Maintaining Your Brand
If you’ve been keeping up with our last few blogs, you might notice that we talk about branding a lot. Branding is the one of the most important things that your customers will take away from your business. It’s your voice; the foundations that your small business rests on. The values and principles you uphold, your company’s work environment, and your visual aesthetics are all part of your brand, but your brand journey doesn’t stop when you’ve figured these all out. One of the biggest factors of great branding is maintaining your image. Your customers associate your business with your brand, so what does it mean if you decide to suddenly change it? How will your customers view this change? In this article, we talk about everything you need to know about maintaining your brand and the importance of consistency.
What’s in a Brand?
Folks, we’ve talked about this before, but just to do a quick run-down, your brand consists of everything from logos to colors to principles and values. The font you choose for your website, the color scheme of your Instagram page, your mission statement, and even your advertisements make up parts of your brand. Imagine your brand as the heart and soul of your small business; it’s the unique fingerprint that sets you apart in a crowded marketplace. It's not just a logo or a catchy slogan; it's the personality that customers connect with -- the promise of quality that keeps them coming back for more. For small businesses, crafting a compelling brand is like creating a memorable first impression at a networking event – it's the key to standing out in the crowd. Think of your brand as the friendly face that greets customers, leaving a lasting memory that transcends a mere transaction.
Your brand is an extension of you, your values, and what you bring to the table. So, whether you're a cozy coffee shop or a boutique web design studio, infuse your brand with your unique flavor. Use social media to tell your story, engage with your audience, and let your authenticity shine through. In the realm of small business branding, being real is not just an option; it's the secret weapon that transforms customers into loyal brand advocates.
If you want to learn more about branding, check out this article: Branding, Branding, and More Branding
Why Brand Consistency is so Important
In the vast world of entrepreneurship, where first impressions can make or break a deal, your brand consistency is one of the most important factors to have your customers remember you. It's not just about placing your logo in every social media post, but about creating a seamless experience for your customers. From your Instagram feed to your business cards, consistency breeds familiarity, and familiarity builds trust.
Maintaining brand consistency is like tending to a well-watered garden. It doesn't have to be overwhelming. Use the same colors, fonts, and tone across all your platforms. Your brand should be about creating a vibe that people recognize even before they spot your logo. So, whether you're a one-person show or a budding team, keep that brand consistency alive and kicking. It's the secret that turns your small business into a memorable brand powerhouse. Consistency is your ally; embrace it like a sidekick that's always got your back.
Let’s Take a Look at a “Failed” Brand Change
There’s a reason why businesses maintain a certain brand throughout their existence. Customers associate their products or services with their brand, which they associate with the business as a whole. Most businesses know to keep their brand the same, regardless of small changes here and there. However, there are a few that didn’t get the memo. Let’s take a look at a few examples of why brand consistency is important for business owners.
The first is Tropicana. You may or may not know about their brand relaunch back in 2009. Its original packaging for its orange juice is iconic: a bright orange with a red and white straw, a bright, bold forest-green font, and its equally bright orange cap. To this company's consumers, this is their version of what "orange juice" looks like. Well, they decided to replace the orange with a glass of orange juice, shrink and thin out its font; and change their cap with one that looked like half an orange. So how did their consumers respond to this drastic development?
By saying that this wasn't orange juice.
But why? Sure, the packaging changed, but the juice recipe stayed completely the same. So why didn't Tropicana's customers associate this new look with the original orange juice that they’re used to?
Tropicana's rebranding failure showcases one of the biggest contributors to marketing success: consumer perceptions.
I’ve said this once, and I’ll say it over and over again: your customers are the biggest impactors of your small business. If they don’t like something, if they aren’t happy with something, they will let you know. And Tropicana’s customers did.
Tropicana spent $35 million for this new look, and it lost $20 million within a month of its launch.
What can we understand about branding from Tropicana’s failure? The first thing we should take away is this fact: your loyal customers will have emotional connections to the brand they love. After seeing a major change in your brand, they might lose that sentimental value they once had. As you decide elements for your brand, keep your customers in mind. If there’s something they like and are attached to, keep it. Don’t change something that isn’t worth changing, and don’t get rid of something that your customers love.
Successful Stories of Brand Upgrades
All that being said, you can definitely decide to change some elements of your brand if you’re unhappy with it. Just because you choose something once, that doesn’t mean you can’t alter it. The important thing to keep in mind is this: change your brand just enough so that your customers can still recognize it.
What does that look like? Well, let’s take a look at Starbucks to get a better understanding of maintaining brand consistency while creating a few upgrades.
Ever since its establishment in 1971, this company’s logo has undergone several slight changes. However, one essential element remained the same: the two-tailed mermaid.
To its customers, this mermaid is Starbucks. It’s on every piece of merchandise, every cup they sell, and it’s on every sign for every store they have. There’s a reason why they’ve never changed this iconic figure; it’s because whenever they see this mermaid, they think of coffee, refreshments, pastries, and breakfast. This figure is one thing that Starbucks has never replaced, and if they don’t want customer back-lash, they probably never will.
As you build your brand, you have to keep consistency in mind. Consistent colors, fonts, logos, and aesthetics will help your customers maintain an image of your company. It’s perfectly normal to make slight changes as you grow your business, but make sure to always consider your loyal customers. Will they feel betrayed if they can no longer identify with your new brand design? Will they still be able to recognize these changes as part of your company? Will their perceptions change if you decide to alter your brand?
Luckily for small business owners, we get a lot more freedom when it comes to changing our brand. We don’t have millions of customers like huge corporations do, but that doesn’t mean we can afford to make sudden, drastic changes to our brand.
What to Take Away:
Make changes to your brand as you go, but if your business is known for a certain image, color, or theme, don’t replace it. You don’t want your brand to become unrecognizable. Instead, like Starbucks, make subtle tweaks centered around your existing design elements. Don’t change what your customers already love; change what they don’t care about.
If you’re still in the process of deciding your brand elements, keep in mind that there are plenty of free tools you could use to showcase your ideas. For example, Canva is a great tool that allows you to make designs, try out different fonts, and compare layouts for your website. Create three or four options for your logo, and get other people’s reactions. Your friends and family, colleagues, or even other professionals in your industry are great resources to get outside opinions.
Whether it's your logo, the tone of your emails, or the vibe of your social media posts, keeping things consistent is like having a reliable compass that always points towards success. In the world of small business, where every interaction is a chance to make an impression, brand consistency is the secret that keeps your audience coming back for more. It's not about being rigid; it's about being reliably you. So, as you embark on your entrepreneurial journey, remember: stay consistent, stay true, and let your brand be the rockstar that steals the show in the grand adventure of business ownership.
If you want to learn more small business tips, visit the rest of Barbie’s website at barbiepatel.com. Or if you want to learn about her Indian bridal hair and makeup services, check out her website at cinderellabridez.com!