The Importance of Consistency in Branding

Why do consumers choose one brand over the other? What do most people think of when you mention big corporate brands like Apple or Nike?

Many neurological studies have shown that people make subconscious decisions when choosing one product over the other. This is why it's vital for brands to effectively communicate and connect with potential customers in a memorable way.

Business-savvy brands know that first impression matters; it’s surprising to find that many business owners think that first impressions are the best-presented physical attributes of branding, such as the tagline, logo, or language style, when these attributions are only part of the equation.

The most important thing to remember is that branding is the act of shaping perceptions with consistent action and images, and consistency in branding is the key.

On the other hand, branding inconsistency can potentially lead to loss of existing customers and brand recognition.

To achieve good consistent branding, every marketing piece should be compatible and aligned, including:

brand essence
website
signage
banners

With brand consistency, potential customers will feel that your brand is highly trustworthy, recognizable, and culturally relevant.

Some important branding questions to consider are:

Does your brand use consistent graphic styles and imagery characteristics?
Does your brand evoke the same emotions and is the anguage style always the same?
Does your brand repeat its core message in a recognizable way?
Does your brand deliver the same memorable experience across all touch points?

A Graphic Standards Manual is the first step to establishing your business' consistent look and feel. In the manual, instructions on how to use all the brand attributes like typeface and colour palette should be present, and these attributes have to align with the your message.

Looking back on our portfolio we can have better perspective on the value we have brought to an organization through a brand renewal process.

A good example of consistent branding is the Vancouver Marathon project we developed a number of years ago. The running event needed a facelift and Red Rocket Creative Strategies was tasked with the responsibility of rejuvenating its overall look.

Starting with the redesigned logo - the four stylized runners are in the shape of the Dogwood (BC’s provincial flower). We were sensitive to the needs of the event’s primary sponsor BMO and applied colours from their graphic standards manual to the icon.

The four feature colors: blue, red, green and yellow also correspond to the four distances associated with the race:

Blue - full marathon 42.2 Mm

Red -half marathon 21.1 Km

Green - 8 Km fun run

Yellow - the kids run

The event’s message is conveyed through the tagline of “Experience the Energy”.

All of the marketing pieces, including the websites, medals, signages, promotional materials and a litany of ads are aligned with the core message.

Together with the consistent branding attributions, you can tell that the reestablished overall branding tells the story of having energy highs from running, experiencing the natural setting of the event to meeting new people on the way with shopping and dining spots in the hustle-bustle city background.