The Power of Consistency

Long before the world knew what a brand was, mankind was searching for answers about how to make authentic representations. “We are what you repeatedly do”, said Aristotle, and that age-old philosophy defines even today, how a brand delivers through consistency.

Anthony Lopez reminds us, “You love Apple for what Apple is, through and through. Those tenets that define Apple are embedded in their brand, like design first — user interface, humanising the digital experience and purist packaging — beyond being just practical like many forward-thinking technology companies. The brand promise is how you deliver these tenets across the board.”

How do we deliver brand character to people? It is required that we seed our brand values into the system and consistently deliver the character across various channels. These brand experiences happen through a combination of obvious and not-so-obvious channels.

1. Brand identity

A brand’s face is its identity. This is one of the most powerful tools that lets a brand resonate with its audience. The repeated use of the logo — Apple’s symbol across its machines and packaging supplemented with stickers, or the Nike swoosh that we look for — brings instant recall for the brand. Even when rebranding, it’s important to carefully retain those elements that resonate with brand character. When brands have tried to adapt to the changing market without this understanding, they have failed. In 2008, Pepsi’s market share dropped after the revamp of the Pepsi logo from the much-recognized wave to a supposed smiley.

When Lopez Design was commissioned to rebrand Murugappa, we retained their peacock, a symbol of the Group’s heritage and pride. We redesigned the identity, making it bold and crisp to appeal to the future audience and changed the logo’s blue to a dynamic red. For VIP, we kept the acronym, removed the dots and retained their distinctive red. The identity is all about staying consistent to the essence of the brand.

2. Brand behaviour

Think of a brand as a person. When you interact with people, you become familiar with their recognisable traits. If you want people to be attracted to you, you exhibit positive behaviour. Likewise, a brand has to nurture positive characteristics which stem from its value system. This behaviour has to reflect in how employees treat customers, how a website interaction happens with a user, how after-sales service personnel treat complaints, and so on. Maruti Suzuki aside of being the Number 1 car seller in India, has also retained its top position with consistent and reliable after sales service. This is channelled through the customer relationship, which is developed through the service personnel’s behaviour and keeping up the promise.

In our branding for PMNCH, our main focus was on creating systems that could channel brand behaviour and bring out the spirit of partnership and advocacy. The specialised pictionary gave a solid foundation for the brand to act, and for all the partners to align with in real interactions as well.

3. Packaging

Product packaging clearly enunciates the feel of the brand and solidifies its intent. Through the package, we connect to the brand story. For FMCG brands, the package is prime. In case of conferences and forum brandings, the collateral and accessories all bring out the brand and its behaviour through colour, materials and messaging. With the increasing use of the virtual medium, packaging makes a deep impression on the consumer online, with us being able to examine the product attributes at different angles and in great detail. In fact, we are more likely to spend time with a package online than we do at a real store!

4. Communication devices

Amongst the most popular devices are mascots such as the Amul Girl, who has been around since 1966, almost a decade after Amul was registered in 1957. The utterly butterly delicious girl has made Amul butter a hugely popular brand. But what makes the Amul Girl most endearing is her consistency. Even 50 years after her inception, we know what we can expect from her.

In our branding for Nestaway, we created a communication system using a ‘voice-box’ the base of which is the new symbol we designed for Nestaway. This became a flexible yet consistent space to interact, communicate and tell stories, getting 1 million giphy hits for the brand.

5. Physical & Digital Environments

The brand environment is determined by putting together a colour palette, style of communication, brand voice and many layered visual elements. Creating a cohesive brand environment means thinking about all the elements of the system and how they will work in unison. Jewellery company Tiffany’s robin egg shade of blue perpetuates their environments: website, packaging, promotionals and more, making an instant association with the brand.

Our branding for Ayushman Bharat created a system of physical environments which appeal to people of diverse locations and gives them a sense of belonging.

6. Brand Speak

It’s one of the most important components of brand strategy — how we speak and more so, the tone of voice. The tone of voice of a brand sends out a strong message about what the brand is all about just by being consistent in the way it sounds. This has to respond to and reflect on varied situations. For instance, Airbnb came up with the Go Near campaign post Covid, keeping in line with their capacity to build up excitement. Uber’s tone of voice is considerate, simple, bold and consistent. The typical Uber greeting such as, “Hi, I’m Madan, your Uber driver…” is also reassuring to the customer who starts to develop a familiar feeling with every ride.

Popular pet brand Heads Up for Tails has a playful, reassuring and functional brand voice and they back it up with consistent communications during and after sales. “Happiness is a tail-waggingly good meal.”

All of the facets of a brand have to come together to speak in one voice, and they have to do so consistently over time. “If we do not go up that value chain, we do not get the leadership position”, says Anthony Lopez. The power of consistency is what makes deep impressions on the brand’s audience, delivering the brand reliably and surely for long term growth.

Written by Sujatha Shankar Kumar

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