A strong brand can define your company’s personality and values, and, at Glow, we believe brand consistency is the key.

A consistent brand is important because it:

• Creates a professional core identity
  A consistent brand will look polished, well put together and thought about. Create a considered brand approach that reflects your company ethics, values and personality, rather than something that just looks pretty.
• Builds trust
  A professional, authentic brand, with a clear image, will evoke trust amongst clients and suppliers.
• Provides clarity
  All those involved with your brand will understand how your brand should be used and perceived.
• Forms familiarity
  A consistent brand will appear established and secure. Consistency helps build your reputation and create a brand that is instantly recognisable with your company.

Now, we’re not just talking about a company logo. We’re talking about colours, fonts, imagery, tone of voice, values, mission statements… the list goes on. How do you collate all these things to create a consistent brand?

Glow’s 5 tips to improve brand consistency:

1. Create and use brand guidelines
   First of all, you need brand guidelines. This is a document that contains all the information about your brand and how it should be perceived. Secondly, you need to use them, refer to them regularly and;
2. Make assets available to all staff
   To create a consistent brand, you need to have all the elements available to you. This includes the logo, guidelines, stationery and any templates. Using the correct assets will allow for efficient creation of consistent documents. But, make sure to;
3. Have an approval system in place
   Make sure all templates, designs, campaigns and promotions, in fact, anything company branded, follows a brand approval system. This could be as simple as checklist to a more controlled, brand enforcement staff member.
4. Update staff
   Ensure staff are aware of your brand values and company ethos. Your staff are a representation of your brand so should live and work to the same effect.
5. Don’t be fooled into thinking consistency is boring
   A consistent brand doesn’t have to make for a boring brand. If you have core features and brand personality, your campaigns will appear established and well thought out.

An excellent example of brand consistency is Coca Cola. Through a variety of subtle rebrands, their campaigns vary, and their mediums are incredibly diverse. But, you always know a Coca Cola campaign when you see one.

Now, we’re not saying don’t rebrand – of course, we love a rebrand – and in fact recommend periodically to keep current. The key take-away is that your brand should always reflect your personality and values, and, be consistent in everything that you do.