‍People aren’t interested in brands without a consistent brand identity‍

If you don’t have a strict set of design principles guiding you across every single one of your touchpoints, you’re creating an expensive problem for yourself.

Because people eat with their eyes, they aren’t going to be interested in what you’re selling if you’re not presenting your product in an appealing way—And if it isn’t appealing to your target audience, they’re not going to think twice about you.

So how does a brand become “appealing”? It starts with one key factor: a consistent brand identity.

Too many brands get started without ever formalizing their identity. Things like their logo, website, print materials, tone of voice, images and graphic elements are all out of whack, and don’t follow any set of principles, which ends up confusing their audience. A confused audience will just look elsewhere to get what they want.

When it comes to your brand, if you don’t have a place you’re coming from—a “home base”— you’re not going to know where you’re going. Whether you’re aware of it or not, this can be pretty obvious to your audience—Sometimes on a visual level, and sometimes intuitively. When it comes to your brand identity, that “home base” is your brand strategy.

Going back to the example of my last article, we all know the feeling of visiting a restaurant that’s trying to portray itself as something it’s not, and it often comes down to the finer details. Maybe the colour of the menu doesn’t match the vibe of the interior. Maybe there was a hokey neon sign somewhere that didn’t belong. Maybe there’s too much messaging inside, and it’s distracting you from the conversation you’re having with the friend you went to dinner with.

Overall, the experience just feels underwhelming, distracting, and everything is a bit off-putting, even if you can’t put it into words. You might expect that from a restaurant at an all-inclusive resort, but in your city, it’s likely not a place you’d want to spend a date night.

To top it off, if you continue messaging from a ‘broken brand’ (that is, an inconsistent one), you’re constantly re-introducing yourself from every single touch point. 

People who may have been acquainted with you in the past may not recognize the social media post their friend shared about you, because it looked entirely different than the one they saw. Maybe the previous iteration of your logo and the new version of your logo exist at the same time, and people think your brand is two different businesses.

As you can see, these problems compound, and when you’re investing your hard earned money into marketing your business—Either online through ads, or maybe even print—You’re not going to get the kind of results you were hoping for, and are most certainly going to lose more money than you would have gained over time if your brand identity isn’t 100% locked in.

Creativity is killing your business. Wait, what?

Maybe your marketing isn’t getting the kind of traction you want, so you figure you’ll step out, and do something unexpected for your next ad push.

But that can be dangerous, if people aren’t well-acquainted with who and what you are. This is not the right move, because your audience doesn’t care how creative you are, what they want is to support a brand they trust, and have come to know.

Multi-billion dollar companies like Coke and MacDonald’s have the leeway to get super creative with their advertising campaigns because their perception has been crafted and honed for generations to millions of people. Basically, they have some room to experiment. 

After all, these brands are household names, meticulously crafted with set standards for typography, image styles, etc. that have been tested over time—even their own custom colours 

(...That they own, by the way. Ever hear of Coke Red? Yes, you can actually OWN a colour if you have enough money. Kind of a scary thought, right?)

Even if they venture out and get creative with their marketing, they have a set of grounding principles that guide them. You’re not going to see a lot of green or blue in these company’s materials. You’re not going to see commercials filmed in senior’s centers. You’re more likely to see their ads at a concert, or a hockey game, or on a billboard on the side of a highway.

Needless to say, they know their audience. And their audience knows them. 

People feel comfortable with these brands, and you might even say, like them.

They trust them to deliver on their promise, and they know exactly what they’re getting when they consume their products. 

They’ve earned their place in the collective human psyche—And that was made possible by fiercely committing themselves to their brand identity and being consistent with how they’ve presented themselves over the years, not be how engaging and interesting their marketing pushes may have been, not by how creative they’ve been over the years.

There’s always room for creativity, but in order to experiment, you need to establish a firm foundation in your brand identity first. If your brand elements aren’t locked in, and your audience feels like something is “off”, it’s time to do some detective work and figure out why and what that something is—And most of the time, that problem is inconsistency. 

Brand consistency is the key to building a brand that people will remember. Your brand doesn’t need to be shocking, experimental, and ingenuitive to attract an audience. Not to say it can’t be those things, but it needs to adhere to strong design principles to give it the appropriate direction first.

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How do you actually create a consistent brand that your customers will remember?

It starts by understanding that consistency isn’t achieved in a day. It’s an ongoing commitment to your brand’s principles and values.

Whether you’re just starting out, or have been in the game for years, the key is in defining and refining your brand’s core elements and ensuring they’re applied across every touchpoint in your business.

This starts with developing a clear, concise and razor sharp Brand Strategy: the foundation for your entire brand, built on your brand’s values, and positioned in a way that will attract and resonate with the kind of clients you want to reach.

When you’ve settled on a Brand Strategy to guide your brand, you need to develop the kind of design principles that align with it, so that your brand can look, feel and communicate in a cohesive way.

This is called your visual identity, and it’s comprised of components like your:

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Logo

The “face” of your brand, and oftentimes your brand’s chance to make a first impression. Your logo needs to be memorable, versatile, and reflective of your brand’s values.

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Typography

The fonts that align with your brand’s personality. They should be limited in number, and able to communicate your brand’s messaging effectively in any setting.

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Color Palette

The kinds of colors you’ll be using consistently that resonate with your audience and reflect the tone of your brand. The colors you use are key in customer memory recall.

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Image Styles

The way you apply photography and other images in your brand, to give your brand a consistent look and feel
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Brand Voice

How you speak to your audience. It must be reflective of your brand’s personality to establish trust in your audience. 

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Graphic Elements

Any visual elements that enhance the appearance of your messaging touchpoints and reflect your brand’s personality  

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When you’ve settled on a visual identity that represents your Brand Strategy, you’ll need to apply these elements across all your brand’s touchpoints—from your social media posts, to your email signature—consistently.

Remember: Brand consistency isn’t an instant process. It won’t happen overnight. But by diligently applying these key components, you’ll begin to create a more stable environment for your customers that they’ll be sure to appreciate. Eventually, your customer’s trust in your brand will increase, leading to more engagement, referrals, and sales.

And in the process, you’ll begin to appreciate and understand your own brand that much more—which will make generating ideas for your next marketing endeavor so much easier. As a result, your messaging will land better, making more people attracted to your brand. 

It’s a win-win.

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