Why brand consistency drives growth

How long do you really stop and engage with an ad? Generally, people don’t spend more than a few seconds on an ad, if even that. For mobile ads that take up less than 10% of the screen, the average awareness time you can expect is 0.8 seconds. That means you only have a short window to make an impression. 

With new trends and competitors vying for attention, you might be tempted to keep changing your marketing strategies and churn out creatives, in fear of falling behind. But System1’s Senior Vice President, Andrew Tindall, challenges this impulse. Instead, he believes in the power of consistency over newness. 

In a world obsessed with the next big thing, it may actually pay not to change. Tindall’s surprising truth? Brand consistency drives long-term growth, and here’s why. 

The marketing squeeze: efficiency vs. effectiveness 

Feeling the pressure to prove every marketing dollar you’ve spent with cold, hard ROI? You’re not alone. The "marketing squeeze" is the relentless chase after short-term gains like ROI targets, attribution and efficiency metrics — often at the expense of long-term growth. 

It’s easy to get fixated on those clicks and conversions, those immediate wins that justify your marketing efforts. But while they are useful, they don't necessarily drive long-term growth. 

Think about The Tortoise and the Hare. The hare, all about that initial speed, eventually gets outpaced by the tortoise's consistent effort. So in this marketing marathon, you need to be like the tortoise. 

Compound creativity is how to build an enduring brand, and brand consistency is the key to achieving long-term marketing effectiveness. 

What is compound creativity?

When a snowball rolls down a hill, it gathers more snow and momentum, becoming exponentially bigger than the size it started as. That’s the same principle as compound creativity: consistency allows creative ideas to compound over time and make a bigger impact. 

So, by not changing, you can actually drive marketing effectiveness. As long as you’re starting from a solid creative foundation, consistency can have compound effects. 

A unified presentation of a brand’s identity, messaging and visual elements across all marketing efforts builds a strong, recognizable and trustworthy brand image in the minds of consumers. Each consistent interaction reinforces that positive image and deepens your connection. 

The ROI of brand consistency

It sounds a bit counterintuitive, right? Well, System 1’s research analyzed 56 brands and over 4,000 TV ads across a five-year period and determined that consistency is key to building stronger brands. 

Their findings showed that consistent brands:

• Resonate emotionally with consumers
• Grow market share faster
• Are twice as profitable

Higher creative quality

Consistent brands produce ads that resonate more deeply with audiences. System 1’s research showed that consistent brands scored significantly higher in emotional response testing. 

Think about it: every time you see a familiar logo or hear a familiar voice, it builds a little more trust and positive association in your mind. It makes sense since 81% of consumers need to trust a brand to buy from them. 

When a brand sticks to the same creative foundation, its messaging becomes more impactful and creates a stronger connection with viewers. Customers know what they’re getting every time they see your ad — there's a comfort and understanding there. That connection fosters stronger customer loyalty and reduces churn.

Better market share growth

Let’s say you’re in the market to buy a pair of shoes. Over the past two weeks, you’ve been seeing the same pair pop up across your social media platforms and Google. That brand feels safer and more reliable than another brand you’ve never seen before. So when you’re finally ready to buy, you’re more likely to choose something you’re familiar with.

Repetition reinforces brand identity. You grow market share faster because it’s easier for consumers to recognize and choose your brand when they’re making a purchase. 

A unified front strengthens your position in the market because you become the familiar face in a crowded room. In fact, consistent brands are 3.5 times more likely to have better brand visibility. 

Double the profit gains

Brand consistency is where the money’s at, and System 1’s research has the numbers to back it up. Brands that commit to long-term consistency see 2x the profit gains compared to those that are constantly switching things up.

Consistent messaging builds brand equity, allowing you to command better pricing. When your audience knows who you are, what you stand for and what they can expect, they're more willing to invest in your brand and stick around for the long haul.

Change can be costly, too. The data shows that brands with low brand consistency need to spend 1.75x more on media just to achieve the same growth. Over five years, that adds up to £3.5 billion in wasted media spend. 

While inconsistent brands can still achieve some results, brand consistency is how you achieve marketing effectiveness and sustainable profits. 

Key elements of consistent branding 

If you were to focus on only one marketing metric to assess your branding, make it your Creative Consistency Score (CCS), which measures how consistently a brand uses its creative elements across touchpoints and over time. 

A high CCS simply means a more recognizable brand identity by consumers. And how do you achieve a high CCS? It boils down to these fundamentals:

Creative foundations

What can customers reliably expect from your brand? Your creative foundations should answer this question. Figure out your brand story, key messaging and value proposition to build your foundation. 

Your brand story is what makes you human and relatable. It’s the narrative that tells your potential customers why you exist beyond just making a sale. Then there's your key messaging, the core ideas you want to consistently communicate about what you offer and what you stand for. 

Your value proposition should clearly convey to your customers what they’ll benefit from by choosing you. There are tangible and intangible advantages. For example, Patagonia: tangibly, they offer durable, high-quality outdoor gear. Intangibly, they represent environmental responsibility and ethical sourcing, making customers feel good about their purchase.

These elements form your company’s identity and set the tone for how your customers will perceive you. Ensuring brand consistency will help you build deeper connections with your customers.

Culture of consistency 

Every interaction a potential customer has with your brand should be consistent. That means managing every touchpoint — from that first website visit to the tenth customer service call — with the same standards. 

Treat branding efforts as a long-term game plan. Plan marketing campaigns that build on each other, develop brand assets that have staying power and focus on a brand message that resonates consistently across years, not just weeks, across marketing channels.

The culture of consistency shows up in the big things, like running ads longer, effectively extending campaigns across channels your audience uses and reusing solid creatives. If a particular ad or piece of content resonates with your audience, don't just ditch it for the next shiny thing. Recycle it, repurpose it and redeploy it. 

Execution consistency

Your brand logo, color palette, typography and even the style of your imagery should be consistent and uniform across all marketing efforts. 

Then there’s brand personality and tone of voice. While it can change slightly depending on the context and platform, it should always feel like it belongs to that same distinct voice.

Lastly, make sure all your teams (marketing, sales and design, etc.) are all on the same page and executing the same marketing strategies. The last thing you want is for marketing to launch a new marketing campaign and sales to send out presentations with outdated logos. 

Examples of effective brand consistency

These brands have cracked the code to marketing effectiveness: 

Apple

We all know at least one person who has to get a new iPhone whenever a new one comes out. It’s rarely about the incremental changes to the processor or the extra camera lens, but rather because of the brand. 

Apple has built a die-hard fan base that trusts and even evangelizes its ecosystem, and a huge part of that is because of brand consistency.

Whether you're unboxing a brand-new iPad, window shopping on their website or stepping into one of their stores, Apple's brand promises a consistent feeling of premium simplicity. They're not just selling gadgets — they're selling a feeling that customers get every time they touch anything Apple. 

McDonalds 

McDonald’s golden arches are instantly recognizable almost everywhere on the planet. That’s not by accident. By sticking to their iconic red and yellow scheme for decades, their visual identity has become a global marker for fast food. 

Their marketing strategy consistently centers around family-friendly fast food, brand value and convenience. Slogans like "I'm lovin' it" are global mantras, repeated and reinforced across every ad. 

The most impressive part? Go into any McDonald's, anywhere, and you pretty much know what you're going to get: the same menu staples, the same efficient service, the same predictable restaurant layout.

Nike

When you think of athletic wear, Nike is probably the first or second brand that comes to mind. Their simple yet powerful “swoosh” logo has achieved global brand recognition. 

What’s interesting is Nike juggles a ton of different product lines and collaborations with celebrities, fashion gurus and athletes. Yet, it’s still instantly recognizable. That's brand consistency flexing its muscles.

Their “just do it” marketing campaign launched in 1988 has remained relevant and impactful for almost four decades. Brand consistency can build a legacy. 

Best practices for brand consistency

So how do you become like the pros and achieve true marketing effectiveness? Focus on these three best practices:

1. Create brand guidelines 

If you haven’t yet, create your brand guidelines. This will be your single source of truth for anything brand-related. 

Include all the fundamental elements that define your brand in your guidelines, including your core mission and vision, brand values and target audience. Then, the visual details: logo, color scheme, typography, graphics and images. And how your brand communicates: personality, tone, language. 

Be clear on how marketing materials will be consistently applied across different online and offline marketing channels, and get your entire team fluent in your brand guidelines.

2. Centralize your marketing assets 

Use a digital asset management (DAM) system. It’ll help you store, organize and manage all your brand’s marketing materials. 

So, instead of saving that new hero banner as 'Final,' 'Final_V2,' 'REALLY_FINAL' and 'Jeff_Edited' on Google Drive, you have everything in one place, categorized for you. 

Your team members can access brand assets and the brand guidelines easily. Plus, with built-in version control, everyone will be working with the latest approved versions. 

3. Recycle your content 

Reuse good content, simple as that. High-performing content can not only reach potential customers but also reinforce brand image. 

However, everyone consumes content in different ways. So, while the core brand message stays consistent, smart brands will personalize marketing efforts and experiences to fit different platforms and audiences. 

The same content can be repurposed into different formats, too. Turn that viral blog post into video, audio, text, infographics and other content to maximize the use of good content. Just remember to follow the brand guidelines to ensure a consistent identity.

When to change?

Brand consistency is a powerful driver of long-term marketing success, but like all things in life, it’s not an absolute. There are times when change is needed and beneficial. But how do you know when?

Before you take the leap, run through this quick framework:

1. Analyze the data: Look for a consistent decline in key metrics or a surge of negative customer feedback. Focus on patterns, not just isolated incidents.
2. Understand the “why”: Find the root causes behind losing market share or customer dissatisfaction.
3. Assess external factors: Is your industry going through a major shift? If so, is your brand still relevant in this new landscape?
4. Evaluate brand alignment: Does your brand still accurately reflect your company's mission, values and offerings? 
5. Consider the long-term impact: Assess if the proposed change will alienate your existing customer base or destroy valuable brand equity.

Your brand is in decline

Change is necessary when your brand loses relevance. So if you start noticing a consistent decline in market share or customer engagement, it’s likely that your brand no longer resonates with your customers and your marketing strategy isn't cutting it. That means it’s time to pivot. 

Take Jellycat, for example. The brand started with a strong focus on children's comfort toys, but realized their toys had a much wider appeal. Therefore, it expanded into the "kidult" market, offering plush toys that provide emotional comfort and stress release to adults, and gained explosive popularity. 

If you start seeing a wave of negative reviews and low customer satisfaction, change may be needed to address the root cause. Dig into the data. 

However, not all changes hit the mark. Remember Gap's infamous 2010 rebrand? In an attempt to shed its somewhat traditional image and appeal to a younger, trendier crowd, Gap scrapped its classic blue square logo for a sleeker, sans-serif design.

The public backlash was instant and brutal. Customers felt alienated, viewing the new logo as generic and a betrayal of the brand's heritage. So, after just one week and a rumored multi-million-dollar investment, Gap retreated, switching back to its iconic original.

It was a costly way to learn that you can't overhaul brand identity without first understanding its emotional connection with your audience.

You operate in a stagnant category

If you’re in a stagnant category, there’s little growth or change over a significant period. So when competitors innovate, it can be disruptive. Remember the days when we relied on landlines? Then boom — mobile phones redefined how we communicate. 

So, you need to change to adapt, but change needs to be purposeful because even in more stagnant categories, it can backfire. Take Kraft Mac & Cheese in 2015. Their intention was good — removing artificial dyes and colors to meet evolving health trends. They also changed the name from "Kraft Mac & Cheese" to "Kraft Macaroni & Cheese" on some packaging. 

But because the changes weren't communicated effectively, decades of familiarity and trust were disrupted. Customers were suspicious and thought the brand was trying to hide something or had changed their comfort food.

In categories that rely on predictability, purposeful change isn't only about what you do, but also how you do it. 

The lasting impact of compound creativity

Compound creativity builds strong brand recognition over time. By allowing creative ideas to compound, brands can achieve greater marketing effectiveness and efficiency. 

As Tindall puts it, “The longer you hold steady, the further ahead you’ll pull from your competitors.” So, in the marketing squeeze, let’s all be a little more consistent.