I love McDonald’s french fries.
PS: This is not a post about junk food lest our healthy-eating readers make a run for it. You’ll be happy to know that this post is about something more important to any and everyone who is involved in any way with Branding.
Now back to the top. I love McDonald’s french fries and here is why: I can walk into any McDonald’s Franchise in any city in the UK and know I’m getting the same yummy goodness that is their french fries. Many other fast-food restaurants sell french fries, but I know how many times I tried them only to end up one day with the real deal and the next a sour taste in my mouth. I do not have the luxury of eating french fries regularly, so on the days I’m allowed to indulge, I want to make sure that I will enjoy every bit of it, so I stick with the one I trust to remain consistent with their delivery.
Disclaimer: McDonald’s have not paid me to share my opinion of their french fries, so when you see them, let them know they owe me on
Brand Consistency
One of the major reasons why branding has become a huge part of the corporate world is that it serves as an effective tool to build physical and mental relationships between organizations and the general public. The moment you decide to build a brand, you are putting your business out there before the public eye to decide if you are worth the attention. Brand consistency, then, is the pattern with which you choose to express your brand in a way that will shape what people think and feel about your company and help build trust and loyalty with your customers.
Developing a standard for your brand consistency involves a lot more than drawing up the guidelines for the use of your logo and tagline. Whenever customers make contact with your brand, it should deliver the values that the brand represents, every time and everywhere. From interactions online to a casual meeting with an employee, brand consistency is the key to maintaining a harmonious representation of your brand.
Bonus Activity: Spot the correct brand.
Imagine a customer of yours walks up to you one day to say she received one of your branded mugs and noticed the change in the colour of your logo. Of course, you don’t remember changing the colour, so how did that happen? Well, the guy who was supposed to send the logo design to the printer thought it looked nicer with a different colour, so he adjusted it, and now your brand image is on the line. Maintaining your brand consistency means you have a careful eye on everything the brand portrays, trying to make sure that nothing slips unnoticed. Tough job, huh?
Think about Amazon’s move to introduce the voice of Samuel L. Jackson as an option for Alexa’s voice. Would Amazon’s marketing stunt have mattered to anyone if we could not instantly recognise the voice of the very popular celebrity? So it is with any brand. Your brand must have a distinct voice. Maintaining that brand personality and tone across all communication platforms encourages customers not only to recognise it anywhere but also to remain at ease with the brand.
It is typical for a brand like Ripples to create content on branding as Ripples is a business that celebrates the value of branding. It would be odd, then, for Ripples to pretend to be an authority in the taste of french fries by attempting to create content around that topic. Basically, the content your brand creates should be consistent with the values and mission of the brand.
A consistently changing brand will only confuse your customers and distract from the message and power of your brand.
So? Keep it consistent, like my lovely McDonald’s french fries 😃
