Just as there is a law and order system in the real world that is meant for the protection of people and safeguarding the interests of all citizens, there is a need to safeguard a brand from being misrepresented. There are rules and regulations. There are laws. There are detailed explanations of what constitutes violations and the repercussions for that. And there are people who are specifically recruited for the purpose of ‘policing’ the people – the Police – to ensure that everything is going per the guidelines. And not just the police – you look at every government department – the tax people, the land people, and so on – all meant to ensure that everything is as per the law and going on smoothly.

Brands have the same exact need. Why? Because brands can be abused by wrong representation and lose their imagery. For example, if a premium Rolls Royce started doing ads for year-end sale deals what do you think will happen to the brand image – and I am not saying the company will do it. Perhaps a dealer might. Then the brand police from Rolls Royce would step up and make the dealer retract the communication. Or the fact that there are so many copycats of a popular brand that the brand police are continuously on the job to fight trademark infringement.

Sometimes it is not the extended enterprise but internal employees themselves who are guilty of breaching guidelines. As an illustration, a presentation template is made with the brand colours and fonts by the marketing department. When it is used by people across the organisation, each presentation seems so different – because everyone has tried to add what they think is ‘creativity’. Why? What is the need? Aren’t they spoiling the brand imagery – if the brand colour was red, and the colours used in a presentation are anything but red, where is the brand consistency? These type of offences are the most common. Everyone thinks it is ok to not stick to the prescribed fonts and colours. That is sacrilege. And that is where Brand Policing is most necessary.

Brand Policing is done best by the brand managers because of the relationship with the brand that they build. Depending on the organisation, the brand audit or policing can be a continuous exercise, a process based on checklists or as the name suggests, frequent audits.

Do not let your brand be dragged down by inefficient and poor representation of  it – while intentions might be good – the result is disastrous. It does more harm than good in the long run. Have a Brand Police!