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Applying a Brand

A brand is chosen from the brand selector in the template editor, on a saved template in the library or on a template built in a campaign. The selector offers the brands whose type matches the template's channel and nothing else: an email template is offered the email brands, an SMS template the SMS brands. A brand of the other channel never appears in the list, so a brand can only ever be applied to a template on its own channel.

A Campaigner can see the brands the organisation holds and apply one to a template they build in the campaign. Creating and changing brands belongs to Campaign Manager, Admin and Org Admin. See Roles and Permissions.

Previewing a Brand​

Selecting a brand shows a preview of what it holds before it is applied. Check the header and footer wording against the content the template already has, and check which sender the brand carries, because that sender takes over the field once the brand is in place.

Headers and Footers​

A header sits at the start of the template content and a footer at the end. Both appear in the template preview as read only, with any variables in them resolved against the template's test data in the same way as the rest of the preview. See Variables and Defaults.

In the visual email editor the header and footer cannot be selected or edited. The wording belongs to the brand, so it changes by editing the brand, and that change reaches every template the brand is applied to. A Campaigner who needs different wording should ask a Campaign Manager or an administrator.

Senders​

Where a brand supplies a sender, the matching field on the template is prefilled with the brand's value and locked. The value stays visible, so it is always clear what the messages will be sent from, but it cannot be changed on the template. Hovering over a locked field shows a tooltip saying the brand manages it.

From and Reply To Lock Separately​

For email, locking is decided per field. A brand that supplies a From address but no Reply To address locks From and leaves Reply To to be chosen from the verified senders as usual, and a brand that supplies only Reply To behaves the other way round. A brand that supplies both locks both.

See Sender Settings for what the two fields do, and Domains and Senders for how an address becomes verified.

Brand Values Are Applied When a Run Is Created​

A brand's values are not copied into the template. They are applied when a run is created, so a change to the brand is picked up by runs created after it and no template has to be reopened for the new value to take effect. Runs that already exist keep the values they were created with. See Campaign Runs.

This is what makes a brand worth using for a sender that moves. Retiring one From address in favour of another is a single edit to the brand rather than an edit to every template that used it.

SMS Senders and the Sender Pool Strategy​

An SMS brand's sender only has an effect when the organisation picks a sender per campaign. Under the sender pool strategy a sender is allocated for each run instead, so a brand that supplies nothing but a sender adds nothing to the template. A warning banner appears below the brand selector to say so. The brand can still be selected, and its sender takes effect if the organisation moves to choosing senders later. See SMS Senders for the two strategies and who sets them.

Changing a Locked Sender​

A locked field cannot be edited from the template. To send from a different address or number, apply a brand that carries the one you want, apply a brand that leaves the field free, or have the brand itself changed. Campaigners cannot edit brands, so the last of those goes to a Campaign Manager, an Admin or an Org Admin. See Roles and Permissions.

Clearing a Sender on the Brand​

Clearing a brand's sender field, rather than replacing it, unlocks that field on every template the brand is applied to. The field unlocks empty, so those templates have no sender until someone sets one, and that is worth knowing before the brand is saved because the effect reaches campaigns already built on those templates.

  • A campaign run cannot be created while the campaign's template has no sender. See Starting a Run.
  • A campaign using a saved template that has no sender cannot be updated or saved either, so it cannot be put right from the campaign wizard. See Editing a Campaign.

Both clear once a sender is set on the saved template itself, which is library work. A Campaigner cannot edit the library, so it takes a Campaign Manager, an Admin or an Org Admin. See Managing Templates.

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Where a sender is being retired, set the replacement on the brand rather than clearing the field. Replacing the value keeps every template locked to a sender that works, and the change is picked up by the runs created after it.

What the Brand Leaves Alone​

The template body stays the template's own. A brand wraps that content and fills the sender fields it supplies, and everything else in the editor is edited as normal. If a brand is later deleted, the template keeps its content and loses what the brand contributed, as described in Deleting a Brand.

Where to Next​