Keeping your Brand Consistently Consistent

Brand consistency is exactly what it implies – constant and unchanging branding throughout your brand’s reach. Your brand can be top of the line, but if nobody knows exactly what it is or how it looks/sounds, then your efforts to promote the brand are facing an uphill battle. Getting your brand in front of your crucial audiences is the only way to continue to grow, and guaranteeing that each exposure reinforces the single brand is the best way to do this.

Consistent branding encompasses and is driven by all other brand building efforts, and holds a vital place in the success of your brand. As John Williams wrote in Entrepreneur magazine about being consistent with your brand, “If you can’t do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.”

Need a little more direction? Here are some tips on keeping your brand consistently consistent.

• Consistency starts at the top… You’ve just spent a good amount of time, effort and money to create and establish an outstanding brand – your logo looks great, the brand name stands out and your brand strategy is rock solid. Things are looking good for your branding efforts. But then the CEO of your company goes on television to discuss the new brand, and he’s wearing the wrong logo on his shirt and mispronounces your brand name… You can tear up the work you’ve done brand building and take a trip back to square one. Ensure that your senior leadership is up-to-speed with any and all branding aspects, and then make sure that your most visible assets (all around your office, on high-exposure advertisements, etc.) are in alignment as well.
• …And must continue to all the way down. There is no skipping over the little things, as the details that seem to have minimal importance can quickly snowball into a brand consistency problem that will be difficult to correct. Are your employees all using the same fonts on their emails? Do their email signatures all look the same and include the correct brand elements? What about the PowerPoint presentations they make while out working with clients? These are questions that can derail a consistent branding effort quickly.
• Don’t forget your online presence. As the importance of your brand’s online presence continues to increase, and SEO strategies become a vital piece of your brand strategy, consistency takes another step toward necessity. Optimization is driven by repetition and consistent use of key words and phrases to drive traffic to your brand’s online outlets. Once they’ve arrived at your website, don’t make them want to turn around and leave – they are arriving with an expectation of what your brand is promising, and if your website falls short of these expectations, it’s game over for your brand with that individual.
• Ensure your brand is consistent in its living forms. This may sound strange – how can a brand “live” and where does it do so? But the living embodiment of your brand is walking the halls of your office or standing in your stores – your employees should know and understand what the brand is all about, and how their actions and words can often be the first (and most lasting) impression with your audience – and your brand should always want to put its best foot forward. This also includes your social media presence. In addition to ensuring that all logos and visual elements are consistent, a decision should be made on the “voice” for your brand that is used on these platforms – brand messaging, strategy aspects and overall personality should all match across the board.
• Be attentive to how and where your brand is being seen. Early on in the branding process, identify a department or individual who will serve as the “gatekeeper” for the brand, keeping and distributing brand guidelines, templates and other brand materials while also being the watchful eye throughout the organization for any potential brand inconsistencies. This way, you will have eyes on all areas of where your brand resides and can also education new employees on the proper branding protocol, keeping consistency on target moving forward.

Addison Whitney is a global branding firm with a passion for building strong brands.
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