Energize your brand building with branding templates
Papirfly
3minutes read
Do you ever find yourself at work thinking “I wish there was a better way to keep control of our brand output”? Watching over your brand is complicated when colleagues are constantly using or even creating assets with no respect to your brand guidelines. As a result, building and developing your brand becomes almost impossible.
You might take some comfort in the fact that research shows that over 40% of companies struggle with brand inconsistency. In other words, you’re not alone with your struggles. Nevertheless, brand consistency is a fundamental requirement if you are to succeed with your brand building and we’re here to let you know that there is a way to control your brand output. The answer is – Branding Templates.
Do you ever find yourself at work thinking “I wish there was a better way to keep control of our brand output”? Watching over your brand is complicated when colleagues are constantly using or even creating assets with no respect to your brand guidelines. As a result, building and developing your brand becomes almost impossible.
You might take some comfort in the fact that research shows that over 40% of companies struggle with brand inconsistency. In other words, you’re not alone with your struggles. Nevertheless, brand consistency is a fundamental requirement if you are to succeed with your brand building and we’re here to let you know that there is a way to control your brand output. The answer is – Branding Templates.
Do you ever find yourself at work thinking “I wish there was a better way to keep control of our brand output”? Watching over your brand is complicated when colleagues are constantly using or even creating assets with no respect to your brand guidelines. As a result, building and developing your brand becomes almost impossible.
You might take some comfort in the fact that research shows that over 40% of companies struggle with brand inconsistency. In other words, you’re not alone with your struggles. Nevertheless, brand consistency is a fundamental requirement if you are to succeed with your brand building and we’re here to let you know that there is a way to control your brand output. The answer is – Branding Templates.
How brand consistency positively impacts budgets and ROI
Papirfly
6minutes read
In today’s highly competitive landscape, it’s never been more important to maintain brand consistency. In order to stand apart from competitors, clear, distinct and steady branding is vital in building that strong emotional connection with your target audience.
Your brand is your organisation’s identity. It’s the personality that potential customers see and identify with. This means that any semblance of brand confusion – be it an inconsistent brand presentation across your marketing channels or an ill-thought-out campaign jumping on a recent trend – can cause customers to lose trust in your company.
The consequence of poor brand messaging with your target audience has a knock-on effect on your ROI. Whether it’s loss of revenue from customers disillusioned by your unsuccessful branding, or investment wasted on campaigns that aren’t aligned with your unique brand identity, the impact of inconsistent branding can be far-reaching.
So what are the effects of inconsistent branding? What pitfalls should marketers avoid? And what action can you teams take on marketing campaigns to build trust, prevent poor branding, and create a positive customer experience and improve ROI in the long term?
Where brand consistency falls down
First, let’s explore some of the most frequent factors behind inconsistent branding, and how this manifests itself.
Poorly implemented brand guidelines
Your brand guidelines should be at the heart of all past, present and future campaigns. They should highlight to your team members the core of what makes your branding efforts unique – whether they’re established veterans or freshly recruited, and wherever they’re based across the globe.
These range from details like approved colour schemes, brand styles and brand voice, right through to overarching explanations of your company’s values and ambitions. If these are strictly followed and communicated, there should be no threat to brand consistency.
However, would it surprise you to read that Marq (formerly LucidPress) has reported that while 95% of organisations have brand guidelines set up, only a quarter of these are actually observed?
Without a clear understanding of the fundamental aspects of your brand, it’s impossible for teams to deliver brand assets consistently. There is too much room for interpretation and guesswork – both of which are big contributors to brand confusion.
This is why any brand management solution should include a dedicated portal to support educating teams on their brand. It provides a distinct area users can visit to explore their brand guidelines and everything else necessary to deliver successful branding.
You’ve lost sight of your brand vision
Times change, and brands have to adapt with these in order to survive and thrive. However, meeting new trends and keeping up-to-date doesn’t mean losing your brand identity or your brand vision.
Your brand vision is a core component in what drives your company forward and why you approach your work in the way that you do. It informs your branding strategies, making clear what your company stands for and what makes it unique.
Losing sight of this in an effort to stay on top of the latest trends might seem like a way to capture audiences with positive emotions in the short term. Without oversight and vision, however, it quickly undermines your original brand identity and any positive traction you’ve made on building brand equity.
Not keeping in touch with your target audience
Similar to the above, the impact of not having consistent branding can come as a result of not understanding the needs of your target audience, nor the activities that build trust in your brand in the first place.
The “New Coke” campaign is a clear example of this. While Coca-Cola flourishes as one of the world’s premier brands with a consistently maintained image, the company’s reaction to a decade of popularity for “The Pepsi Challenge” launched in 1975, saw the creation of New Coke – which proved to be a disastrous break away from what their audience wanted or expected.
Audiences want to know that the brands they’re loyal to understand them in a way their competitors don’t. If you don’t stay engaged with your audience’s interests, and adapt your messaging as this evolves over time, your branding efforts will eventually become inconsistent with what they associate with your organisation.
However, the best brands learn lessons and make those slip ups work in their favour. In 2019 the company signed an agreement with the Netflix show, Stranger Things, to feature the failed New Coke product in episodes. With the third season of the hit show set in 1985, Coca-Cola was able to bring a narrative of 80s nostalgia while showing its ability to make fun of itself as a brand – a charming and creative way to enhance its resonance with customers.
Miscommunication between global teams
When it comes to defining inconsistencies and where they come from, a common source is miscommunication. This is particularly a problem for businesses that have teams scattered across the globe, or those who work with external agencies to produce and distribute some of their brand assets.
While this can work in theory, it leaves a lot of room for mistakes. If parties miscommunicate, or instructions are misinterpreted by those responsible for creating the asset, then branding efforts can quickly be undermined.
This can result in poor branding, which either needs to be reviewed, briefed again, redone, reviewed again, and so forth, wasting time and resources. It could also be released to your audience, undermining efforts to build trust and damaging your brand identity.
Understanding the impact of inconsistent branding
So, now we’ve presented a few examples of the sources of brand confusion, how does this undermine your efforts to build a strong brand? You need to consider:
The time and resources you are investing into correcting poor branding
The time and resources it will take to gradually build the trust and loyalty of customers who have been disillusioned due to any negative branding
The damage that is being left to your overall reputation as a result of brand confusion
How to avoid brand confusion
If your brand’s messages, visuals and campaigns across your channels are misaligned, you are sending out confusing signals to your audience. Over time this can significantly undermine your customer experience and brand reputation.
If you are concerned that your efforts are not ensuring brand consistency, consider the following steps:
Make your brand guidelines visible and accessible
Your brand guidelines are your strongest line of defence against brand inconsistency. Make sure they are stored in an accessible location for those responsible for your marketing channels worldwide, and provide prompt guidance if these are updated at any point.
Bring your team on board
As well as placing a more prominent focus on your brand guidelines, it’s important to ensure your team understands it. Ideally this should be done directly, either in the form of a branding masterclass meeting or group workshop, ensuring that everyone involved in executing brand strategies does so consistently.
Establish powerful approval workflows
To reduce any wasted resources on proofing, revising and reviewing assets, set approval workflows to lockdown on any inconsistencies immediately. These parameters keep your marketers and graphic designers in check, reducing the risk of anything being released that doesn’t accurately reflect your brand identity.
Build trust by asking customers for feedback
If you are worried that your brand message might be diverging with the interests and values of your customers, ask them for their feedback via email marketing, social media or other channels. This will help shape your understanding of what customers want from your brand and if you are delivering on these expectations.
The importance of brand consistency
Always remember that brand consistency is a mark of quality. It emphasises to your customers that you are a professional organisation that offers them stability, reliability and attention to detail.
Any deviation from this can hurt the trust you’ve spent a long time building up among your various target audiences. This will leave an unflattering mark on your budget, and the return on investment you can expect from your campaigns.
Take marketing in-house
At Papirfly, we are leading the way on brand consistency. Through our dedicated software, our clients are ensuring seamless integration across their marketing channels. This empowers their teams worldwide with the tools to develop their own brand assets – all while observing brand guidelines and being monitored by key personnel.
Our brand management platform unlocks the potential to bring your branding in-house like never before. By providing your global teams with a platform to create studio-standard brand assets for your campaigns, you can reduce your reliance on external agencies and minimise the inconsistencies this can cause for your marketing. Mastering brand consistency is possible, with the right strategy and the most innovative brand management software.
9 adverts from the 90s that will leave you feeling nostalgic
Papirfly
6minutes read
90s nostalgia seems to be in vogue right now. From the Friends Reunion special and Disney’s remakes of classic 90s animated movies like The Lion King and Aladdin, to the extraordinary revival and cost of Pokémon cards, many look back on the final years of the 20th century with nothing but fond memories.
With the 90s a decade in demand, we wanted to hop aboard the nostalgia train and look back at some of the most iconic adverts from this period, and what lessons we can take from them for future campaigns.
So drop your Gameboy, put on some Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls in the background, and let’s see what marketing in the 90s had to offer.
1. Nike: Just Do It
Although the campaign technically launched in 1988, Nike’s now synonymous slogan “Just Do It” rose to prominence in the 90s, capturing the imagination of consumers for its empowering, universal message, whether people were interested in sports or not.
What began life as a throwaway suggestion based on the final words of a convicted murderer (no seriously) became the glue that connected all Nike’s then-disparate television spots. The message landed better than they could have hoped, and now it’s virtually impossible to distinguish the brand from the tag line.
What’s the lesson?
Think clearly about the solution that your product or service provides to your audience, and contain that into one simple yet powerful message. Also, don’t be afraid to toss out ideas in brainstorming sessions – you might unexpectedly land on a winner.
2. The Energizer Bunny
Again treading the boundary of the late 80s/early 90s, the Energizer Bunny ads were incredibly popular, parodying the established Duracell Bunny and highlighting its superior performance over its competitors. Since then, this pink rabbit has gone on to become just as recognisable as their competition.
What’s the lesson?
This lesson is more of a warning. Despite the popularity of the Energizer ads, sales actually declined, with speculation being that people thought the ads were promoting Duracell, not Energizer.
So, if you intend to make a direct parody of your competitors to promote the performance of your own product, make sure your own brand stands out from what’s already out there.
3. The Andrex Puppy
The mischievous little Andrex Puppy was all over UK television in the 1990s, with his antics not only designed to tug at people’s heartstrings, but to clearly demonstrate the strength of Andrex’s toilet paper and the length of each roll. Today, this loveable pup has made Andrex the biggest brand in its sector by quite a margin.
What’s the lesson?
Consider the benefits of introducing animals into your advertising to elicit a strong emotional response from audiences – of course ensuring to only use them in a way that ties directly to your brand, products or services.
4. The Tango Orangeman
Now onto a mascot that was just as memorable in the 1990s, but a lot more controversial than the beloved Andrex Puppy. The Tango Orange Man was a reaction against the norm television advertising where products improved the lives of those in the advert.
Instead, as the video shows above, after a man drinks Tango he is slapped in the face by a man completely covered in orange, followed by their famous tagline “You know when you’ve been Tango’d”.
The popularity of the ad caused controversy when children started mimicking the slaps in playgrounds, so it was later remade with a kiss instead. But, the campaign was an unquestionable success, boosting Tango sales by around a third.
What’s the lesson?
Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo if the opportunity emerges. This Tango advert and campaign is considered a pioneer of future viral marketing and guerrilla marketing attempts, and that is due to it going against conventional approaches to advertising at the time.
5. Got Milk?
The campaign that launched thousands of memes and copycats. The first “Got Milk?” advert from the California Milk Processor Board aired in 1993, depicting a hapless historian unable to answer a $10,000 phone-in question because his mouth was stuck by the peanut butter sandwich he was eating.
The “Got Milk?” campaign is now considered one of the most memorable of all time, attracting the involvement of numerous A-List celebrities and producing many hilarious ads – although seemingly not making much of a difference to declines in milk consumption…
What’s the lesson?
Often it’s important to target your existing customers with adverts reminding them what’s so great about the product or service you offer, rather than place all your focus on attracting new customers.
6. Wonderbra: Hello Boys
The Hello Boys advert from 1994 featuring supermodel Eva Herzigová turned the tide for Wonderbra in the battle of the bras against the Gossard Ultrabra. Previously considered the old-fashioned choice, this billboard reversed the fortunes of the brand, and has been voted the most iconic poster of all time.
It is so celebrated that Wonderbra revived the concept in 2018, but instead shifted the focus to promoting female empowerment, switching the phrase “Hello Boys” to “Hello Me”.
What’s the lesson?
Today, the lesson we can take from “Hello Boys” is that some adverts are products of their time, and would likely not prove as effective in a different era. In these instances, it is important to assess your landscape and speak to what your audience cares about, as demonstrated by Wonderbra’s transition to empowering messaging.
7. Coca-Cola: Holidays Are Coming
Coca-Cola has long been synonymous with Christmas time, and this advert from 1995 played a big part in cementing that reputation.
With the classic jingle, shots of people marvelling at the vibrant red truck driving past, and images of Santa Claus sipping a cold bottle, this ad has become a staple of Coca-Cola’s holiday marketing, to the point where many go out of their way to see these real-life trucks parade the streets throughout December.
What’s the lesson?
Building an association between your brand and a celebrated holiday can help forge a strong connection with customers when these holidays approach on the calendar. Even if you don’t reach Coca-Cola’s level of association, holiday-themed campaigns can be a great way to capture people’s attention year-round.
8. Guinness: Surfer
Considered one of the greatest television adverts of all time, this Guinness spot depicts a group of surfers waiting for the perfect moment to catch a wave powered by giant horses.
This is more akin to a short film than traditional TV ad, promoting the idea that good things come to those who wait, a reference to the fact that Guinness takes a long time to pour. Costing £6 million to produce, it is regularly mentioned as one of the most artistic and unique ads to have ever been broadcast.
What’s the lesson?
Sometimes putting belief and passion into a project will reap rewards against all expectations. When the ad was initially pushed out for public research, the response was negative. But, by trusting their instincts, they launched one of the most recognisable ads of the 90s.
9. Budweiser: Whassup?!
Finally, 1999 brought us a TV ad that not only captured a great deal of attention, but changed the way people communicated for a long time.
Budweiser’s series of commercials depicting a group of friends on the phone watching a football game and drinking beer launched the famous catchphrase “Whassup?!”, a word that quickly became a go-to introduction for conversations across America.
What’s the lesson?
Don’t be afraid to celebrate the absurdities, quirks and behaviours of your audience in your ads. The more that people can see themselves in your campaigns, the more likely it will resonate with them and create stronger, more sustainable bonds.
From the past to the present and future…
We hope this trip back in time celebrating 90s advertising hit you right in your nostalgia sweet spot. As you can see, even several decades later, there’s a lot that brands can learn from these campaigns to inspire ideas that will have people in the 2050s looking back on old adverts with the same fondness.
And, with innovations like BAM by Papirfly™, it is now quicker and easier than ever for marketing teams to create captivating, perfectly-branded assets for global campaigns.
With the capacity to produce marketing collateral in-house much faster and more cost-effectively, you can have more time to brainstorm creative, compelling advertising for your worldwide audiences, with complete confidence that anything generated by your team is on-brand and studio-quality.
Staying consistent in every channel, on every platform, anywhere and anytime… Yikes! You can feel the stress, right? Unfortunately, the importance of proper and consistent branding is growing simultaneously with the evolving Martech stack. And if you don’t have the proper tools to manage your brand going forward, you’ll soon be in brand trouble.
So, how do you enforce brand consistency? There is no magic recipe as brand management is extensive and there is no single tool that can fix everything. However, if there is one tool you should take a closer look at, it is online layout design templates.
This marketing tool is a must-have for marketers and brands. It simplifies how you manage and protect your brand identity and it streamlines company operations. Let’s take a look.
3 reasons how online design templates protects your brand
Strong brands outperform weak brands by 20%. It’s safe to say that all brands are aiming for brand consistency and with online layout design templates at hand, this job becomes a whole lot easier:
You’ll have one source of truth
One of the biggest challenges with maintaining brand consistency is the issues with asset distribution and storage. With assets spread all over the place, it is difficult knowing what file is valid and which is not, and the risk of brand inconsistency is huge. By collecting all assets in one place, this challenge becomes redundant.
You’ll get brand control and brand development happens from one single place
Not only do you get to control your brand output with online templates, but you also get to keep your brand alive and keep it up to date matching current market needs. Whatever design update or additional format options, you can easily update your brand in real-time.
Staying brand relevant is easy
Market demands, and consumer behaviour is changing fast, and timing becomes a crucial factor for marketers and their brand. With online design templates you don’t have to worry that your brand will fall behind its competitors. Anyone can create brand assets in seconds without involving anyone else.
How to get started with online design layout templates
Map up what brand assets are frequently used
There is probably no need to digitalize every brand asset your company has. Focus on assets that are repeatedly asked for and which need adjustments before use. E.g. posters, in-store promotions, menu’s, business cards, social media assets, ads and similar.
Map up what adjustments your colleagues ask for
You decide what can and can’t be changed, but you also need to make sure your template is matching the user’s need. Are they frequently asking for image changes, then you should allow images to be replaced or changed? Or how about the logo? Do you need to allow for different logo placements or even different logo colors? Regardless, with templates, you stay in complete control.
Digitalize your brand asset templates:
Transform your assets and make them available online. This tool allows anyone to create their own brand assets without risking brand disruption.
Make sure your brand asset templates are available
No tool alone secure usage. It’s crucial that everyone can access your templates 24/7. If not, it won’t take long before they give up and create something on their own.
Monitor usage and asset needs:
Your brand identity evolves, make sure your templates keep up with the development. But here’s the beauty with online templates, you can make changes and update your brand online, your colleagues will have access to the latest updates in real-time.
What kind of brand assets can be digitalized?
In marketing there is more to brand assets than static images and documents. Although this blog mainly mentions assets based on Adobe Indesign you need to know that with the right tool at hand, you can also create templates for video marketing and banner advertising. With a full range template suite at hand, your marketing efforts will never be the same again.
Grow your brand, grow your business
Branding and business growth are closely connected. Not only is proper brand building and the ability to secure consistency important for your brand awareness and company growth, but a solid brand identity also attracts potential investors. According to a study done by Reuters, 82% see brand strength as an important factor for investors.
In other words, proper brand building is mandatory if you want to attract customers and establish brand credibility that keep you market relevant for the long-run. And online layout design templates is one tool that will make this job a whole lot easier.
Display Advertising
Key benefits of display advertising software
Papirfly
3minutes read
The use of display ads as a promotional tool has become common over the last couple of years and is not expected to slow down any time soon. In fact, almost 60% of the worlds population is on internet. It goes without saying; standing out and get market attention requires more than text. You need to visualize yourself.
If you’re putting your money on banner advertising, the chances are that your competitors are as well. And we know all to well that competition is fierce and the market is changing fast. So, how do you secure market relevancy and get in front?
This is where display advertising software comes in handy, allowing you to be agile and efficient with limited effort. Let’s take a look at how this resource can transform how you manage your display ads without killing your market budget and draining your resources.
The use of display ads as a promotional tool has become common over the last couple of years and is not expected to slow down any time soon. In fact, almost 60% of the worlds population is on internet. It goes without saying; standing out and get market attention requires more than text. You need to visualize yourself.
If you’re putting your money on banner advertising, the chances are that your competitors are as well. And we know all to well that competition is fierce and the market is changing fast. So, how do you secure market relevancy and get in front?
This is where display advertising software comes in handy, allowing you to be agile and efficient with limited effort. Let’s take a look at how this resource can transform how you manage your display ads without killing your market budget and draining your resources.
The use of display ads as a promotional tool has become common over the last couple of years and is not expected to slow down any time soon. In fact, almost 60% of the worlds population is on internet. It goes without saying; standing out and get market attention requires more than text. You need to visualize yourself.
If you’re putting your money on banner advertising, the chances are that your competitors are as well. And we know all to well that competition is fierce and the market is changing fast. So, how do you secure market relevancy and get in front?
This is where display advertising software comes in handy, allowing you to be agile and efficient with limited effort. Let’s take a look at how this resource can transform how you manage your display ads without killing your market budget and draining your resources.
The ultimate guide to digital brand management tools
Papirfly
7minutes read
If you work with branding and marketing, you have probably heard about brand management and you have a decent overview of what this incorporates. But have you been able to incorporate proper brand management in your daily routines, or is this something you have on the agenda in the near future, but find it hard to find the time to focus on?
We totally get it. Brand management requires thorough work and it is a jungle to navigate all the different brand management tools that exist in the market. Don’t lose faith, we are here to help you sort out your options and what you need to consider.
In this guide we’ll look at the following brand management tools and it’s capabilities:
Before we get to it, let’s agree on what brand management is.Brand Management is the process of managing your brand’s identity and strategies with the purpose of building a strong, reputable brand that aligns with your company’s growth objectives. This includes how your brand is presented, communicated, and adapted across your company and your markets, and how it is incorporated into your overall marketing initiatives.
All companies have some form of brand management strategy, but it is not enough just to have a plan. The success of your brand management is also determined by how effective your execution is. And this is where the right brand management tools come in handy. But first, what makes brand management difficult?
If we look at brand management with the perspective of handling the processes manually, it is safe to say that trouble quickly follows. Brand management as a process is simply too complex and it requires the entire company’s involvement to be successful. In other words, implementing brand management with the help of emails, company chat channels, intranet and random actions is not a recipe for success.
How do you make sure anyone reads your messages and executes as you request?
How do you make sure everyone understands your brand and use it as you intended?
How do you keep your colleagues from using old brand assets or marketing collateral?
How do you make sure your brand is communicated and presented in alignment with your brand strategies?
This list is long. What you have to ask yourself is – How can you secure brand control, when all you have to rely on is what you communicate? Brand Management is a company task, and you need to make sure you have the correct tools at hand if you want to succeed.
These are the digital brand management tools you need
Digital brand guidelines
Every brand needs brand guidelines. With digital brand guidelines however, a world of new possibilities appears.
Get rid of the traditional PDF document if you have not already done so. But be aware, if you are creating your guidelines using a standard CMS solution, you are missing out on some great brand asset management functionalities. A proper digital brand guideline tool provides capabilities you need to have in place if you want to succeed with your brand management.
Capabilities
Design your digital brand guidelines to perfectly match the brand’s identity and make it easy for everyone to follow your example.
CMS technology with flexible section and content builders allows you to create, maintain, and always keep your brand alive. Digital brand guidelines will keep your brand valid and up to date 24/7.
CMS widgets created for branding purposes allow you to create brand guidelines quickly and professionally. With widgets for adding color swatches, typography, marketing calendar, digital assets, code library ++, creating brand guidelines becomes seamless.
DAM integration allows you to put your brand into context. By connecting your brand assets with the actual guidelines, anyone can easily apply your brand without any extra effort. Everything is in front of them, either downloadable, as a template or as a purchasable item.
Automated workflows enable operational efficiency which is key for proper brand management. You can’t expect everyone to love branding, and this is where digital brand guidelines are magic. With the correct setup, applying your brand will be bulletproof. Your users can follow workflows from a-z without any extra effort or skills.
A key ingredient in branding is having brand assets available and always updated. And most marketers will agree that this is a time-consuming, expensive task where stumbling is easy and brand inconsistency is the result. That is, if you don’t have a DAM tool to help you out.
Digital asset management is the tool that collects, organizes, and distributes all your company’s assets from one single location. Stop wasting time looking for files and re-creating lost assets. It’s a time thief and a budget killer. And here’s the beauty of it. With a digital asset management tool, you kill two birds with one stone.
First, you get to standardize how everyone in your company handles assets in a proper manner and streamline operations. Second, you get to connect your digital asset library to the online brand guidelines and establish reliable and seamless brand management.
Capabilities
Cloud software allows your company to collect all assets in one single place, establishing file transparency across your entire company. Instead of having multiple server locations, VPN connections, inaccessible folders, desktop storage or similar for storing valuable assets that more than one person needs access to, a DAM tool will keep everything safe and secure in one single location.
Category enablement removes the traditional folders and naming conventions. Instead, your assets will be structured based on multi-leveled categories that match company needs and makes files searchable.
Faceted search expands search’n locate by allowing you to add filters and tags to your assets. Additionally, you’ll have filters to narrow down your search based on file type, file format, orientation and more. Finding files has never been easier.
Pre-defined file handling is a powerful capability that will do wonders for your digital asset management. Instead of the painful and time-consuming task, it is to manage and maintain multiple asset outputs, let the system do it for you. Pre-define crops, extension outputs, resolutions and more, and transform your assets for multi purposes.
Share assets with style. No more “your file is too large for this email”. Simply share your files directly from your DAM system. Either as a single file, or perhaps you want to share a collection?
Two-way asset workflow is pure magic. Make sure you don’t end up as the file coordinator. Pre-set your digital asset management tool to handle uploads from creative agencies or colleagues directly to your DAM without breaking your asset structure.
Digital assets are more than static images. Elevate your brand management with digital design templates. This tool will transform the way you work, and it will keep you on-brand everywhere.
Eliminate the stress of supporting your colleagues with customized brand assets. Whether it is translations, image changes, format changes and more, digital design templates will do the job for you.
Simply transform your creative files to digital templates and define what can and can’t be altered and establish a self-service tool where all your colleagues can create their own assets without breaking the brand identity. It’s efficient, time-saving and brand consistency is at ease.
Capabilities
Multi-platform templates. Whether it is assets for print, social media, video or dynamic banners, a full range template tool will cover whatever template you need. Regardless of what platform you need assets for, your colleagues can easily create their own.
Responsive templates allow you to go easy on yourself. Allow your templates to be flexible and fit to more than one occasion. You reduce the amount of assets you need to maintain, and your colleagues have the flexibility they need.
Content-control secures your brand identity and keeps your content on brand. You decide what can and cannot be changed.
Automated workflows make it easy to be a designer. Add guides and directions to your templates and lead your colleagues to design excellence.
3rd party connections are a great way of securing asset delivery when time is of the essence. Connect your template tool to printers, video platforms, media agencies and more.
Your brand guidelines are in place, connected to all the right brand assets and you are ready for a smooth brand management execution. However, as stated earlier, you need to include your colleagues to succeed with your brand management.
By adding a digital marketing planner tool to your brand management, you’ll stay in complete control of the entire branding process and team alignment is at ease. Plan and collect all necessary information in one single place and make planning effortless.
Capabilities
Central management – Local execution allows you to control your activities with ease. Coordinate and collect necessary information and assets and ensure activities are initiated on time and as intended.
Asset control enables secure planning. Only share relevant assets and make sure everyone can easily understand what is going to happen and secure brand consistency.
Email editor and newsletter capabilities allow you to communicate your initiatives with greater control. Know who reads and engages with your information and act accordingly. No more guessing if your campaigns(?) will go as planned. This tool provides you the insight you need to ensure smooth execution.
Benefits of brand management tools
With the above digital brand management tools at hand, your branding processes will never be the same. The benefits? Here’s a short list:
Respond to market changes in a heartbeat: With your brand and assets available and updated 24/7, your response time will be impeccable.
Reduce unnecessary expenses: This is a benefit for the entire company, not just the marketing team. By removing the time employees spend on looking for files, the time can be spent on value-added operations that contribute to achieving company growth. You will also remove unnecessary hidden costs that occur because assets are lost, and resources is spent on re-creations.
Increase efficiency: Streamlining workflows doesn’t need further explanation, the easier the tasks are, the quicker you’ll execute and the more you’ll get done.
Protect and grow your brand: Brand consistency is key to brand growth. With the right tools at hand, controlling your brand output is easy and achieving brand recognition is possible. Your one step closer to reaching your brand goals.
How Papirfly’s digital brand management tools elevate your branding
We know that branding is a team effort, and it takes an entire company to grow a brand. This is why our brand management platformis packed with time-saving tools and features that will boost your branding processes.
In addition to brand guidelines, digital asset management, design templates and a marketing planner, our brand management platform has additional tools to complete the bits and pieces of your branding processes.
With Papirfly you will also have the options for;
Content proofing functionality that allows for seamless team collaboration across your entire company. Our integration with Filestage or Workfront enables powerful and efficient work lifecycles that make online proofing a blast.
Connect your brand management platform to Adobe and Microsoft office for a truly two-way workflow that goes beyond brand and marketing needs. With the CI Hub integration, you’ll secure your brand everywhere.
When in need of print and eager to keep the costs down, this option is a must-have. Our integration with Gelat allows you to keep your printing costs down by printing and distributing locally.
This and more powerful digital brand management tools are supported by the Papirfly platform. If you are interested in learning more about how we can help elevate your branding processes, reach out and we’ll show you with a live demo.
Retail Marketing
How PIM and ERP integration unlocks retail marketing performance
Papirfly
5minutes read
Retailers today are managing more systems, data, and demands than ever before. From inventory and pricing to customer data and campaign assets, the complexity behind daily operations continues to grow. And when systems are unconnected and out of control, it’s your customer experience that suffers.
That’s where Product Information Management (PIM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) integrations come in. By uniting data sources and business processes, these systems deliver operational efficiency, fuel faster campaigns, and help you achieve brand consistency at scale.
Here’s how PIM and ERP work – and why integrating them with Digital Asset Management and Templated Content Creation tools creates a game-changing foundation for retail brands.
What is PIM?
Product Information Management (PIM) systems enable retailers to manage every detail of their products in one place. This includes:
Descriptions, SKUs, barcodes, and specs
Images, videos, and supporting media
Reviews, prices, certifications, and warranties
SEO elements and marketing metadata
Whether you’re selling through ecommerce, via marketplaces, or in-store, a PIM makes sure everyone has access to accurate, up-to-date product information – from content creators to ecommerce teams.
PIM-less retailers could see a grater margin for error with:
What is ERP?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems centralize the essential processes that keep your business running – everything from order management to HR to logistics. In retail, they’re often used to manage:
Inventory levels and product availability
Shipping, payment, and fulfilment
CRM data and customer journeys
Campaign planning and budget trackingd warranties
SEO elements and marketing metadata
An ERP brings clarity and coordination across departments. It ensures real-time data flows between functions and creates a single operational source of truth.
When connected to your marketing tools, that means fewer gaps, less duplication, and more reliable performance across campaigns.
ERP takes care of:
Why PIM and ERP integration together matters for marketers
In a world where delivering a united omnichannel experience for customers grows increasingly important, the strength of your retail marketing depends on the accuracy and availability of your data. Without integration between systems, marketers risk:
Publishing outdated or conflicting product information
Slower time-to-market for seasonal or promotional campaigns
Increased compliance and brand risk due to manual errors
By integrating PIM and ERP systems, you ensure:
Consistent product content across every campaign, landing page, and sales channel
Real-time inventory and pricing reflected in marketing collateral
Streamlined workflows between planning, production, and performance tracking
Localized, personalized experiences based on unified customer and product data
PIM
Collects core data such as names, SKUs, UPCs etc.
Stores product specifications such as weights, sizes, ingredients and warranties
Track sales information such as prices and customer reviews
Digitally feeds data into martketing assets
ERP
Tracks inventory
Monitor and utilises CRM for customer behaviours and nurture journeys
Centralizes customer data
Identifies bottlenecks with billing and payments
Papirfly: the missing link between data and brand
While PIM and ERP systems manage the what and how of your business, Digital Asset Management (DAM) powers the why. It connects your data up with a powerful brand portal, ensuring every asset, template, and campaign reflects who you are and what you stand for.
Access enriched product data directly within campaign templates
Automatically sync stock and pricing across marketing materials
Build local, seasonal campaigns with brand-compliant content at speed
Whether you’re managing new product launches, regional promotions, or always-on campaigns, an integrated Digital Asset Management system unlocks faster execution with zero compromise on quality or accuracy.
Creating an effective retail brand ecosystem
Retailers without integrated systems rely on spreadsheets, manual updates, and disjointed approvals. Result? Wasted time, rising costs, and brand inconsistencies. But for retailers with an integrated PIM, ERP, and DAM solution, the opposite is true. They are able to:
Reduce production delays and errors
Empower teams to create content fast without going off-brand
Keep messaging aligned with availability, pricing, and strategy
Deliver the omnichannel experiences modern customers expect
Ready to get connected?
A single campaign can involve dozens of people, hundreds of assets, and thousands of data points. When those are disconnected, delays and inconsistencies are inevitable.
By integrating your PIM, ERP, and DAM software, you streamline the entire content supply chain. That means more agility, less risk, and a brand experience that consistently delivers.
Unlock scalable, on-brand retail marketing
Discover how Papirfly seamlessly integrates with your PIM and ERP, helping you achieve brand consistent outcomes, fast.
Unlock scalable, on-brand retail marketing
Discover how Papirfly seamlessly integrates with your PIM and ERP, helping you achieve brand consistent outcomes, fast.
What is the difference between PIM and ERP systems?
PIM centralizes product-related data — like descriptions, images, and specs — while ERP manages business operations such as inventory, logistics, and finance. Together, they create a complete data ecosystem for marketing and sales.
Why does retail marketing benefit from integrating PIM and ERP?
Integration ensures your marketing reflects real-time product availability and pricing. It also eliminates manual errors, shortens campaign timelines, and enables localized content creation.
How does DAM fit into a PIM and ERP setup?
Digital Asset Management acts as the connective tissue. It links product and operational data with brand-approved assets and templates, allowing teams to deliver consistent, on-brand campaigns at speed.
What are the risks of not integrating these systems?
Without integration, brands risk publishing outdated information, duplicating work across teams, and creating inconsistent customer experiences — all of which hurt trust and performance.
Can Papirfly integrate with my existing PIM or ERP?
Yes. Papirfly is designed to integrate seamlessly with leading PIM and ERP platforms, enabling dynamic data syncing and automated content updates across your retail marketing ecosystem.
Social media has had its fair share of bad press in recent years, with many claiming it’s turned an entire generation into tech zombies. Whether or not you agree with this, one thing we can say for certain is that social media has become completely embedded into 21st-century culture – it’s as habitual as reading the morning newspaper (albeit several times a day) and its impact on the way we communicate has changed the world forever.
Whether it’s sharing a viral video of a llama on a skateboard or promoting a campaign on the must-have shirts of the season, social media marketing remains one of the most effective, targeted ways to get your brand’s message out there.
What is social media marketing?
The landscape of social media marketing is incredibly broad, with new platforms emerging all the time. The only thing you can ever really guarantee to stay constant in the world of social media is its sheer unpredictability. That said, there are some basic fundamentals that help to shape the way brands communicate with their audiences online.
Depending on your strategy, you will use several channels to communicate with your audiences. It’s a way for you to distribute multiple messages on a regular basis with existing or new prospects.
This can be achieved usually one of two ways:
Organically – a free method to grow, engage with and retain a following using shareable and interesting content.
Paid – Paid social media marketing, which can help support customer acquisition, remarketing and reaching a more specific type of audience.
Organic marketing through social media
Building an organic following is no easy feat, and unless you have unlimited time and resources to dedicate to it, it’s incredibly difficult to deliver on your own and make an impact. Snatching at your content here and there won’t be enough to keep people coming back. And with audience expectations of organic social media marketing becoming more sophisticated (or unsophisticated, depending on how you look at it), brands are now expected to produce gifs, memes, videos, polls, topical content and more.
And the hardest part? Avoiding an approach that’s too self-promotional. Nobody wants to be sold to the entire time. And if you ARE going to ‘sell’ something, it should be done in a way that provides value to your followers.
Do something that’s going to entertain, engage or inform. Surprise, delight or shock them. As long as it falls in line with your strategy and your overall identity as a brand, you can dedicate the time to understand your audience, and what it is they relate to. Not only will it increase your share-ability and the prospect of new people discovering you, but it will also give your existing followers a reason to stay.
Paid marketing through social media
It goes without saying that each social media platform operates very differently. Despite this, algorithms are often analysed and scrutinised by many marketing professionals, with conclusions and advice often drawn that can help loosely guide your individual channel strategies.
We say loosely because, in reality, determining the exact way to get organic content showing more frequently in news feeds is not very straightforward at all.
Why?
Because social media marketing is a business. A very lucrative one at that (with social media advertising revenue forecast at $51.3 billion USD for 2018 alone). If we all knew how to hack the system, social media simply wouldn’t work or exist for that matter. Platforms WANT you to pay to get in front of your audience. And in exchange, many of them give highly detailed, targeted demographics – from the more generic ones such as age, gender and location, through to buying habits and interests.
Targeting is one of many reasons why a brand may choose paid social media marketing platforms over more traditional methods. New customer acquisition, increasing web traffic and raising brand awareness are all key objectives for many businesses. And remarketing on these channels can help you reach people already engaged with your brand, to further prompt them into taking action.
How to develop a social media strategy
Whether you work for an in-house team, a marketing agency, or you’re simply trying to set up something for your own business, it’s important you don’t start doing it until you understand why you’re doing it. Your strategy is the what, how, why and when of your social media marketing. It’s your plan of action, a blueprint to success and a guide to make sure you keep focused.
Define your goals
What do you hope to get out of your social media marketing?
Would you like to build a following?
Generate leads?
Increase conversions?
Give your brand a stronger presence?
Or even just provide a platform for customer service?
Be realistic about what you’re going to use social media marketing tools for. And, depending on budget, what can be achieved within your timeframe. Are you using a combination of paid and organic? What are the short-term and long-term goals? Can you break these down into quarterly, more manageable chunks?
Think about your audience<
Who are they? How old are they?
Where do they spend their time online and offline?
Which platforms are they likely to use?
What are their pain points?
Decide on content
How can you use your audience’s pain points to create useful social media content? Can these pain points be split into overarching themes and topics?
Are there any awareness days you should incorporate?
How will your paid advertising support your organic content?
Get to planning
Once you have your broader topics in place for your social media marketing, you can start putting together top line calendars and schedules for your team to execute. You’ll need to think about content, design and any scheduling tools you may need.
Determine your process for execution
Give your teams their schedule, their briefs and ensure they have all the right sizes for the different social media channels. And that they understand the nuance of social advertising on individual platforms (for example, the 20% text rule on Facebook ads).
Publishing
Once the content and assets have sign-off from all stakeholders, you can begin publishing. Depending on how many posts you need to schedule, you should consider using a publishing tool so you can automate what time they are released to remove some of the manual tasks
Listening and engagement
Once your posts are out, it’s important to monitor your channels on a daily basis. Multiple times a day if your team has capacity. Being able to listen and engage with your followers is important. Plus if anything negative should be said, you can respond to it quickly before anyone has the chance to form the wrong opinion
Analytics and reporting
Most good publishing tools allow you to automate report generation, so make sure you find the right platform for you. Manually checking each channel can be incredibly time-consuming – particularly if you’re tracking multiple brands.
Advertising
While smaller brands can manage their paid advertising in-house, an expert in paid advertising is always beneficial. Having a specialist to support you helps ensure your campaigns are optimised for the right audiences and your strategy is updated in line with any new insights.
Social media as a marketing tool – B2C
How social media marketing techniques are implemented very much depends on the nature of your business. With business-to-consumer brands, there’s often a lot more scope to be visual. If you have a physical product or a personal service, you know you’re talking to an individual about their specific pain points. Things you yourself should be able to relate to on some level.
While any brand will want to retain a certain level of professionalism, you can really push the boundaries with your brand’s personality. Using humour or trending topics and relating them back to your business can be a sure-fire way to capture the attention of social media users – not just your audience but also those beyond it.
Social media as a marketing tool – B2B
Business to business marketing techniques traditionally tend to be more information-led. They’re trying to solve problems for business owners and high-level decision-makers. This does strip back the number of channels that can be used effectively for the B2B market, as professional networks greatly differ from accounts for personal use.
LinkedIn is usually the go-to for B2B social media marketing, either elevating individuals through their personal profiles, LinkedIn advertising or making their company page a source of insight for people’s feeds. That being said, some of the other channels still hold their place for B2B marketers when used in the right way.
Social media marketing on Facebook
Facebook is one of the most widely used platforms in the world. Brands can build organic followings, become content publishers and create highly tailored advertising in the form of videos, static advertising, carousels, slideshows and even Messenger, to name a few.
Social media marketing on Instagram
Owned by Facebook, Instagram is often used by brands to build a loyal following. A great feature of Instagram is the hashtag function, which makes it much easier to build organic engagement – although the ‘following’ earned is often too broad to be relevant. Brands can also explore Instagram advertising in the form of ads, with the ability to now shop ‘in-app’ by tagging products to your post.
Social media marketing on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has had somewhat of a revival recently, with a wider cross-spectrum of people using the online network to promote their skills or brand. Some of the most effective ways to reach business decision-makers can be found through LinkedIn: the option to create thought leaders via individual profiles, build valuable connections and relationships, create a company page that’s the go-to for industry insight or through the targeted, but sometimes expensive, advertising route.
Social media marketing on Twitter
While Twitter’s use may have decreased for teens, 80% of its users are considered ‘affluent millennials’, and 75% of businesses can be found on the platform – two incredible opportunities for marketers. Twitter is also a very popular platform for providing personalised customer service, and for many consumers it’s the first port of call when they have a complaint or query about a missing parcel.
But a lot of Twitter’s appeal lies in how current it is; news breaks here, people share their stories first-hand and live events effectively come with a running commentary when televised. In fact, advertising on the platform is considered 11% more effective than TV ads during live events.
Social media influencer marketing
Another strand of social media marketing that can prove successful for brands with particular products, events or services can be the use of social media influencers. This could be in the form of huge celebrity endorsements with millions on the counter or micro-influencers with just 1,000 to 100,000 followers, but with a deeper connection with an audience interested in your niche.
Instagram is the most effective channel for brands looking to promote via those with a big social following. Giving your brand an ambassador in the form of someone your audience can relate to and admire can prove lucrative.
The future of social media marketing…
Even as the world becomes more critical of the role social media plays in shaping minds, opinions, and the way we show off our day-to-day lives, its evolution is one that marketers will be keen to keep up with. Technology is set to become more sophisticated, targeting will get even more precise and brands will continue to raise the bar when it comes to creating quality content.
There’s no way of knowing where social media marketing will be in 10 years, or even 10 months from now. In an age of instant gratification, and readily available information on quite literally anything you could imagine, social media will continue to play a critical role in B2C and B2B communications. Of course, as the amount of brands entering the same space continues to grow, it’s going to take a remarkable strategy and team to be able to shout above the noise.
Papirfly offers Brand Activation Management software that enables companies to create professionally designed printed and digital assets – in-house in under 30 minutes. Social media posts are often hard to keep up with, which is why empowering any employee to effortlessly create social media assets is a client favourite feature. You can also store & share assets in a dedicated Digital Asset Management platform, educate teams on brand guidelines and manage your campaigns from one central login.
Why a Brand Asset Management system is important to your business
Papirfly
4minutes read
Have you ever asked yourself what the most powerful corporations in the world have in common? Nike, Coca-Cola, Disney.. What are they doing to achieve success? The common denominator in these companies is that their success has been driven largely by the strength of their brands.
Your brand is your most valuable asset – there is no question about it. The fact that you have reached this blog means that you probably agree. Taking care of the most valuable asset in your company requires hard work, and your brand in itself consists of several assets that you need to take care of if your brand is going to thrive. So, let’s start with the basics of why a brand asset management system, or BAM system, is important.
Have you ever asked yourself what the most powerful corporations in the world have in common? Nike, Coca-Cola, Disney.. What are they doing to achieve success? The common denominator in these companies is that their success has been driven largely by the strength of their brands.
Your brand is your most valuable asset – there is no question about it. The fact that you have reached this blog means that you probably agree. Taking care of the most valuable asset in your company requires hard work, and your brand in itself consists of several assets that you need to take care of if your brand is going to thrive. So, let’s start with the basics of why a brand asset management system, or BAM system, is important.
Have you ever asked yourself what the most powerful corporations in the world have in common? Nike, Coca-Cola, Disney.. What are they doing to achieve success? The common denominator in these companies is that their success has been driven largely by the strength of their brands.
Your brand is your most valuable asset – there is no question about it. The fact that you have reached this blog means that you probably agree. Taking care of the most valuable asset in your company requires hard work, and your brand in itself consists of several assets that you need to take care of if your brand is going to thrive. So, let’s start with the basics of why a brand asset management system, or BAM system, is important.
5 inspiring marketing podcasts to get you motivated
Papirfly
4minutes read
The extent of on-demand media means marketers are spoilt for choice when it comes to inspiration and learning resources. The podcast format started off with humble beginnings and is now over 30 million episodes strong across the world. With so many podcasts to choose from, how do you find the ones that provide the most value?
One way is to sift through the charts, the other is to get recommendations by word-of-mouth. The brilliant team here at Papirfly have taken the time to share their favourites below. With different roles, backgrounds and interests, our top 5 gives you an unbiased, varied selection of some of the best contenders for marketing knowledge.
Let’s kick off with something effortlessly easy to digest for even the most prominent podcast sceptic. Neil Patel and Eric Siu’s Marketing School delivers useful, actionable digital marketing tips and techniques in bitesize chunks, with episodes never exceeding 10 minutes.
Covering every corner of the digital landscape, the expertise and experience that Neil and Eric offer make this a must-listen for anyone looking to keep on the cutting-edge of this ever-changing space.
What’s so good about it?
Concise episodes make it easy to fit into your existing routine
Neil and Eric are two of the most knowledgeable and informed minds in their industry
Daily opportunities to expand on your existing skillbase
A back catalogue of over 1,600 episodes to work your way through
Anyone working in digital marketing, be it SEO, content marketing, social media, email marketing or anything online, Marketing School is a can’t-miss.
Frequency: Typically one new episode launches every day
While many other marketing podcasts springboard from one topic to the next, this one is focused on the use of technology within marketing, though the hosts (Christopher Penn and John Wall) frequently talk about the value of traditional campaigns.
The natural style makes you feel like you’re listening in on someone else’s (very useful) conversation.
What’s so good about it?
Usually covers the latest updates on social networks
Lots of great insights on SEO
Whilst big on digital, also covers ‘offline’ marketing
Gets to the important points quickly
Anyone who is interested in continually hearing opinions and improving upon their understanding of the marketing world. The podcast itself has picked up huge traction and often features some of the most influential marketers of our time, including Simon Sinek and Seth Godin.
Frequency: Usually once a week, but this can vary.
For the latest news and views from throughout the marketing industry, where better to turn than the world’s leading professional marketing body?
The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) Podcast hones in on relevant, essential stories that are impacting how marketers work right now, and discusses these openly and accessibly, delivering a lot of up-to-date information for listeners.
What’s so good about it?
Features interviews with leading marketers in globally recognised companies
Spirited debate and insight from highly experienced professionals in the CIM team
Covers the length and breadth of the marketing industry
The CIM Marketing Podcast is perfect for anyone interested in getting the latest news and views from the world of marketing, and who want to apply these developments immediately into their own work.
Frequency: They aim for an episode every 2 weeks, but there’s the odd gap here and there.
For an in-depth exploration of organisations from all industries who have forged and perfected their brand identity, Brand Builder is the ideal destination for you.
The show’s three hosts, Sean Kelly, Jordan Cohen, and Jeff Murphy, interview business leaders and brand managers from some of the world’s most innovative brands. This gives listeners an unparalleled understanding of their journey to where these companies are today, to inspire their own approaches.
What’s so good about it?
Interviews with branding experts across a wide range of industries and geographies
Learn from real people’s experiences in the world of branding to support your own perspectives
Lengthy interviews really get to the heart of each brand’s techniques, challenges, and unique insights
Brand managers and people fascinated with how brands establish their distinctive identity and tone among their audience and the wider public.
Frequency: There is no set timetable for Brand Builder, but expect at least 1 new episode to drop every month.
Everything content, social media and the wider media space, Joe Poluzzi and Robert Rose host what could be described as an ‘audio newsletter’ podcast: a round-up of all the best bits, lessons learnt and headlines facing the media and marketing industries.
What’s so good about it?
Breakdown of industry news and what it means
Good mix of useful insights and light-hearted rants
Created by the Content Marketing Institute, so expect everything to be up-to-date
Anyone that wants to keep up-to-date, and hear unbiased views on what’s going on in the marketing, advertising and media world.
Frequency: At least every other week, but are sometimes released more often.
We understand that every type of marketer faces a unique set of challenges in their role, which is why our team was tasked with sharing the podcasts they felt would be relevant to people in a wide range of positions.
The way we consume media is changing, and over the last year podcasts have helped people across many industries stay connected to the things they care about most.
Whether you’re thinking about starting a branded podcast, are interested in sharpening your marketing skills or just want to discover new opinions on the world, we hope you enjoyed your journey into the world of marketing podcasts, and meeting some of our valued team.
Gå ikke glipp av en faglig ettermiddag i Oslo med eksperter fra Statkraft, Kantar og Papirfly! Start høsten med inspirasjon og konkrete tips til å bygge en sterkere merkevare. Etter faglig påfyll blir det mingling og noe godt i glasset.
