What is Brand Guardianship? Brand guardianship is about creating a living, breathing brand that feels consistent, inspiring, and true to its values — across every market and every touchpoint. It goes beyond visuals and guidelines to shape how employees, customers, and society experience the brand every day. Iconic brands succeed because they connect emotionally and remain coherent, not just through design, but through every interaction.

What we did

For Trustpilot, we recommended building a collaborative guardianship process across six countries, where the best ideas are nurtured and everyone feels part of the brand journey. Guardianship is not about enforcing rules from afar — it’s about coaching, inspiring, and offering helpful advice early in the creative process. It ensures the brand stays true to its values while evolving naturally with the business.

This approach includes education, regular training, and bite-sized brand sessions for everyone, from the boardroom to engineers. Every asset, from websites to internal communications, is reviewed to maintain brand consistency. The process is structured yet flexible, with clear roles: local and specialist hub leaders guide day-to-day guardianship, supported by the central brand team for higher-impact work or resolution of creative challenges.

By embedding guardianship into daily operations, Trustpilot fostered a global brand community, reduced off-brand risks, and saved millions in time and resources over a decade. Ultimately, it empowered teams to become passionate brand champions, making smarter, more consistent decisions that strengthen the brand at every level.

The results: On brand work, highly engaged teams who understand the importance of brand and where they go for help to make their work even better.