If, when you went to buy a particular product at the supermarket each week, it changed its brand look and feel, you’d think its makers weren’t happy or confident in how its image is portrayed against its competitors in the market, wouldn’t you? You wouldn’t know what to look for because, changing all the time it’d be sending out mixed messages.
This is where consistency in your brand identity comes in and why it is so important, like the clock you always know time is consistent.
If you trust your image and how you look people will believe you. A brand that is consistent and clear puts the customer at ease, because they know exactly what to expect each and every time they experience the brand.
Any passionate graphic designer or brand specialist will advise and provide you with strong brand guidelines on artwork. These include fonts, colour palette, images and typography the look and feel that give your consistency and unique identity. This reflects across your marketing material such as business cards, website, posters and flyers and gives out a consistent message to your clients so they recognise your brand instantly.
When I look at examples of strong brands that are well marketed today, such as:
- Virgin
- Apple
- Lotto
- EasyJet
I always know by the brand consistency which the advertising is associated with. For example, Apple only need to use their symbol; wording is not required, you instinctively know who the brand is. The same principal applies to the National Lottery symbol, ‘crossed fingers’ you see it on all point of sale material and you instantly recognise it and know it’s Lotto! Simple is the most effective. Similarly using colour, when I see orange, I immediately think of the brands EasyJet or B&Q.
Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service, Steve Jobs, Apple Founder.
If you are consistent with your brand identity and you have a good working relationship with your graphic designer, they will be able to create new images and documents on your behalf as they know you and your branding inside out. This also saves you time and money that you can use in other areas of your business. Everything you create enhances your great reputation.
