Why your intranet looks so dull…

Check out this interesting article around the value of branding intranets; Why Your Intranet Needs Its Own Personality.The article points out that the weak governance most organisations have around their intranets makes developing and applying branding difficult. I found it interesting that the author describes a familiar three way tension for branding:

1. Users don’t really care about corporate branding
2. A lot of managers don't want to follow corporate branding, what they actually want is the ability develop sub-branding for thier division or business unit intranet sites
3. Typically it is ‘only a few lonely soles at the top of food chain’ who seem to be adamant on strong corporate branding being applied internally

Sound familiar? The article goes onto describe various reasons why branding the intranet is of value. For me the key point was keep a strong focus on creating value for staff who use the intranet.
Why can’t the intranet be funky?
How many times have you looked at your corporate intranet and despaired that it is another fine example in all that is dull and lazy in web design? Surely for many large ‘steady as she goes' organisations the internal web space is place where a few more risks can be taken? So why can’t the intranet be funky and engaging or at least well designed and easy on the eye?
Try shifting the focus to users and at all cost avoid branding becoming an expression of the power of the designated cooperate owner. How many times have you heard ‘we need to enforce the branding guidelines developed by marketing/internal communication/corporate affairs’…