If you walked into your nearest Starbucks and asked for a flat white, you know what to expect. So if you were presented with something that didn’t taste like your regular flat white, and that flat white didn’t arrive in the Starbucks branded paper cup – would you be a little suspicious?

That’s the secret to brand consistency. It’s creating a perception and building expectations so that people know what to expect with every interaction they have with a brand. 

Sure, it’s easy to understand why a brand like Starbucks needs to build and maintain a high level of brand consistency but it’s also essential for small and medium-sized businesses, particularly if you operate in the B2B space.

Read on to find out why. 

Brand consistency starts with why your brand exists and develops into what it looks like, how it sounds and how it makes people feel. It feeds all elements of the business; from your logo and colour palette to your brand communications, to the online and offline customer journey and every customer touch point possible. Consistency is key if you want people to know, like, trust and remember your business and offer.

The benefits of brand consistency

Makes you recognisable

Logically if you use a unique logo and have taken the time to choose brand colours; your customer touchpoints will look consistent. You can start to build up brand recognition, meaning your customers will recognise something they see from your business and connect it back to you. 

Brand recognition over time helps people feel familiarity and trust and has been the key to many brands’ successes over the years, such as Starbucks, Virgin and more recently the likes of First Direct and Starling. For smaller businesses, this still stands true. When you think that only 5% of your target audience is in market when they see your brand, you need to be present multiple times for it to be part of the consideration journey. And if you’re not communicating your brand consistently, there’s no way it’ll build up those all-important memory structures and be remembered at the right moment.

Makes you memorable

Linked to the above point, brand consistency helps build associations in people’s memories so they remember what the brand looks like and recognise it when they see it again. 

Having a memorable brand also helps to be top of mind when people are making buying decisions. Meaning, if your marketing communications are well-targeted and talk about the benefits of what you can offer, people are much more likely to choose you over a competitor. 

Helps build awareness

The more consistent you are as a brand, the more you’ll be recognised, and naturally, the more aware people will be of your presence in what is probably a very cluttered market.  

Helps drive revenue

It makes sense that a brand that is top of mind because it’s recognisable, memorable and slowly building awareness – has a direct impact on sales. Forbes found that presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%.

5 reasons to believe branding is good for business.

We’ve looked at the overall benefits of brand consistency but smaller businesses and B2B businesses have different challenges to larger businesses like Virgin. 

So, why is it still important I hear you cry?

1. Up against strong competition

You may be up against some strong competition so brand consistency allows you to represent yourselves alongside them, with a strong and distinctive brand identity. You are more likely to be considered during people’s decision-making journey because you have built up a consistent, recognisable brand. After all, only 5% of your target audience is in market at one given time.

2. A cluttered market

Some of your competitors might be bigger, some feistier. Some may be the same size as you and have a great offer. Standing out from the crowd so that you are seen and heard never felt so important. Developing a distinctive brand look, feel and voice will give you a competitive edge.

3. Helps build reputation and trust

Lots of companies selling B2B rely on trust, word of mouth and recommendations. And while this is all so important and enough to support steady growth – it’s not sustainable. Brand consistency works alongside your reputation and nudges people in the direction of your brand when it really matters. 

4. Makes marketing and communications more streamlined

Having a defined brand identity makes it easier to develop brand communications. Everyone’s on the same page, approvals are easier and quicker and the creative process is much more enjoyable for everyone involved. If you’re outsourcing your marketing – having a set of guidelines that everyone can adhere to is a game changer.

5. Helps to drive the direction of the business 

At the heart of brand consistency is the brand identity and this identity is about who you are as a business and why you’re doing what you do. Taking the time to understand and develop a distinctive identity, beyond a logo and colour palette, right through to tone of voice and customer service standards, can help drive the future direction of the business.

How to build brand consistency

To get you started, here are some ways to help build brand consistency:

• Develop a distinctive brand identity
• Think about how you want your brand to look, feel and sound
• Create a set of guiding principles
• Create a mission and vision statement
• Define your brand values
• Develop a customer value proposition
• Create a process for all customer touchpoints
• Create consistent brand messaging and imagery

So – if you’re a small to medium-sized business wanting to have more of an impact in the market and be recognised for the things that really matter – get in touch. It doesn’t have to be a long, expensive process. There’s a framework we use with our clients that gets them clarity in weeks.

To speak to us or book one of our brand clarity workshops, book a call here or email us.