Brand Style Guide
What is our brand story?
A brand story brings a brand to life.
The Ziff Davis B2B brand is not only a name, a logo, or a claim; it is our reputation in the minds of our customers about our people, our products and our services. Our brand is the expression of our company’s identity.
Our brand methodology provides guidelines for communication that boost awareness, recognition and preference for Ziff Davis B2B. We want our brand to be a clear and memorable promise to our customers, and a distinctive personality everyone can identify with.
Who are we?
Basically, we’re the connection between you and in-market buyers.
More specifically, we’re the global market leader in omni-channel marketing demand generation, providing clients with precise access to the world’s most powerful technology buyers at every step of the buyer’s journey.
Why are we here?
To enable companies to identify and connect with their next customer wherever they are in their buying journey.
Sounds easy, but it’s incredibly complex. Good thing we have the tools, experience and know-how to do the heavy
lifting so our clients can focus on the stuff they’re best at.
Our promise
Help clients meet decision makers wherever they are in their buying journey.
That means an omni-channel approach to every challenge and marketing strategies that reach all decision makers, since buying decisions are more often made by committee today.
Our strategy
Create connections between companies and in-market buyers.
We use every tool in the toolbox to help marketers connect with audiences, educate customers and nurture decisions. From search, webinars and branding to data refinement and one of the largest call centers in the world, we enable clients to put every possible tactic
into play.
It’s not enough to be passionate about what we do
We have to consciously understand
what drives us in order to communicate it.
Our Voice
We are empowered, responsible and results-driven. Oh, and fun. Here are our core characteristics to ensure that everything we do communicates
the same personality and emotion.
AUTHORITATIVE
We are battle tested and ready. We can speak with confidence about the subjects we know best. Experience has made us wise so we can be confident that we can inspire ideas and turn ideas into reality.
WELCOMING
We’re human. Not the ego-driven kind, but that kind that speaks your language openly, honestly and transparently. We’re always warm and helpful. We strive to understand the struggles of your teamand always take the time and effort to understand how you work and what drives you.
RELIABLE
We act responsibly by understanding and taking into account decisions that directly affect the everyday tasks of our clients. We don’t believe in
keeping secrets fromour clients – we tell it like it is. We recognize that customer success is the foundation for our own success.
Our Tone
We adjust our tone appropriately depending on who we’re talking to and what we’re talking about. Entirely driven by context, our tone always
embodies our personality and values.
INFORMAL
But never sloppy. We maintain a personal, relatable tone as if we’re speaking directly to our audience.
TENACIOUS
We never stop trying to go the extra mile to provide the best service and solutions available. When speaking to our customers, we always exude our
above and beyond, customer first mentality.
ADMIRING
When referring to our solutions and services, we emanate a great deal of pride and confidence in our quality and value.
Our foundational language
The following three statements of varying
word-counts (90, 50, and 25) can be used to
represent our brand across various platforms.
85
Ziff Davis B2B is the global market leader in omni-channel marketing demand generation, providing our customers with precise access to the world’s most powerful technology buyers. Our wholly-owned media network is known for its thought leadership, editorial and select industry content that is trusted and consumed by the decision makers and influencers our clients want to reach. As a result, we are able to leverage proprietary behavioral data, actionable intelligence and comprehensive marketing solutions to put our customers in front of buyers at every step of the buying customer journey.
50
Ziff Davis B2B is the global market leader in omni-channel marketing demand generation, providing customers with access to the most powerful technology buyers. Using intent data from our owned and operated media brands as well as thousands of premium B2B publishers, we help marketers connect, engage, influence and captivate audiences.
25
Ziff Davis B2B is the global market leader in omni-channel marketing demand generation, providing customers with precise access to the world’s most powerful technology buyers.
Managing our brand’s identity
Say hello to our logo
Our logo is the most immediate representation of our company and products. To maintain the consistency of the brand, all logo guidelines should be
followed, and the logo should never be altered in any way.
Logo variations
FULL COLOR BLACK AND RED
As the most forward-facing element of our brand, our primary logo should be used on our branded collateral whenever possible. To maintain the consistency of the brand, all logo guidelines should be followed, and the logo should never be altered in any way.
FULL COLOR WHITE AND RED
While ‘Full Color Black and Red’ is our primary logo and should be utilized whenever possible, the ‘Full Color White and Red’ alternative version can be used at the discretion of the designer.
KNOCKOUT
When used over colors or images that are too dark for our ‘Black’ logo to be legible, we use this knockout version.
BLACK
When printing restrictions prevent us from using our full color or knockout versions of the logo, this black version can be used.
Logo usage
CLEAR SPACE
To preserve the integrity of the logo, always maintain the specified minimum
clear space, which insulates our logo from distracting visual elements, such as
other logos, copy, illustrations, or photography.
SIZE
Ensure the logo is reproduced in a legible size and that it does not appear
subordinate to any other partner logos included on the creative executions.
Similarly, do not present the logo in a way that makes it the most distinctive or
prominent feature of what you’re creating.
MAINTAINING SHAPE AND PROPORTIONS
To ensure accurate and consistent use, never alter, rotate, embellish, or attempt to recreate the logo. The proportions and shape of the Ziff Davis B2B logo should never be altered for any reason. To resize, hold the “Shift” key in
most software programs to maintain the proportions while scaling up or down. Always maintain the minimum clear space, even when proportionally scaling the logo.
COLORS
Do not modify the colors in our primary logo. If you are unable to use the correct colors, the monochromatic logo should be used.
Color palette
PRIMARY LOGO COLORS
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Ziff Davis colors come in 5 broad flavors.
The first flavor, Primary Logo Colors, is locked down and should never be changed. The remaining flavors, Secondary Neutral, Blue Gray, Warm, and Cool colors are shown here as a general guide but do not have to be followed as strictly.
However, the Ziff Davis color palette should always remain bold. Avoid pastel tones, fluorescent hues, or other colors that tend to muddy the palette.
SECONDARY NEUTRAL COLORS
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
SECONDARY NEUTRAL COLORS
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
SECONDARY COOL COLORS
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
SECONDARY WARM COLORS
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Hex #cd3428, RGB 205 52 40, CMYK 13 94 99 4, Pantone 485
Typography
Barlow Light
Aa
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Barlow Regular
Aa
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Barlow Bold
Aa
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
Barlow Black
Aa
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
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About Barlow
“Barlow is a slightly rounded, low-contrast, grotesque font type. Drawing from the visual style of the California public, Barlow shares qualities with the state’s car plates, highway signs, busses, and trains.
This is the Normal family, which is part of the superfamily along with Semi Condensed and Condensed, each with 9 weights in Roman and Italic.
The Barlow project is led by Jeremy Tribby, a designer based in San Francisco, USA. To contribute, see github.com/jpt/barlow” https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Barlow
Paragraph styles
To maintain visual consistency in our presentation of text, we have designed a few primary type sets, which are outlined on the right.
Large headlines in Barlow Semi-Bold
Supporting subheader in Barlow Semi-Bold
Supporting text and small body copy in Barlow Regular. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore.
TITLE IN BARLOW SEMI-BOLD UPPERCASE
Large headlines in Barlow Semi-Bold
Supporting text and small body copy in Barlow Regular. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore.
CALLOUT TEXT IN BARLOW SEMI-BOLD UPPERCASE
Supporting text and small body copy in Barlow Regular. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore.
Ziff Davis B2B rectangles
There are two types of rectangle motifs. Translucent red and translucent white outlines. Transparency percentages are set on a case by case basis depending on the image, avoiding the appearance of shades of pink. Use 80%, 70% and 60% for light images and 50%, 40% and 30% for dark images. Translucent white outline rectangles should be set at 60% opacity with a stroke weight of 4.
Lifestyle photography
COMPOSITION
– Layered depth of focus
– Subject can be off-center
– Scenes/backgrounds are asymmetrical
– Allow room for copy to the left or right
TREATMENT
– Bright, rich color palette
– Avoid images with high contrast
– Avoid images with large white areas
– Use overlays to improve copy legibility
– Brand images with translucent red rectangles and translucent
white stroke rectangles, but not for every image. Always keep the
Ziff Davis B2B logo rectangle aspect ratio intact
ETHOS
– Subjects are engaged in real life experiences
– Subjects should rarely break the 4th wall
– Avoid images with overly dark, foreboding tones
– The mood is inspiring, sometimes whimsical, always evoking
trust
Concept photography
COMPOSITION
– Layered depth of focus
– Subject can be off-center
– Scenes/backgrounds are asymmetrical
– Images with strong lower-left-to-upper-right angles encouraged!
– Avoid images with strong upper-left-to-lower-right angles
– Allow room for copy to the left or right
TREATMENT
– Bright, rich color palette
– Primary colors encouraged
– Avoid images with high contrast
– Avoid images with large white areas
– Use overlays to improve copy legibility
– Brand images with translucent red rectangles and translucent white stroke
rectangles, but not for every image. Always keep the Ziff Davis B2B logo
rectangle aspect ratio intact
ETHOS
– Subjects can be people, architecture, furniture or other objects
– Human subjects should rarely break the 4th wall
– Avoid images with overly dark, foreboding tones
– The mood is inspiring, sometimes whimsical, always evoking trust
Infographics
COMPOSITION
– Minimalist
– Clean and well organized
– Images with strong lower-left-to-upper-right angles encouraged
– Avoid images with strong upper-left-to-lower-right angles (unless
specifically making a point about trending downward)
TREATMENT
– Bright, rich color palette
– Primary colors encouraged
– Red, black, white and gray tones encouraged
ETHOS
– Crisp, clean, modern design
– Informational, intuitive
– Aim for unique style
– Avoid images with overly dark, foreboding tones
-The mood is inspiring, sometimes whimsical, always evoking trust
