Unpopular opinion: You can experiment with brand consistency
And it is not a strategy reserved only for MNC’s.
Experimentation?
There will always be a time in every story when the old must yield to give way to the new.
This is what timelessness in design does for you. It gives you freedom to experiment and a strong identity to fall back on. But what do you mean by experimentation then?
This is a strategy that can be put into action by designing marketing campaigns that might not follow the brand consistency guide, but will have brand salience. This segment is for marketers, and will let them have more creative reign over your brand elements and how to use them.
The brand guidelines will tell you when to use the logo, how to correctly place the tagline, and what is the correct font size to be used.
Experimentation must be aimed at changing the relationship between the consumer and the brand. It makes them active participants in the brand, rather than having them as passive spectators.
Experimentation creates ripples in still waters of consistency. It is not damaging, just a few waves that will bring variety in the way things are. It is about flexibility, and not transformation. There are a lot of elements that will still be written in stone, but then, there are so many elements that let you use them in fun ways. One can’t, rather, should not mess with the vision, mission, values, and the ‘why’ of the brand. Up to an extent, the logo, tagline copy, typeface and such elements of the brand identity must not be altered either. These are the elements that not just form your identity, but also the reason for the relationship between you and your consumer.
Have a North star, the purpose, a good brief before you choose to experiment, so that you are not like a headless chicken moving without an aim. This is the most important prerequisite for any experimentative venture. It is the filter that will help make better, clearer decisions. Such experiments will give a freshness to the brand communication that the audience might be consuming, and also taps into a new audience sphere who have the potential to become a loyal consumer.
Remember, just like any artist, a brand also has to have a voice. Having a voice and tone does not mean you speak the same words throughout all of your communication. A voice will make sure you have a fool-proof strategy to make something beautiful. You always have a back up, in case your experiment backfires.
Hey, this is Manas writing for Slangbusters. The first few months of when I joined Slangbusters was me trying to get hold of the Slangbusters voice and how it fits into branding theories. We love building brands. Let’s collaborate?
— by Manas, Content Strategist, Slangbusters Studio
