One of the challenges for smaller businesses is how to stand out from the crowd and get potential customers to notice you. Without the multi-million pound advertising budgets of large corporations some feel it’s impossible to break through the ‘noise’ of modern life and have their brand or products talked about by the media or tried out by prospective customers.

It’s true with the explosion in modern media over the last 50 years there is more advertising, marketing and promotional activity than ever before and standing out from the crowd is an ever greater challenge.

But there is one straight-forward rule that any business, large or small should follow - be consistent.

Consistency needs to be applied across things like adverts, websites, posters, email newsletters. And consistency for some can feel a little bit boring. There’s a temptation to play around with font, colours, images and even the all important logo sometimes.

Don't get bored and change everything!

Often the MD, managing partner or members of the senior team have become bored with the existing corporate ID, logo or have seen something a competitor has done and feel they need a fresh new look.

Now don’t get me wrong some businesses do need and can benefit from a refreshing, modern look – but it’s actually far more important to get under the skin of the business and check whether the physical manifestation of the company (its corporate identity) is a true reflection of its values and key messages. At this point you can sometimes unearth the real problem and that is a lack of clarity around those messages – no one in the business can answer the question – ‘what do we stand for’ or ‘what will you get from us’, ‘what makes us different’. Getting clear and consistent answers to these questions is frankly far more important than a logo at this stage.

I’ve worked with businesses that have found a new lease of life, immense clarity and motivation from some internal soul searching which hasn’t necessarily resulted in any change to the external manifestation of their brand.

Having clarity around brand values can help with decision making – making it easier to say no to ideas that whilst they might appear attractive on the surface will detract from the business goals, and likewise making it easier to know which ideas are exactly on brand and will have added advantages to the business as a whole.
Consistency in what you say and how you say it is all important and this is where smaller businesses can learn the lessons of the big brands.

Think about some of the biggest global brands around today and you’ll realise they have a very consistent way of representing themselves visually, by way of their identity, logo and images they use and in terms of the words and phrases they use to describe their business or their products.

Think of Tesco and you immediately envisage the blue and red logo which was originally used as a symbol of value but has now been adapted across number of sectors from groceries to financial services and online retailing. Tesco has been around since the late 1920s and whilst it has developed and evolved as a brand it’s core values have remained the same.

And when you think of Tesco you think of ‘every little helps’ – the slogan they’ve been using now since 1992.

Take another global brand, Virgin and you’ll see that across numerous industry sectors from insurance to transatlantic travel the bright red Virgin logo has shone through and their brand values of Fun, Value for Money, Quality, Innovation, Competitive Challenge and Brilliant Customer Service have all been evident. This consistency along with the charismatic approach of the Virgin founder, no doubt, allowed Virgin to take on British Airways in the battle of the skies and the likes of Barclays, Norwich Union and others in the financial services markets.

Be consistent in everything you do and say – every message from Virgin, whether it’s a TV advert, 48 sheet poster, website, e-shot, letter, invoice or statement looks as though it comes from the Virgin family. The colours, layout and font are all consistent. And the main messages are consistent regardless of which bit of the business you are communicating with.

Can you say that of your business? Try looking at your business from the outside in, as a customer would. Follow the flow from your website or adverts for example to telephone and written communications like email. Consider what impression you are making. Are you delivering a consistent message – and is it the message you want to deliver?

Until next time...

Further Reading:
Cost effective branding for the small business

Written by Teresa Harris, Second Opinion Marketing. Teresa is an independent marketing consultant working with professional practices, small businesses and public sector bodies to develop effective marketing plans which achieve their business objectives.

As a marketing coach Teresa works with new marketing managers and small business owners to enhance their marketing performance