In the competitive modern landscape, branding is the foundation of a company’s identity and reputation. A strong and consistent brand not only distinguishes a business from its competitors, but cultivates trust, loyalty, and recognition amongst consumers.
However, when branding falters or consistency wanes, the consequences can be disastrous. Inconsistent branding undermines brand integrity, dilutes messaging, and erodes market share and future opportunities. Furthermore, from wasted marketing investment into an inconsistent product to disjointed customer perceptions, the repercussions of discordant branding go beyond harm to business reputation.
Luckily, We Are Amnet is about to delve into the ways in which disjointed branding costs marketers and businesses at large, and how to best ensure that marketing materials are consistent and harmonious.
The Hidden Costs of Inconsistent Branding
The silent costs of dissonant branding reach from weakened brand recognition to financial losses.
Consistency is key to fostering a strong and recognisable brand identity. When inconsistencies arise, especially across different platforms or touchpoints, the impact on brand cohesion and marketing effectiveness can be wide ranging. Customers could easily be confused by conflicting messaging or visuals, put off by the perceived amateurishness, or be less likely to recall the brand positively when they require something.
Moreover, brands and businesses may find themselves having to allocate additional resources towards marketing and rebranding efforts, if inconsistencies need to be rectified. With this unnecessary increase in marketing spend, a diminished ROI is just one of the more direct internal impacts of inconsistent branding.
Another internal impact is how disparate branding hurts employee morale and brand advocacy. When employees encounter conflicting brand guidelines or messaging, it can lead to confusion and disengagement, hindering their ability to effectively represent the brand to customers and stakeholders.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong: Case Studies
Gap’s Logo Redesign Backlash (2010)
Gap Inc. was one of the most iconic clothing brands in the world, setting up subsidiaries including Banana Republic and Old Navy. With a hay day from the 1980s through to the 2000s, Gap were recommended by celebrities including Madonna and Will Ferrell.
With the 2008 recession, Gap Inc. saw a decline in revenue and sought to re-energize their business after a drop in stock price of more than 40% (Better Marketing). Estimated to have cost around USD$100 million, the new Gap logo was rolled out in the 2010 Christmas season and was described by then-VP of Corporate Communications Bill Chandler as, “a more contemporary, modern expression” (The Branding Journal).
In perhaps one of the earliest examples of online backlash, users of Facebook and Twitter criticized the new logo endlessly. The design was ridiculed, and North America president Marka Hansen took to Facebook himself to say, “We’ve been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back. So we’ve made the decision to do just that”.
The sudden shift in how Gap branded itself depleted the brand awareness they had spent 20 years building, and it was only a few days later that the original logo was restored. At least in part due to the failed redesign, Gap Inc. never truly recovered as either a brand or a business and the founding Fisher family reported a USD$1 billion loss in net worth in 2019 alone (San Francisco Business Times).
Tropicana’s Failed Rebrand (2009)
Tropicana is a fruit juice brand under the PepsiCo company, and looked to rebrand themselves in 2009. The brand spent up to USD$35 million and several months on a revamp to their packaging, including a new logo and a new visual identity.
Within a month, Tropicana lost around 20% in sales before reverting back to the previous designs (Evening Standard). The new design featured no oranges on the packaging, something utilized by many other fruit juice companies. Furthermore, the new short-lived Tropicana logo was smaller and no longer central on the packaging.
In essence, the failure of the Tropicana rebrand was centered on the loss of brand familiarity and boldness. The new design was unrecognizable as Tropicana and unappealing as orange juice, requiring the brand to backtrack just six weeks after rolling out the new style.
Implementing Brand Consistency Across Borders
To create a cohesive brand across diverse markets and regions, companies need to have defined their brand values, mission, and voice, ensuring alignment with cultural and audience preferences. Conducting thorough market research and audience analysis can provide valuable insights into consumer behaviors and preferences, allowing brands to tailor their messaging and designs.
Technology plays a pivotal role in ensuring brand consistency across multiple platforms and touchpoints. Content management systems (CMS) and digital asset management (DAM) platforms can streamline the creation, storage, and distribution of brand assets, facilitating centralized control and quick updates. Automated workflows and approval processes can further enhance efficiency and accuracy of all branding materials.
Effectively maintaining brand consistency also requires an adherence to best practices for various aspects of branding, including visual identity, messaging, and customer experience. By establishing guidelines and standards that govern the use of logos, colors, fonts, and other visual elements across all communication and marketing materials, brands can uphold consistency and ensure that marketing and branding materials are in line with business goals. These should be audited regularly to identify and address any inconsistencies or outdated elements.
SmartshoringⓇ: A Solution to Ensuring Brand Consistency
Smartshoring, an innovative model of outsourcing, harnesses the power of global talent, allowing businesses to tap into a diverse pool of post-production experts while ensuring consistency across all branding elements and strategic aims. Smartshoring revolutionizes the way businesses manage their branding and creative production processes.
By leveraging global talent, brands can find the resources to adhere to branding standards. This diverse talent pool also enables easy localization, for consistency and accuracy across locales, as well as ensuring uniform levels of quality when producing content at scale. Moreover, Smartshoring offers a cost-effective solution to the challenges associated with branding inconsistencies.
In essence, Smartshoring empowers businesses to achieve their branding goals with precision and efficiency, regardless of scale or complexity. By embracing this innovative model, companies can unlock new opportunities for growth, strengthen their brand reputation, and drive success in an evermore competitive marketplace.
Conclusion
Maintaining consistent branding is paramount for businesses seeking to build trust, loyalty, and recognition amongst their target audience. Inconsistencies in branding and marketing confuse customers, erode brand power, and undermine business goals. With the right strategies in place, however, branding can remain harmonious and – in the worst case scenario – embarrassment and financial losses can be avoided.
SmartshoringⓇ emerges as a cost-effective solution for companies looking to achieve and maintain brand consistency whilst scaling their digital and creative productions. By leveraging global talent, agencies and in-house teams can streamline their creative post-production and tier 3 processes.
For brands seeking to achieve excellence in their content post-production, contact us today.
