Do you want to see a magic trick?
Picture this: you want to buy a bottle of liquid antiseptic disinfectant. You make your way to the nearest superstore. You stroll through the maze of aisles and find yourself in the cleaning supplies section. You scan through the bottles of disinfectant that occupy the white shelves.
Which one do you pick up? And why did you think of Dettol?
While a magician may never reveal their tricks, Dolphin Branding will tell you exactly why you thought of Dettol.
Fundamentals of consumer psychology tell us that purchasing decisions are driven by emotions.
Trust is one of the most consequential emotion consumers feel. It is the foundation of any successful business relationship. According to the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: In Brands We Trust? 81% of consumers need to trust a brand before making any purchases. Without trust, the relationship between a buyer and a business/seller is meaningless, empty, and unsustainable.
So, how can brands build trust? Well, one way is through consistency.
Here are five reasons why brand consistency matters to inspiring trust:
Consistency Creates a Reliable Customer Experience.
Our last article explored how branding and customer experience are two ends of the same cord. Customers favour familiarity and predictability when interacting with brands.
Since consistency creates a dependable customer experience, it increases the customer’s trust and confidence in the brand.
In the era of decision fatigue, i.e. psychological exhaustion that stems from making too many choices, customers are increasingly opting for recognisable, familiar and reliable brands.
A favourable collateral of consistency is repetition, which makes the brand’s core values and aesthetics instantly recognisable to the consumer.
Improves Customer Retention and Loyalty
A 2021 study by Zendesk discovered that 75% of customers prioritise buying from brands they trust. Trust, therefore, becomes an essential factor in fostering long-term customer loyalty. Since customers prefer predictability and familiarity in their interactions with brands, consistency is key to ensuring a uniform experience across channels preventing customers from seeking unfamiliar alternatives.
Reinforces Brand Credibility
Consistency lends an air of professionalism to the business and its brand. It eliminates suspicions surrounding a product/service’s authenticity. In fact, customers often use a brand’s visual identity as reference to authenticate its products.
Furthermore, consumers trust brands that appear refined and deliberate in their communications because of a cognitive bias called the Anchoring Effect. The Anchoring Effect refers to the psychological phenomenon where the judgements people make on the first piece of information they receive (the “anchor”) weighs heavily in their decision-making. Therefore, the first impression of a brand enormously influences its future perceptions.
Builds Emotional Connection with Customers
Consumers remain loyal to brands they trust and are emotionally bonded to. We know emotions play a significant role in purchasing decisions. Therefore, a strong and consistent brand identity has the power to evoke feelings of safety, sentimentality, or excitement that make customers feel more connected and brands seem more dependable and trustworthy.
Boosts Word-of-Mouth Advertising
Even in the digital age, the relevance of word-of-mouth advertising has not dimmed.
The principles of the social proof theory argue that people look to the actions and opinions of others to guide their own decisions.
Therefore, consistency in branding and customer experience across channels can spark conversations. Consumers are more likely to talk about brands they trust and have had a positive experience with. Additionally, consistency enables consumers to easily describe the brand to their friends, family, and foes!
Now, let’s go back to why you thought of Dettol when asked to imagine a bottle of liquid antiseptic disinfectant and how trust played a role in this.
Well, Dettol has successfully marketed itself as a globally trusted brand in the health and hygiene industry. Its trustworthy reputation has made it highly recognizable, and its products highly memorable. Dettol’s success can, in part, be credited to the consistency that defines its branding efforts.
Dettol has used the tagline “Kills 99.9% of germs” consistently across its advertisements, packaging and brand channels.
Its signature green and white colour scheme, along with the shield symbol makes it instantly recognisable to the consumers and signals a scientific trustworthy character.
Additionally, it has consistently positioned itself as a trusted household essential for families, hospitals, and schools, evoking a sense of security and care. Its branding has incorporated a uniform customer experience, brand credibility, emotional connectedness and trust to create an instantly recognisable presence.
Therefore, consistency is an incredibly powerful tool in fostering trust between brands and consumers. It reassures customers, strengthens credibility, and establishes strong emotional connections, turning one-time buyers into loyal customers. This is why designers and specialist branding agencies like Dolphin Branding always prioritise consistency when designing creative branding solutions for your businesses.
No responses yet