Introduction
Brand consistency? This isn’t a blog on how crunchy you like your favorite cereal (though Fruity Pebbles is truly magical, both soaked in milk AND raw-from-the-ever-lovin’-box).
This is a look at why you should value the use of your brand in a consistent way. So, grab a crunchy handful (or soggy spoonful) of that magical mix and let’s dive in. Class is in session.
1. Defining Brand Consistency: What is it, and why it’s good for you.
A. Brand Consistency Theory: This business-school theory states that a brand’s “identity” (similar to a person’s identity: its look and feel and message) should be consistent throughout all of your marketing mediums. If you’re straightforward or casual, fun or serious, stay that way, authentically.
B. Brand Consistency Importance: Brand consistency throughout your marketing builds familiarity with your customers, giving them confidence and trust, knowing they can depend on your brand. When customers know your brand and feel they can depend on it, increased sales result. This is why Brand Consistency leads to increased revenue. Makes sense, right?
C. Brand Consistency Stats:
i. Fact: Brands need at least 6 to 7 “impressions” to produce “brand awareness”. Think about your first day in high school. Yeah. That many impressions.
ii. Fact: 60% of companies say being consistent in branding adds 10–20% to their growth. Noice.
iii. Fact: 32% of brands state that consistent messaging increases brand revenue by 20%. And consistent messaging from your spouse eventually gets the trash taken out, right?
iv. Fact: 3% of customers are more willing to buy from familiar brands. Okay, that may not seem significant. But add 3% to your annual revenue and try to say it’s not significant.
v. Fact: Consistent branding across all platforms, including social media and pitch decks, can lead to a revenue increase of up to 23% (Need help with a pitch deck that is consistent with your brand identity? Reach out to pitch deck experts like Brand Iron, our personal favorite pitch deck people).
2. Brand Consistency Builds Trust and Credibility with Customers:
Impressive statistics, right? Here’s a few ways brand consistency helps build familiarity, trust and credibility with customers.
A. Understanding the Brand: Everyone on your team needs to understand your brand—who you are, what you’re all about, who you’re trying to reach and how to connect, engage and compel them to take action. An unclear team will soon put the “mess” in messaging.
B. Brand Guidelines: Map out your brand in “brand guidelines”, stating how to utilize your brand/logo, brand assets, messaging and positioning. When you take time to pull all these together, you’ll have an easier time staying true and consistent to your brand in all your marketing mediums. It’s like having a rulebook for how to use your brand, except without all the penalties.
C. Committed to Consistency: Having your whole team on the same page is crucial here. Get everyone committed to the same cause, creating and executing on your brand image and message while keeping it consistent—your key to success.
D. Plan, Execute, Execute: It’s far easier to stay consistently “on-brand” when you have thoughtfully planned and mapped out how and when your brand identity will be executed, whether in your social media posts, blogs/vlogs, email campaigns, digital campaigns, or case studies, pitch decks and website.
Each of these carefully planned instances of consistent branding leads to more effective client/prospect engagement. And that means $$$.
3. Brand Consistency Enhances Brand Recognition
Not everyone is adventurous. Most consumers like the familiar, preferring to deal with brands they know. Let’s take a look at the things that help with your brand recognition:
A. Consistent voice and tone: Make sure you have a well-defined brand messaging platform that you utilize to frame the voice of your brand, ensuring all communication is written in that voice.
B. Visual identity: Make certain your brand’s visual components are consistent throughout all your marketing materials and mediums on all platforms. Everything from color hue to shape and shadowing is important.
C. Engagement: As you respond and reach out to your customers, make sure that EVERY interaction with your brand is mindful of the intentional brand experience you mapped out. Be purposeful in the way your brand is seen and experienced.
D. Delivery: How your product is consumed or how your service is delivered is all part of your client’s interactions with your brand. These communications, meant to delight and fulfill customer expectations, are part of creating and delivering great brand experiences that enhance your brand and make it recognizable.
4. Brand Consistency Strengthens Brand Loyalty and Emotional Connection
A. Aligned brand: McDonald’s tried selling pizza years ago, but failed to convince prospects that the pizza belonged in the kitchen of a hamburger restaurant. When your brand is aligned throughout all aspects of your brand image, message and execution, it builds and strengthens your brand. A confused prospect never becomes a client.
B. Compassionate and consistent communication: It’s like your mom used to tell you: be nice! Be an engaging, passionate and relatable brand that people want to connect with, follow and do business with. An emotional connection greatly increases brand loyalty.
C. Brand experiences: The way you intend prospects and customers to discover and interact with your brand contributes greatly to your brand reputation, positive recognition and overall brand equity. All of these elements greatly increase your brand’s connections and create strong loyal followers and customers.
5. Brand Consistency Helps Differentiate from Competitors
What makes your brand stand out? Here’s our faves for unique branding.
A. Consistent: Consistency is key to your brand standing out and being recognized over time.
B. Compassionate: Customers and prospects love brands that have a personality they recognize—a soul—and are sensitive to real life situations.
C. Energetic: Everyone wants to be connected to success and excitement. This concept is true of brands as well.
D. Genuine: Being real and genuine are critical elements that differentiate you from your competition. Be true to your brand.
5. Brand Consistency Facilitates Effective Marketing and Communication
A. Brand consistency examples: Do you know Flo? Of course you do, and you may even feel close to that crazy-confident character from Progressive Insurance after years of getting to know her. Consistent? With 1,000+ commercials, Flo has made over $1 million per year working for Progressive since 2008. Go, Flo!
B. Brand consistency icon: When you think of a swoosh, what brand do you think of? It may seem obvious, but that’s entirely the point: consistency makes an icon, well….iconic, even without the name Nike next to it.
C. Consistency in marketing examples: Irritating or brilliant? Purchase anything from Temu, and they will consistently hound the hell out of you through their aggressive and unrelenting marketing emails. You know exactly what we’re talking about. Time is running out.
D. Examples of poor brand consistency: Why do we remember the cable company? Because they consistently deliver poor brand experiences that enrage us. We want the product and the services to be good, but their brand consistency is just horrible.
6. Brand Consistency Drives Long-Term Business Growth and Success
Your brand consistency is paramount to your short term and long term business success. This sustained brand consistency is what makes great brands great.
If you need help being consistent with your brand, seek the help of a brand strategy agency or rebranding agency to give you the consistent help you need to make your brand great. (We recommend ourselves, of course….Check out our work and you’ll know why.)
Conclusion
See? Brand consistency is hugely important to your company and your brand’s short- and long-term success. If you need any help, advice or just a simple point in the right direction, please feel free to reach out to us for help with your brand consistency. We’re kinda great at it.
