Your Brand Starts on Day One—Make It Memorable

A strong onboarding experience turns new hires into brand advocates.
Your onboarding kit should do more than explain processes—it should introduce people to the soul of your company. The voice, design, and structure of your onboarding materials should reflect what it feels like to work with (and for) your brand.

Why it's Important

Helps new hires understand the company’s mission, values, and tone
Builds emotional connection and cultural alignment from day one
Makes remote and hybrid onboarding feel intentional and engaging
Reduces confusion and speeds up productivity
Increases pride and excitement about joining the team

How to Implement

Define the essentials
Brand story: origin, mission, vision, and positioning
Values and how they’re lived in the company
Team structure, product overview, and customer profiles
Communication expectations, tools, and rituals
Build the kit components
Welcome letter or video from the founder or CEO
Brand guide or explainer (condensed, story-driven version)
Branded swag (t-shirt, notebook, water bottle, stickers)
Setup instructions for tools and access
A culture playbook or internal rituals guide
First-week checklist and team intros
Make it branded in every sense
Reflect your tone and visual identity across all materials
Use your brand’s color palette, typography, illustrations, and messaging style
Design for remote, hybrid, and in-office onboarding
Include virtual versions of all kits and activities
Add video intros and async welcome messages if live meetings aren’t possible
Deliver consistently
Ship kits before day one or have them ready at the desk
Walk through components during a kickoff call or welcome session
Assign onboarding buddies or mentors who live the brand
Ask for feedback and iterate
Include a short survey after the first week
Adjust content based on clarity, excitement, and usefulness

How You Know You Got It Right

They can confidently explain the company’s mission and tone
Feedback shows they feel welcomed, not overwhelmed
Engagement in early meetings and rituals is high
Remote hires feel equally included and prepared
Employees refer to onboarding materials weeks or months later
Your culture and values feel present—not performative

Real-World Examples

Notion

Offers beautifully designed onboarding docs and a full Notion-based internal wiki that reflects their product and brand tone

Zapier

Created remote-friendly onboarding kits with tools, intros, and a values walkthrough for async culture

Figma

Sends physical kits with product stickers, brand swag, and culture guides that embody their design-led identity

Make It Better

Use humor, storytelling, or surprise to make the brand memorable
Personalize welcome messages with team photos or fun facts
Make templates modular so they’re easy to update by role or region
Highlight what makes your company different—not just policies
Include an FAQ or “Things I wish I’d known” section from current employees

Don't Make These Mistakes

Sending generic or templated HR docs with no brand voice or visuals
Leaving onboarding up to individual teams without guidelines
Forgetting to include the “why” behind the company and product
Relying only on live meetings without async alternatives
Overwhelming new hires with too much, too fast