3 Impactful Ways to Avoid Brand Inconsistencies

Corporate branding can be a challenging task to small or start-up companies. In a survey about company investments, 82% of respondents see brand strength as a determining factor for key stakeholders. Your brand should reflect the values and mission of your company.

Inconsistency causes consumers to view a company as unprofessional. There’s also wasted time in having vendors figure out what your brand is when it could have easily been identified in a brand guideline or done by a brand master. Reinforce your brand by having a consistent look and message with these tips:

1. Keep a Consistent Style Guide/Brand Book.

A style guide, or brand book, contains your company’s brand elements and how they’re applied across all marketing materials. In these, you’ll often find logo usage dos and don’ts, rules for certain colors and fonts, ways to use the imagery and much more. With so many outlets to use for promotion, companies commonly think they need to create separate guides for different outlets. Companies oftentimes have a different style guide for social media, its website and apparel. All brand guidelines should be communicated together in one comprehensive brand book.

A comprehensive brand guide will not only make it easier for your team to reference and update if needed, but minimize the risk of brand inconsistency. Printed and online books are also helpful for outside vendors to be able to download or reference. A qualified agency can compile your brand guidelines with divisions to simplify the process for you. Appleton creates and maintains branding guidelines to ensure our clients have optimal brand consistency.

2. Have One Brand Master.

A typical cause for brand inconsistency comes with companies hiring multiple designers and agencies at a time. Some hire designers on a case-by-case basis. The problem with hiring multiple designers and agencies is that each has its own art direction. This leads to a risk in inconsistent designs.

Keeping a constant relationship with one agency and having them be advocates for your brand helps ensure brand consistency in all design work. This consistency is crucial for the public when identifying your brand among your competitors. Appleton works closely with clients to assure their creative needs are consistent with the company’s mission through our branding and messaging services.

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3. Have a Brand Manager On-Site to Monitor Branding Needs.

Not only should you have a consistent agency creating the work, but a dedicated employee monitoring brand management is crucial, too. Whether it’s a marketing specialist, creative director or even a head of business development, someone needs to be on staff to ensure the brand guidelines are being implemented and maintained throughout the company and across all platforms. By having this brand manager onsite, it’ll be easier to achieve brand consistency.

Appleton’s team specializes in brand management and provides multiple services such as logos, naming, messaging, full brand development, branding guides and more. Our team is ready and equipped to take your brand where it needs to be.

If you’re looking to establish a brand or rebrand and make it well recognized, look no further. Appleton Creative is an award-winning, full-service Orlando advertising company that specializes in delivering a strong, unified visual and verbal presence through branding and messaging. Appleton works with local, national and international clients to build a strong and cohesive brand that standardizes any company’s look and communications across print, web, social media and video. Your branding goals are worth a conversation: contact us at 407-246-0092 or info@appletoncreative.com.