As human beings, we have the advantage of logic on our side. We’ve evolved to comprehend complex information and plan our actions accordingly, which is invaluable when coding a new computer program, drawing up a blueprint, or solving a difficult puzzle.
Despite this, our brains are still animal. Subconscious instinct determines the way we react to stimulus, meaning our emotions have an enormous influence on the choices we make.
This is why brand consistency is so important for a company.
Essentially, it’s when a business’s branding aligns with its core message and values over an extended period of time. It means audiences are repeatedly exposed to the same style of copy, visuals, and design elements. For example, the same fonts and colour scheme.
Consistent branding is vital because it builds brand recognition. Consistent visuals and messaging let customers build a clear image of a company in their heads. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that a consumer’s view of a brand is primarily determined by their emotions regarding it, rather than raw information (such as price and promised features). These emotions are impacted hugely by the product’s branding.
Branding represents a business’s distinct identity. It portrays its style, mindset, methods, and mood. By becoming familiar with a business’s branding, customers become familiar with the business’s message, and (hopefully) begin to associate positive emotions with it. This, in turn, encourages loyalty.
You can use branding to shape the perception of your business, build audience confidence, and stand out from your competitors.
It isn’t always easy to maintain brand consistency. This is because companies are made up of many different individuals, each with their own techniques. If you’re not careful, your branding can become a confusing mismatch of styles and ideas, baffling audiences and failing to convey a cohesive message.
Easily accessible brand guidelines can help with this. Creating a style guide lets everyone in the company learn what design elements are correct, and adapt their work to match. This guide should include aspects like fonts, colour palettes, image choices, voice, and wording styles (e.g. English or American spelling).
Jack Daniel’s was founded over 150 years ago, and has since become a globally recognised brand. It has maintained a consistent style for many years, focused on age, heritage, and the homespun aesthetics of the American South. Its visuals are dark and masculine, with vintage-style fonts that echo Wild West-era signage, and the writing voice is simple English with a Southern twang.
Jack Daniel’s demonstrates brand consistency by repeatedly using the same elements to convey a story: that of the life and legacy of its namesake founder. The logo has remained the same since 1911 and the label has changed very little since conception. All of these elements create an image of authenticity and time-tested quality - contributors to it becoming the top-selling American whiskey in the world.
The Ordinary is a range of products offered by Canadian skincare company DECIEM. On the ‘About Us’ section of their website, it reads:
“The brand was created to celebrate integrity in its most humble and true form. Its offering is pioneering, not in the familiar technologies it uses, but in its honesty and integrity. The Ordinary is born to disallow commodity to be disguised as ingenuity."
This core message of transparency and integrity is reflected in its branding. It is deliberately stripped-back, white and modern, with limited imagery and simple fonts. The writing places a heavy emphasis on the science behind its products, reflected in its technical product naming (e.g. ‘Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1%’), and in its tagline: “Clinical Formulations with Integrity”. This helps portray the company as straightforward, unpretentious, and trustworthy. This minimalist design is used in all aspects of their branding, from their website to the bottles their formulations come in.
The Ordinary’s approach proved a huge success, generating the company an estimated $330 million in 2019 and inspiring a number of imitators, like the Boots Ingredients range.
Consistent branding is vital for creating a distinct brand identity. To have consistent branding, your branding must have the same design elements across the board, including font, colour palette, and writing style. These elements should align with your business’s core message. Having consistent branding lets your audience instantly recognise, and eventually trust, your business. This in turn leads to a wider client base and more sales.