Cultivating brand
consistency

Our brains are lazy! In his praised essay “Thinking, fast and slow”, psychologist and economist Daniel Kahneman describes how we tend to rely on patterns and familiar references in most of our decision-making processes and how we, at the same time, are strongly triggered by surprise. New and fresh does appeal to our brain, although only temporarily. We quickly settle back into habit and comfort.

Managing brand communication will always mean keeping the balance between being noticed and being remembered. Finding that sweet spot between grabbing attention and leaving a lasting impression is the key.

Brand identity is of course much more than a collection of visual and verbal assets. Logos, colours and taglines are mere tools in a larger building process. The idea they can generate in the customer’s brain needs to align with the identity the brand creates for itself. Converting this into a viable system, with a fluid exchange between strategy and design, can only be done by following some implementation steps. It looks good in the brand book? Now it needs to be executed properly.

Every member of your design team needs to fully understand the core of it, they need to feel at ease with its definition and be able to refer to it without a struggle. Allocating time – and resources – to the full comprehension of all the aspects of the brand strategy by everyone will not only facilitate further cooperation between all your operational units, it will also empower in return the efficiency of every single message, as part of a holistic hive-mind thinking.

The branding agency plays a crucial role in this process because it’s essential to ensure a smooth transition from strategy to brand to design. This involves creating a clear creative briefing for the design team, one that takes into account the brand’s distinctive personality and narrative, to ultimately translate the brand story & concept into comprehensive brand guidelines.

Have you ever tried reading some boardgame instruction once and try to play immediately? 90% of the time, it will end up in an epic fail. Why? Because elaborated and complicated systems are not necessarily intuitive. Simplicity is an acquired taste, one could say. As obvious as the expression of your brand essence can be, it takes in-depth reflexion to fully seize the small details of a global brand strategy, and to be able to apply them.

To begin with, let’s not think in two dimensions: the PDF era is over, interactive digital guidelines are the only option nowadays, completed by videos – the to-go tutorial medium for all of us in our daily life. Easy access to the information will strengthen the desire to get informed as well as the involvement in the strategy.

What is set in stone, and what is left to interpretation? Which assets are more fluid and allow creative freedom depending on the execution? Which assets carry the weight of memorability through repetition?

Don’t forget the intangible aspects of your brand, the ones conveying the mood and the vibe that could be recognized even when the brand logo or name is not visible. The Dutch web shop Bol.com offers a perfect example with its iconic blue, immediately identified by any customer. A strong anchoring that allows for a much more free tone of voice in the very successful quirky memes the company publishes on its social media channels.

"Branding’s work is never done", says Pieter. "Truly installing it on the client’s side and keeping its attention, without overreaching is a constantly renewed challenge. In that sense, the brand training of the internal team should be updated regularly, not only to maintain a sharp communication but also to feed it with constructive criticism."

The branding agency should act as a long-term consultant, helping to respond on a strategic level to the evolution of the market and of the possible new uses or needs of the company. Designating brand guardians on both client and agency side is a smart proactive response: people who will overlook the brand application and will be able to discuss the necessary adjustments in implementation.