Digital Brand Documentation

Definition

Digital brand documentation digital branding task during which the development organization documents the customer organization's new digital brand.

Objectives

The typical objectives of digital brand documentation are to document the:

• Customer brand analysis
• Competitor brand analysis
• Digital brand description document
• Digital brand communication plan

Preconditions

Digital brand documentation can typically begin when the following preconditions hold:

• The business strategy phase has started.
• The digital branding team has been staffed and trained in the digital brand documentation task.
• The other digital branding tasks have been started.

Completion Criteria

Digital brand documentation is typically complete when the following postconditions hold:

• All branding documents are complete.
• All branding documents have passed evaluation, were baselined, and were accepted by the customer representative.

Steps

Digital brand documentation typically involves the Digital Branding Team performing the following steps in an iterative, incremental, and parallel manner:

• Document the results of the digital branding activity by producing the following documents:
  • Customer Brand Analysis
  • Competitor Brand Analysis
  • Digital Brand Description Document
  • Digital Brand Communication Plan

For each of the above documents, the digital branding team typically performs the following steps in an incremental, iterative, parallel, and time-boxed manner:

• Read the associated content and format standard.
• Create the document by using the associated template.
• Fill in the front matter of the document.
• Fill in the introduction section of the document.
• Fill in the body of the document.
• Fill in the appendices including all major issues, TBDs, and assumptions.
• Regenerate the table of contents and table of figures.

Techniques

Digital brand documentation can typically be performed using the following techniques:

• Content and format standards
• Templates
• XML, HTML, or MS Word (in order of preference)

Work Products

Digital brand documentation typically results in the production of the following work products:

• Customer Brand Analysis
• Competitor Brand Analysis
• Digital Brand Description Document
• Digital Brand Communication Plan

Guidelines

• Using technical writers instead of branding strategists to produce and maintain these documents often results in higher quality, lower costs, and fewer schedule overruns.
• If documentation is relegated to the end of the digital branding activity rather than being performed iteratively, incrementally, and concurrently with the other digital branding tasks, the probability that the documentation will never be properly completed increases as well as the risks to the endeavor.