand narratives.

For energy companies navigating an evolving market, a dynamic and well-managed brand is key to attracting talent, investors, and public support—while reinforcing sustainability leadership.

Conclusion

As the Nordic energy sector leads the way in sustainability and innovation, the importance of consistent, on-brand communication has never been greater. From embracing circular economy goals to maintaining personalization in an increasingly competitive market, the challenges ahead require precision, agility, and authenticity.

Papirfly provides the tools needed to meet these demands head-on. By centralizing asset management and empowering teams to create on-brand content, we help organizations convey their sustainability commitments effectively while building trust with their audiences.

The energy sector’s transformation is an opportunity to redefine corporate branding, and Papirfly is here to support Nordic businesses every step of the way!

Rebranding

Your ultimate rebranding guide for 2025

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change. – Leon C. Megginson

Customer attitudes, cultural acceptances and the overall business landscape are constantly shifting. What was considered relevant, desirable and “in vogue” a decade ago may be considered old-fashioned or unappealing today.

As the world evolves, brands must evolve with it. Rebranding enables companies to recalibrate their visual identity, messaging and story to adapt to external influences, or to reflect changes in their own goals, values and target audiences

It’s a powerful marketing strategy that every household-name brand has undergone during its existence. But it must be approached carefully – a poorly executed rebrand can significantly weaken a brand’s position in the market, and in extreme cases, mark the beginning of the end.

In our essential guide to rebranding for 2025, you’ll learn what rebranding entails and the steps involved in achieving a successful, sustainable outcome:

  • Explore the risks, rewards and challenges associated with rebranding
  • Gather tips and tools on how to effectively plan and execute a rebrand
  • Discover strategies to align your employees, stakeholders and design partners across the process
  • Learn from examples of successful and failed rebrands of the past

Ready to become a rebranding expert? Then let’s get started.

What is rebranding?

Rebranding is the process of altering your organization’s corporate identity. In some cases, this could involve changing your brand’s name, logo, slogan and overall visuals. In others, it involves updating your goals, ideals and strategic direction.

But one thing is constant – a rebrand is more than just a change in aesthetics. It’s about reshaping your brand’s identity in the market. It’s about changing the way the world perceives your organization. It’s about evolving your image to build stronger connections with your customers.

Company rebrand, rebranding statistics infographic by Papirfly - Sources: Lando, Bynder & Entrepreneur

Brand refresh vs rebranding

Sometimes the terms “rebranding” and “brand refresh” are used interchangeably. While they both follow the same general goal of updating a company’s brand, the scope and impact is far different.

A brand refresh typically involves updating or modernizing certain elements of a brand without completely overhauling its identity. These changes are often more subtle and superficial, intended to make the brand feel more contemporary to modern audiences.

A rebrand, on the other hand, refers more to a complete or near-complete transformation of a brand’s identity. This is usually driven by more strategic reasons, with the goal of presenting a revitalized image that resonates with existing customers and connects with new audiences.

In a nutshell, a brand refresh is like giving your brand a fresh coat of paint – a rebrand is like knocking down walls and rebuilding from the ground up.

How much does rebranding cost?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as it very much depends on the magnitude of the rebrand and the scale of your organization.

However, research suggests that businesses can spend anywhere up to 20% of their annual marketing budget on a rebranding project. This represents a huge investment that can have ramifications on your company’s bottom line.

Cost of rebranding statistic - Most companies spend 20% of marketing budget on rebrand - Source: Epiphany

What is a typical rebranding timeline?

Again, every rebranding project is unique, meaning the timeline of this process will differ from company to company. But estimates suggest it can take anywhere between 12 and 18 months to fully plan and execute a rebrand, illustrating that the investment in these projects stretches far beyond any direct payments – there’s a labor cost to consider as well.

Rebrand timeline stat - The average rebranding takes 12 to 18 months to complete - Source: Forbes

The right and wrong reasons to rebrand

Rebrands are complicated and carry significant risks (more on those in the next section). When you take into account the time and cost associated with these projects, it’s imperative that any rebrand is done for the right reasons.

So, what represents a “good” reason to rebrand? Here are a few standout situations where rebranding is a smart move:

1. Your company is moving in a new direction

Your company’s mission, vision, and values may have evolved due to market changes or natural growth, calling for a brand refresh or overhaul to reflect its new direction.

2. You are trying to reach a new audience

If expanding to new regions or targeting a new audience, you may consider refreshing your brand or adopting a ‘sister brand’ to better align with the local culture.

3. Your industry is evolving beyond your brand

When the trending direction of your market or industry has outpaced your current brand identity, a rebrand may allow you to keep up with your competitors.

4. You have recently undergone a merger

When merging with other companies, it can be beneficial to combine key elements of all brands into a unified identity that both current and future customers can recognize.

These are among the most appropriate and sensible reasons to rebrand. But, many rebranding initiatives have been followed for the wrong reasons:

1. You feel bored with your existing identity

Falling out of love with your branding doesn’t mean your customers have, and changing it based on personal feelings could harm your company’s future.

2. You are attempting to cover up a reputational crisis

Rebranding after a PR disaster may seem smart, but savvy consumers often see it as avoiding accountability, potentially worsening the crisis.

3. You are reacting to a short-term drop in sales

A recent revenue drop may reflect various factors, not just brand fatigue. When Uber changed their logo in the pursuit of short-term gains, it simply confused their customers.

4. You have new leadership in place

If a new CEO, CMO or other executive chooses to impose their own impression on the company branding, this can fail to reflect its core guiding principles.

If there is no good or logical reason for your rebrand, there’s a much greater risk that this change will alienate your customers, rather than unlock a brave new future for your brand. On top of that, poor justification makes it harder to secure buy-in from your stakeholders.

Papirfly branding infographic - Good vs bad reasons to rebrand list

The risks and rewards of rebranding your business

A rebrand is a high-risk, high-reward marketing strategy.

Executed properly, it better positions your brand for the future, reflecting an image that resonates more with customers and aligns with current trends.

But carried out incorrectly, it can instead simply confuse your audience, creating a disconnect that takes an incredible amount of time and effort to restore.

The pitfalls of a poorly executed rebrand

Losing customers and market position

Loyal customers might feel alienated or confused by your new brand identity, leading to loss of trust and reduced customer retention. The emotional connection consumers have with the old brand could also be disrupted, affecting your overall position in your market and nudging them closer to your competitors.

Exceeding your marketing budgets

The costs of a rebranding initiative are often high. If this process is mishandled or incorrectly budgeted, it can leave you in a tough position financially, affecting your wider marketing efforts and overall business operations.

Damaging your brand equity

If your brand has built significant recognition and goodwill over time, rebranding may result in a loss of this hard-earned brand equity. After all, it isn’t guaranteed that customers familiar with your former visual branding will transfer their loyalty to your new look.

Hurting your global brand reputation

Consistency is the core of any trusted relationship. So, if a rebrand isn’t communicated properly to your customers, employees and other stakeholders, it can damage your brand’s reputation in your audiences’ eyes. Restoring this trust is a huge endeavor, if indeed it can be done at all.

The pitfalls and impact of poorly executed rebrands for companies - Papirfly infographic image

The benefits of a successful rebrand

For all the risks involved in a rebrand, updating your identity can contribute to better brand loyalty and market growth – helping your organization lay the foundation for renewed success.

Revitalizing your brand’s appeal

A successful rebrand can restore life to your brand if it has fallen behind the times or no longer resonates with your customers, helping you stay relevant in a rapidly changing market and aligned with modern trends.

Expanding your market share

A rebrand can help expand your business’s appeal to new demographics or geographic markets. By changing the tone, look, and messaging, your brand may be able to attract different age groups, income levels or international customers.

Improving employee engagement in your brand

A rebrand can represent a clean slate between your workforce and your company as a whole. By bringing your teams on board with a refreshed brand, you can foster a stronger emotional bond with your people, raising retention and unlocking the potential for stronger employee advocacy.

Syncing up your brand and business goals

Finally, a rebrand can forge a clearer connection between your brand and your overarching business goals. With brand assets and collateral designed around your business strategy, you’re more likely to achieve the results you want.

The advantages of a successful rebrand - Expanding, revitalizing, improving engagement, syncing brand and business goals - Papirfly

3 major rebrand challenges

Even when a rebrand is the right call, numerous challenges during this process can stop you finding success.

Here are 3 of the most common rebrand challenges you need to overcome for a winning rebranding project:

1. Securing buy-in from your customers, employees and stakeholders

For your rebrand to be a bonafide success, it must get the green light from your customers and internal teams.

It doesn’t matter how long your organization has been around: your customers, employees and stakeholders have become familiar with your visuals, messaging and personality over time. Pulling the rug from under their feet by springing a completely new identity on them can cause confusion and seed distrust inside the business and out.

To avoid this outcome, having a solid rebrand communication strategy in place can gradually introduce your new vision to these groups – encouraging their feedback and impressions along the way. This eases your transition and sharpens your final brand, giving your rebrand that all-important staying power.

2. Maintaining brand consistency during the rebrand

Of course, when transitioning from one brand identity to another, brand consistency is more important than ever. If your new visuals or messaging is not presented consistently to your audience, this disruption can prevent your new identity from settling in properly.

Rebranding and brand consistency statistic - Takes 5 to 7 impressions to remember brand - Source: Pam Marketing

Especially if your organization has a worldwide presence, you also have to consider how your up-to-date content must be adapted for your localized marketing campaigns. This adds another layer of difficulty to executing a consistent, coherent presentation globally.

3. Coordinating all refreshed brand assets and materials

Finally, there are the logistical aspects of any rebrand to consider. Your company may need to update hundreds, maybe even thousands of brand assets across your numerous marketing channels. If there is no plan or structure in place to coordinate this work, it can lead to a great deal of confusion and mistakes.

  • Brand assets that must be created are overlooked, leading to a staggered rollout or inconsistent presentation
  • Refreshed assets get lost in email chains and crowded folders, meaning work must be duplicated
  • Poor communication and collaboration causes frustration that slows down the project, stretching your budgets to their limit

Again, this is even more apparent in global organizations who need to oversee campaigns in many locations for distinct audiences. Without a well-organized repository for your rebranded marketing materials, such as a capable Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution, your rebrand rollout can struggle to get off the ground.

6 rebranding mistakes to avoid - Ultimate rebrand guide by Papirfly

Rebrand planning and execution: Understanding the process

So far, we’ve established what a rebrand is, the reasons for and against these projects, and the notable risks, rewards and challenges associated. Now, let’s move onto what the rebrand process actually looks like.

Any project of this significance and weight cannot be approached lightly. Rebranding is a multilayered journey, one that requires meticulous planning, a solid structure and many hands working together in harmony.

But before we look at each of the core steps in more detail, here’s an overview of what this process typically involves:

The 10 steps of the rebrand process - Audit, strategise, design, message, engage, communicate, generate, roll out, monitor, manage - Papirfly Infographic

Establishing your rebranding strategy for 2025

Like any marketing plan, project or initiative, rebranding starts with a clearly defined strategy. This outlines the ambitions, budget and timeline of your rebrand, which in turn dictates every decision and step taken along this journey.

If your rebrand strategy is unclear or incomplete, this will likely be reflected in an incoherent, disfigured brand identity. So to ensure your rebrand gets off on the best possible footing, we recommend taking the following steps:

1. Conduct an end-to-end brand audit

First, it’s important to establish your starting point. A comprehensive brand audit across your existing assets, designs, messages and mission statements will identify any gaps, inconsistencies and areas for improvement.

This assessment will also give you a foundation to help you understand what aspects of your existing brand should be revamped or reconsidered to improve market perceptions.

Brand auditing - 6 important areas to review in your brand audit

2. Understand your audience and market

Knowing your target audience and what they want from organizations like yours is critical to establishing a brand that clicks with them. Conduct market research into your customers, competitors and wider industry to see what they expect, and use this to help craft your new vision and identity.

This is also an opportunity to reflect on how your audience has changed since your company was founded, or research the needs and wants of a new customer base you wish to tap into.

3. Reflect on your current values and vision

Next, look inward – does your existing brand reflect your company’s targets and values? If not, where does this need to be addressed? This step requires a lot of self-reflection and internal discussion.

Here are some helpful questions to think of at this stage:

  • What’s our value proposition?
  • What makes us different from our competitors?
  • What’s our mission, core values and beliefs?
  • What’s the story of our brand’s history?
  • What do we want our next five years to look like?

4. Define your core objectives

Once you’ve considered your audience’s needs and reflected on your own ambitions, the next step is to define the objectives of your rebrand project. What are the fundamental goals of carrying out this initiative? What do you want the end result to deliver?

8 objectives for your rebranding strategy - Papirfly infographic

The more specific and tailored you can make your objectives, the more likely your strategy will be executed as intended.

5. Create an execution roadmap

Goals established, it’s time to set out your rebrand execution roadmap. This provides a top-line sequence of tasks your project must complete, with deadlines attached to each one.

As you can imagine, these documents add structure to your rebrand and set expectations for all parties involved, so that this long and complex process doesn’t descend into chaos.

6. Establish your budget

As noted earlier, a rebrand is a significant investment of time and resources – one that can grow steeply if this is not handled properly.

To keep costs under control from start to end, rebranding budget management is vital as it allows you to set aside a fund that reflects the scale of your project and the timelines established. In turn, this means your project can avoid any unpleasant budgetary surprises along the way.

Uniting everyone around the same goal

Any rebrand implementation strategy will involve multiple contributors – from your senior marketing team members, to frontline employees and external partners.

Despite such a broad range of people onboard, it’s critical every player is pulling in the same direction from the outset. If there are any discordant voices once the strategy has been established and execution is underway, this can seriously undermine your project and cause a lot of internal unrest.

A shared vision and united front must be established at this early stage between your core stakeholders, be they CMOs, marketing executives, business leaders, or agency partners. To achieve this, consider the following:

  • Involve all stakeholders in the strategic planning stages, so they have a chance to state their opinions and contribute to the process
  • Share the objectives with all stakeholders to ensure they understand the purpose and expected outcomes of the rebrand
  • Organize brainstorming or feedback sessions with key stakeholders to align everybody on the desired direction
  • Form a central leadership team for the rebrand that represents all departments and key stakeholder groups, bringing their thoughts together
  • Arrange workshops or one-on-one meetings to resolve conflicting views and foster greater collaboration between all parties
  • Establish regular touchpoints for status updates, and ensure all stakeholders have a forum to ask questions or voice concerns
72% of employees don’t have a clear understanding of company’s brand strategy - Source: IBM

Picking a design agency partner for your rebrand

While it’s possible for an individual marketing team to handle a rebrand, this can put a lot of pressure on professionals who are already at the heart of your day-to-day marketing operations.

Plus, because your internal team is so close to your existing brand, culture and content, this may blind them to other perspectives when imagining what your rebrand might look like. Sometimes, it’s better to have the insight of a dispassionate, impartial third-party to unlock the best concepts and ideas.

That’s why, in our experience, the most successful and structured rebrands are supported by an external design agency. Their unbiased position, creative skillset, unique experience and greater bandwidth can enable your rebrand to flourish, and ensure work is completed on time.

Benefits of working with a design agency on your rebrand for better perspective and efficiency - Papirfly infographic

However, selecting the right rebrand design partner is not a decision to take casually. These experts will be critical in determining the look, tone and story of your refreshed brand – if they are constantly deviating from your strategy or not clicking with your marketers, it can derail the progress of your project.

With that in mind, here are a few things to consider when choosing the most suitable agency partner:

  • Review their past rebrand projects to assess their ability to create transformative brand identities that align with their clients’ goals
  • Evaluate the agency’s creativity through their past work and see if they offer fresh, innovative ideas
  • Check their understanding of modern design trends, especially for digital media and user experience
  • Assess whether the agency understands and aligns with your company’s ethos
  • Ask about the agency’s approach to workflow, including their project management tools, timelines and deliverables
  • Seek out testimonials from past clients, specifically related to rebranding projects

Taking these steps and asking other illuminating questions will provide much-needed assurance that your agency partner can guide your rebrand to the intended outcome.

Collaborating with your design partner across the rebrand process

Clear collaboration between your internal marketing leaders and design agency partners is essential through this creative rebranding process. Any miscommunication can noticeably extend project durations, cause tension between all parties and negatively impact your spending.

With solid communication key to a smooth, successful rebrand, here are a few steps to make this a reality:

  • Invite your agency partners to conduct their own audit of your existing brand, so they can bring their own thoughts and ideas to the creative process
  • Establish clear communication channels and point-people to manage meetings and regroups between all parties
  • Utilize brand portal software for more immersive, interactive design presentations, so all stakeholders get a solid feel for the new brand
  • Use a DAM system as a central repository for all content created, meaning all assets are kept in one place for review and discussion
6 consequences of poor collaboration during a rebrand or rebranding project - Papirfly Infographic

3 steps to rebuilding your brand identity

With your rebranding strategy settled, the stage is set to go about actually rebuilding your brand identity. This is the most creative stage of the process, where new brand elements are developed that will translate your updated vision and personality to global audiences.

While there is much to consider here, it can be broken down into 3 broad categories:

1. Visual identity

Your visual identity is the most immediate and recognizable aspect of your brand. It encompasses everything from logo designs and color schemes to typography and imagery – all of which creates a visual language that communicates who you are.

Like your underlying rebrand strategy, all these elements should be evaluated against the findings of your initial audit and the objectives you set out at the start. You may need to refresh your logo for a more modern appeal, update your color palette to evoke the right emotions, or simplify your designs for a more clean and cohesive look.

Whatever the case, the key is to ensure that every visual element is consistent across all platforms, reinforcing your brand’s personality and setting you apart from your competition.

8 visual components of a rebrand - Logo, colors, typography, imagery, iconography, patterns & textures, packaging, signage - Papirfly

2. Brand messaging

Brand messaging covers your company’s tone of voice and style of communication. It’s how you convey your value, mission and promises through words, shaping customer perceptions and forming emotional connections.

When redefining your brand’s message and tone as part of a rebrand, ask yourself the following:

  • What are the key messages we want to communicate?
  • How do we want to sound – authoritative, approachable, innovative, humorous?
  • Who are we speaking to, and where will they engage with our brand?

Refine your tagline, slogans, and wider content to align with the resolutions within your rebrand strategy. Strong, consistent messaging enhances trust and loyalty, which will be important as customers get to know your new brand.

3. Story, mission and values

Finally, your brand’s story, mission, and values are the foundational elements that define your organization’s purpose and long-term direction.

When rebuilding this aspect of your brand identity, focus on aligning these elements with your evolving goals and market realities. Your brand story should highlight your journey and values in a way that speaks to your audience – both existing and new.

Your mission must clearly articulate what your brand stands for and the problems you solve, while your values should inspire both employees and customers. By crafting a story, a mission, and core values that are authentic and forward-looking, your rebrand gains a purpose that will improve how well it’s accepted by your audiences.

Between your internal marketing team and your design partners, all 3 of these brand elements should be settled before proceeding to implementation, and bundled together as part of your refreshed brand guidelines.

5 rebranding best practices for successful implementation - Papirfly rebranding guide infographic

The importance of employee and stakeholder alignment in a rebrand

Even if the intention of your rebrand is to present a rejuvenated image to your customers, it very much requires the buy-in of your employees and internal stakeholders. After all, these are the people who will be communicating your new brand to your consumers on a daily basis, so it’s vital that they both understand and agree with the concept.

Employee engagement in rebranding is essential. You must communicate the rationale behind your change in direction clearly, so that everyone is aligned on the reasons for this evolution. Where possible, you should also consider involving your staff in shaping the new identity – this will help foster a sense of ownership and connection from your team to the rebrand.

There are multiple ways to nurture this engagement:

  • Hold workshops and training sessions on the new branding
  • Digitize your brand guidelines and tutorials for easy accessibility
  • Establish regular internal communications through your established channels
  • Host an internal launch event to unveil the new brand to your teams
  • Offer rewards or incentives to employees who embrace the refreshed brand

Utilizing brand portals can be an effective way to achieve company-wide alignment. These online hubs can immerse your entire workforce in your updated branding and provide a one-stop shop for any education resources you develop to help them understand the rationale behind your rebrand and how to apply it consistently.

By getting your internal teams aligned with your rebrand, you lay the foundation for it to be communicated consistently and correctly from rollout and beyond. Plus, it also offers an opportunity to establish brand advocates within your teams, who can play a big role in helping your new brand settle during the challenging first few months.

Companies with high employee brand engagement outperform those without by 202% - Source: Forbes

Executing your rebrand rollout plan

With all the groundwork done, and your updated visual identity, tone and brand story built, all that’s left now is to unveil your new look to the masses.

A rebrand rollout is where all your hard work comes to fruition. With only one chance to make a strong first impression, it’s essential you’re doing everything you can to get this crucial step right.

Any misstep here can risk customer confusion or outright rejection. Needless to say, this isn’t the outcome any brand wants after spending an enormous amount of time and money developing their new look. So, it’s vital you thoroughly prepare and organize a comprehensive plan before the rollout.

Generate all assets for a smooth implementation

First and foremost, once you’ve settled on the final design and messaging of your new brand, you need to ensure all your existing content across your marketing channels is aligned. This could mean updating hundreds, maybe thousands of assets, from social banners and job adverts to website logos and print adverts.

This may be a herculean task, but if any old branding remains following your relaunch, it can immediately water down the impact of your new identity and sow distrust.

Preparing for a rebrand rollout with brand assets, content creation and DAM - Papirfly infographic

So, begin by establishing a centralized checklist that everyone can check when producing rebranded assets. This must contain every type of collateral you need to recreate – from your website and social media profiles, to stationery and packaging for your products and services. Having this in place will ensure that you cover all bases.

Next, consider investing in content creation tools and templates to speed up the production process. These easy-to-use solutions lock down your core brand elements, meaning anyone in your teams, regardless of their design acumen, can support this process. This can help reduce the time and effort it takes to create all the materials you need.

Finally, using a DAM system enables you to house all rebranded assets in one central location. Relying on emails or disparate servers can make it much easier for assets to go missing and slow down your production times, pushing your intended “go live” date further.

A centralized DAM solution brings everything together with a clear order and categorization. This helps ensure everything is in the right place for your grand rollout.

Captivate your audiences with a successful relaunch

All assets present and accounted for, now is the moment to land the relaunch. This is a critical moment – a misstep here can add to the unease your audiences might already feel.

To rollout your rebrand in the best possible manner:

  • Develop a strong rebrand story that emotively conveys the reasons for your rebrand
  • Create buzz with a teaser campaign that eases people into the change
  • Test out your rebranding on select customers, to gain their feedback and apply any necessary changes
  • Have your employees share the new brand on their personal channels alongside the launch event
  • Create emails, social media campaigns and video explainers for the weeks and months after the launch to guide your customers through this transition
  • Work with industry influencers, thought leaders and media outlets to increase awareness of your rebrand

What if my rebrand goes off track?

Once your rebrand is up and running, it’s time to put your feet up and celebrate a job well done, right? Wrong.

Research suggests it often takes up to 6 months for a rebrand to become entrenched in people’s minds. Long-term brand management is vital to embed your new identity into your customers, employees and other stakeholders, until it eventually becomes the norm for them.

So if your rebranding campaign starts to go off track, or old-style assets begin to resurface on your channels, what can you do to course-correct?

6 steps to get your rebrand back on track by assessing, developing and reassessing strategies and campaigns - Papirfly Infographic

Don’t be afraid to pivot with your rebrand where necessary. Campaigns are rarely perfect first time out, so listening to your audiences and adjusting according to their feedback may lead your rebrand to a more successful, sustainable future in the long run.

How do you measure rebrand success?

Evaluating the impact and success of your rebrand is key to long-term sustainability. Even if you follow everything in this guide to the letter, it’s likely your rebrand will rub some people the wrong way, or you’ll reconsider certain aspects of your new identity over time.

Unfortunately, there is no overarching measure for rebrand performance you can use to judge how well yours is working in the weeks, months and years after launch. However, there are several rebranding success metrics you can track than give you a solid grasp over how well it is resonating with your audience:

Net Promoter Score (NPS): NPS measures customer loyalty and satisfaction by asking how likely a customer is to recommend a brand to others. By tracking NPS before and after a rebrand, you can gauge whether the new brand positioning, messaging and design resonate with customers.

Social media engagement: Social media engagement tracks the interactions on your social media platforms, including likes, comments, shares, mentions and direct messages. A successful rebrand should lead to higher engagement, as customers better connect with the new brand identity, messaging and tone.

Customer retention rate: Customer retention rate refers to the percentage of customers who continue to do business with a brand over a chosen period. If the rebrand alienates or confuses your current customer base, or leads to a worse customer experience, you’ll likely see a drop in retention rate. 

Revenue growth: Revenue growth tracks your changes in sales or revenue over time.  A successful rebrand should ideally lead to positive financial outcomes, be it through attracting new customers, increasing repeat purchases or differentiating your company in the market.

4 rebranding success metrics - NPS, social media engagement, customer retention rate, revenue growth - Papirfly Infographic image

5 top rebranding tools for a smooth, successful process

Anyone who has been involved in a rebrand or brand refresh will gladly tell you how complex and stress-inducing it can be. When you’re responsible for delivering hundreds of unique assets and managing numerous outlets worldwide, it’s a strenuous experience for all involved.

Equipping your teams with the right rebrand tools puts your company in the strongest position to overcome all challenges associated, so you can deliver your strategy on-time and on-budget.

With this in mind, here are 5 rebranding technologies we highly recommend investing in ahead of your next project:

1. Digital asset management for rebranding

One of the greatest challenges in executing a rebrand and making it stick post-implementation is coordinating your content. You never want an asset bearing your old branding to accidentally be posted on your feeds – it reflects poorly on the quality of your organization.

Digital Asset Management (DAM) software keeps the latest verified and approved assets in one library, creating a single source of truth for all marketing campaigns and activities. With the best software including features like user permissions and version control, preventing colleagues from accessing incorrect or outdated assets can protect the sanctity of your new identity long after launch.

2. Brand portals

Maintaining your brand identity during and after your rebrand requires your internal teams to be fully aligned on your new visuals, vision and voice. Any regressions back to old habits or collateral can compromise the consistency of your presentation and the impact of your new look.

Brand portals provide a centralized online space to house everything that dictates your branding – from guidelines and handbooks to tutorials and example assets. This helps keep your content creators educated on how to represent your new brand, leading to more consistent application across your marketing channels.

68% of compaines say brand consistency has contributed at least 10% to revenue growth - Source: Marq

3. Rebranding project management tools

The many moving parts behind a rebrand make strong project management vital to its progress. Any oversight or gap can cause mistakes that set your rebrand back weeks, send costs skyrocketing and lead to a rocky, inconsistent rollout.

Investing in a trusted project management solution, such as Trello, Asana or Basecamp, can help you ensure tasks are assigned to the right people, collaboration is upheld with your key players, and progress is tracked from start to finish.

4. On-brand content creation software

Both in the months leading up to your rebrand rollout, and the years beyond that point, your teams will be expected to create a considerable amount of assets that all reflect this fresh identity.

As demands for content grows, equipping your professionals with on-brand content creation tools empowers them to produce branded assets faster and more accurately. These smart templates preserve your visual identity on every piece of collateral created, making your marketing more agile and self-sufficient overall.

5. Team communication platforms

If the parties involved in your rebrand are spread across the globe or work remotely, relying on emails and phone calls to communicate each phase will only slow down progress.

More instant, purpose-built communication tools such as Slack, Zoom or Lark enable your stakeholders to interact more efficiently. This streamlines the journey to executing your rebrand, and helps ensure that everyone stays on the same page throughout.

5 effective rebranding tools - DAM, brand portals, PM tools, content creation software & communication platforms - Papirfly

3 successful rebranding examples… and 3 not-so-successful ones

In any topic or subject, it’s always helpful to learn from past examples, both good and bad. Rebranding is no different, and there are plenty of instances where organizations have made their rebrands stick to great success – and some where missteps damaged their standing with customers.

As we bring this guide to a close, let’s look at a few company rebrands from both perspectives:

Rebrand success #1 – Old Spice

Over time, Old Spice’s perception had shifted to being an outdated brand only worn by older men. This shifted in 2010 with the launch of their “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign.

These funny, engaging commercials went viral, grabbing the attention of a younger audience. Within six months, Old Spice had increased its market share to 37%, breaking free from its old reputation and becoming the definitive leader in its industry.

Rebrand success #2 – Dunkin’

Previously known as Dunkin’ Donuts, Dunkin’ abbreviated their name and shifted their brand identity to reflect its more diverse product offering, particularly coffee, which made up 60% of their sales.

Dunkin’ simplified its logo and store design, aiming for a faster and more efficient customer experience that resonated with time-strapped millennials.

Rebrand success #3 – PostNord

In 2019, Nordic delivery giant PostNord underwent a rebrand to update and modernize their visual identity, aiming to establish their company as the brand of choice for e-commerce consumers.

Creating their own digitized “brand terminal” accessible to all users helped ensure that everyone in their organization understood and correctly applied their new brand guidelines, helping them better resonate with their new audience.

Want to know more about PostNord? Check out their rebranding case study.

Brand success story - How PostNord achieved a seamless, consistent rebrand using Papirfly’s DAM and content creation solutions

Rebrand fail #1 – Tropicana

Tropicana’s decision to redesign its iconic juice packaging in 2009 from the familiar “orange with a straw” to a minimalist, plain design proved to be highly unpopular with its loyal customers.

Their attempts to modernize their brand were roundly rejected by their audience, as sales plummeted by 20% in just two months, costing the company over $30 million in lost revenue.

Rebrand fail #2 – Gap

In a similar story just a year later, Gap unveiled a new logo and visual identity, replacing its iconic blue box logo with a simpler, more modern black Helvetica font and a small blue gradient square.

The rebrand was intended to appeal to a younger, more digital-savvy audience. Instead, the backlash was so intense that Gap reverted to its original logo within a week. This failed experiment cost them approximately $100 million, including the costs of creating, marketing, and reversing the change.

Rebrand fail #3 – British Airways

In the late 1990s, British Airways (BA) launched a rebrand designed to give the airline a more global image, replacing its Union Jack tailfin design with abstract, multicultural art. The goal was to position BA as a forward-thinking global airline, rather than a symbol of British tradition.

However, this removal compromised BA’s identity as the “flag carrier” of the United Kingdom – a significant part of its appeal. Both customers and employees felt the airline was abandoning its heritage, and they reverted to a refreshed version of their original design in 2001.

Unlocking the true potential of rebranding

While change is hard and sometimes scary, staying in one place for too long is the most unsustainable thing a business can do.

Evolving to the changing needs of customers and the ever-shifting market landscape is crucial to your long-term survival. And to do this, rebranding and refreshing your identity is key.

We hope the insight we’ve covered in this comprehensive guide enables you to unleash the full potential of your new identity at every stage, both now and in the future.

Rebrand with the Papirfly brand management platform. The ultimate Digital Asset Management & Content Creation Suite
Digital Asset Management, Pharma/Healthcare

Why Digital Asset Management is non-negotiable for pharma marketers

As suppliers of medicine to healthcare professionals (HCPs) and the wider public, pharmaceutical companies must meet stringent codes of conduct in the UK and abroad. 

These regulatory requirements do more than set standards for product safety – they also dictate what pharmaceutical marketing can and cannot include. However, compliance isn’t the only hurdle companies in this industry have to face. 

Maintaining brand consistency across a growing number of channels. Scaling content to meet the expectations of global audiences. Standing out to top candidates in a competitive market. These are all essential duties any promotional team must accomplish.

Challenges that pharmaceutical marketers face - Rules, budget, time, consistency, identity, assets and collaboration - Papirfly infographic image

To help you keep on top of these challenges as a pharma marketing leader, Digital Asset Management (DAM) tools can help you and your team work smarter, not harder. 

But what exactly is DAM software, and how can it support your corporate branding, distributed marketing and employer branding efforts? In this article, we’ll explore these questions in more detail and explain why DAM platforms are a critical investment for modern pharmaceutical marketing teams.

What is Digital Asset Management?

Digital Asset Management is the practice of properly managing your digital assets, so teams in your organization can easily find, share and retrieve the content you’ve invested time and money creating. 

This is key to keeping your marketing efforts structured and your operations efficient, but managing this responsibility manually can be a huge burden for your teams. 

Digital Asset Management software acts as a centralized repository where you can store and organize your entire library of sales presentations, digital files, videos, artwork and more in one accessible location.

This single source of truth for your pharmaceutical brand simplifies the process of coordinating content, maintaining brand consistency and meeting compliance. 

4 core principles of DAM software for marketing content creation, storage and access

Want to learn more about Digital Asset Management and the helpful features these platforms provide? Check out our comprehensive guide on DAM.

6 reasons why DAM tools are an essential investment

Now you know what DAM platforms are, let’s explore why they should be a core part of your marketing toolkit.

1. Streamlines compliance-critical processes

From hefty legal fines that squander distributed marketing resources, to reputational damage that undermines both customer and candidate trust – the cost of non-compliant pharmaceutical campaigns can be substantial

The marketing materials your pharma company shares must meet strict regulatory compliance to ensure your corporate brand, distributed promotions and talent acquisition efforts are effective and appropriate.

This means more than creating content with the right disclaimers, warning labels and side effects. It’s essential that finished assets are delivered to the right audience at the right time.

But with potentially hundreds of pieces of content to coordinate between dozens of regional marketing teams and a growing roster of platforms, it can be easy for mistakes to emerge.

3 ways a bad advertising campaign rollout can breach pharma marketing regulations - Papirfly

This is why a dedicated DAM for marketing is an essential solution for professionals across the pharmaceutical sector.

Rather than requiring your people to spend hours trawling through messy servers to find the promotional materials that fall in line with the latest advertising standards, DAMs’ centralized repository makes locating compliant, up-to-date materials easy.

High-quality DAM solutions also come equipped with version control. This helpful feature ensures you and your teams can only access the newest version of a file, further reducing the potential for compliance-breaking mistakes to rear their head. 

In addition, some regions require brands to regulate their own pharmaceutical marketing. As part of this process, regulatory bodies may occasionally request to see copies of your content.

In these situations, DAM can also prove a valuable tool. By making every digital file instantly accessible and appropriately tagged, you and your teams never have to let these ad-hoc duties slow down your marketing operations.

2. Boosts pharmaceutical marketing efficiency

From recruitment assets that attract top talent and distributed marketing campaigns that make sales worldwide, to corporate branding initiatives that communicate trust and consistency, pharmaceutical brands today are expected to deliver a huge amount of marketing content.

With no signs of this trend slowing down, getting the most out of your limited marketing resources is becoming more important for teams around the world.

However, as pharma compliance tightens, improving the efficiency of your operations shouldn’t mean cutting corners or doing less marketing. Instead, it’s about streamlining processes, improving productivity and reducing costly bottlenecks.

A powerful Digital Asset Management platform is essential in your bid to unlock true marketing efficiency.

A DAM’s centralized library drastically reduces the number of hoops your people have to jump through to find the marketing collateral they need. This can save your internal team countless hours in the long run – time they can spend on work that really matters.

Digital Asset Management - It takes teams 9 hours per week to search and find files and assets - Source: ProProfs

If you coordinate promotional material with teams in multiple regions, you’ll also know first-hand how much time and energy it takes to organize this huge volume of content. That’s on top of the hours spent scouring email chains and setting up file sharing links to ensure marketers abroad have access to the materials they need.

This isn’t just a huge distraction for your people. Relying on systems like email clients and messaging platforms to manually coordinate asset delivery can bottleneck the launch of campaigns and open the door to efficiency-sapping errors.

Thankfully, most well-equipped DAM software feature brand portals. These customizable hubs can be structured to include key information about a particular campaign, or serve up localized materials on a silver platter.

This can drastically minimize the likelihood that mistakes creep in when collaborating with your people and reduce the number of steps involved in getting campaigns out the door. This added capacity lets your personnel focus on reaching candidates, making sales or strengthening your overarching brand.

3 ways DAM can boost marketing efficiency for pharmaceutical companies

3. Lays the foundation for complete brand consistency

When healthcare professionals (HCPs), customers and candidates feel they can no longer trust you, they won’t hesitate to look elsewhere for products or jobs.

Achieving complete brand consistency should be high on your list of priorities to protect your bottom line, optimize your talent acquisition efforts and safeguard the reputation you’ve invested so much time and energy building. 

Brand consistency stats - Why consistent branding is so important - Sources: Marq, ExplodingTopics & WiserNotify

But as a brand that operates in dozens of regions, promotes countless products and employs hundreds of people, you know that aligning every sales presentation, letterhead, logo and asset – both internally and externally – is easier said than done.

With an endless stream of global campaigns to deliver, recruitment efforts to support and an international identity to nurture, your team probably doesn’t have time to check every asset going out against the latest brand guidelines

Thankfully, the right DAM software can help you deliver truly unified marketing. Not only can these solutions give your teams instant access to your latest on-brand marketing assets, but when integrated with a dedicated brand portal, they can house everything that defines your brand identity in one accessible location.

From style guides and mission statements to templates and more – these customizable hubs can serve as a single source of truth for anybody in your organization, allowing them to truly understand what makes your company unique and reflect these values in every asset you produce and share.

4. Helps deliver rebrands with greater efficiency

Refreshing your pharmaceutical company’s identity is an incredibly lengthy and costly undertaking. 

Done well, a successful rebrand can grow your business and pave the way to good fortune. But if poorly executed, you risk alienating customers, confusing candidates, hurting sales and damaging your all-important corporate image.   

In an industry that witnesses more rebrands than most, any solution that can lay the foundation for positive outcomes and save your marketing department precious resources can’t be ignored.

The pace of pharmaceutical company rebrands - 31% rebranded after a merger or acquisition between 2014 & 2018 - Source: FiercePharma

Dedicated DAM systems play a crucial role in simplifying the coordination of these materials. Firstly, by having a central repository where every new asset is stored, you make it much harder for outdated collateral to re-emerge during the all-important rollout. This can minimize confusion among professionals and prospective customers, and lay a solid foundation for your new brand to grow. 

On top of this, access control allows you to lock old branding away after a refresh or make certain items accessible only to certain regional teams. This ensures only your refreshed identity is promoted across your marketing channels, so you can achieve complete brand consistency without complication.

When you combine the many benefits of a DAM with on-brand content creation tools, you’ll have everything needed to ensure your next rebrand rollout sticks the landing.

5. Overcomes asset overload

Whether your marketing efforts focus on professionals looking to buy medicine or top candidates searching for new opportunities – you know that modern audiences expect more content from brands than ever before. 

Content demands stat - 85% of brands create more content year on year - Source: MarketingWeek

While delivering this amount of marketing collateral is tough, effectively managing these materials is a challenge that only gets harder as your content libraries grow.

With hundreds if not thousands of sales presentations, recruitment adverts, brand videos and more to manage, keeping this mountain of collateral usable for your team is an overwhelming task for even the most orderly departments.

To ensure every marketing material you share is compliant and can reach your target audiences as quickly as possible, Digital Asset Management systems are an essential investment for today’s pharma marketers. 

DAM platforms feature smart upload functions that make it possible to upload digital files in bulk. As a result, your creatives don’t have to waste time getting the content they create into company repositories.

On top of that, smart tagging features and powerful search tools reduce the effort and complexity associated with finding files internally, even if you have teams located abroad. 

When you combine these features with a customizable brand hub, getting localized recruitment and market materials into the hands of your overseas colleagues becomes much more straightforward.

6. Fosters international collaboration

Finally, if your pharmaceutical brand operates in multiple territories, chances are you have teams in those regions to localize and distribute your core marketing materials.

This is a fundamental part of building trust with recruits, HCPs and other types of customers in different countries. But for your efforts to truly succeed, effective collaboration is essential.

When internal communication is unclear, it doesn’t take much to imagine how this could result in marketing materials that breach regional laws. Or how poor collaboration could lead to off-brand recruitment assets going live across the wrong channels.

To help your teams bridge this divide and foster the spirit of collaboration internally, DAM software can be a game-changing tool:

  • Brand portals act as a single source of truth for your brand, allowing you to get everyone across your organization on the same page when it comes to marketing
  • Having a centralized repository of assets breaks down the barriers attached to sharing materials, streamlining the process of collaboration 
  • Access restrictions allow leaders to control what materials can be retrieved, giving everybody complete confidence in what they share
  • Version control presents teams anywhere with the latest version of an asset, making it easy to work on projects between divisions 

It doesn’t matter if you cooperate with other departments on recruitment materials, distributed marketing content or corporate branding assets; in our view, DAM software is fundamental to great collaboration across pharmaceutical marketing teams.

Digital Asset Management: A foundational tool for today’s pharma marketers

Resonating with customers worldwide. Appealing to 21st-century talent. Building a reputable corporate brand. With strict pharmaceutical advertising standards and an ever-changing world of marketing to navigate, achieving success in the pharmaceutical industry is no easy feat.

To help you navigate this complex web of marketing challenges, DAM software is quickly becoming a core part of many pharmaceutical brand’s toolkits.

With the ability to streamline compliance-critical processes, maintain brand consistency worldwide, unlock pharma marketing efficiency and more – we hope this article has helped you understand what Digital Asset Management is, and why this form of brand management software is fundamental to achieving your goals both now and in the future. 

Discover the ultimate Digital Asset Management & Content Creation platform at Papirfly
Energy and Utilities

The power of purpose: Using sustainability to build brand trust in the energy sector

Trust is a precious commodity for the Nordic energy market.

A mix of historic fossil fuel usage, volatile energy prices and negative news headlines mean the modern energy sector is less trusted by the public when compared with other industries.

With the landscape for energy providers more crowded than ever before, establishing a credible, trustworthy brand identity offers a significant competitive advantage to secure long-term customer relationships.

In this ongoing battle, integrating sustainability storytelling into your corporate branding is one of your most powerful weapons to build trust with your key stakeholders. 

As Nordic consumers’ buying habits and lifestyles become more and more entwined with their social and environmental responsibility, energy brands that reflect this in their own messaging can make strides in retaining the confidence and loyalty of their customers.

In this article, we’ll explore how sustainability storytelling builds trust, examine key strategies for incorporating sustainability into your brand, and highlight how Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems ensure consistent, impactful communication.

The tight relationship between sustainability and trust

As the urge to be more socially and environmentally responsible becomes embedded in our culture, this is reflected in people’s purchases and their perception of brands.

In the Nordic market, sustainability is a key factor in consumers’ buying habits. A survey conducted by BCG demonstrated that 58% of consumers report that sustainability aspects are important decision-makers when purchasing a product, while 40% of customers in Finland say most of their purchases are sustainable.

Furthermore, 92% of global consumers say they trust brands that are socially and environmentally responsible, while 88% are more likely to stay loyal to companies with dedicated Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives.

Why sustainability storytelling matters to building brand trust and customer loyalty - Papirfly infographic

For Nordic energy companies, the demand is especially intense. With the region viewed as frontrunners in the global transition to renewable, green energy, and subject to some of the most ambitious frameworks and guidelines related to sustainability, there is an even greater expectation that these brands make this a central part of their brand identity.

Sustainability storytelling allows your energy company to connect emotionally with your customers. Powerful, purpose-driven narratives that highlight progress, challenges, and impact can humanize your brand, resonating with audiences to build ongoing loyalty and advocacy.

Authenticity and transparency: The cornerstones of effective sustainability branding

Before we discuss ways to harness the power of sustainable branding, for this to succeed, authenticity and transparency are non-negotiable. Nordic consumers are more skeptical and informed than ever, and they are quick to identify greenwashing – a marketing practice where companies exaggerate or falsify their sustainability strategies.

Brands that are not accurate or authentic in their sustainability storytelling are more scrutinized than ever before. Global energy companies have discovered this in years past, and their relationships with consumers has suffered as a result.

To avoid this pitfall, any branding or marketing that evokes your commitment to sustainability must be backed by real, measurable actions. Transparency is the key: openly sharing progress, challenges and results not only builds credibility, but also strengthens relationships with customers who value honesty over perfection.

3 ways to make sustainability central to your energy company’s corporate brand

1. Develop your sustainability narrative

A powerful sustainability narrative is foundational to a brand’s identity. This narrative should not only communicate your company’s commitments but also provide a roadmap for achieving them. 

For example, your energy brand could articulate its role in “enabling the world’s transition to clean energy through innovation, transparency, and partnerships.”

3 tips to develop your sustainability narrative

3 tips to develop your sustainability narrative - Papirfly infographic

This sustainability narrative becomes the cornerstone of all communication efforts, reinforcing your brand’s purpose and setting the tone for external messaging.

Remember – this must be authentic. Empty claims in your sustainability storytelling will be picked apart by today’s savvy customers:

  • Show how your sustainability efforts align with your core business values
  • Be specific with your sustainability targets and initiatives
  • Openly acknowledge areas for improvement rather than hide them
  • Ensure the message resonates with the needs of your customers

2. Publish transparent signals of your sustainability commitments

Trust is built on transparency. In the energy sector, where skepticism can run high, it’s essential to go beyond generic claims by publishing detailed and verifiable data across your marketing channels. 

Keep in mind that only 15% of Nordic consumers say they find it easy to evaluate the sustainability performance of companies. So, the more accessible you make this information, the more trusted your brand appears when compared with less transparent organizations.

This can take many forms:

  • Sustainability reports that show your progress toward net-zero goals, including reductions in carbon emissions
  • Financials illustrating your renewable energy investments and operational efficiencies
  • Independent third-party certifications and standards, such as the Nordic Swan Ecolabel or ISO 14001
  • Reports demonstrating the environmental credentials of your partners and suppliers

Look at Tesla as an example. Their annual Impact Report very clearly and visually expresses their company’s social and environmental milestones. It’s also formatted to meet the demands of their various audiences – from the full, in-depth reports required by investors and regulators, to top-line infographics and graphs for their everyday consumer.

3. Create education content to become a sustainability thought leader

Educational content allows energy brands to position themselves as thought leaders in sustainability. 

It showcases that your commitment to sustainability is more than an obligation – you are going the extra mile to empower others with knowledge and guidance that will help them be more socially and environmentally responsible.

Examples of educational content include:

  • White papers and case studies that showcase successful sustainability projects, offering insights into the challenges, solutions and measurable outcomes.
  • Podcasts or video series featuring experts discussing industry innovations, best practices, or the latest trends in sustainability and renewable energy.
  • Infographics and visually engaging graphics to explain complex topics like renewable energy technologies, decarbonization strategies, or the science behind carbon capture.
  • Interactive tools such as online calculators or interactive dashboards that allow users to assess their carbon footprint or explore the impact of renewable energy solutions.
  • Educational blogs and e-guides answering audience pain points such as “how to transition to green energy” or “steps businesses can take to reduce emissions.”

6 more examples of sustainability content

6 more examples of sustainability content sources and ideas from Papirfly

By investing in high-quality, educational materials, your energy brand can become a go-to resource for insightful content around sustainability. This familiarity and reputation fosters trust, setting your brand apart from competitors who aren’t as prolific on this topic.

Ensuring a consistent commitment to sustainability with Digital Asset Management (DAM)

While authenticity and transparency are the foundations of effective sustainability storytelling, another vital quality to consider is consistency.

Brand consistency is essential to build trust with today’s customers. Any discrepancy or deviation from your core identity – particularly when relating to as hot a topic as sustainability – can lead people to question the authenticity and credibility of your messaging.

With today’s energy companies often fragmented across numerous regions and needing to be present on multiple marketing channels, maintaining consistent sustainability messaging can be a big challenge. If one team is not up-to-speed with the latest brand guidelines or using outdated materials, it can cause unwanted confusion among your customers.

With this in mind, investing in a Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution can empower your teams to stay consistent at every touchpoint.

Create a single source of truth for your sustainability storytelling

By giving your professionals instant access to pre-approved, fully compliant assets, a DAM system ensures everyone in your team can immediately see how your sustainability messaging should be communicated. This helps stop future assets straying from these examples, making it a go-to reference guide for your content creators.

Furthermore, combining your DAM with a brand portal unlocks another level of control. Housing your brand guidelines, sustainability statements and everything else that defines your brand culture in one place, this cloud-based platform educates your teams on how to present your brand on all channels.

Categorizes an unlimited number of assets in one accessible space

A high-quality DAM platform enables you to capture, organize and distribute all your digital assets in one place. Rather than content being lost in messy email chains or cluttered servers, teams can locate, use and publish the exact materials they need when they need them with little effort.

This not only greatly enhances the cost efficiency of your marketing operations through smart uploads and AI-driven tagging and search. This streamlined communication keeps your regional teams on the same page with your sustainability storytelling, stopping inconsistencies from diluting your message. Structure inspires consistency; consistency generates trust.

Prevents outdated materials from reaching your audiences

Your sustainability metrics, targets and initiatives are always evolving, and it’s crucial that any old or out-of-date materials are kept out of circulation to prevent claims of greenwashing.

Through version control, DAM systems give you full access to an asset’s history and any changes it has undergone. This means your teams only work from the most recent version of any asset, so only accurate, authentic and provable sustainability impacts are showcased in your marketing.

Enables more localized, personalized campaigns

If your energy brand operates in multiple regions, you may understand how challenging it is to make sure your localized marketing campaigns do not spill over into the wrong channels. With a strong DAM system, flexible access control allows you to govern what assets are available to particular users, ensuring they only publish on-brand content relevant to their unique audiences.

This, combined with on-brand content creation tools that make localizing assets a seamless formality, means you can hone your campaigns to the specific needs of each target audience, making them more likely to resonate and deliver a healthy ROI.

5 ways DAM systems can benefit energy marketers

5 ways DAM systems can benefit energy marketers and companies - Papirfly infographic image

Elevate your sustainability-focused branding with Papirfly

As energy brands face a more ever more congested and competitive landscape, you can no longer simply rely on the necessity of your products and services. You need a brand that is strong, distinct and, above all else, trustworthy to set yourself apart for your customers.

We hope this has demonstrated the importance of aligning your branding with sustainability to build consumer trust. 

At Papirfly, our market-leading Digital Asset Management solution is the ideal place to begin showcasing who you are as a brand, your sustainability story and the organization of the right brand assets for each user to get one fully-aligned your message across – helping your brand speak authentically, transparently and consistently to maintain loyalty with customers old and new.

See how Papirfly can transform the power and purpose of your energy brand!

Brand management

5 ways manual content creation is killing your automotive marketing ROI

An expansive approach to content marketing is more important than ever in your automotive marketing strategy.

With the average car buyer spending close to 15 hours researching potential vehicles across multiple channels (2022 Car Buyer Journey Study by Cox Automotive) and the competition for their attention incredibly fierce, a diverse content portfolio across each customer journey stage is key to driving traffic through your doors.

Mock content marketing funnel for automotive industry advertisers and companies - Papirfly

Beyond guiding prospective customers on the path to securing car sales, the strength of your content is equally essential to:

  • Stand out in the crowd: Cut through the noise and position your dealership as the go-to destination in your market
  • Lead the conversation: Showcase your expertise in electric vehicles, autonomous driving, and sustainable mobility to become the trusted voice customers turn to
  • Build lasting relationships: Create meaningful connections that keep customers coming back for their second, third, and fourth vehicles

While the demand for content continues to surge, keeping your marketing ROI healthy is crucial. With automotive leads now costing an average of $250 each (Liontreegroup, 2022) – a number that’s climbing – marketing teams face mounting pressure to optimize their spending while meeting consumers’ growing appetite for information.

Here’s your challenge: Manual content creation eats into your profits. Beyond the obvious costs of time, software, and labor, hidden expenses lurk beneath the surface. Brand inconsistencies, varying content quality, and campaign delays all chip away at your marketing returns, creating a costly cycle that’s hard to break.

Below, we break down 5 ways that persisting manual content production is hurting your ROI – from the obvious to the more subtle – and explore how on-brand content creation software can revolutionize the cost efficiency of your marketing operations.

Importance of content in Automotive marketing statistics - Infographic - Sources: RulerAnalytics, Cox, Conductor & Content Marketing Institution

1. Content production becomes time-consuming and resource-heavy

Above all else, relying heavily on manual content creation methods means you spend more on your marketing operations:

  • Hours producing individual assets from scratch
  • Money hiring specialist in-house creatives or outsourcing work to an external agency
  • Licenses for design software, video editing tools and other content creation platforms

When you consider the significant volume of content you must generate to nurture discerning car buyers at each stage of the customer journey, these costs can very quickly pile up. 

This puts more pressure on your marketing campaigns to drive leads and car sales to make up for the substantial investment you and your team have made preparing them.

2. The scalability and diversity of your content is limited

The immediate costs of manual content production may be the clearest impact on your marketing ROI, but it also has wider ramifications on the volume and reach of your content.

Research shows that today’s car buyers devote more time and use more channels in their search for their ideal vehicle than ever before:

The need for multichannel marketing for the automotive industry to capture car buyers and consumers - Sources: MOTORS, CarGuru, Google & Cox

The days of buyers simply browsing car dealerships are long gone. To grab your audience’s attention and cut through the noise, providing a truly multichannel marketing experience is crucial, across both online and offline channels.

Relying on manual content creation limits your ability to meet this demand. With only so many hours in the day and resources available, this approach forces you to be more selective over what channels you focus on – meaning you miss opportunities to engage potential customers.

Meanwhile, your competitors with more automated content production are better placed to dominate search results, social media feeds, advertising space and beyond. This can cause your market share to plummet, hurting the power and performance of your marketing efforts. 

Furthermore, with your time and resources tied up in creating your routine assets, this could be preventing your brand from harnessing more innovative types of automotive marketing, such as:

  • Augmented reality (AR) test drives
  • Virtual reality (VR) showrooms
  • AI-powered car configurators
  • Interactive video content

By automating the production of your day-to-day, standard content, you free up the capacity and funds to jump on these powerful trends.

3. Personalizing and localizing collateral becomes more complicated

As well as customers requiring a wider range of content to guide their choice of vehicle, they are also far more expectant of personalized customer experiences:

Personalization in automotive marketing statistic - 71% expect personalized engagement from brands - Source: McKinsey

Car buyers also prioritize different qualities when researching vehicles. For example, according to research from Kantar, US and European consumers focus on cost and reliability, while in China, they rate driving performance and fuel efficiency higher.

The more your marketing campaigns are tailored to the specific needs and nuances of your dealerships’ local markets, the more likely they are to resonate with your target audiences, encourage more clicks, and drive dealership visits.

However, manual content creation makes this extremely challenging to fulfill. Depending on how many demographics your models appeal to and the scale of your dealership network, this can make it impossible to properly adapt assets on time and on budget.

The result? More generic, one-size-fits-all campaigns that fail to connect with customers, leading to low engagement and conversion rates.

4. The time-to-market for your campaigns and promotions significantly slows

Next, the time-consuming nature of manual content creation does not only elevate production costs – it also creates delays for your campaign execution.

Whether you’re developing promotional materials for a new vehicle launch or a time-sensitive campaign in one of your regional dealerships, creating this content from scratch can significantly slow down the process, as well as require more thorough proofing and amends.

With so many options available for modern car buyers, any slip in the efficiency of your marketing can mean a missed sales opportunity. Buyers who may have been interested in your new model may have moved onto your competitors by the time your campaigns are underway.

By moving away from manual production and embracing automotive processes, this can empower your in-house creatives and agency partners to create and deliver content faster to your global dealers, who can then localize it for their specific audiences.

Marketing automation time-saving benefits - Save 6+ hours per week on content creation tasks - Source: Firework

5. Inconsistencies creep into your branding and content

Finally, in addition to increasing times-to-market, an overly manual approach to content creation raises the risk of inconsistencies in your branding and content quality. 

If your content creators don’t have a firm grasp of your brand guidelines, or simply make a basic mistake, your materials may fall short of your brand’s identity and quality standards. 

Consumers should feel confident before committing to such a substantial purchase as a car. Any break in brand consistency can derail your attempts to foster this trust. If your branding deviates from location to location or channel to channel, it projects a disorganized image to your prospects – which could be the difference when choosing between you and your competitors.

If this persists over time, it can dilute the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns and lower conversion rates.

Plus, the threat of human error means your marketing leaders must devote more time to review assets before they are published. This additional time and energy also eats away at your marketing ROI, and can further delay your campaigns.

Automotive brand consistency statistics for revenue, added value and lead generation - Sources: Marq, Linearity & SmallBizTrends

On-brand content creation software: The key to maximizing your automotive marketing ROI

Now you understand how persisting with manual content creation waters down your marketing ROI, it is apparent that a more automatic approach is required to improve the efficiency of your operations, maintain a presence on all relevant marketing channels, and localize collateral for your diverse dealer markets.

That’s where on-brand content creation software can make a massive difference. By placing innovative, accessible design templates at the heart of your content production processes, you can transform your marketing output’s speed, scale and consistency.

6 benefits of on-brand content creation for automotive marketing - Papirfly infographic

Streamlined content creation through intelligent templates

When creating assets from scratch, ensuring that core brand elements, such as logos, icons and color schemes, are correct adds a lot of time to the creative process. Good-quality design templates provide a clear framework that cuts asset creation time from hours to minutes. 

This enables you to scale up your content production at no additional cost. As a result, your brand can be present at every touchpoint for today’s buyers, building your familiarity and market share in a customer base spoiled for choice.

With the ability to develop infinite templates across all formats – from online video content and social media posts to brochures, posters and billboards – this technology can significantly slash the costs attached to your content production, boosting the returns generated by your campaigns.

Using Papirfly for on-brand automotive content creation - 80% reduced effort and $200 average saving on agency spend

Empowering dealerships to produce their own campaign materials

The accessibility of effective on-brand content creation software means that anyone can use this technology to create high-quality, branded assets, regardless of their design skills.

This reduces your reliance on in-house creatives or external agencies to produce the bulk of your content. Once your templates are set up, front-line employees in your dealerships can use these to quickly generate the required content, rather than waiting to hear back from HQ.

With the routine content of your dealerships taken care of through these templates, this frees up time for your specialist creatives and agency partners to push forward with more complex content, be it AR content, VR experiences, or gamified driving simulators.

Empowering car dealerships with on-brand content creation - Papirfly infographic

Locking down consistency across all assets

Utilizing templates molded to your brand guidelines ensures every asset you produce across all channels aligns with your overarching corporate identity.

The result? Customers can enjoy a more consistent, coherent experience wherever they engage with your brand, establishing the trust needed to ultimately sell cars.

Furthermore, in-built approval workflows directly inform whoever is responsible for signing off marketing materials as soon as they’re ready to review. This streamlined process means campaigns are launched faster, allowing you to better capitalize on market opportunities.

Enabling fast, cost-effective localization and personalization

As noted earlier, modern car buyers place a high value on personalized, localized content. On-brand content creation software allows users to instantly adapt assets to meet this expectation.

  • Languages can be translated instantly for international dealerships and customers
  • Templates can be set up with personalization elements – such as spaces for customer names – that can be applied many times over
  • Localized imagery and designs can be locked down so only relevant examples are available to each region

These dynamic elements mean that content can be adapted for specific audiences in a couple of clicks, rather than paying fortunes on local designers for your individual dealerships.

Consequently, content across your dealer network will speak to people’s precise needs rather than take a one-size-fits-all stance. This helps raise the relevance of your campaigns, increasing the likelihood they drive traffic to your websites, landing pages, and dealerships.

Amplify your ROI with on-brand content creation

With a broad content marketing portfolio essential to stand out in a crowded market and engage customers on their long journey to purchasing a car, taking steps to streamline content production is vital to maintain a healthy marketing ROI.

The power of on-brand content creation in action: BMW

For an example of how on-brand content creation software can revolutionize your marketing ROI, look no further than what it has achieved for BMW

With an expansive network of automotive dealerships covering countless languages, locations and audiences, the BMW team found that creating content at the required scale was a costly, inefficient process. They struggled to retain their brand identity at every touchpoint, while slow administration left campaigns on hold.

By introducing on-brand design templates, paired with a centralized Digital Asset Management (DAM) library, their frontline workers were empowered to produce localized content without fear of compromising brand guidelines or needing to learn complex design software.

The outcome? BMW’s identity is upheld in all locations. Time to market has decreased. Brand management and sales workflows run smoothly. And, most importantly, their marketing ROI has accelerated to previously unattainable levels.

At Papirfly, our solutions empower automotive brands in the U.S. and beyond to create content at an unprecedented scale, all with consistency at their core.
 
From on-brand template technology that streamlines content production across all channels to DAM solutions that establish a single source of truth for your brand.

Papirfly automotive brand success story - How BMW NE enhanced the speed, scalability, and consistency of content creation with Papirfly
Brand management, Pharma/Healthcare

The cost of non-compliance in pharmaceutical marketing 

All companies are held to strict rules that govern what they can and cannot do. Organizations in the pharmaceutical industry are no exception.

As suppliers of potentially life-saving medicine, pharma companies have a responsibility to not only produce safe pharmaceutical products, but to market these drugs to healthcare professionals (HCPs) and the general public honestly and transparently. 

Meeting these rigorous standards is essential. However, when you consider the immense challenges your marketing departments already face – such as growing content demands and ever-evolving brand guidelines – delivering compelling, compliant pharma content is no simple feat.

To help your marketing teams build trust, increase sales and ensure compliance, here we explore the regulatory hurdles your campaigns have to overcome, the potential ramifications of non-compliant marketing efforts on your brand, and a handful of helpful strategies you can use to produce content that is compliant and successful.

What is non-compliant pharma marketing?

Whether your brand works closely with HCPs to get prescription-only medicine (POM) into the hands of pharmacies, or promotes over the counter (OTC) products to target audiences online, your pharmaceutical marketing must meet a series of stringent, self-regulated standards in the UK. 

These strict rules are outlined and enforced by several regulatory agencies. For prescription medicine, PMCPA administers the ABPI Code of Practice. For marketing plans that involve OTC drugs, PAGB works to make sure all marketing activity falls in line with their own advertising code. 

[Papirfly blog] Regulations of UK pharmaceutical marketing and promoting medicines - Infographic - Source: Gov.uk

While there are different guidelines for promoting over-the-counter products and prescription medicine, at its core, compliant pharmaceutical marketing should be ethical, accurate and patient-focused. These principles should not only apply to your social media posts and email campaigns, but also to product packaging, clinical trial data and post-marketing surveillance.

With all of that in mind, what does pharma marketing actually look like when it steps outside of these regulations? While non-compliant content can take practically any form, it’s common to see regulatory bodies step in when elements like side effects are absent on promotional material, usage instructions are unclear, or the trial data used in a campaign was deliberately skewed.

[Papirfly blog] Examples of non-compliant pharma marketing - Papirfly infographic

What are the consequences of non-compliant pharmaceutical marketing?

According to a recent research conducted by University of Bath and Lund University academics, there were more than 1,100 cases where pharmaceutical companies fell short of advertising standards in the UK between 2004 and 2021. 

These instances do more than simply jeopardize the health and wellbeing of end users. A lack of compliance in pharma marketing poses significant risks to your brand’s reputation and long-term success.

Your brand’s reputation can decline

Reputation is important for any brand, especially one relied on by HCPs and customers to save lives and cure ailments.

Whether your medicine fell short of a patient’s expectations, or news of a compliance breach found its way into headlines, few things can undermine the credibility of your brand more than a damaged reputation. When healthcare professionals, existing customers and your wider public feel they can no longer trust you, they won’t hesitate to look elsewhere to get their pharmaceutical products.

This is all to say that breaching pharmaceutical marketing compliance can quickly erode public opinion in your company, directly affect your market share and undermine your business’s bottom line.

[Papirfly blog] Importance of brand trust - 71% of customers stop buying from brands that break trust - Source: MarketingWeek

It’s also important to acknowledge the effect a bad reputation can have on your employer brand. If prospective candidates don’t feel able to trust your company due to a poor track record of compliance, it’s likely that your talent acquisition efforts will become less effective.

Your company can face financial penalties

Falling foul of PAGB’s advertising standards or ABPI’s Code of Practice influences more than just your organization’s reputation. In many cases, sub-standard pharma marketing can lead to substantial fines.

While the specific amount varies depending on the type and severity of your collateral’s breach, findings suggest these penalties often reach six figures.

[Papirfly blog] Financial impact of UK pharmaceutical marketing non-compliance averages a £630,000 penalty cost - Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal

In very rare and serious cases, there have been cases known to cross into the billions. You only have to look back to 2009, when Pfizer pleaded guilty to misbranding Bextra in the US, which landed them a historic fine of $2.3 billion (over €2.1 billion).

When you consider that regional audience expectations continue to grow as marketing budgets shrink, it’s easy to imagine the impact a substantial fine could have on your marketing and overall business operations. 

Your products can be recalled

Another notable consequence of non-compliant promotional activities is product recalls.

If your marketing materials or product packaging fails to meet the high bar for compliance in the UK, authorities such as the MHRA may step in to pull your medicine from pharmacies and store shelves. Needless to say, this can have disastrous consequences for your campaigns.

Not only will you have to forfeit any resources you have invested; chances are you’ll need to devote more time and money to rectifying these mistakes, producing entirely new collateral that meets your legal requirements.

[Papirfly blog] Pharma industry advertising marketing spend was £54 billion in 2022 - Source: Kantar

3 strategies to deliver successful, compliant pharmaceutical marketing

Now you understand the regulatory hurdles your pharma marketing must overcome, and the consequences of falling short, what steps can you and your marketing team take to deliver captivating, compliant pharma marketing?

1. Invest in ongoing training for your campaign teams

As regulations around pharmaceutical advertising evolve and the marketing landscape shifts, laying the foundation for success in your marketing team starts with the right training.

After all, if your creatives, sales representatives and marketing executives don’t understand the rules their content must abide by, or the best approach to compel HCPs and other customers – achieving true marketing success becomes significantly harder.

However, before you plow ahead and invest in training, it’s first important to gauge the current capabilities of your team. To do this, it is wise to carry out a thorough audit.

[Papirfly blog] The 6 steps of an internal skills audit for pharmaceutical company marketing teams

Once you have a clear understanding of what gaps exist in your marketing department’s understanding, the next step is to plug in the right training. There are plenty of approaches your pharma company can take here, such as:

  • Holding compliance workshops when rules change, mapping out how new legislation affects your upcoming and existing campaigns
  • Investing in online training platforms to make it as easy as possible for individuals across your teams to take on new skills at their own pace
  • Inviting external experts in to provide talks or guidance about best pharma marketing practices
  • Creating compliance toolkits your teams can refer to when producing marketing materials 

With the right steps, you can upskill your teams efficiently, and create a foundation from which to launch compliant, successful marketing campaigns now and in the future.

2. Regularly engage third-party compliance auditors

Whether your team is in a rush to meet the launch of a new OTC medicine, or prepare materials in time for an upcoming HCP event – the urge to push full steam ahead with your promotional materials can be strong.

However, when your department is ‘all heads down’ and racing toward a deadline, this can leave room for costly mistakes. From inadequate warning labels on boxes to unsubstantiated testimonials on TV adverts, these errors can quickly draw the ire of regulators.

As a result, it can be helpful to consult with third-party specialists before rolling out a new campaign:

[Papirfly blog] Best practice tips for consulting third-party pharma compliance auditors - Papirfly infographic

When you consider the risks of non-compliance in the pharmaceutical industry, such as reputational damage and financial losses, gaining complete peace of mind before going live can be a wise investment.

3. Adopt the right marketing tools

In the world of pharmaceutical marketing, it isn’t enough to produce compelling marketing materials. You have to navigate strict rules, all while keeping your brand modern, your global audiences engaged, and your efforts on budget.

To help you overcome these obstacles and meet the standards required by UK compliance organizations, brand templating tools can be a game changer.

Instead of requiring your content creators to manually produce the dozens (if not hundreds) of print adverts, social graphics, videos and more that shape your campaigns, on-brand content creation software helps reduce the time, effort and resources involved through the use of smart, customizable templates.

How does this work in practice? While different platforms will vary in features, the core principle is simple – aspects such as imagery, copy and colors can be switched out in a matter of clicks, without altering core brand elements, like logo placement and mandatory disclaimers. 

For example, if you needed to produce a wide range of different posters for GP surgeries, pharmacies and retail stores, these tools can empower anyone on your team to put these materials together in a matter of minutes – all with the assurance they’ve followed every regulatory requirement and brand guideline along the way.

[Papirfly blog] Compliant pharmaceutical marketing assets – easy task with Papirfly!

Having software that upholds compliance and consistency across your content creation pipeline is a powerful asset for any organization. However, to ensure your marketing materials remain compliant in every campaign, a dedicated Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution is another essential investment for pharmaceutical marketers.

Able to integrate with on-brand content tools and other must-have martech, these platforms act as a centralized library for your digital files and assets, keeping everything orderly and readily accessible at all times. 

This functionality makes it seamless to ensure the right content is published at the right time, in the right places. On top of this, incorporating a DAM for compliance reduces the stress associated with finding content that has to be updated in line with post-marketing surveillance.

Additionally, in the UK, regulatory agencies can request copies of advertising materials. Thankfully, with a DAM platform’s robust search functionality, finding relevant assets and fulfilling these requests can become an effortless formality.

[Papirfly blog] Find your marketing assets easily with a DAM solution from Papirfly.

Deliver compelling, compliant pharma marketing

If you’re a pharmaceutical company marketing products in the UK, the promotional materials you publish are held to a strict standard of ethics, accuracy and patient wellbeing.

It doesn’t matter if you are promoting OTC medicine to the public, or prescription-only products to HCPs, meeting these stringent codes of conduct are non-negotiable.

With substantial fines, legal action and reputational damage hanging in the balance, navigating this landscape – all while making sales and meeting budgets – demands a considered approach. 

We hope the tips and brand management solutions we’ve covered today – from upskilling your digital marketers and sales representatives to incorporating on-brand content creation tools – can help your campaigns enter a new era of compliant, consistent success. 

[Papirfly blog] Meet Papirfly – the #1 solution to create and manage content. On-brand. At scale.

Rebranding

Rebranding success: The pitfalls to avoid for maximum ROI

Considering a rebrand? For CMOs and brand managers, justifying the expenditure and ensuring a positive return on investment (ROI) is crucial. A rebrand is a big investment in both time and resources, and without the right tools in place, it can easily go off course.

This post highlights the common pitfalls that can derail a rebranding project before it even begins and jeopardize its ROI. Avoiding these mistakes is essential for maximizing the value of your rebranding efforts.

Pitfall #1: Neglecting thorough market research

Understanding your target audience, market trends, and competitive landscape is key to any successful rebrand. Without this research, you risk misaligning your brand with the market’s needs. A well-structured research strategy helps clarify if a rebrand is truly necessary and what areas of your brand may need a refresh. Effective market research might include:

  • In-depth interviews, surveys and focus groups with your audience to understand the perceptions and experiences of your brand and competitors.
  • Sales data deep dive to identify trends, patterns, and opportunities to optimize your approach and identify any shortcomings in current market strategies.
  • Competitive analysis to understand how you compare against competitors across brand performance and marketing metrics.

By conducting thorough research, you can ensure that your rebrand is grounded in data, which is essential for maintaining brand relevance and maximizing ROI. Your insights may reveal that your teams haven’t been able to efficiently understand or deliver your brand, so it may be worth looking at how you can showcase your brand better across your organization. If a rebrand is still the right way to go, then it’s time to ask big questions to leadership.

Companies that prioritize market research as a fundamental function, rather than a mere expense, have a higher likelihood of thriving amid economic uncertainty.”

Source: Forbes

Pitfall #2: Failing to build a compelling rebrand business case

A successful rebrand needs strong executive buy-in. Without it, your efforts are likely to face resistance. CMOs must present a robust business case that clearly demonstrates the need for a rebrand, its potential impact on brand equity, and its expected ROI. A well-structured business case includes:

  • Current brand analysis that highlights the shortcomings of your existing brand, such as low customer satisfaction, declining market share, or negative perceptions.
  • Proposed rebranding strategy that outlines the brand’s new positioning, messaging, and visual identity and how you roll out your rebrand to your company.
  • Financial projections and ROI that include cost estimations, anticipated revenue growth, and potential customer retention rate increases.

With the right insights, you’ll be able to build a strong argument for your rebrand, ensuring it aligns with broader business objectives.

Pitfall #3: Overlooking internal stakeholders

Employee buy-in is critical to the success of your rebrand. If your team doesn’t fully understand or support the changes, implementation will be slow and inconsistent. To avoid this, take steps to involve internal stakeholders from the outset. This might include:

  • Surveys and feedback sessions to gather input on the current brand and ideas for the rebrand.
  • Internal communications campaigns to ensure employees stay informed about progress and understand their role in the rebrand.
  • Brand ambassadors program that motivates employees to champion the rebrand and helps to build enthusiasm throughout the organization.

When employees feel invested in the brand transformation, they’re more likely to champion the new brand and maintain consistency in its execution.

“With Papirfly, we wanted to make it simple for our people to create material and to be brand ambassadors. It’s easy, fast and it empowers everyone – and we’ve definitely achieved those goals.”

Ci’en Xu, Director of Strategy, Global Employer Branding, SAP

Pitfall #4: Inconsistent brand implementation

Brand consistency is one of the most common struggles during a rebrand. Without a system to manage your brand assets effectively, it’s easy for your messaging and visual identity to become fragmented, leading to diluted brand impact which ultimately impacts the bottom line. The key to overcoming this pitfall is centralization.

A consistent brand presentation can increase revenue by as much as 33%.

By using a centralized platform to manage your brand assets, you can ensure that all materials—from logos and imagery to messaging—are easily accessible, organized, and in line with your brand strategy. This approach allows for:

  • Seamless access to brand guidelines and assets: Teams across the organization can quickly find and use the latest on-brand materials and messaging, ensuring consistency.
  • Easier collaboration: Marketing, sales, and other departments can work together with automated asset approval workflows, sharing assets and feedback on one platform, enhancing efficiencies and ensuring everyone is aligned.
  • Brand performance is easily monitored: Track key metrics and provide insights into brand performance across different channels, allowing for prompt identification and correction of any brand inconsistencies, maximizing ROI.

A system that organizes and showcases your brand assets makes it easy for your teams to execute the brand strategy consistently and efficiently, ultimately ensuring that your rebrand delivers the ROI you expect.

“The new platform was a crucial part in our rebranding process. It’s seamless, efficient, and gives us total control.”

Hannah Myrhed,
PostNord Group Brand & Communication

Pitfall #5: Lack of post-launch monitoring and measurement

Launching your rebrand is only the beginning. To measure its effectiveness and ensure you’re hitting your goals, you need to set up ongoing tracking and monitoring systems. Establish clear KPIs (key performance indicators) such as:

  • Brand awareness metrics (social media mentions, website traffic,search engine rankings).
  • Customer engagement metrics (social media engagement, customer satisfaction scores and Net Promoter Score).
  • Sales and revenue metrics (website conversions, CAC, CLTV, sales growth).

Regularly review these metrics and adjust your approach where needed. A centralized system makes it easy to track brand performance across all channels and identify areas for improvement. This data-driven approach helps you continuously optimize your brand strategy and improve ROI over time

By avoiding these common pitfalls, you can maximize the impact of your rebranding initiative. A centralized platform for brand asset management ensures that your brand strategy is executed consistently and effectively, ultimately driving greater market share and recognition.

Learn more about how to streamline your rebranding process and ensure brand consistency across all touchpoints. Explore our rebranding solution.

Employer brand

Localized employer branding: Your key to engaging with regional talent

In today’s highly competitive job market, your employer brand is vital. It’s the key to attracting top talent, retaining your existing employees, and distinguishing yourself against a backdrop of ever-increasing competition.

And, while a compelling Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and an authentic, attractive culture are both important parts of a world-class employer brand – for global companies, few things are more crucial to connect with candidates than personalized, localized messaging. 

This means more than just writing job descriptions in relevant languages or using local imagery in your onboarding materials. For the best localized employer brand messaging, it’s important to tailor your marketing assets to the cultural sensitivities of local markets.

Imagine you were recruiting candidates in Japan. Because Japanese work culture tends to value collectivism, where a company is often viewed like a family, you would want to create content that centers around your team members and company culture. 

However, this ‘team-focused’ recruitment strategy likely wouldn’t spark the same interest with American job seekers. In this instance, you might speak to this region’s individualism by highlighting employee perks, learning and development opportunities, or flexible working options on your adverts.

Respecting a culture’s unique nuances is essential for attracting and retaining top talent. It shows them that your company values their specific requirements, rather than pushing ahead with a generic, one-size-fits-all message for your global workforce.

But what more does localized employer branding do for your company? And how do you actually implement this in your marketing? In this article, we’ll dive deeper into the topic of employer brand localization and show you how to get started. 

Why is region-specific employer branding so important?

According to recent figures, as many as 75% of global firms have found it hard to get the right talent through the door. If you’re one of the thousands of employers in this difficult position, you’ll know that long-term vacancies can cost your business dearly in time, money and productivity.

To give yourself an edge in local talent attraction, regional employer branding allows your roles to better resonate with job seekers right out the gate. By wrapping your collateral in imagery or elements that speak to their culture or surroundings, you already demonstrate that your brand aligns with them directly.

This can help you fill your positions up to 50% faster, and boost your chances of securing a quality hire by as much as three times

Plus, by engaging your existing employees with job materials that reflect their culture and location, you can improve retention internally by as much as 28%. Aside from easing the pressure on your recruitment and hiring processes, engaged workplaces can be 17% more productive and 21% more profitable. 

On top of this, localized employer brand content lays the foundation for a more positive global reputation. Even if your internal employees and job seekers aren’t the target audience for your corporate branding, giving these groups a positive experience sends a strong signal to customers, stakeholders and other audiences in these territories. 

How do you translate a global employer brand to local markets?

A localized employer brand strategy is a proven way of improving the speed and quality of your talent acquisition efforts. It can also empower your existing staff, enhance productivity and contribute to a trusted reputation.

But how do you unlock the full potential of this strategy? Like any employer branding initiative, the right approach is essential.

Understand your ideal candidates and existing staff

Before committing any time or resources to localized content creation, it’s important to understand exactly who your regional audiences are and what they stand for. 

Do you want to appeal to candidates in a brand-new market? Are you trying to counteract high churn in a particular regional office? 

Your objectives will dictate the look, feel and direction of your employer brand campaigns, so it’s important you have a clear picture of the employee personas you’re targeting from the very beginning. Without this, it can be impossible to know how to tailor job postings and employee engagement strategies to best resonate with the right people.

Plus, when you consider that every country has their own idea of work, culture, benefits and more, ensuring your adverts, onboarding materials and internal branding pieces are as impactful as possible relies on the insight you gain through these personas.

So, how do you create these crucial documents? At their core, your employee personas should ask:

  • What region is my audience located in? 
  • What goals and motivations do they have?
  • What are their key demographics?
  • What personality traits do they demonstrate?
  • What challenges do they face?
  • What do they want/expect from a workplace? 

Stay organized with robust Digital Asset Management software

Once you have a solid idea of exactly who you need to target, the next step involved in translating your employer brand worldwide is to prioritize organization.

The last thing you want is for an off-brand job advert to find its way into the hands of a potential candidate, or a new recruit to receive an outdated version of your onboarding package. Why? Because inconsistencies like this can shatter people’s trust, set false expectations, and undermine the good will your employer brand has worked so hard to build.

But, with potentially thousands of assets to organize across dozens of countries, keeping on top of everything can quickly become a full-time responsibility.

Here, a dedicated Digital Asset Management (DAM) system can be really helpful. Acting as a central, digital repository where every asset can be tagged, organized and easily accessed, getting the right materials in front of the right candidates becomes a simple, straightforward task.

Coupled with regional brand portals that house your local style guidelines, EVPs and exemplary assets, your provincial teams can get immediate access to the content relevant to their audience. This makes it faster and easier for your global departments to run effective recruitment campaigns, all while streamlining internal communications.

Invest in on-brand content creation tools

While giving your teams access to the right assets is an important part of delivering a locally-tuned employer brand, if you operate in multiple territories, chances are you’ll have a long list of different audiences to create collateral for – and the time, resources or capabilities to deliver only a fraction of it.

Coupled with the inconsistency that can arise when your decentralized teams begin adapting your core assets (or create their own materials altogether), it’s clear to see how content production is one of the greatest challenges for delivering a locally-relevant, globally spanning employer brand.

And with signs suggesting that the demand for collateral is only going up, how do you and your teams deliver employer branding at scale in the long term?

In our view, the right on-brand content creation tools are invaluable. By giving your central and frontline personnel the ability to swap out things like imagery, copy, colors and more in a matter of clicks, as the core facets of your brand guidelines remain fixed, smart templating technology can streamline production in a big way.

In practice, this means your central marketing departments can prepare core materials on budget for every region, all while your locally-based teams have the tools to create or tailor assets to their target markets without undermining the consistency of your brand.

Plus, with ease of use central to most content creation tools, anyone across your business can produce the materials they need, freeing up your marketers and creatives to focus on fleshing out your employer brand strategy.

Put simply, the right solution can revolutionize the way you deliver collateral to candidates and colleagues around the world.

Inspire your existing employees to become advocates

Another great way to translate your global employer brand to local communities is to use employee ambassadors.

It doesn’t matter if you’re conducting localized hiring drives or spreading awareness of your presence in a new market. The bottom line is, people trust employees significantly more than companies themselves. 

So, who better to offer first-hand insight into your workplace than your regional team members? Their unique access and authenticity can demonstrate specifically how your workplace reflects the cultural nuances of the area.

This can give talent a clear picture of life at your organization, form genuine connections with people in the area, and ultimately attract candidates to your career site.

Furthermore, by getting your staff to play a more active role in your employer brand and rewarding their efforts, you can encourage your teams to stick with you for the long term. 

Ready to realize the full potential of your employer brand?

As the competition for talent intensifies – and job seekers become increasingly discerning – successfully recruiting and retaining talent demands a local approach to employer branding. 

However, with each country having their own cultural traditions and expectations to honor, crafting and coordinating content that resonates with each of these audiences is no easy feat.

By putting the insights we’ve covered in this article into practice, we hope you’ll have everything you need to reshape your employer brand into one that connects with candidates and colleagues from one region to the next.

Content Creation

Storytelling and scalability: Finding the perfect balance in your content creation strategy

Content production is the beating heart of modern marketing campaigns. The more you can create content that engages audiences, communicates your offering, and features on your most relevant channels, the more success your brand will experience in the long term.

And while there are many moving parts to the content creation process, the foundation for success can often boil down to two main factors:

The most effective content creation strategies understand how crucial both these components are to reaching and capturing the imagination of potential customers. Prioritising one over the other – or failing to fulfil either – limits your marketing strategy, making life more difficult for you and your colleagues.

So, how do you properly balance story and scale in content distribution? In this article, you’ll discover the importance of both pillars and uncover strategies to help you make the best of both worlds.

What is storytelling in marketing?

The world’s most successful brands have a story to tell:

  • For Apple, it’s a story of challenging the status quo through innovation and creativity
  • For Dove, it’s the idea that beauty is diverse and should be celebrated in all forms
  • For Patagonia, it’s making the world a better place through eco-friendly initiatives

These companies, and many more like them, invest a substantial amount of time and resources into crafting marketing narratives that go beyond facts, figures and features. Why? Because what truly captures the hearts and minds of consumers is a compelling story that explains who you are, what you do, and how you can help them.

In a world where you’re competing with dozens, if not hundreds, of companies for people’s attention and custom, your brand story must set you apart from the crowd. When done well, you foster more meaningful, emotional relationships than data can do on its own, speaking to audiences in a way that’s digestible, universal and inspiring.

Take TOMS as an example. Their “One for One” model is built around their founder Blake Mycoskie’s experience seeing children struggling without shoes in Argentina. They consistently publish content that emphasises this altruistic message, helping people understand the vision behind their business.

Why is brand storytelling so important for content creation?

Brand storytelling inspires and motivates people to act

Tapping into people’s emotions through a relatable, empathetic or compelling story helps people get behind your brand. If people understand the narrative behind your products, services and actions, they are more likely to buy into you as a business.

Brand storytelling simplifies complex messages and concepts

A huge part of modern audience engagement is keeping things simple. A well-crafted story makes it easier for people to understand who you are and what you can do for them, and also makes your offering more memorable in the long term.

Brand storytelling enhances people’s trust in your brand

Brands that use storytelling to strengthen their content strategies are instantly considered more credible and authoritative. A story helps to humanise your brand, which in turn creates more trust with customers than speaking to a faceless business.

Brand storytelling stops you from sounding salesy

Fundamentally, storytelling allows you to communicate authentically and empathetically with your audiences. Rather than simply tell them why they should use you, a story presents your offering in a fresh, compelling way that speaks to them on a deeper level.

What is content scalability?

If storytelling is the message at the core of your content, scalability is how you get this message to the masses.

As you might expect, content scalability (or content scaling) refers to how you distribute your content across the numerous channels and formats available to modern marketers.

Content production at scale – while simultaneously delivering high-quality output – is arguably the biggest problem today’s CMOs and marketing leaders face.

But as the range of content marketing channels grows, as well as customers’ expectations to receive content at multiple touchpoints, scalability is something that cannot be ignored.

Effective content scaling means identifying ways to produce content faster, simpler and more cost-effectively, without seeing any dip in the quality or relevance of your assets.

Why is scalable content marketing so important?

Scalable content marketing builds your brand awareness

Maintaining a constant flow of physical and digital content goes a long way to raising people’s awareness of your brand, your story and your offerings. The more you can appear on your audiences’ preferred channels, the more their understanding of your company grows.

Scalable content marketing improves your authority

Similarly, having a consistent and frequent presence on various marketing channels makes your brand appear more authoritative and a “leader” in your space. If you post infrequently or have a smaller presence, that can be a red flag.

Scalable content marketing drives more conversions

Simply put, the wider the spread of your content marketing campaigns, the more avenues there are for customers to engage with your brand. This can significantly boost your website traffic, direct purchases and other conversions you track.

The need to balance story and scale in content creation

As you can tell, storytelling and scalability are both fundamental pillars of success in today’s marketing landscape. However, simply being aware of their importance isn’t enough to achieve the best results – you must balance both in your content creation strategy to unleash your marketing’s full potential. 

To demonstrate why, let’s look at what problems can occur when you prioritise one over the other:

Too much story, not enough scale

The art of storytelling requires a great deal of attention and creativity to nail down. However, if you prioritise this over the scale of your content production, it can mean:

  • You limit the reach of your marketing campaigns, curbing your potential for growth
  • You miss opportunities to connect with potential customers on certain channels
  • You fail to convert customers due to a lack of engagement across touchpoints

Too much scale, not enough story

On the flip side, if you prioritise producing content for all channels at the expense of story and visuals:

  • You risk diluting the impact of your narrative and its emotional impact on audiences
  • You fragment your storytelling, creating a disconnect that alienates your customers
  • You produce content that lacks creativity and uniqueness, turning your marketing bland

In a nutshell, both story and scalability must be equally prioritised to make your content creation as effective as it can be. To make this ambition a reality, you need the right strategies behind your marketing efforts.

6 content creation strategies to balance storytelling and scalability

If you are keen to ensure your content marketing tells stories that capture people’s imagination, and that this can be produced efficiently and consistently to the largest possible audience, here are 6 good ideas to help you find the perfect balance.

1. Let your creatives craft the narrative for your campaign storytelling

While story and scale have equal weight in the content marketing spectrum, story must come before scale. As we highlighted earlier, there’s no benefit in creating a tonne of assets if the story behind them doesn’t connect as intended.

So, designate a creative team to nail down the story behind your brand, and the core visuals, copy and imagery that will best communicate that message. How you construct this team is up to you:

Partnering with a marketing agency can be a beneficial first step. Their ability to look at your company from an objective, outside perspective can help prevent any subjective bias from compromising the power of your brand storytelling.

By giving your most creative minds the freedom to create and mould your story, you lay the foundation for content to flow with the right intent.

2. Make your brand story accessible and understandable for all content creators

After you cement the story behind your campaign and establish the templates for conveying it in your content, you must share this with your teams around the world – not just your marketers.

A crucial key to content marketing at scale is giving more people the power to produce assets that reflect your overall brand story (we’ll discuss this further in tip #3). However, if you don’t make this story and its supporting visuals easily accessible, your creators may veer off course, affecting the consistency and strength of your message.

A printed brand guidelines booklet doesn’t cut it in today’s digital-first, globalised world. Instead, an online brand portal and Digital Asset Management (DAM) system can help your people understand the story behind your brand, and reflect it as intended for their own audiences.

A brand portal allows you to present the digital assets behind your campaign in the context of your brand story. This helps your teams engage with and understand your vision, so they can execute content with this direction in mind. 

Meanwhile, a well-structured DAM system does more than manage your content and distribute it across your teams. It gives your people a complete overview of your campaign assets and messages, so they can learn from and apply them in future.

Plus, if your DAM solution allows you to categorise assets according to their campaign, location and other parameters, your teams can find and reference these exact examples for their ongoing content creation efforts. 

Essentially, the combination of a brand portal and DAM system has the power to educate your entire workforce on your story, which then gives them the power to create content that evokes this message themselves.

3. Harness technology to publish great content at an even greater scale

Of course, not everyone is a skilled designer or evocative copywriter. But the right content creation tools can help anyone produce on-brand, studio-quality assets – and do so at an unprecedented scale.

Investing in template software that provides a safe framework for your users, with the wriggle room to get creative within these parameters, allows you to significantly speed up content production and open this avenue to frontline employees who lack the requisite design skills.

These smart templates do more than make the content creation process smoother and simpler:

  • Individual teams can personalise and localise content so it tells your story in a way that resonates with their specific audience
  • Multiple templates enable your marketers to adapt content to different formats seamlessly – video, digital banners, social media posts, posters, etc.
  • Content stays consistent on all channels through centralised brand governance

Explore the content creation software available and bestow your people with the ability to scale up production to another level, all without compromising the strength of your storytelling or the quality of your output.

4. Coordinate a content calendar that lets your story flow

No matter how strong the story behind your campaign is, or how many people have the tools to produce content at scale – a disorganised campaign is doomed to fail.

Plotting out a structured content or editorial calendar helps you publish content at the right time, on the right channels, to best deliver your campaign’s narrative. More than this, it also gives you an outline of how much content you’ll need for your campaign to guide your creators.

This stops over-scaling from diluting your messages. By spending time on a calendar or schedule for each campaign, you can coordinate your content requirements to deliver the maximum impact for your audiences worldwide.

5. Repurpose content for multiple marketing channels and formats

A smart first step to scaling up your content is through repurposing. This is when you take a central asset and adapt this to other formats and for other audiences. 

For example, you may have a 10-page brochure that breaks down your organisation’s mission, vision and purpose. That one brochure could then spin off into:

  • A series of animated videos for YouTube or TikTok
  • A collection of carousels for your social media channels
  • Several blog posts on your website
  • A group of banner ads with key messages from the booklet

By repurposing, you do more than extend the life of a more comprehensive piece of content. You ensure that everything that spawns from this central point shares the same story, visuals and values on your wider channels, so your brand consistency is never in jeopardy.

6. Prioritise brand consistency at every touchpoint of your marketing

Whatever story you want to tell, on however many channels you want to utilise – brand consistency is key.

Being authentic and constant in how you portray your content’s story is the foundation for building trust with your audience. If any stage in your customer journey breaks, it can make your story feel disingenuous, reducing its emotional pull.

Using content creation tools, such as intelligent design templates, helps ensure that you develop content fitting your brand guidelines and convey your unique creative vision, no matter how much you produce.

Marketing content in balance: Making both story and scale your priority

There is no questioning the value of brand storytelling in making your content as captivating and engaging as possible for your audiences. It’s just as true that without a scalable approach to content marketing, you won’t be able to get that message out at the speed and frequency it needs to succeed.

We hope this article has helped you consider the importance of storytelling and scalability in your content production, and whether you have found the right balance in your organisation.

By taking stock of our tips and strategies, you can take a significant step towards marketing that captures attention, sustains audience engagement, and delivers impact at every touchpoint.

Table of contents:

  1. What is storytelling in marketing?
  2. What is content scalability?
  3. The need to balance story and scale in content creation
  4. 6 content creation strategies to balance storytelling and scalability
  5. Marketing content in balance: Making both story and scale your priority