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How to set up a Brand Book in MarketScale

A field-by-field guide to building a Brand Book that gives your editor everything they need to nail your branding the first time.

Your Brand Book lives inside MarketScale and tells your editor what your brand looks like before they touch a single video. Done right, it cuts your revisions and gets your first draft on-brand from the start.

A Brand Book is an extension of the edit request form, not a replacement for it. The edit request form tells the editor what's in this video. The Brand Book tells the editor how every video for this brand should look.


What the Brand Book is, and what it isn't

What it is: the editor's working surface. The version of your brand they can scan in under two minutes and apply correctly while cutting your video. The handful of decisions that have to be right: logo, hex, font, intro, outro, voice cues, one or two examples.

What it isn't: your brand standards manual. Brand standards documents are long for good reason. Designers, agencies, and internal teams need the full picture, the wordmark exclusion zones, the historical context, the do-not gallery. That's the right document for those audiences. The Brand Book is built for a different audience and a different moment.

Your editor is in the middle of cutting. They have hours but not days. They're scanning for what to apply, not studying for what to memorize. Build the Brand Book to match that moment and your edits come back fast and on-brand. Build it like a standards manual and the editor either misses something buried inside it or stops cutting and starts reading.


Who can build a Brand Book and where to find it

Brand Books are scoped to the channel, and editing can't start until at least one complete Brand Book is locked in.

Permissions:

  • Admin: create, edit, delete, and use Brand Books.

  • Standard or Guest Pass user: use Brand Books in edit requests, but cannot edit or delete them.

Where can admins find them: Profile picture > Admin Actions > Brand Books and Saved Orders.


The golden rule

Test your Brand Book against this question: would a brand-new editor know exactly what to do after a 90-second scan?

If yes, you've nailed it. If they need 10 minutes to find the answer, it's too heavy. If they still don't know after the scan, it's too light. The middle is what works.

A Brand Book is not a Dropbox or an archive of every asset you've ever made. It's the working surface your editor uses while cutting. Screenshot what matters. Upload what gets used. Leave the rest out.


Build one Brand Book per brand or series

No limit on how many you create. The naming should make each one obvious in a dropdown.

  • Examply general branding becomes "Examply."

  • A sub-brand or division gets its own Brand Book. Some common examples:

    • Examply podcast becomes "Examply [Podcast Name]"

    • Your employee resource group gets a Brand Book

    • A Brand Book for your company's 30th-anniversary branding

  • A different intro or outro for one specific show gets its own Brand Book

Pro tip on naming: Use the actual brand or series name. Skip numbered versions like "Examply 1" or "Examply 2." Remember, other users in the channel need to know at a glance what the Book is and what it's for.


How to build a great Brand Book

Here's a comprehensive, step-by-step walkthrough to building a Brand Book that gets your editors exactly what they need without confusion:

Upload your logos

  • Include: one dark version, one light version, both PNG with transparency.

  • In the notes: specify exact placement. "Bottom right, 8% margin from edge."

  • Skip: every variation, Illustrator files, logos uploaded "just in case."

  • Bonus move: screenshot logo misuse examples from your brand guidelines and upload them so the editor knows what to avoid.

Add your colors

  • Include: primary and secondary colors only.

  • Format: hex codes only. RGB or hex digital values, never CMYK. CMYK is for print.

  • Skip: every color in your palette. Just use the ones that show up in video.

Lock in your fonts

This is the most critical field. Incomplete font information is the number-one cause of edits coming back off-brand.

  • Type the exact font name, including spelling and capitalization.

  • Specify weights in the notes. Which weight is for headlines, which is for body. Example: "Headline: Montserrat Extra Bold. Body: Montserrat Regular."

  • Upload the actual font files as a ZIP. Naming the font is not enough. The editor needs the files.

  • If you use Adobe Fonts, paste the sync link.

  • Don't upload 35 weights. The editor will guess, and guessing is how brand mistakes happen.

Show your graphic style

Visual inspiration only. Examples of shapes, textures, photography style, treatment references. Not for project files or asset storage.

State your voice, tone, and compliance

  • Brand personality, voiceover style, pacing, terminology.

  • Legal or compliance requirements that apply to every video.

Pro tip: Don't overdo it here. Three or four clear cues the editor can hold in their head beat a wall of brand philosophy. "Warm but not corporate. Punchy. Never sarcastic." That's enough. The editor is making one decision at a time, not memorizing a manifesto.

Upload one intro and one outro

  • One intro, one outro per Brand Book.

  • Need a different intro for a specific show? Build a separate Brand Book for that show.

  • MP4 files preview inside the platform. MLB files upload but cannot be previewed.

Add music (optional)

  • Licensed tracks for a specific series, or style reference tracks.

  • Do not upload copyrighted music you cannot license for use.

Upload your templates

  • Lower third MOGRTs, PSDs, Illustrator files, Studio frame templates.

  • All template files must be editable. A flattened file is useless to the editor.

  • ZIP before uploading.

  • Not for full Premiere Pro project files. Those belong in a Saved Order.

Link one or two example videos

  • One or two approved videos that show what "right" looks like.

  • Visual reference only. Not a frame-by-frame instruction manual.


What goes where - at a glance

Content type

Brand Book

Edit Request Form

Saved Order

Logo PNG, dark and light

Hex codes / colors

Font files and weight specs

Intro and outro files

Lower thirds and MOGRTs

✅ Templates

Visual style reference

✅ Examples

Content instructions

✅ standing notes

Full Premiere project files

Episode-specific notes

✅ standing notes

B roll links

Due date

✅ Additional Notes

Pro tip from the coaches: Review and lock in your Brand Book before submitting your first edit request. A complete Brand Book is a hard requirement for kicking off editing.

What happens if your Brand Book is incomplete?

  1. The editor flags it.

  2. The video moves to Needs Info.

  3. You'll get a notification to update your Brand Book.

  4. Once it's fixed, we'll get your edit back in the queue.

Prevention is the Brand Book review at kickoff. Get it right once and you'll never lose time in Needs Info.


Watch the walk-throughs

Check out these walkthroughs to help you build awesome Brand Books.

Brand Books 101: What they are and how to build them


The Goldilocks approach to Brand Book setup


No Brand Book yet? Here's how to get your first video moving

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