Reilly Newman | In all areas of life, consistency is commonly discounted. It can appear boring, stagnate, or just not exciting.
Advertising falls victim to these preconceived notions of consistency. Ad agencies will force a brand to change up their advertising just for the sake of change or to justify their new account with the client. And yes, this applies to branding as well when a company chooses to rebrand or change branding elements for the sake of change. Now this isn’t to say that change is evil, but it’s worth comparing the value of change vs the value of consistency.
Recent studies on advertising is shown that the most effective advertising is consistent. This doesn’t mean the brand is never changing an ad campaign, but it does mean there are very obvious common threads through the variety of campaigns that link back to the brand and create consistency. Think about the advertising of Redbull, Coke, Home Depot, or Dove — the campaigns do change, but there is a palatable consistency — whether in style, tone, or branded vibe — that keeps the consistent thread going.
This not only makes the advertising more memorable and able to be recalled, but more importantly helps the audience connect the advertising back to the brand. You know when you see a Redbull ad because of the art style that they have had for… forever. You know the “Home Depot voice” when you hear it. The cues help us connect dots and remind us of the brand. Our senses can be encoded with familiarity, but only through consistency. An ancient Chinese proverb says “a constant dripping hollows a stone” — this couldn’t be more true; this is compounding.
To fully enjoy the potential of compounding, you must use two elements wisely: time and consistency.
This applies to brand as you must establish your “motifs” throughout your brand. A motif is a pattern, it’s a through line that support the theme or perception a a whole. A motif of Redbull is their cartoon style advertising, the design of their can is also a motif, their advocacy and celebration of extreme athletes is also a motif. These common threads support the brand but also propel the brand further and deeper into our minds.
This is why “Motif Brands” is named motif. It is central to the cultivation and management of brands because motifs leverage compounding. They help carry the whole while attending to the details.
As a founder or marketer, it is a great exercise to zoom out and analyze what the motifs are of your brand. What are the common threads that connect your business to your offering to your perception and the entire experience. Once you can outline these, you’ll have clarity on how to guide and grow the brand to invest in areas that matter. This is almost like reverse engineering a strategy, but also focusing on what matters most for not only your business but your audience as well.
This will give you power to use motifs to increase your brand consistency and compound your efforts and investments. Just as an investment strategy uses stocks to compound the investment over time, brand strategy uses motifs to compound the perception of the brand over time.
Similarly, all good investors know that consistency is key to unlocking true compounding over time. Whether with finances or with your brand, consistency will build your asset and give you a return.
