It’s often said that people dislike change. If this were true, LinkedIn would have some pretty boring status updates!

What is true, however, is that people do not like uncertainty. That’s why, when clients approach us  for support to “change” their brand, we like to remind them of another old adage; that “change is constant”.   In other words, change comes from a platform of consistency.

Consistency helps people to retain details

As consumers, we are true purveyors of multimedia and our attention is gradually being spread across a greater number of stimuli channels. To counter this, simple brand-idea association has become a pervasive branding technique, enabling every touch point from awareness to purchase to be deployed consistently to offer a seamless brand experience.

So think about your brand as a collection of perceptions formed from a person’s history of interactions with your brand and you’ll soon start to see how important consistency is in maintaining that image through the line.

Consistency helps people to talk about you

People who claim they are bad at telling jokes usually aren’t used to telling jokes, but when they do, they’ll often try and deliver it in the same way that they heard it.

The word of mouth cycle happens in the same way, especially amongst uninitiated brand ambassadors. So if your target audience hears your message time and time again in the manner that you’d like it expressed, they’re more than likely to repeat it as you would.

Consistency drives immediacy

It may seem counterintuitive, but when brands communicate consistently, consumers gain market understanding of new messages faster. By spending less time trying to convince consumers about a new claim, and simply reminding them about what they already know, they can pivot to a complimentary idea comfortably for you to prompt them to trial, repeat or alter their actions, consistently.

Consistency gives you variety

Your audience is easily interrupted, so while it’s important to be consistent, that consistency has to go hand in hand with variety.

In fact, having a strong consistent message allows you to add, not subtract, from your messaging in more meaningful ways. If you can stay true about the reasons your brand is famous and anchor all your communications to that point, you can also play with pre-conceived expectations, enabling some exciting creative executions.

Consistency is the catalyst for any branding project

Consistency can convince consumers to pick the better brand over the better product, so remember that every touchpoint makes a difference. From initial awareness through to post-purchase every consumer who interacts with your brand is a potential ambassador. So, before you embark on change, be sure you’re ready to be consistent.