Consistency... How does it matter?

Imagine for a moment that you know someone, maybe even a friend, and that you’ve invested the time and energy to get to know them, to the point that you have a good working relationship with them based on what you believe them to be. And then imagine that the same friend suddenly switches character or behaviour and becomes unpredictable and different. How would that make you feel?

Of course this sometimes happens in life and there are a host of reasons why, but imagine for a moment if Apple started to sell party balloons, or had a cluttered and very colourful website. Or if Nike sold fizzy drinks…how would that offend your perception?

When it comes to your brand consistency is all. And the reason is that your brand represents you, it tells your story, it holds your reputation, it’s what you’re judged by and it’s what your customers adhere to and identify with…and if anything representing your brand is inconsistent or jars then you’re disturbing all the effort you’ve put into building your brand in the first place.

What does consistency look like?

It’s more than keeping to the same logo and font and it’s more than adhering to a set colour palette and font. Consistency involves maintaining the same voice and tone, it involves being recognisable from a distance, from being predictable. Think for another moment of those people in your life who have made you feel most safe and it would be a surprise if one reason for this wasn’t that they were entirely predictable, you always knew where you were with them. The same is true for your favourite brands and should be for yours. Having branding guidelines allows you to determine and record the look, feel and character of your brand. They may be a page long or very much longer but they are vital, especially when you’re trusting subcontractors or new employees to represent you in words or graphics.