Brand consistency is a company’s ability to maintain communication and positioning in line with its value and the elements that make up its identity.
In branding work, organizations are always looking to develop their image through actions that explore elements that make up the brand, for this to happen consistency is essential.
This works ensure natural acknowledgment by the public, building an easily recognized image depends on this consistency, and this is the key point of the issue.
Is your Brand consistent?
Brand consistency is something that is very difficult to measure. There is no simple way to give your company a mark out of 10 for it. But this doesn’t mean it should be ignored. Brand consistency is vitally important to the success of your business.
A company’s brand identity is its mission, vision, practices, logos, colours, fonts, tone, voice.
It is all the constituent parts that form the character of the company, whether they are visible or invisible, tangible or intangible.
So, What is brand consistency?
Brand consistency refers to how “on-brand” all of your company’s marketing content is, with respect to your brand identity and brand guidelines.
The most brand consistent companies are the ones who make sure that every piece of content they create strictly adheres to their brand identity and brand guidelines. And in today’s frenzy of content creation, there is a lot of marketing material to keep on-brand.
Why is Brand consistency so hard?
The problem that many companies face when it comes to brand consistency is that the personality and character of the individuals who create the marketing material can often outshine the character of the company’s brand.
Why is it so important to ensure that your marketing team’s body of work, when viewed as a whole, is consistent and “on brand”? Does your audience really mind?
Well, this brings us back around to the beginning. Brand consistency is very hard to measure, and therefore the cost of brand inconsistency is very hard to measure too.
Many companies have tried to create a metric for how much of an impact brand consistency has on their bottom line. For example, LucidPress states that
Companies have to differentiate themselves, not just in the product they offer, but in the design of their product, in their customer service, and in the portrayal of their brand.
And this is why brand consistency is so important. Today’s consumers are picky and unforgiving. They will change to being a client of one of your competitors in a flash if your brand identity does not satisfy their tastes.
People’s brains look for consistency, patterns, and regularity. Over time, a consistent brand will generate trust and retain customers. It may even turn customers into followers or brand advocates, if your identity is strong and consistent enough.
So how can your company improve its brand consistency?
- Put a session in the diary with your marketing team. In this session, pull together a brand identity and brand guidelines document.
- Discuss with your marketing team whether or not you are using your brand guidelines correctly in your marketing content.
- Use consistent messages, always convey the main idea about the brand. The brand communicating with their audience daily is one of the crucial points in maintaining consistency.
Hemlata Mishra is a seasoned Brand Consultant, Brand Strategist, and Brand Planner with a passion for bringing out-of-the-box ideas to life. As the Founder of MADnext, a Branding and Communication Agency, she is dedicated to empowering small and medium-sized enterprises in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with the right marketing strategies to reach their target audiences effectively.
