Take a step into your customer’s shoes: Every day, they’re bombarded with hundreds of ads from hundreds of brands. They need to make purchase decisions based on marketing cues like messaging and visuals, but that’s challenging when they’re faced with constant information overload. How do you, as a brand, stand out in the midst of all that noise?
What Is Brand Consistency?
Brand consistency is a critical element in establishing a strong and enduring brand presence within a competitive market landscape. Achieving brand consistency ensures that your brand values, images, and messaging remain consistent across all communication channels and touchpoints.
This consistency not only fosters trust and recognition but also plays a pivotal role in business success. In fact, a staggering 68% of businesses say brand consistency has contributed to revenue growths of 10 percent or more. Yet for many organizations, achieving and maintaining brand consistency can be a complex and demanding task, requiring careful and consistent attention to detail and strategy. As important as it may be, it’s a high demanding initiative, and marketers are already strapped for time and resources.
What are the Challenges Associated with Establishing a Cohesive Brand Identity?
Year after year, many businesses wrestle with the critical challenge of maintaining brand consistency, a concern shared by 17% of marketers within organizations. Marketers often find it challenging to convey their brand’s identity in a manner that is both consistent and compelling. Why?
- Inconsistency across customer touchpoints → Inconsistent communication across various touchpoints, such as websites, mobile apps, and printed materials, can dilute a brand’s identity and messaging. In today’s market, 77 percent of consumers prefer brands that align with their values: if customers encounter mixed or conflicting messages about a company’s values and offerings presented in different ways, it can dilute brand image and confuse customers.
- Resource constraints → Resource limitations, such as budget constraints or a lack of dedicated time and effort to branding, can result in disjointed communication efforts. When different partners create branded materials without a unified strategy, it can lead to an inconsistent brand image, making it difficult for customers to connect with the company’s values.
- Collaboration with external partners → Collaboration with external partners can introduce challenges in maintaining brand consistency if they are not internally a part of the brand. If these partners don’t align with your company’s brand guidelines or fail to convey a consistent brand message, it can affect the brand’s integrity.
- Consumer preferences → Consumer preferences are constantly evolving, so aligning your branded materials around consistent messaging is crucial. That said, it can be challenging to change ALL of your materials to match the constant changes within consumer preferences. Failing to adapt to these shifting preferences, however, can disrupt brand consistency. Neglecting to do so can create a disconnect between the brand and its audience, ultimately undermining brand consistency and relevance.
The Benefits of Brand Consistency
Beyond the enhanced brand recognition and customer trust that comes with maintaining a cohesive brand strategy, there are several advantages for companies that prioritize brand consistency in their marketing collateral.
- Clarity: When your brand message and identity are conveyed clearly and concisely, your various marketing collateral works together to effectively represent your brand. That clarity not only strengthens your brand’s identity but also empowers customers to make informed purchasing decisions with confidence.
- Memorability: Through constant exposure to your brand and its consistent yet distinctive elements, it becomes etched in your audience’s memory over time. It takes five to seven brand impressions for someone to remember a brand. This heightened sense of brand recognition increases the likelihood that consumers will choose your brand over competitors and remain loyal over time.
- Cost-saving efforts: By ensuring that your brand remains consistent across different marketing collateral, you can significantly reduce marketing expenses because your customers are more keen to recognize you. Brand consistency streamlines marketing efforts and consolidates spend, enabling more efficient and cost-effective campaigns and solutions.
- Employee Alignment: When everyone within your organization shares a unified understanding of the brand and its core values, they can effectively convey the same message to customers. Internal alignment not only fosters stronger brand representation but also enhances customer interactions, leading to a more effective customer experience and sales journey.
- Positive Associations: When customers regularly encounter a brand that aligns with their preferences and values across all touchpoints, they are more likely to form lasting and positive associations. These associations translate into increased trust, brand loyalty, and a deeper emotional connection with your brand, ultimately driving long-term customer retention and loyalty.
Why Brand Consistency Is Essential
Companies that maintain a unified and cohesive brand identity are 3 to 4 times more likely to achieve brand visibility compared to those with irregular branding practices. When a brand’s core elements, including logo designs, brand colors, and messaging, are consistently applied across various touchpoints, it amplifies the brand’s recognition and recall. Like businesses aiming to be remembered, brands need a consistent identity that leaves a lasting, positive impression on their customers. Why?
- A consistent brand identity creates a positive customer experience → Consistency in branding is crucial for a positive customer experience because it ensures that customers can easily recognize and connect with your brand across any touchpoint. 57% of customers decide to trust a brand based on the customer experience it provides. When customers have a consistent and pleasant experience with your brand, it reinforces their trust and confidence in your business.
- A consistent brand identity differentiates from other brands → Because customers are seeing so many brands every day, it is important to stand out and be consistent with your brand strategy if you want to stand out from the crowd.
- A consistent brand identity allows for multi-channel marketing → When your brand message and identity are consistently applied across various channels such as social media, websites, print materials, and more, it ensures that customers encounter a unified brand presence regardless of where they interact with your business. In today’s sales landscape, customers now expect brands to interact seamlessly across multiple channels as opposed to one. This consistency in messaging and visuals across channels reinforces your brand identity package and helps customers build a coherent image of your brand, regardless of the marketing platform they engage with.
Crafting an Effective Cohesive Brand Strategy
When your brand maintains a consistent and unified identity across all touchpoints, customers can easily recognize and connect with your brand. Customers are more inclined to choose your products or services and commit to your company when you’ve fostered a strong, consistent, familiar experience with them.
To stand out and make a lasting impact, it’s essential to craft a cohesive brand strategy that ensures your brand’s messaging and visuals are consistently clear and uniform across all platforms. What channels do you need to consider and how can you accomplish that?
Promo → It’s simple: people love free stuff. That’s why numerous brands have successfully integrated promotional marketing products into their cohesive brand strategy. Promotional materials, being practical and usable, hold a unique power as a marketing tool. Therefore, it’s imperative to ensure that your branding is recognizable and appealing. By distributing items like branded pens, backpacks, or cups, these companies not only deliver practical value to their customers but also reinforce their brand identity. With careful attention to elements such as imagery, color schemes, and logos, brands establish a strong visual identity and create a consistent brand experience.
Co-branded materials can be a powerful tool in brand strategy. When partnering with another brand, it’s essential to maintain your own brand integrity while uniting under a co-branded identity. This balance ensures that both brands benefit from the collaboration without diluting their individual brand identities. By carefully designing co-branded materials such as promotional items or marketing collateral, you can create a unique and memorable experience that showcases the strengths and values of both brands. This approach helps customers see your brand aligning with another reputable name.
Packaging → To craft a cohesive brand strategy, you have to consider a wide array of packaging options to align branded materials effectively:
- Incorporating strategic messaging and storytelling into packaging design
- Offering custom packaging design with different materials
- And prioritizing quality perception and user experience, such as easy accessibility and visual appeal
…collectively contribute to a unified brand identity package and a memorable customer experience. Beyond their functional role, these packages enable customers to interact with the brand, reinforcing its identity through creative design, messaging, and an overall engaging experience that strengthens brand strategy.
Image Source: Uchie
Explore innovative ways to enhance your alcohol packaging with Drummond’s latest blog >
Displays → Brands can establish a cohesive brand strategy through displays by effectively utilizing a variety of options such as POP displays, end caps, interactive elements, window displays, banners, and trade booths. Marketing displays:
- Enhance the in-store experience
- Promote seasonal and promotional activities
- Optimize product presentation
- And seamlessly integrate digital elements
…all contributing to a unified and compelling brand. Brands can establish a cohesive brand strategy through displays by effectively utilizing a variety of options such as POP displays, end caps, interactive elements, window displays, banners, and trade booths.
Coca Cola has multiple product lines and utilizes displays like these below to effectively cater to a wide range of consumer preferences. As customers are drawn to these eye-catching displays, they swiftly connect and recognize the Coca Cola brand, fostering a cohesive brand experience that spans across various products and offerings.
Drummond stands as a hub of innovation and strategy, bringing life into your ideas through our innovation and creative services teams. Get in touch to enhance your customer experience today.
How Drummond Can Help
Achieving a consistent and cohesive brand across packaging, promotional marketing materials, and displays is a vital aspect of any successful marketing strategy. To ensure brand consistency moving forward, it’s crucial to regularly review all marketing materials, social content, and customer interactions to ensure they align with brand guidelines and further the greater business strategy.
Partnering with Drummond means you gain access to a dedicated full services team with the creative vision and expertise to ensure that every element of your brand aligns seamlessly with your overarching brand identity. We understand the significance of consistency in reinforcing brand recognition and trust.
