Key of long-term success seed to bud: Consistent branding

I know for myself that you want to present a reliable image to your customers and establish long-term relationships with them, because I am after something similar.

To achieve this, you need a solid foundation and you need to take the right steps and have a brand identity that is integrated, harmonious and speaks the same language at every point you touch your customers. Competition is high in every field and we need to talk about how you should engrave your brand in the minds of your target audience and make room for it in their hearts.

Why is consistent branding important?

When you desire a strong brand, you can hardly distinguish it from being a "well-established" and "known" brand. 

The most important common feature of "well-known", "well-established" and "strong" brands is that they use the same visual communication in every channel, the tone of the communication is the same in every channel and, perhaps most importantly, they give the same message with the same vision and mission. These are among the most important criteria that make the brand strong in the eyes of the consumer and influence the purchasing decision in favor of the brand.

Think about yourself and think about going to a restaurant or meeting or using public transportation. What do you do first? You look at people, what they wear on their clothes and feet, their accessories, their haircuts, their faces or their hands.

In short, people's first impressions of other people, how they look and what they wear are of great importance in moving to the next step in bilateral relations and these are observations that affect people's decision to buy a product or not.

The situation is no different for brands than for people. Your customers will look at how your brand looks and they will do this not only by visiting your website but also by visiting your Twitter profile, seeing your photos on Instagram, spending time on your videos on Youtube and even reading the corporate messages you share on Linkedin.

It is now imperative that you are where your customers are, and it is important to maintain your presence in harmony with the corporate identity that forms the rest of your brand.

I know that you are focused on the result and want to become a “known” and “strong” brand as soon as possible, just like the brands around you, but you may want to know that the brands you use as references have gone through quite difficult paths and have accumulated a lot of experience on their way to this day.

How do I make my brand consistent?

In order to make an existing brand or a brand that you will create from scratch strong, recognizable and consistent, you need to take some steps and review critical control points.

You should start by defining your brand's identity. You should do this job not only in one dimension, but also clearly by thinking about your mission, vision and what makes your brand valuable.

It will take time and you will need to think about it a lot. Don’t worry about it taking a long time, keep a pen, paper and notebook with you at all times to make it easier, add your phone’s camera to shortcuts and take photos of everything that inspires you.

Back to the topic. Having a good brand identity that is more than just looking strong is the foundation of all efforts. A strong brand identity tells you what is valuable to your brand and where your brand is going. I know it is hard to focus on a specific goal, especially in these days when there are high ups and downs in business.

The simplest, most reliable and perhaps fastest way to look the same on every platform is to create a brand guide or more commonly known as a corporate identity guide. This guide includes information on how your brand should look when someone who is a designer does any work related to your brand, the elements you allow them to use and their access information, brand colors and fonts. You should not forget to include your brand messages in this document. This way, whether a designer is building a website or a simple business card, your brand will look the same from start to finish.

When I talk about consistency, the most important thing I keep in mind is to make sure that all the elements are in harmony. This includes the visual design, the messages given, and even the results that emerge from different business units, such as product quality.

It would not be wrong to define channel integration as the delivery of the same messages across different channels of communication with the customer, such as translation platforms, social media accounts, and printed materials.

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To summarize, the actions we call consistent branding are the most important strength on the road to long-term success in a market where competition is fierce and fierce, by increasing the brand’s recognizability, consumer loyalty to your brand, and the brand’s share of the market it operates in.

Branding and making the brand consistent is a long, patient, and detailed process that requires planning, and the return is worth all this effort, and the end result is not just a brand, it is a legacy.

If you interested in this subject and want to read more:

  1. Why is brand consistency important? - Grammarly
  2. Why consistency is vital to your branding efforts - Entrepreneur
  3. Brand Loyalty: What it is & how to build it longterm - Qualtrics
  4. Why consistency is the key to successful branding - Forbes

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