Consistency Matters

In this episode of The Briefcase, Elizabeth Sutherland, President and CEO of Sutherland Weston Marketing Communications, discusses the importance of brand consistency. To stay fresh and appealing, businesses often change their branding, such as fonts, colors, messaging, or tone. However, this practice can actually work against them.

💡 What you'll learn:

• Customers don’t want to relearn who you are whenever they engage with your brand.
• Constant changes in branding create friction and make it harder for people to recognize and trust your business.
• A quick test: Scroll through your website, emails, and social feeds—does everything look and feel like it came from the same brand? If not, it’s time to fix it.
• Inconsistency acts as a hidden tax on your brand, while consistency compounds like interest, strengthening your brand over time.  

Sutherland Weston Marketing Communications, Maine's Premier Marketing and Public Relations Company, presents The Briefcase—quick, insightful conversations that deliver actionable tips for business and marketing success.

Got questions?  Connect with us at sutherlandweston.com.

Elizabeth Sutherland is President & CEO at Sutherland Weston, where, for the past 20 years, she has led strategy and brand development, helping Maine-based companies connect their brand, marketing, and sales efforts in practical, profitable ways.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The customers don't wanna relearn who youare every time they interact with you.

(00:05):
This is the briefcase from SutherlandWeston Marketing Communications.
Quick conversations from everydayobservations, delivering practical
marketing ideas you can carry with you.
I'm Elizabeth Sutherland, I'mpresident and CEO at Sutherland
Weston Marketing Communications.
I see a lot of brands mixing it up becausethey want to be fresh and appealing and

(00:28):
attract the new generation of customers.
Sure.
But every time your brand looksor sounds different, it's costing
you, but not in the way you think.
A brand that changes fonts,colors, messaging, or even
tone, creates a friction.
The customers don't wanna relearn who youare every time they interact with you.
So the more consistent you are, theeasier it is for people to remember

(00:52):
you, to trust you, to choose you.
I had a mentor once yearsago who used to say.
You don't ever wannalook like a garage sale.
So when you put your stuff all outon a table, or when you're looking
at your social channels, looking atyour website, you wanna make sure that
it's looking like you the same everysingle time and not like a garage

(01:14):
sale where you've got a coffee potover here and an area rug over there.
How can a business, how can anorganization make sure that they are not
being a chameleon and maintaining theconsistency that their audience wants?
A quick test is to scroll yoursocial feeds, your website, your
emails, and ask yourself if you werea customer, does everything feel

(01:36):
like it came from the same business?
And if it doesn't, then it's time to fixit, because inconsistency is an invisible
tax on your brand, whereas consistencycompounds like interest and it makes
sure that you're investing wisely.
You have been listening to.
The briefcase from Sutherland WestonMarketing Communications got a question

(01:58):
for the Sutherland Weston team.
Email us at sutherland Weston do com.