Sameness Stinks
A newbie marketer I know complained that her collateral materials didn’t look the same. “They’re not the same color, don’t have the same graphics and the photos are all different,” she said. “That’s not good branding.”Is it? Maybe I’ve been around the marketing block too many times to contest those who think that sameness is important for building a brand. Having been involved in countless branding campaigns, I would say that brands need some breathing room to grow and evolve.
A few thoughts:
Sameness stinks – Keeping everything the same is boring. No one wants to look at a wall full of only red-with-stripes brochures. If everything were the same, your message would never get noticed. You’ve simply got to mix things up.
Brands change – Kids are cute as toddlers, but they also have stinky diapers and can’t engage in discussions about the Middle East – you want them to evolve. Brands, too, evolve and grow if cultivated well. Again, it’s what keeps them interesting for your target markets.
Branding cops shouldn’t use excessive force – Having a “branding officer” isn’t a bad thing, but that’s only to maintain the spirit of the brand. A “branding officer” who rejects everything because it doesn’t stick to the letter of the so-called branding law isn’t doing your organization a favor.
