On 16 October 2024, Apple announced a new feature that displays company logos in the inbox. Branded Mail is only open to companies that have gone through an extensive verification process. For this reason, displaying a logo is suitable not only for recognition but also for trust.
Apple Branded Mail is an addition to the Apple Business Connect (ABC) that was introduced in 2023. ABC allows businesses to manage how they appear across Apple’s ecosystem, including Apple Maps, Wallet, and Siri. It enables businesses to customise their “place cards”—the digital profiles showing their name, logo, contact information, and even special promotions.
How ‘new’ is Branded Mail?
You might think: “Wait, hasn’t this been around for a few years?”. You’re probably thinking of BIMI.
BIMI (bih-mee), short for Brand Indicators for Message Identification, has indeed been around since 2019. Branded Mail is similar, but there are important differences.
Both Branded Mail and BIMI aim to make emails from businesses more recognisable by adding logos. However, while BIMI is an industry standard supported by multiple email platforms, Apple Branded Mail is only for Apple’s ecosystem. It’s managed through Apple Business Connect and designed to work seamlessly in Apple Mail.
“I’ve been looking into Apple’s Business Connect, and my initial thoughts are that it’s like Google’s Business Profile and BIMI mixed into one.”
Steven Sayo on LinkedIn
Even though Branded Mail is very similar to BIMI, it is fair to Apple to underline that they also support BIMI on devices with iOS 16 and up. With the challenges BIMI faces, having difficulty taking off as a new standard and having a more complicated verification process, Apple created a controlled environment to quickly set up a similar ‘authentication method’. Google set up a similar logo display method in 2021.
The downside is that this method only works with Apple Mail and does not show a logo in Outlook, Gmail, etc.
Advantages of using Branded Mail
Setting up an Apple Business Connect account with Branded Mail for your domain(s) has many advantages. If you’re unfamiliar with BIMI, we’re also diving into the advantages they have in common:
Brand recognition
By prominently displaying verified brand logos and names in Apple Mail, businesses can stand out in crowded inboxes, where it is natively difficult to see which emails are legit or fake or which is more important than the other. Having a logo next to the email creates visibility for the brand but also gives the recipient more visual cues as to whether they were expecting this email, whether they want to open it, and spot fakes from real emails.
(Cost) efficiency
Especially compared to the way BIMI authenticates logos, Apple Branded Mail is a cost-effective way to display your logo in the inbox. Where BIMI requires a hosted SVG file with very detailed specs and a certificate, Apple checks whether your DNS contains a DMARC record and a TXT file Apple provides you. This process in Apple is free, whereas obtaining a VMC (used for BIMI) can be very costly, and a CMC (a free version of VMC) requires a lot more from you as a sender.
Phishing protection
Moreover, Branded Mail (like BIMI and other initiatives) helps to reduce spam and phishing attempts by clearly identifying legitimate brand emails. Since it requires DMARC authentication, it’s built on an existing framework to protect recipients from phishing emails.
If you’re unfamiliar with DMARC, this video might be a good watch for you.
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Getting started with Branded Mail
Ready to get Apple Branded Email up and running? These are the simple steps to make it happen in your domain. First, register for Apple Business Connect using an iCloud account or Apple Business Manager. There are a two pre-requisites for creating an account:
- DMARC authentication: as mentioned earlier, ABM works only with a ‘quarantine’ or ‘reject’ policy in place.
- Authorised personnel only: The person setting up the ABC account should have the authority to consent on behalf of your company and agree to Apple’s General Terms and Conditions.
Step 1: Provide basic information
After signing up for ABC, you can add a new company to your account. After filling out the name, country, category, and website, you can upload a logo for the Business Connect apps, including Branded Mail. Contrary to BIMI, you need a square logo in PNG, JPEG, or HEIF format, sized between 1024x1024px and 4864x4864px. For the sake of recognition, the logo should remain clear even in a square or circular frame.
Step 2: Verify your company and domain
After filling out the basic information, list the domains and subdomains you’d like your brand logo to appear on in Apple Mail. It’s recommended to enter the root domains (like “spotler.com”) rather than subdomains. All listed domains need a DMARC record, so sticking to root domains generally makes things simpler.
To verify your company’s existence, Apple then asks you to enter your company ID (such as KvK, SIREN, or VAT number) and add a TXT record to your DNS to validate the domain. Alternatively, you can upload a legal document for identity verification, though domain verification is often quicker.
Apple will take the government IDs for a one-time match with the business profile, together with the verification method of your choice. If you have direct access to your DNS records, adding a TXT is a more efficient way of providing proof than document reviews.
If you do not have access, document uploads work just as much but will likely take more time to verify.
Step 3: Wait
After you submit your details to Apple, it takes a few days (in our case, approximately 8 business days) for them to verify the domain. Your logo will appear in Apple Business Connect as ‘verified’ when the verification is done. The second part of the wait is for Branded Mail to fully roll out and be adapted by your recipients.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Apple Branded Mail offers a streamlined way to enhance brand recognition, improve email trust, and protect against phishing—all within Apple’s ecosystem. The simplicity of Apple Business Connect eliminates many of the complexities associated with BIMI. While its exclusivity to Apple Mail may limit its reach compared to BIMI, the ease of setup and integration with Apple’s tools make it an interesting alternative for (small) businesses looking for a way to grow trust with their Apple-using customers.
