Increasing awareness of the brand Lärarförbundet
After a decision in congress, Lärarförbundet needed to update their graphic manual and become more brand consistent. Wanting it to be simple to follow and available for everyone, Lärarförbundet decided to make a transition and acquire a digital brand portal to centralize the brand. We had the great pleasure to talk with Communicator Johanna Andersson, about the project.
Tell us about Lärarförbundet.
Lärarförbundet is a professional trade union with 234 000 members. We unite the entire teaching profession – from preschools to universities. We do this because we know that we are stronger together. This is how we make the right things happen.
Our mission is to be the strong, collected and proud voice of the profession. Together we pursue questions that improve our working environment, conditions and development opportunities.
What is your area of responsibility?
I am a communicator with responsibility for our graphic profile. That means keeping track of our brand expression to ensure it aligns with our graphic manual. I create templates to serve the different needs of employees and elected representatives, which they can use without considering the typography, colors, placement of logotype and more. I also ensure that the content in our image bank coheres with our imagery and has the right tonality. First and foremost, I keep together our day-to-day productions from a graphical perspective.
How did employees and partners previously find all branding materials?
Earlier we didn’t have such a comprehensive platform, where everything was centralized as it is now. Our graphic manual was a pdf, and guidelines were limited to include guides for our logotype, typography, colors and imagery.
What was the goal of the project?
After a decision in congress in 2018, we needed to update our graphic manual in accordance with our identity and vision. We experienced fragmentation in our expression and needed to become clearer and more consistent. The goal was to create an online manual that is easily accessible and simple to follow. We want the whole organization to be aware and understand our brand. In that way, we can together contribute to a high awareness of Lärarförbundet – who we are, our values and vision.
“We want the whole organization to be aware and understand our brand. In that way, we can together contribute to a high awareness of Lärarförbundet – who we are, our values and vision.“
Describe how you use the manual in your everyday operations.
To ensure that we work consistently, everything we do is based on the content in the manual. Our external partners, such as designers and suppliers, have all branding material centralized and can easily find all they need to work in alignment with our guidelines. Additionally, when we create templates for employees and elected representatives, we also use the manual to distribute them. It is also the place we refer to whenever we get questions such as where to find our logotype.
Tell us about your choice to have the manual open to the public?
Transparency is an important part of our identity. That is why we wanted to be open with our platform too. It is there we talk about who we are, and why we look like we do. We want to be clear and available for everyone.
Going forward, what is the next step to continue strengthening your brand management?
We are creating a brand education for employees and elected representatives as a step to further increase awareness about our brand, build confidence in that and know where to find everything: graphic manual, image bank, templates, web shop for print and profile products. Overall, when it comes to our brand management, it is about staying up-to-date to be able to meet the needs and expectations of our current and future members.
Many thanks to Johanna for taking the time to share her thoughts and experiences about the project.
