CONSISTENCY & BRANDS - it doesn't mean no change or repetition, it means a few small things, evolving over time.
Reflecting on 5 years of my business, and as part of this playing with my brand, it has made me reflect on the importance of showing up, distinctive assets and creating memory structures!
Per the headline image and the subtitle, I have been busy with some stuff in my own business, including evolving my brand’s assets and visual devices, so that is this month’s excuse for being later than usual, sent pre Bank Holiday. That said, if it is always later in the month, as it has been last few months, then I may as well keep quiet, as it’s never really ‘late’ right? But my plan was to always send a newsletter mid month, but I find myself getting later. That said, I may come out of the traps earlier in June? I just don;t know yet. Exciting eh? I jest, your probably don’t care.
But the point is, I am ‘consistent’ with it. I do what I manage, monthly with deeper consideration of each topic for your perusal and for my immersion, but most months bar the odd one (e.g. last August where I was celebrating my 40th and was more committed to consistent Beavertown Neck Oil) I will turn up. Circumstances may change. I may not be able to in the future, or maybe I stop doing this altogether, but consistency is taking the form of ‘keeping it up’, broadly in line with what the reader expects. It isn’t a set-in stone 3rd Thursday of the month cadence; this isn’t a company all-hands or the green bin day. But some things broadly stay the same. But varied, I hope.
THINKING ABOUT CONSISTENCY
It has become the byword of people telling you to do things religiously every day like you are some kind of bot. But us humans oscillate. Work commitments. Personal circumstances. Mental Health. Energy. We are not cells on a spreadsheet. Consistency is important though. I am crap at going to the gym properly, and probably don’t get the desired results. I’ll blast out 4 days in a row then when I travel a bit, I do not get back on the horse (or rower) for 6 weeks; I know it is better to do a bit every other day for example. When it comes to your brand, your marketing of your brand, the same rules can invariably apply. Let’s explore a few examples..
CONSISTENCY DOES NOT MEAN ALL THE TIME
Personal brand experts and agencies, which is a huge growth area in the LinkedIn age, will proffer the importance of always showing up, and all these things, and they have a point. Encouraging users to post a daily posting challenge for 30 days. But is that consistent? Is that my gym for 4 days then 6 weeks off equivalent? Realistically, who keeps up daily? If someone is everywhere then nowhere, one can wonder. Besides, perhaps zig when others zag. I do monthly newsletter when many do weekly. I post weekly on LI when many do 3-4 a week! It is what you manage, it is dependant, and it is showing up. I don’t post ‘enough’ because I am actually busy doing the work, in a way that is part of my consultancy’s cachet. If busy I post way less, if less busy a little more, but always attempt some kind of ‘keep-the-lights-on’ approach.
CONSISTENCY DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN A MILITANT CADENCE
As I have proven with this delivery.
Also look at many media plans for scaleup brands on TV for example (in green) :
Always on, bursts and pulsing. they each have their place. A big stack and burst for a brand launch, the always on for the conversion/awareness, and the pulsed for those who are budget/time poor and want to extend duration with available resources. They are all consistent, but notably not identically.
CONSISTENCY IS NOT BORING
It has become by word for repetition. Frequency to a degree is good but in ads, it can become annoying and in peoples comms, just boring. It really isn’t human. If you are committed to a militant cadence or theme, look to vary the output where possible within that. Consistent brand building and assets are key, but on a human level use this as a test-&-learn opportunity to optimise and play with codes, within reason.
CONSISTENCY IS NECESSARY FOR BRAND BUILDING - & GROWTH
Brand consistency is very important. Ruthlessly codifying your comms and touchpoints. Logos, fonts, colours. Tone of voice. Build those long term structures. Data shows CMOs and brands get bored way quicker than we do. Personnel turnover invariably drives the ‘make-an-impact’ behaviour of changing and tweaking, But that can spell disaster. Since I started with my brand and logo 5 years ago, and website/colour palette and font 4 years ago, I have been disciplined in my approach to utilise this. In fact, the genesis of the Front of Mind palette is very much an extension/sister of Archmon, with the black and salmon, and the MO of bringing things back to basics.
HOWEVER, CONSISTENCY ENABLES CHANGE, OR EVOLUTION
Often, consistency on a brand level means being ruthless and homogenised. But knowing how and where to evolve and tweak is powerful. This week for example, I updated and evolved some parts of my brand. Kept the things that reflected what the business is about, relegated/changed the things that did not, replacing with additions of new colour and font to reflect where the business is. Consistency underpins this and actualises where you are. We are not reinventing the wheel, just changing the alloy. Coke have kept their font and bottle the same for annals, Pepsi change all the time. They are different. McDonald’s golden arches and Disney’s castle need no worded introduction.
FINALLY, CONSISTENCY ON A HUMAN LEVEL TAKES DIFFERENT SHAPES
If I think about my own personal backdrop with my mental health and geography for example, as well as the business-led things changing by the month, week, day and even hour, especially when self employed. You are not AI, you can do your best. If you need a 4 month break to work, sort stuff and then re ‘post’ it is fine. It is consistent. Keeping going is half the battle. When I first started, I showed up everywhere, couldn’t tell enough people. Then you get busy. You get tired. You get locked down or you don’t get an invoice paid. Or within a bigger marketing team there’s a bit of a product/PR disaster. Shit happens. Amending of product prop of more benevolence was needed. It is OK. But coming back on after downtime is good too. You are coming back. If you were a budget conscious TV buyer, it is simply pulsing to extend your reach right? We don’t begrudge the DTC product that hasn’t shown up on Channel4 for 6 months, so why would I you?
As always, thanks for reading. Until next month/week/who knows! Enjoy your Bank Holiday weekend (or not in other parts, the world is inconsistent like that)!
SA
P.S. I really hope you are getting a semblance of value out of this. If so, and you think any other marketer or business owner would, feel free to share/forward this to them. Also, follow me on LinkedIn, The place formerly known as Twitter, or even my company page. If you want to discuss working together, you need some marketing advice, or simply something I’ve said, drop me a line. Thanks and happy reading/marketing!