How Branding Creates Consistency

There are over 17,000 Starbucks in the United States and generally, you know exactly what you’re getting at each one — professional-ish service, coffee that’s noticeably better than other fast-food places, a familiar menu and ordering experience, and a convenient location. Not every company can be Starbucks, but we can all appreciate how their strong, consistent branding has made them one of the most valuable companies around. So, how exactly does branding consistency work its magic and how can your company start reaping the benefits of it? 

Why Branding + Consistency Matters

According to a survey of over 400 organizations by Marq, makers of a brand enablement platform, branding consistency can increase revenue by 20%. That’s no small potatoes. Why are companies with consistent branding bringing in more revenue? They’re trusted. 

When we think of the earliest examples of branding — like potters from B.C. era China engraving their pots to identify themselves as the makers, they were creating trust in anyone purchasing or trading for their pottery that it was coming from a certain source. 

Of course, without consistency, no matter how good your initial ideas and vision may be, it won’t generate trust. As I illustrated above, consumers want reliability. How else can you trust a company, unless you can rely upon them when you need them? 

What is Brand Consistency? 

We get it. Not everyone is a marketing nerd. With all of the different buzz terms — brand awareness, brand equity, brand skibidi, it can be hard to understand which is which. So, what exactly is brand consistency? Brand consistency is ensuring everything about your company is in alignment and works together to maintain the message you want your brand to convey — regardless of marketing channel. 

Think of it this way: Your brand is a movie and every marketing material or campaign is an actor. Your movie might be a comedy, a drama, or an action movie. Either way, each actor in the film needs to understand the theme, match the tone, and follow the same direction. You don’t want Michael Meyers playing Shrek in Dune 2 but that’s what an inconsistent brand looks like. 

Without consistent branding, customers won’t know what to expect which can lead to a poor experience or consumers moving on to competitors where they do know what to expect. 

Why Brand Consistency is Important

Now you know what brand consistency is but to fully appreciate its effectiveness, you need to understand its core benefits. 

Creates Trust

We mentioned this at the top, branding creates trust — in two ways. First, it identifies. It identifies your company as the producer of products or services, which by stamping your name on whatever you offer, you’re taking ownership. This ownership creates trust because as consumers we can look at a product and understand that someone has staked their reputation on this product or service being beneficial. 

Second, as customers get to know your brand, they’ll begin to associate it with the experience that follows — good or bad. Hopefully, you’re company is producing good experiences. 

So, branding creates trust, but only when it’s consistent. If your message wildly varies from platform to platform or the quality of products or services varies, your company will appear less authentic or polished and unreliable. 

Recognition

Consistent branding also makes your company more recognizable. When you present a consistent image, customers and even non-customers will associate your tone, visual style, message, and overall vibe with your brand.  

To be recognizable is to stand out. 

Reinforces Your Identity 

Your brand identity is the culmination of all the most important pieces of your company. It includes your brand visuals, voice and tone, and values. With a consistent brand, these carefully chosen elements will create the experience you want to convey to your customers and potential customers. 

For example, if you’re a manufacturer focused on creating environmentally friendly products, brand consistency will help communicate your values. As consumers interact with your brand, they’ll associate your colorful emails with consistent messaging about sustainability and efficient manufacturing. Soon enough, just the sight of your logo will tell loyal customers everything they need to know about a product or service. 

How to Create Company Consistency Through Branding

Brand consistency makes your company more valuable — so you might wonder how to ensure your brand is consistent. Here are some key things to work on. 

Define Your Brand Identity

Zoom out. Like way out. Think of the core tenets of your company — why it was started in the first place and who it’s for — which we call your mission statement and target audience in the biz (marketing). With your company’s mission and target audience clearly defined, you can determine how you want to communicate your mission to those people. 

Create a Brand Guidelines + Templates

While leaders may have a clear brand vision in their minds, it doesn’t become truly effective until it’s communicated to the entire organization through brand guidelines. Brand guidelines are your company’s rules and standards for how your brand should be represented across all mediums. 

Your brand guidelines should include: 

• Mission Statement
• Core Values
• Logo and Proper Usage
• Company Color Palette
• Typography
• Imagery and Graphics
• Voice and Tone

Plus any other necessary direction your brand needs to be represented well and unified across every marketing channel. 

Templates can be incredibly helpful in this regard. For example, create an email template that presents your company’s logo and slogan correctly for all sales team members or a standardized graphic for an event to be shared across social media. 

Create Brand Ambassadors

Brand guidelines should be disseminated to everyone in your company and any third party that may work alongside your company. It’s especially important for external-facing employees, as they represent your brand to customers and potential customers. With that being said, it’s also important for internal employees as well. A good brand should help communicate its values, mission, and vision — which can serve as a reminder to all employees of what they’re working toward. 

Review and Measure Impact

Luckily, brand guidelines aren’t written in stone. They’re probably just in a PDF. This is good because, over time, brands evolve as audiences evolve. Even your company mission may change. 

This doesn’t mean you’re a flip-flopper or inauthentic — it’s something smart brands do to continue to stand out amongst their competitors. 

First, before making any major changes review and measure your brand’s performance. What’s your goal for your brand – to increase brand awareness or improve customer loyalty? We need to understand what we’re working towards to measure the performance. 

Then, measure your performance with the methods that make the most sense for your company. Here are a few we recommend:

• Conduct customer surveys
• Review customer feedback
• Review social media engagement
• Analyze search engine rankings
• Get your Net Promoter Score
• Review sales performance
• Review customer retention rates
• Interview current team members and company partners

Also, examine your industry — see what is working and what isn’t. Brainstorm ways for your company to stand out. 

If you do decide to make brand changes, remember consistency! Updating your brand is a serious undertaking and it needs to be rolled out accordingly — planned well and executed thoughtfully. 

Create Brand Consistency With Hivehouse

In digital marketing, things move quickly, which makes a steady, unified brand even more valuable. At Hivehouse Digital, we’ve helped companies of all sizes, from startups to legacy brands, create strong, consistent branding through our collaborative workshops and marketing expertise. We can help you create brand guidelines or help you execute a comprehensive overhaul, talk to our team today to get started.