Brand Guidelines Version 9.2 7-18-11
1.1 Purpose The purpose of these guidelines is to implement our brand position and help create a consistent voice, look and feel to all Merry Maids marketing materials. It is impossible to predict every possible circumstance or need; therefore, these guidelines will help support the integrity of the brand. 1.2 Target audience The Merry Maids audience is primarily the female homeowner. In general, she is busy, educated and focused on her home and family. Her age is 35-64, with household income and home market value skewing above average. She loves having or would like to have relief from managing or doing her housecleaning so she can spend more time on things that are more important to her. 1.3 Passion statement Our mission statement is crafted in words, but our mission is one of tireless action. We understand that our team members are our greatest strength and most enduring long-term competitive advantage. It is together that we all strive to achieve a higher standard the Gold Standard highly professional residential cleaning services every time, all the time. 1.4 Consumer take away: confidence Because Merry Maids is committed to acting in a professional manner at all times, I am confident in the cleaning experience they will provide me and my home.
2.1 Brand essence Merry Maids true brand value is shaped by three primary drivers with each defining the brand internally and externally. People recognize the power of our people. Treat our team members with the same concern, respect and care we expect them to show our customers. Purpose approach our work with purpose and a dedication to reliable and highly professional cleaning every time. Pride we have high standards for our work so that we do the right thing and live by the Golden Rule. We clean people s homes like they are our own.
3.1 Logos The Merry Maids corporate logo is the cornerstone of our visual identity. It should appear prominently on all pieces. The tagline Relax. It s Done. speaks to all of the attributes of our service and resonates with our target audience. All acceptable versions are shown on the following pages. The logo with the tagline ( Relax. It s Done. ) is the preferred version. Use it whenever possible especially with customer facing materials. Merry Maids tagline. Never use the tagline in regular copy. It should only appear as the tagline in conjunction with the logo or as a stand-alone headline on collateral. The logo with the tagline Relax. It s Done. is the preferred version. Use it whenever possible and especially when consumers see it. Only use the tagline in conjunction with the logo or as a stand-alone headline on collateral. The logo without the tagline is used if the tagline appears as a headline on the same page or in other ServiceMaster corporate usage where the tagline is not appropriate. The primary usage of the Merry Maids logo is green on a white background or reversed to white out of a Green Stripe. It may also reverse to white out of another color from the Merry Maids palette or a contrasting photograph. The Merry Maids trademark The Merry Maids logo is trademarked in a variety of ways and is protected as a registered symbol. Only use it in the various forms in this document. The logotype is registered with and without the tagline. The tagline by itself is also a registered type mark. Always use the original artwork and do not typeset the Merry Maids logotype since the artwork is registered.
3.2 Misuses of the logo Use approved logo artwork. Never re-typeset the logo or tagline in any other font. merry maids Relax. Itʼs Done. The Merry Maids logo should not be modified in any of these ways. Never place the logo inside a shape other than the green stripe. Do not use the black version on full-color pieces or over backgrounds of color from the Merry Maids palette. Do not use a drop shadow behind the logo or make the logo three dimensional. Do not use an outline around the logo. Do not resize elements of the logo/tagline. Do not distort the proportions of the logo.
3.3 Logo clear area The Merry Maids logo (or logo with tagline) should always be surrounded by a clear area to maintain its readability and keep it distinct from other elements. When used alone (without tagline), there should be clear space on each side of the logo that is the equivalent of the height of the lowercase m in Merry Maids. When used with the tagline, the clear space above and to either side of the logo should be equivalent to the height of the m and the space below should be equivalent to 1-3/4 the height of the m as measured from the logo itself. See diagram on the following page. Logo with clear area width of lowercase m width of lowercase m height of 1-3/4 lowercase m width of lowercase m width of lowercase m The ServiceMaster logo should appear on pieces whenever possible. It is secondary to the Merry Maids logo and should be less prominent but no smaller than 1 wide with 1/2 clear space around the logo. It should print black over a white or light background or reverse out of a dark background.
3.4 Logo color usage The logo may appear in Merry Maids Spring Green on a white background or black (and reversed to white with a black background) if the piece is strictly black and white. It may also reverse to white in front of another color from the Merry Maids palette or a contrasting photograph. Use the horizontal or stacked version as required by the layout. 3.5 Brand colors The Merry Maids color palette was selected to appeal to our female target and invoke feelings of clean and freshness. Use of these colors ensures consistency from piece to piece and helps build brand recognition. Contact the Home Office for specific colors related to paint and exterior signage and vinyl. Merry Maids Signature color: Pantone 368 Green; CMYK: 57c, 0m, 100y, 0k RGB: 122r/193g/66b Hex: 7ac142 Merry Maids Secondary color: Pantone 312 Blue; CMYK: 63c, 0m, 0y,16k RGB: 44r/171g/211b Hex: 2cabd3 These supporting colors should only be used for smaller functions such as buttons or accent colors. Merry Maids supporting color: Pantone 271 Lavender; CMYK: 43c, 37m, 0y, 0k RGB: 147r/152g/204b Hex: 9398cc Merry Maids supporting color: Pantone 7416 Papaya; CMYK: 0c, 53m, 68y, 0k RGB: 246r/144g/93b Hex: f6905d
3.4 Fonts The approved font for Merry Maids is the Fruitiger including various weights. It was chosen for it s professional look and readability in a variety of uses. Fruitiger is a licensed font. If you do not have Fruitiger available, appropriate substitutes are Arial or Calibri. Bernhard Gothic SG was introduced in 2005 and can still be used on older materials. Fruitiger Roman Fruitiger Roman Italic Fruitiger Bold This font may also be used: Bernhard Gothic SG book Bernhard Gothic SG book italic Bernhard Gothic SG medium Bernhard Gothic SG medium italic
3.4 Layout and brand personality Acquisition pieces Design: It should feel clean and uncluttered, printed in full color. Images should bleed off three sides whenever possible, leaving the bottom area white for headline, body copy and logo. Graphic elements: A green stripe with a white logo inside can be used in the layout but is not required. It contains brief body copy and the logo with tagline, both of which reverse to white. Typefaces:Headlines are set in Fruitiger Bold, normally in black or dark gray. Body copy should be set flush left, ragged right using the Fruitiger typeface family. Bernhard Gothic SG can still be used in older materials. Photography is an integral part of the campaign. It shows clean uncluttered modern environment with clean design in the decor, but not too contemporary. The pride campaign has two acceptable directions: Pride Shines: A confident sales person in conjunction with a clean interior home behind her. Pride Cleans: A team member cleaning some part of the house. Graphic elements: The pride shines campaign employs the use of a shine sparkle graphic The salesperson image is integral to acquisition pieces making a personal connection to the consumer. These sales images should be used whenever possible in the pride shines campaign. The pride shines employs the use of a shine sparkle graphic and photography that is very clean, light and sometimes has a shine reflection on the floors or furniture. A measurement graphic is also used in conjunction with brand measurement statements Tightly cropped small cleaning photos are sometimes used to reinforce the ideas of clean and shine used primarily in the pride shines campaign. Green corner graphics that go with the headline, We don t cut corners, we clean them. are used in the Pride Cleans campaign. Brand personality questions that help to guide design decisions: 1. Is the customer shown enjoying her clean home when interior images are used? 2. Is the image compelling? 3. Is pride/professionalism communicated? 4. Does the design feel like a premium brand?