If you’re old enough to remember IBM in their heyday of the early ’90s (I’ll admit it–I’m not), you might recall its transition from an “aged and static corporate dinosaur” to a remarkably refreshing tech–and brand–powerhouse. IBM’s glow-up didn’t happen overnight, and it wasn’t the result of hipper advertisements or catchier language. No, IBM succeeded because they managed to do what we all struggle to do when we’re busy trying to grow a business, manage a team, and make noise in a crowded market: they got consistent.
Those who have gone through a brand exercise here at BREAD will have heard us say that great stories–the ones that connect, engage, and inspire–are authentic, consistent, and exceptional. When I explain this concept to our clients, I always stress the word “consistent.” It’s easy enough to be authentic and exceptional if you’re honest with yourself and your audience. But consistency is where we see leaders struggle time and time again. The simple truth is, it’s tough to find the time or effort to manage every element of your brand–to make sure you’re telling the same story in the same way in every format across every platform every time–when you’re managing and growing an organization. Who cares if the logo looks the same on your email signature and website when you’re buried in invoices?
Your audience does.
I stress “consistent” with our clients because–like it or not–it’s make or break. Consistency breeds trust. It’s how people learn what to expect from you day in and day out, for better or worse. It cements your reputation and your place in the minds of your audience. And it’s not just about your logo (though, believe me, that matters). Consistency has to permeate everything you do–every ad, line, video, product package, customer interaction, or public appearance. Your story has to be the same, told in the same way in every format, across every platform, every time… because that’s how trust is built. It’s just that simple.
Before their transformation in the ’90s, IBM’s customer perception was a joke. No, really–following the 1994 PC Expo in NYC, a reporter for Bandweek quipped: “Want some cheap fun? Count the slogans in the IBM booth.” The brand had been strong enough through the ’70s but took a nosedive in the ’80s when IBM dropped its focus on cohesive brand management and instead looked toward individual product promotion. It’s natural to focus on promoting products–how else do you turn a profit? But their hyper-focus on marketing individual products led to major disconnect between them all and a disorderly and confusing look for IBM as a whole. All product and brand campaigns were shopped to different agencies, each with their own end goals. 90% of their graphic design was handled by outsourced designers, and hundreds of unique slogans and logos were in circulation. Hundreds. Worse, no one internally was really keeping a finger on the multitude of pulses the world was being exposed to, and the IBM brand, as a result, suffered. The company that started the technology industry as we know it today–long before Apple, Microsoft, or Google–was no longer seen as an innovator…
So how did they turn it around? In 1993, new IBM chief executive officer Lou Gerstner (previously CEO of AmEx Travel) made a considerable effort to streamline the brand’s communication and identity activities. Gerstner understood that for IBM to capitalize on its brand value and turn its public perception around, IBM had to prove it had brand value in the first place. They had to get consistent. He named a single ad firm as IBM’s agency of record–Ogilvy & Mathers–and distributed 8,000 copies of IBM’s first brand standards guide: The Spirit and Letter of IBM Brand Identity. The guide was created in-house, allowing IBM to take back ownership of the brand and detailed every element of their identity, from guiding principles to logo usage. Every product and division adopted the same cohesive look and messaging, advertising was streamlined across all platforms, and IBM began moving the needle from “tech failure” back to Leading Technology R&D Powerhouse.
There’s more to the story, of course–in Gerstner’s first decade at the helm, IBM made massive strides in product development and technological advancement. But the thing is, where their brand had stalled tremendously in the ’80s, their research and development efforts had never ceased. People simply weren’t interested anymore because the consistency wasn’t there. The best product in the world is nothing if consumers can’t even recognize it on a shelf because they don’t know which logo to look for. Worse, if inconsistency leads to distrust, they won’t want to try that product in the first place.
It’s hard to manage or even care about brand consistency when there are so many more significant and pressing things to worry about. Invoices to send. Salaries to pay. Fires to put out. But the success of our businesses is ultimately reliant on customers. Customers demand trust, and trust demands consistency.