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Brand Consistency - Is it Being Overlooked? by Elaine Fogel
If your administrative assistant is sending e-mails with a colored background and a cutesy font signature with a quote at the bottom from a comic strip, you know you’re in trouble.
Is your logo used the same way in all applications by all your staff, interns or volunteers? What about the names of your products, programs and services? Is each word capitalized… lower case… or a combination? Are they consistently used that way?
Does your staff use a standard e-mail signature listing the same information in the same format, using the same font?
If you think this smacks of craziness, think again. Marketing communications professionals are often accused of being anal - always so obsessed with proper standards, spelling, formatting, etc. But, in reality, consistency is the backbone of developing a solid brand.
Most nonprofit organizations and small businesses don’t have the budgets to invest in their brands in the same way that larger ones do. The more impressions of your organization/company your potential customers, donors, members, clients and volunteers see, the greater the recognition and brand awareness – and the greater the loyalty can be. So, logically, it pays to be as consistent as possible with those impressions and messaging.
Consistency is such an important part of branding, setting the look and feel of a brand. The messaging, tone, color, spelling, and font style all help to build credibility and professionalism. And it really doesn’t need to be cumbersome to initiate in any organization. Establishing a brand standards manual for your staff, interns or volunteers, and backing it up with a brief training session will go a long way in getting everyone on the same page. First they need to understand why it’s important and how it can help raise more revenue so they can buy into a team effort.
Even small nonprofits and businesses can benefit greatly by being as consistent and professional as possible. Your customers, donors, members, clients and volunteers want to ensure they’re investing in something that has value and trustworthiness. Brand consistency helps give them that.
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