How consistent is your corporate identity?
What kind of message does your targeted potential customer get if he sees that your business card looks completely different to your flyers, your letterhead and your website? A very confusing one, that’s what kind!
Strive for consistency in all aspects of your branding
Consistency has to be a major priority in creating and maintaining your corporate identity. Or why go to the effort at all? The Commonwealth Bank’s colours are undeniably yellow and black. What if they released some printed collateral that was purple or green? Chances are you’d totally miss the fact that it was a message from the Commonwealth Bank! What if Cadbury did away with their oh-so-familiar purple branding and started using yellow instead? It could turn consumers away in droves! They’d never risk it.
Quite simply, your corporate identity MUST be uniform throughout all visual avenues. Your website designer must be shown examples of your business cards, your letterheads and whatever else you’ve already gone to the trouble and expense of designing and having printed. Or, if the website is built first, your printed material must be designed to match.
The more your target customers see your logo, your colour scheme, your font or anything else that’s been created or implemented for visual identification, the more they’ll relate it to your business. If you start mixing it up and ignore the rules for consistency in your corporate branding, you waste huge chunks of valuable opportunities that you’re investing in.
Don’t try to design your corporate identity yourself, unless you have training in this area. Getting your branding right - from the start – can spare you any wasted money later on, and it also means that you establish your business on a strong footing.
What happens if you’ve already strayed from the path and your corporate branding is a hotch-potch of mixed messages?
Fix it! Don’t waste a minute more. Consult a graphic designer or a marketing professional and sort it out now. Together, you can decide what works, what doesn’t, or if you need something entirely new created. But don’t kid yourself that it doesn’t matter. It really does!
Does a corporate identity only involve visual strategies?
No! From the way you answer the phone and your driving conduct on the roads in your branded vehicle, through to the consistency of your written content in all marketing materials, your corporate identity revolves around somany elements. If it all seems overwhelming, well it can be, but one step at a time, and by keeping uniformity and consistency in mind, you’ll surely develop your brand so that it’s recognisable, familiar and comfortable. It takes time, but the more you work at it, the more successful your business’s image will be.
Author Bio: Gina Lofaro is the wordmistress, offering professional copywriting services. Running a successful online store has provided her with the expertise to know what sells. To find out more about Gina, read her profile or visit her online at www.wordmistress.com.au.
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