The Challenge of Being Consistent

There are two conflicting yet completely true pieces of advice many companies have to be aware of: always be prepared to update your image, and be consistent.

But how can you be consistent if you need to change things to stay with the times, and how can you stay with the times if you need to remain consistent?

This is the question many companies face, and some don’t handle it as well as others. To ensure you’re company doesn’t suffer from these apparently mutually exclusive tidbits of wisdom; here are a few points to be aware of.

For the new company just starting out the be consistent is the only thing you need to worry about. All of the color printing you get done needs to have a similar look to it. Your logo simply has to be on all of it, but beyond that you might decide on a few specific colors you’ll focus on, or a general theme you’ll emphasize the most.

People need to remember who you are before they’re going to give you much business, and to remember who you are you need to help them out. A strong image and brand name will develop from a consistent look to your advertisements.

It isn’t until you’ve been around for a number of years that the need for change starts to become important, and many companies either change too late, or change too much. So how do you know how to pull off change without sacrificing some current customers?

That requires some solid research before you make any changes. There are going to be certain aspects of your company that are the core. This might be a visual motif or a type of service offered or certain price expectations. Each company will have different elements at the core of who they are, and these are the things you need to remain consistent on.

The changes come to the details of your company that aren’t as important and don’t define who you are. Maybe you can update your logo just a little without losing the quality about it people liked. Maybe you can switch to a new form of color printing and still draw in your normal customers while appealing to a whole new batch.

You can only know these things if you know your market and know what your customers like about your business. It isn’t always easy to keep track of these things, and that is why so many companies end up failing to properly handle it.

So in the end you do have to be consistent and update your image at the same time. It can often seem like a very dangerous balancing act, but it is possible, and it is necessary if you want to keep going strong.