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<\/p>\n![\"brand](\"https:\/\/assets.crowdspring.com\/marketing\/landing-page\/brand-archetype-hero.png\")
<\/div>Consistency is an advantage<\/h2>\n
Keep your branding consistent, and you stand to edge ahead of your competition. This is important at all times, but especially important when you’re just starting a business<\/a> and your brand isn’t well known to your prospective customers. It will prove difficult to remember a new brand if the brand identity is chaotic and inconsistent.<\/p>\n A great example of this concept in action is the historic cola war between Coke and Pepsi. Coca-Cola has had the same logo and essentially the same brand since its inception in 1892.<\/p>\n Pepsi Co has rebranded<\/a> many times.<\/p>\n Image courtesy of Consumerist<\/p><\/div>\n Coke, widely used to denote soda of any<\/em> kind in the southern United States, is unquestionably the cola kingdom’s king. A 2015 Statista report<\/a> revealed that Coke dominated the carbonated beverage market share at 48.6% to Pepsi’s \u00a020.5%. Coke has taken ownership of its market niche and successfully defended its advantageous position through, among other things, consistent branding.<\/p>\n Consistent branding also increases your company’s perceived value. Perceived value<\/a>, or the worth a customer assigns to a product or service in their mind, determines how much customers are willing to pay for that product or service.<\/p>\n And, that advantageous market position we discussed a moment ago helps to raise the perceived value. People like to associate with “the best.” Just as the star quarterback sits atop a high school’s social pyramid, the company with the best market share gains prestige and loyalty as well.<\/p>\n BrandExtract points out<\/a>:<\/p>\n A consistent brand helps increase the overall value of your company by reinforcing your position in the marketplace, attracting better quality customers with higher retention rates and raising the perceived value of your products or services….In contrast, erratic, inconsistent behavior quickly leads to confusion and mistrust.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Making consistent branding choices increases brand recognition, helps establish a strong market position, and grows sales through increased perceived value.<\/p>\n But where should you start if you want to make sure that you consistently brand your business?<\/p>\n Here are three best practices that will help you create a great, consistent brand.<\/p>\n Image courtesy of Push C&M<\/p><\/div>\n For many, “brand” is synonymous with “logo.” \u00a0A company’s logo should spark instant recognition whenever and wherever it appears. And, using one strong logo<\/a> across all communication and marketing platforms increases the likelihood of that happening.<\/p>\n As we wrote previously<\/a>:<\/p>\n One common mistake made by many small businesses and startups is to assume that once they have a great logo, they\u2019ve created their brand and now just need to do a little bit of marketing. A brand is more than\u00a0logo design<\/a>. But marketing efforts can fall flat if you lose credibility with your marketing collateral. You must keep an eye on branding (easier for the world\u2019s biggest brands \u2013 they can spend billions building their brands) because it\u2019s too easy to make a\u00a0branding mistake that can cripple your small business<\/a>. For example, if your branding is inconsistent or consistently poor in email and content marketing campaigns, people will notice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Your logo should appear on your website, business cards, stationery, product packaging, marketing collateral, and social media.<\/p>\n So what makes an effective logo?<\/p>\n A strong logo must be unique<\/a>, versatile<\/a>, and appropriate<\/a>. Stay away from overused, overdone, generic logo designs<\/a>.<\/p>\n Customers recognize unique logos easily in a sea of generic logo designs. Versatile logos translate well across all mediums – from large business signage to a small business card. And appropriate logos create logical associations in your customer’s minds, helping them link the logo to your product or service.<\/p>\n Starbucks’ monochromatic mermaid logo is a perfect example of a unique and versatile logo that can scale to any marketing channel size.<\/p>\n Once you have a great logo design, you can use it as a springboard into our next consistent branding tip – the style\u00a0guide.<\/p>\n Image courtesy of Shakeupid<\/p><\/div>\n A brand style guide<\/a> is the ultimate compendium of all branding info. If you want to create a consistent brand presence, a style guide is essential.<\/p>\n Propoint, a digital creative agency, explains<\/a>:<\/p>\n A brand style guide (also known as a brand book or brand guide) acts as a key document that helps content creators communicate a consistent message to your audience, so it’s a great asset for creating consistent, on-brand content.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n More specifically:<\/a><\/p>\n A style guide is a set of rules to follow any time a member of your organization wants to publish, present or promote content for your brand. It answers questions like:<\/p>\n What font does your logo use? What colors are approved? When you need an image for a project, what tone and feel should it have? Should writers use \u201cemail<\/em>\u201d or does your organization prefer the hyphenated \u201ce-mail<\/em>?\u201d What is your stance on the\u00a0Oxford comma<\/a>\u00a0debate?<\/p>\n These seem like small details, but if they\u2019re not captured in a style guide your beautiful brand can quickly drift into an inconsistent experience for your customers and employees.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n But what, exactly, will you find in a style guide?<\/p>\n Your style guide should include all the information necessary for anyone to create content with your business’s unique branding signature. This includes visual info such as fonts, brand colors, logo, signage specifications, typography style, and any other commonly used branded graphic elements. It should also cover less tangible items like ideal voice and tone, branding mission<\/a>, and company philosophy.<\/p>\n When building your style guide, use your logo as a starting point. Take your color cues, font inspiration, and graphic style from your existing logo. After all, since your logo will be appearing on all of your marketing materials (right?<\/em>), everything else should be visually compatible with it.<\/p>\n If you create and follow a brand style guide, you will ensure that any content you create reflects your brand’s spirit and visuals. It’s a one-stop-shop for creating consistently branded content every time.<\/p>\n A fabulous logo, expertly deployed, and a consistent style guide means nothing if your business does not follow through on its brand promises in the real world. Remember that your brand should always be faithful to the reality of your business. Walking the walk is just as important, if not more so, than talking the talk.<\/p>\n William Arruda, personal branding expert, shares<\/a>:<\/p>\n Branding is the key to differentiating yourself from the competition, but if you don\u2019t build your brand promise around reality or consistently live up to it, your branding efforts are pointless. Brands are built through the consistent delivery of the brand promise through all stakeholder touch points. It is the consistent, desired experience that builds trust and trust is the foundation for loyalty and promotion.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Make it simple to live up to your promises by creating a brand that is true to your business from the start. Focus your brand on the key elements that are most important to your company. This will make it natural and easy to follow through on the promises your brand makes.<\/p>\n Arruda explains that consistently delivering on your brand promises does more than just secure customers’ trust. It also creates fertile ground for your business to evolve and grow safely<\/a>:<\/p>\n …being consistent doesn\u2019t mean that you can\u2019t change. In fact, consistency gives you a firm foundation for evolving into offering even more options for even more people. Once you have built a reputation through the consistent delivery of your brand promise, you have permission to evolve and expand.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Delivering on your brand promises today builds consumer trust that will benefit your business tomorrow.<\/p>\n So set your business up for long-term success with a consistent, real-to-life brand that you can execute every day in every customer interaction.<\/p>\n If you want customers to buy-in and trust your brand, it must be consistent.<\/p>\n Recap:<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/27132158\/Pepsi-VS-Coke-Logo-Evolution.jpg\"){kind=logo}
Higher perceived value increases actual value<\/h2>\n
One logo, all channels<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/27131804\/rsz_marketing-collateral.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/27131803\/rsz_1130660541155da406becb6d3cc910ec-coffee-logo-coffee-shop.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\nLock it down with a brand style guide<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/images.crowdspring.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/27131804\/rsz_style-guide-shake-up-id3.jpg\")
Deliver your brand’s promises<\/h2>\n
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