Remember the last time you saw a company’s Instagram feed looking slick and professional, only to visit their website and wonder if you’d stumbled upon an entirely different brand?
It’s like the digital version of watching someone show up to a black-tie event wearing flip-flops – something just feels off.
As the best branding agency will tell you, cohesion isn’t just about slapping the same logo everywhere (though that’s certainly part of it). It’s about creating a seamless experience that makes your audience feel at home, whether they’re scrolling through your X (aka Twitter) feed or reading your email newsletter. Here are five practical ways to maintain that cohesion without losing your sanity.
1. Create a Living Brand Guide
Static brand guidelines that gather dust in a forgotten folder are an obvious problem. However, even if you use yours religiously, a set-in-stone guide simply won’t cut it anymore. Instead, develop a dynamic, accessible document that can evolve with your brand while maintaining its core elements. Include everything from color hex codes and font specifications to tone of voice and common phrases. The key word here is “accessible” – if your team needs to sift through your shared drive to find it, they simply won’t use it.
2. Master the Art of Platform Translation
Each platform has its own personality, but that doesn’t mean your brand should lose its uniqueness to suit the platform. Think of it as speaking the same message in different dialects. Your LinkedIn post might wear a suit and tie, while your TikTok content can rock casual wear – but they should still be recognizably related, not distant cousins twice removed.
3. Build a Content Ecosystem
How do you create that sense of cohesion? Rather than developing all your platform-specific content in isolation, create themes that can flow across all channels. A well-researched blog post can spawn multiple social media updates, an email campaign, and even a podcast episode. These can be promoted across your social channels in platform-appropriate ways, helping you maintain consistency while saving time and resources.
4. Implement Regular Brand Audits
Schedule quarterly reviews of all your platforms to ensure consistency hasn’t started to drift. It’s surprising how quickly small deviations can snowball into significant inconsistencies. To make this process quick and easy, create a checklist that covers visual elements, messaging tone, and user experience. Think of it as spring-cleaning for your brand – except you need to do it more than once a year.
5. Train Your Team (Really Train Them)
Brand consistency isn’t maintained by documentation alone. Your team needs to understand not just the “what” but the “why” behind your brand decisions. Regular workshops and feedback sessions can turn brand guidelines from rules into intuition. When people understand the reasoning behind guidelines, they’re more likely to make on-brand decisions even in unexpected situations.
How the Big Brands Maintain Consistency
The real secret to brand cohesion isn’t perfection – it’s intentionality. Every brand will have moments where consistency wavers (we’re all human, after all). The goal is to create systems and habits that make maintaining cohesion the path of least resistance.
Consider companies like Apple or Nike. Their brand consistency isn’t accidental – it’s the result of deliberate, systematic efforts to maintain cohesion across every touchpoint. While you might not have their resources, you can certainly adopt their mindset.
Whether you’re an immigration lawyer in Melbourne or a fashion designer in London, a cohesive brand builds trust, recognition, and loyalty. It’s the difference between an orchestra playing in harmony and a bunch of musicians doing their own thing. While the latter might produce some interesting sounds, it’s the former that creates a memorable experience.
