Is your organization ready to gain more control over its brand identity? Do you want, just like the Municipality of Moerdijk, more consistency, professional-looking materials, and significant time savings in the creation process? Mirjam Bijleveld, Communications Advisor at the Municipality of Moerdijk, was closely involved in the internal launch of their Brand Portal and is happy to share her experience.
The Portal for Consistent Brand Usage
“I believe many municipalities are still unaware of the possibilities a Brand Portal offers. But it’s truly a must-have for any municipality that wants to apply its brand consistently. And it’s definitely not just for large municipalities—smaller ones benefit even more, especially where a lot of design work is outsourced and the communications team is under pressure to manage everything. With a well-structured Brand Portal, the entire organization can quickly and easily create brand-compliant materials at any time.”
Moerdijk’s Experience
Mirjam’s 5 Tips:
- Make the case internally.
A brand identity is often seen as ‘something for communications,’ but in reality, it belongs to the entire organization—and its value depends on consistent use. A Brand Portal isn’t just a fun new tool for the communications team; it’s an essential resource for enabling professional communication across the organization. So, make sure leadership understands the problem and sees the bigger picture. Highlight the urgency. If the organization doesn’t recognize that this affects everyone, a Brand Portal won’t solve the issue.
- Take time to set it up properly.
Configure your portal thoroughly, your brand story, media library, templates. Only roll it out when you’re satisfied with the setup. Otherwise, users will have a poor first impression and experience, which will cause headaches later.
- Train your users.
Training ensures they understand what they’re doing, get the most out of the portal, and enjoy using it. The system is quite intuitive, but you need to know the basics. That first experience is crucial for adoption and acceptance.
- Plan for post-launch adjustments.
After going live, allocate time and resources for template tweaks. Users will experiment a lot at first, which will quickly reveal new needs and improvements. You’ll want to implement these as soon as possible.
- Set up the media library right from the start.
You won’t get around to it later: if you don’t do it now, you never will. Keep it manageable: start with a solid base and expand gradually. Monitor search terms to see what people need. The communications team should regularly update the library so that materials always feature relevant, up-to-date images.
Curious about the full story from Moerdijk? Check out the case study to learn how they made their brand easy to find and apply consistently.