How “Brand Continuity” Will Increase Your Growth and Profits

“Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.” - Seth Godin

The key to long-term growth and profitability in business is a continuity to purpose, branding, messaging, sales, customer experience, results, and fulfilled expectations.

Continuity is defined as: A continuous or connected whole; smooth and matching transitions; an uninterrupted connection or union. (Latin continuus, “holding together”)

Continuity vs Consistency 

While these two terms are commonly used in place for each other, there is an important difference within these two qualities.

Let’s take the example of a restaurant. One could be consistently serving good food, but not consistently delivering good service. This would be a lack of continuity.

One could buy a vehicle because one love’s their branding, their marketing messages, and the sleek styling of the vehicle. But after purchasing the vehicle, one experiences many and expensive maintenance problems over the coming years. While their branding may be appealing and consistent, their lack of continuity breaks down in the engineering quality of the product. 

When the branding, operations, customer experience, and the results are all in sync - then one has Brand Continuity. 

Continuity Throughout The “Branding Triangle”

In my book, Power Branding Secrets, I devote an entire chapter to the Branding Triangle. I debunk false concepts of what most people in business believe what branding to be - a logo, colors, tagline, packaging and a pretty website.

Here are the three sides to the “Branding Triangle”:

Brand Identity - This would include your logo, tagline, colors, packaging, jingles, office decor, swag, uniforms, etc. This is how we identify your brand with our human senses. 

Branded Content  - Your content is an important element in building an emotional and cognitive connection and loyalty with your audiences. This aspect would include your website’s content,  blog posts, podcasts, videos on YouTube, email newsletter, brochures, memes, infographics, presentations at conferences, guest appearances, webinars, social media posts, tweets, photos on Instagram, press kits, etc. 

“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by Mankind.” - Rudyard Kipling

Brand Relations - This is how you serve and engage with your audience, influencers, the media, and the world at large. User experience will impact your branding much more than your logo. In other words, do your actions reinforce, support and fully satisfy your brand’s promise and messages?

Making Continuity Work

Your brand’s identity is built over time and requires thought, continual research, humility, strategy, and consistent implementation.

In our highly digitalized era, the brand marketing landscape is moving fast and constantly evolving as new platforms, devices, and device-based applications launch onto the market.

This digital disruption has led to a revolution in the commercial environment within which brands are developed, launched, and managed. However, what we have seen many brands do (incorrectly) is respond to new technology by launching onto the platform without consideration for what it means to their brand and their audience. 

In other words, a lack of continuity. 

Much like in traditional, physical marketing, successful digital-brand management ultimately depends on consistency and continuity. 

Prospects who understand a brand—including its story and evolution—are more likely to buy its products and provide the trust that underpins marketing efforts. And this requires that a brand is not only consistent, but ensures continuity throughout the whole company. 

Your Team Members Are Your Most Important Brand Ambassadors

If your company's team is not acquainted with the various elements of your mission, policies, and marketing and branding campaigns, your brand continuity will be non-existent. 

When team members are aware of the company's branding strategy and customer servicing procedures which enforce your brand’s promises, it is more likely they will communicate your message in a unified way. 

Continuity will elevate your brand above all others. 

Moreover, your team has to be trained that a brand is no longer judged or consumed solely because of its logo, tagline, and distinctive packaging. How people are communicated to with your content, as well as treated by them, are factors which are just as vital to a brand’s reputation and survival. 

Companies that make customers feel like they can go into any location and receive the same message; experience and quality are very successful at brand continuity. For instance, retailers such as big banks, department stores and Starbucks are mostly the same, no matter which location is visited.

Brand Continuity is a vital strategy for longevity and profitability in our fast paced world with so many brands to select from.