Consistent Branding

We’ve covered what branding is and how important it is for your brand persona and advertising power. However, something that we haven’t touched on is just how crucial consistent branding can be and why it is important to stick to some tried and tested techniques to make the most of that branding. Why use consistent branding? We find out…

Consistency and its associations

We’ve talked before about soft drink giant Coca Cola and their use of colour ‘coke red’. It may seem a little crazy to have such a big focus on the use of a single colour as a primary branding focus, but it’s something so instantly recognizable – you see the colour and you have the instant association. This becomes vastly more important when that branding formula has to be used across hundreds of people in different departments and provides a perfect example of why consistency is key.

Similarly, we could also look at font as a good example of having instant associations. Something like Disney or Pespi has a custom font – which is instantly recognizable across countries. And alongside colour and font, think of the logo. The Golden Arches of MacDonald’s, Apple’s apple or Google’s mutlicoloured homepage; whatever your logo, if it is consistent it will eventually stand a good chance of becoming recognisable.

When your brand has a colour, a logo or a font that evokes a certain product seamlessly – you’re advertising right!

Why do you need consistent branding?

It’s much easier to see the need for consistent branding on a larger scale as with the examples of giants like Pepsi, Coke and Disney. Although it’s a little more difficult to see when applied in a smaller way, it’s just as important. If you’re able to develop early methods of ensuring branding consistency (this may be in the way of colour, font, logo, a specific design pattern that is utilized, or even certain sizing conventions) you’re able to provide a platform on which the audience in your market can recognize you easily and pick you out from a crowd. This is especially important if you’re utilizing events such as trade shows and exhibitions – if you’re able to put posters or flyers in different places, a few roller banners around the event showcasing this consistent design as well as your main exhibition display also following the same rules, you become much more noticeable than say a competitor which is changing their design for each different form of advertising.

Consistency breeds recognisability. If you’re at a trade show and you’re ;looking for a booth you saw last year, but they’ve changed their brand appearance, you’re going to struggle finding the,. However, if your key design elements are the same year after year, or even if just your logo, font or colour scheme have an individuality about them, you’ll be sure to be noticed.

It can often be a lot harder said than done, as you may feel that using the same features can have the opposite effect by becoming stale or boring as the audience sees the same material – but it’s also a discretionary thing. Your re-printable media, for example, may need changes if you’re updating a sale or product catalog, but there still needs to be consistency within that: your brand colours, your logo, your style will often all remain the same which is where that branding will come from.

Why consistent branding matters for B2B

We’ve already touch on why consistent branding is so important for your customer base, but it’s also crucial for your business to business relationships. This concept of having a consistent branding becomes even more important if you work with other businesses in a creative way. Setting brand guidelines ensures that your message remains consistent through different mediums. For example if you’re getting promotional material printed, having instruction for colour, placement and sizing continues that consistency even if a third party is working on or producing your content.

Your branding, after all, is in part what defines your business and will define your personality and tone. Brand consistency allows you to take your efforts through multiple platforms such as differences between online and offline. Making efforts early to ensure guidelines are in place prevent issues down the line where more people may be involved in the creative process. As shown by bigger corporations the world over, consistency is what can take your branding from misunderstood or lacking identity to easily recognisable and approachable by the audience within your market.

For an overview on business branding take a look at our previous post Company Branding.