Establishing brand consistency throughout your company is about more than just setting the standards. Keeping your brand consistent, means you must uniformly brand yourself to your current prospects and existing customers. Brand inconsistency can have a significant impact your brand recognition.

Brand consistency is not always easy.

Putting your logo on all marketing material and using the proper pantone color doesn’t cover it. These small exercises can be helpful, but brand consistency is an evolution; it’s not just about logos and colors. You need to get your core marketing messages aligned and compatible first.

Using consistency to build your brand provides your business with creditability and recognition. Gaining brand recognition moves you to the next level – trust and loyalty with your customers.

To achieve this, you need the look, feel, tone, and terminology to be consistent throughout your brand. This must be implemented for every marketing piece, including: business cards, websites, campaigns, letterhead, envelopes, invoices, signage, banners and all things related to your brand.

Without brand consistency, customers will lose sight of the message you are trying to portray and vital trust in your business.

Every company should establish Brand Standards Guidelines. It should contain instructions on how to use all your brand elements: name, logo, tagline, typeface, typestyles, textures, color palettes and all other brand attributes. This step is vital in keeping a consistent look and uniform messaging throughout your company.

A perfect example of stellar brand consistency is Nike. Since Nike’s inception in 1971, their brand and core message has never changed. The only change they have made through the years is how they market their message. They have unrelenting brand consistency, which has gained them great brand recognition and trust with millions of customers.

5 Simple Rules to Brand Consistency:

• Utilize Imagery Characteristics & Illustration Hues of Kin
• Standardized Colors & Design Styles
• Repeat Your Core Messaging
• Use Uniform Typography
• Know Your Audience

Do you have consistency in your brand?

Here’s a simple way to find out. Survey a group of employees from different departments (e.g. Accounting and Sales). Ask them…

• What does our company stand for?
• What does our company mean to you?

Compare the answers. Are the answers consistent? Are the same words being used throughout the company to describe your brand? This simple poll that will give you a great indication on your level of brand consistency.  Remember, these are employees that are aware of your business and breathe its culture every day.  Just think about your prospects or customers that do not get this intimate level of contact with your brand. Is your brand speaking the same words to everyone?