How Game of Thrones proves you’re using Brand Guidelines incorrectly.

NOTE: This may contain spoilers for Game of Thrones if you’re not finished with Season 4 of the show.

“Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.” -Oath of the Night’s Watch, Game of Thrones

The oath taken by the Night’s Watch is a perfect example of the way advertising, marketing, and product development professionals treat Brand Guidelines.

Everyone in the Seven Kingdoms assumes Men of the Night’s Watch are required to be chaste. But, as Samwell Tarly brilliantly (and creatively) points out in the show’s amazing Season 4, Episode 9, The Watchers on the Walls, that not really the case.

John Snow: “If she asked, you would’ve? You’d have broken your vows?”

Samwell Tarly: “The interesting thing is, our vows never specifically forbid intimate relations with women.”

Snow: “What?”

Tarly: “I shall take no wife, yes, that’s in there, no denying that. I shall father no children, very specific. But what our vows have to say about other… activities… is open to interpretation.”

Snow: “I don’t think Ser Alliser cares much for interpretation.”

The Night’s Watch Oath is your Brand Guidelines. Ser Alliser, the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, is the client, or possibly the “Brand Genius” at an agency. Or the Marketing Manager.

And everyone who works on your brand lives in fear of breaking the rules in your Guidelines — even if the rules aren’t actually there. This is the problem with today’s Brand Guidelines. They’re misused nearly all of the time. They’re often interpreted by the powers that be as rules that must be obeyed to the letter. They’re nearly always followed too strictly.

This way of thinking restricts creative solutions.

I recently had a conversation with a client where I offered a simple suggestion to a design problem we were facing. The client shot down the idea not because it was contrary to the Brand Guidelines, but because it wasn’t included in the Brand Guidelines. Solutions that are not explicitly included in the Guidelines are treated as risky, if not forbidden altogether. The client actually said, “I don’t want to break the rules.” Rules, mind you, that weren’t even there.

That’s why we need to treat Brand Guidelines with a new mindset. We need to treat them as the guidelines they’re intended to be, not as rules. We need to be open to creative interpretations and solutions.

I find much of the problem to be with the Brand Guidelines themselves. They’re overly-detailed, behemoth documents that attempt to account for every possible situation. This level of detail leads to the impression that they are comprehensive documents, when that’s impossible.

Most Brand Guidelines are created to last for at least 2 years, if not more. Can you tell me what new tech will be out at this time next year, and how to create compelling ads or products for it? Can you predict what messaging a competitor — one that may not even exist today — will use? There’s no way anyone can. There’s no Melisandre on your team.

In today’s ever-changing world, how can we expect a document that’s treated as a rulebook to adjust and adapt to factors like competitive marketplaces, new technology, and shifting consumer needs?

That’s why we should have Brand Guidelines that are slimmer, faster, more flexible, and easier to remember and apply. We need to treat Brand Guidelines as creative direction, not examples of executions. We need to leave room for teams to solve problems creatively in real-time.

We need to treat Brand Guidelines as creative direction, not examples of executions.

In the case of Sam and Jon, we should applaud Sam’s creative interpretation of the Night’s Watch “Brand Guidelines.”

Go have some fun, gents.

Thanks for reading! If you’re curious, I use a method of brand development that incorporates LeanUX and Lean Startup methods to help orgs and teams develop flexible brands faster, brands that can easily adjust to our rapidly-changing world. To learn more, get in touch on Twitter: @writebeard