This guide outlines why brand consistency is important, and the key ares where you absolutely must have it!
Your branding is an integral part of your business. It’s what makes you recognisable, as well as giving potential users or customers insight into your core values. Throughout this guide we will tell you why it is important to maintain a solid brand consistency and the elements in which it can be enhanced, particularly when it comes to the need for flexible brand strategy.
Brand consistency: overview
Brand consistency is the ability of a company to keep its actions, communication and online positioning aligned with the values and elements that make up its identity. During the day, there are thousands of messages to which we are currently exposed and the ability of a brand to excel above its competition is vital.
Values and identity are fundamental to creating successful campaigns. Offering the same brand experience in different channels, especially in digital ones, since they are the growing trend on the part of users, creates a 360o consistency that sends a consistent and solid message. Otherwise, we can create confusion or contradictory messages.
According to Nielsen, when considering purchases, the content made by marketing experts on the brand image was 83% more effective. For its part, PageFair showed that exposure to different types of content by a single brand motivates users to use AdBlockers online.
You should have brand consistency across the board, in every element of your business, but you’d be surprised to know that across certain elements branding can be completely, well, off brand. Imagine a company that positions itself differently with each marketing action. At one point, it adopts a more vivid and fun tone of voice, but overnight it opts for a serious approach, even if the subject does not require it.
If this variation occurs constantly, there will be natural disruption in the message, which will prevent a clearer understanding of what that brand really looks like. The same problem can occur if there is no consistency in simpler themes, such as the colors used in graphic pieces. In this case, it is a crucial detail, related to visual identity.
According to Accenture, only 28% of consumers claim to be loyal to a brand and this trend is lower as time goes by. The development of experiences has become one of the great allies to captivate the most demanding users. In that sense, brand consistency plays a vital role.
Key areas for brand consistency
If you’re developing a new business, or in the very early stages of building your brand, here are the key areas where you need to keep it consistent…
Brand message and voice
A brand message must be aligned with two key elements: 1) the values represented by the brand and 2) the pain points that the target audience wants to solve. When the brand matches between these two elements we can talk about a well-defined message. In addition, it is essential that it is simple and easy to understand: we have seconds to capture attention and the simpler the message, the easier it will be to remember it. Consider how it will be applied on different platforms and if you will need different formats to cover all user contact points.
Achieving a tone of voice that makes our customers think “it’s talking to me” is one of the most powerful links in Brand Consistency. Values represent the basis of the brand’s personality (fun, formal, expert, youthful, bold, leader, etc.) and based on this personality, the tone of voice will use a style of communication. The way you address the user covers different online and offline channels: Social Networks, Website, Newsletter, promotions and visual campaigns and even copy or texts of the packaging.
Website brand consistency
The vast majority of people these days will discover your brand and business through your website. Therefore it’s so important to make sure your website is on point with brand consistency.
From colours, logos and fonts to the messaging you’re putting across, it needs to fall in line with your core values and business as a whole. You don’t need to be a design whizz to ensure this happens too. There are tons of services such as website builders which can help with this, with their amazing features allowing you to develop user-friendly and effective sites in a matter of minutes.
Every page of your website should follow the same brand consistency guidelines. However, do be careful how you implement the likes of colour and font into your site. While it’s important to have brand consistency, you also need to think about user experience and if your colours are making copy unreadable, then you may need to think a little more about how you implement the branding
Based on the seconds we have to capture attention, design is key. Remember that an image says more than a thousand words so it is not just one more element. Not only is it to maintain cohesion in the logo, but we must consider a color palette, typography, photography and illustration styles, as well as other visual elements to have the same line to follow. Guidelines for the website must be included, from banners, buttons, or web fonts.
Social media
While most businesses use their brand logo and colour schemes etc. across their social media channels, it’s often in their tone of voice where businesses can go a little off-brand.
It’s important to keep your messaging consistent across all channels. While social media can be a great place to highlight your “fun side” as a business, some brands have a habit of taking that too far, which can be detrimental when it comes to brand consistency and showcasing their expertise.
Think about what and who you are as a brand and strike a balance between celebrating your brand values and personality, while also detailing your expertise.
Office or business space
If you are a business with a brick and mortar presence, then do ensure that your space fits in with your brand consistency, especially if you are regularly welcoming customers or clients.
While this can cost money, it is an exercise that should be taken for brand consistency, even if it takes a little more time and investment to do so. There are a number of reasons why this is the case, which include:
- Create a connection between brand and employees
- Inform and educate employees of core business values
- Create a consistent voice for employees and clients
- Showcase a professional and clean environment to clients
Documentation
Many businesses interactions with clients revolve largely around documents, proposals and pitches. Therefore it’s important to ensure your brand consistency is prominent on your presentations, letterheads and anything else that is applicable.
Professionally designed presentation decks and slide templates can be a really good method of distinguishing your brand against competitors and it can tell a prospective new client an awful lot. If there’s care and detail, as well as a consistent message, it will imply that you have a clear vision for them too, and could be the difference in getting a pitch over the line.
However, it doesn’t just benefit clients and customers. It can be hugely helpful in keeping all documentation in-house consistent too, with employees clear on how they should put together work for your business.
Conclusion
Brand consistency is an attribute that, in the long term, helps build solid brands, with high recognition in the market and with the authority that every company seeks. It is essential for the audience and customers to identify at all times the message that the brand seeks to send and that it is aligned with its values.
The experience of a solid brand is one of the attributes that can give the most value to an organization over time. In the end, having customers who promote the brand naturally reflects a level of loyalty in which brand consistency has played a fundamental role. When we achieve a successful brand consistency, the company will:
- Generate authority in the segment of the industry to which it belongs
- Achieve an optimal level of customer loyalty.
- Reach an important level of remembrance thanks to a solid message over time
- The level of curiosity with which new customers are attracted to the brand increases
- The voice of the brand is easily adopted by its audience (remember the word Kleenex?)
