Brand guidelines your next ad team can use

An original guide you can inspect

pouch brief: a travel pouch with 3 compartments, a zip opening and a hanging loop. These are authored design assumptions, not facts about a product for sale. No campaign or customer study has run.

We wrote this example on October 14, 2026 for the pouch. It uses none of an advertiser’s private brand materials. The approvals and rejections below apply only to this brief.

Purpose

Keep the compartment layout and genuine access action understandable across the planned static and video assets.

Product-depiction rule

Show the complete layout. Use the same cable, small bottle and comb throughout. Verify final construction and item fit on a real approved sample before adapting.

Reject

Hidden cuts that add items, altered product construction, or a crop that hides the feature named by the line.

Voice

Literal verbs and named objects. Prefer Open it. Find what you need. to an unsupported statement of superiority.

Claim boundary

No invented customer quotations, ratings, universal capacity, speed superiority or guaranteed results. A real claim needs a named evidence source and approver.

Make the approval difference concrete

Say exactly what needs fixing: the claim has no support, the shot hides the detail, or the items change between shots. “It doesn’t feel on brand” gives the next person too little to fix.

Write readability into the guide

Text example

#141414 text on #FFFFFF has approximately 18.4:1 contrast by the WCAG relative-luminance formula. Check the actual final color pair and delivered text size.

Contrast reference

W3C’s WCAG 2.2 contrast guidance gives 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text under its definitions. This is one check, not full accessibility certification.

Framing

Keep essential words away from product details and interface overlays. Plan Feed and Story compositions separately, then inspect the real placement preview.

Sound and timing

Caption the approved speech and line it up with the action. Watch without sound, then read the script aloud and adjust the timing to fit.

Phone review

Check the actual export at delivered phone size. Export pixels alone do not guarantee readable copy after cropping or platform processing.

Source checked 14 October 2026: W3C’s contrast-minimum explanation. Keep the standard’s definitions beside your check. Do not round a failing value up to a pass.

Separate brand rules from platform specs

Brand rules explain how your product and message should look and sound. Platform specs tell you which files a placement accepts or recommends. Put both in the brief so the designer doesn’t have to guess.

Planned Feed asset

Whole open layout, one literal line and a clear product view. Check the current selected Feed format/objective before export.

Planned Story asset

Recompose for vertical space rather than stretching the Feed layout. Keep key detail and words clear of the actual interface overlays.

Preview decision

Buyer checks current format, placement, objective and destination. Editor checks crop, text, sound-off and continuity in the exported file.

Destination continuity

The product version, named items, approved promise and offer agree across the ad and destination.

Assign an owner to each approval

1. Producer checks the sample, item list, continuity and permissions.
2. Editor checks captions, timing, sound-off, readable text and the final exported file.
3. Product owner approves construction, fit, wording and all real claims against named evidence.
4. Buyer verifies the actual placement, objective, destination and account configuration.
5. Keep a list of anything waiting on approval. Record the version, reviewer, decision and next review date so everyone knows which guide to use.

Take the working document with you

Start with the blank worksheet, or read the filled-in example to see how to use it. You can copy either one.

Keep the research and production connected