We’ve been discussing the eight features that a great brand should have. Most recently, we touched on purpose and focus. 

In this post, we will be talking about the importance of a having consistent brand, and the importance of having an expressive brand. 

Branding is so much more than graphic design and we wanted to provide some tips for you to give you a great starting point to assess your existing brand strategy. 

 

Consistency and Brand Strategy

If you’ve ever played a game of telephone, you know how tiny shifts in messages can lead to major miscommunication. Branding keeps your message stable. And people love stability!

Consistency is really important in branding. If you’re feeling confused and overwhelmed with your brand, this is the place to start. We recommend doing a brand audit of all of your materials and making sure all of your print materials and digital marketing match. 

Think about consistency in branding like consistency with a personal relationship. If you have someone in your life that you walk on eggshells around because you don’t know how they’re going to react, that’s bad branding. 

Or, have you ever been to a restaurant that served you a fabulous meal? You raved about it to all your friends and then took them out for dinner and were disappointed? That’s bad branding. 

Being inconsistent makes customers doubt the experience they will have with you each time. 

 

Questions to Ask Yourself During a Brand Audit

When you’re working through a brand audit, here are three super simple questions you can ask yourself that will make all the difference in creating a strong, consistent brand. These are also things you can update on your own! 

 

How many brand colours am I using? Are they the correct hue?

For your visual brand, the best practice is to have two to three brand colours, which you will see in most big brands. Colour is a great way to bring consistency and instant recognition. Does Coco-Cola even use colours other than Red?! 

If you are using only two to three colours are they the same across all of your materials? Or sometimes does your blue print a bit teal, and other times a bit purple-y? 

While this may seem nit-picky, even tiny discrepancies can throw off your customers. That’s why Coca-Cola is adamant about their red being correct. Can you imagine a bottle of Coke being slightly orange? I would wonder what was wrong with it or think it was a knockoff!

 

Does my brand messaging sound the same?

Are you always upbeat in friendly? Or sometimes do you get super professional, or maybe you come off jargon-y and analytical. Keeping a consistent voice and message is huge when communicating with your clients. 

Words, messaging and stories are where you can jam-pack emotion into your brand. While graphics are important, they don’t always have the same emotional impact. 

We know emotional brands are memorable brands and using the same tone in all of your content marketing will let your clients know if they should be feeling the warm fuzzies every time they visit, or perhaps excited, relaxed, or calm.  

 

Are my brand fonts consistent?

Fonts can be a bit tricky if you don’t spend all day staring at different ones like we do but take a close look to see if you can find variations. Like colours, you want to stick with the same two to three brand fonts all the time.

Your brand designer should provide you with brand guidelines so that you have the names of your fonts readily available. If you don’t have your brand fonts on your computer there are many sites you can access them from, and your brand designer can point you in the right direction too. 

If you can audit and pare down some of your marketing materials it can make a huge difference. Just like when we interact with a person, we build trust by knowing that they act and behave a certain way. When someone we know behaves out of character we start to raise questions. The same goes for your business.

 

Building an Expressive Brand Identity

You can talk to your clients in your branding the same way you’d talk to them in person. If you tell them how you honestly feel, you’ll usually get the same honesty back in return.

When you can have real conversations with your customers and they can have real conversations back with you. That’s how you get a devoted following and build your brand. 

People realize they’re not just a number to you and that their opinions and feedback matter. When you take that feedback and use it constructively they’ll know you truly listened to them. Also if you don’t realize there is room for improvement with your products or services, how can you fix it?

While there are absolutely industries and businesses that require more formality and a higher level of professionalism, figure out how and where you can be more authentic with your target audience. If you’re a lawyer or a banker, people are often anxious about being in your office, have a laugh, be casual and let them know they’re dealing with a real person!

 

Add Some Personality to Your Brand Position

This is where social media can be an incredibly powerful tool in your brand development strategy. Social media is meant for behind-the-scenes looks at businesses. People want to get to know who the owner is and what the day-to-day job is like. 

Customers love bloopers and watching people be silly. This is why TikTok and Instagram Reels are skyrocketing. We know that there is a lot of curation that goes into social media, but people still love to see a level of authenticity.

Find ways to incorporate yourself into your marketing strategy. We know customers like to work with people they like!

One of our favourite expressive brands is Old Spice. I mean, who doesn’t love Terry Crews? Their advertisements (television, social media, digital marketing, etc) are fantastical and funny. They’ve built a strong brand position for themselves. While there is a bit of sex appeal, they are way more down-to-earth than their competitors. 

 

Ready to Express Yourself?

Are you feeling energized and ready to take your brand development to the next level?! We would love to guide you through a fun and exciting rebranding process to make sure you’re connected with your target market. Book a consultation call with us today!