Brands are always in competition, and there’s no finish line, which is why the practice of brand stewardship takes grit. Despite technologies that make everything easier, brand caretaking is still a hands-on, long-haul job for brand experts.

What Stewardship Means

The word stewardship sounds old-fashioned and is often inaccurately substituted with consistency and accountability. But it’s more than that. When you take a moment to acquaint yourself with the more profound meaning, you’ll have more motivation and energy to approach it. So, let’s explore the importance of stewardship.

Flight attendants used to be called stewardesses, from the word steward, because they were responsible for the care, safety, and comfort of the passengers entrusted to them. Farmers are probably most often referred to as stewards because they take careful and responsible management of their land. Organizations like the World Wildlife Fund and Clean Water Action have appointed themselves as stewards, ethically and administratively. They make it their duty to watch, guard, and protect nature and the environment.

See Your Brand In The Future

From these examples, you can tell that brand stewardship is future-focused. Let’s see what can go wrong and how we can preempt brand dilution by strengthening brand stewardship.

It can be the Wild West out there for brand owners. Brand consistency can easily be compromised in response to new marketing platforms, brand refreshes, or new products. There should be accurate, up-to-date, and strict guidelines, rules, or frameworks in place to circumvent misuse. Quality control at the design phase can catch missteps that may discredit or erode the brand’s purpose and credibility. Every design decision made today impacts the brand’s future from a brand stewardship point of view.

The Brand Stewardship Mindset

Let’s face it, in practice, brand stewardship can be tedious. We might rather be creating than performing brand quality control. So, our aim here is to change your mind about brand stewardship by motivating you to see it differently. Perhaps one or two of these sharp points will help.

1. Brand stewardship is not a project; it’s a caretaking relationship, administration, and management.

2. You are being entrusted with the brand.

3. Brand stewardship safeguards the future.

4. Prudence and care create brand value.

5. Favor longevity and brand equity over design convenience.

6. Protect your brand to enhance it.

7. Build and connect a supportive audience that includes representatives from the brand and its audiences.

8. Design for future adaptations.

Feel free to steal these points for a presentation. We’ve also included them in a download for you called The Brand Stewardship Mindset.