Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get. -Forest Gump
Last week I bought an expensive pair of Italian shoes - I was happy with the performance of the last branded pair I bought and how great they still looked after 2 years.
...Hmm the new pair left me “high-and-dry,” or should I say “low-and-wet” - After only two days of use, the heel of my shoe fell off as I was crossing Orchard Road in Singapore - Unfortunately, it was raining and water soaked up through the heel of my shoe - I was not happy!
Inconsistency erodes the trust of a purchaser, and bad experiences plays out in our head whenever we next see the brand -
Consistent brands are usually successful because they always meet or exceed our expectations.
Consistency helps both the customer and the company that owns the brand - For a company, once they have everything right, the execution can remain unchanged and perfectly aligned. This is a great feeling when a Marketing Director comes to work and there are no issues, complaints or emergency meetings scheduled at the last minute because a brand has not delivered what it said it would.
Consistency transforms a brand into a greatness— A brand that repeatedly meets the needs and expectations will always delight an audience, and you can bet they’re gonna tell their friends all about it.
Ok, lets take a look at creating consistency - One of the biggest reasons brands fail to become exceptional is the lack of commitment and respect given to them from conception, to all the way through to the implementation stage.
Once you have developed consistency with your product or service, take your hands off everything and don't tamper with anything - Your focus should be on quality checks and compliance against the specifications that met your customers expectations.
Just incase you need reminding, here are 3 reasons why brand consistency is important:
1. Increase Adoption & Develop Trust
Great brands attract great people that are needed to make the brand succeed. When your brand is designed and aligned its ok to remind your customers why they were attracted to you in the first place. Inconsistency can drag your brand down, but consistency strengthens and pulls your brand upwards creating brand loyalty.
2. Barrier to Entry
Michael Porter created the 5-forces which every business evangelist preaches - Creating a brand is all about embracing one of Michael Porters forces: Barriers to Entry. This means there are no mental substitutes for your product - The dream for every company - Design consistency is essential to the brand - Every single part of the experience, from product design & packaging through to advertising and marketing. This sort of attention makes it difficult for competitors to step in and steal your brand property.
3. Increase Sales & Margins
Strong brand experiences are worth paying for. - The saying "you pay for what you get" shouldn't exist when there is a brand being portrayed - This is commodity talk, and let me tell you, the talk is cheap! Brands are worth paying for - They have an inbuilt thing called assurance, which is mostly underrated and should always be factored into your margins - Assurance increases sales and increases margins. There are much more benefits I could add to this list, but I’m certain I've given you a good taste in understanding the importance of brand consistency.
When it comes to global marketing, BrandSystems offers tools that help your different departments consistently follow your corporate identity guidelines with ease. Book a demo today to find out more.