Social Control

25 February 10

Brands already know the value of consistency in design and marketing. After all, brands are all about a consistent "face" to the ultimate user or audience of that brand.

When it comes to brand consistency, there are often rules like color usage, logo placement, and how to use the brand name in a sentence. These are good branding practices and have been the standard operating procedure for most good brands during the reign of traditional media.

But things get a little tricky online and many rules of consistency tend to fly out the window. As a brand sees the opportunities they have to reach an audience on Twitter, they may adopt an approach that isn't consistent with their brand. The approach they take might be adopted by observing that everyone else is using that same approach. Unfortunately, it doesn't make for a positive brand experience and can alienate a current audience and repel a potential audience.

What brands need to do instead is to review how their brand and the particular marketing channel they are looking at intersect and find a way forward. And, if their brand just doesn't work in that channel, they should backburner the channel for now and find something else.

A good example of consistency in branding is the social media app we created for Axe Hair Crisis Relief. This app's message is consistent with their print and broadcast marketing. Anything else would have been jarring to users who were expecting the same brand experience.

Want to make your brand experience consistent online? Start by cracking open your brand standards book and reviewing the content. Then expand it to talk about the personality that your brand expresses and the typical clients that your brand attracts. Discuss their likes and dislikes and motivators. In doing so, you'll start to put together an online approach that is consistent for your audience.

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