Consistency is an important concept in marketing that many companies fail to deliver. It’s the key to success…so why is it overlooked by so many 
marketing executives? The answer is that most marketing is fragmented and coming at people from too many different directions. Between TV, radio, print, outdoor billboards, email, direct mail all competing for your attention – consumers don’t know where to look next. It’s important for companies to integrate their campaigns and not rush launching too many campaigns at one time.
Here are some guidelines to help deliver a consistent identity with a cohesive integration plan:
Select Your Logo, Tagline, & Colors – Keep your colors and logo consistent in all marketing messages. This includes print advertisements, TV Commercials, direct mail, etc. Your tagline needs to be present on every single marketing piece to drive home what you do! Be clear in telling people what you can offer them. However, this is still not full integration. Integration requires the entire company being able to state what you do in the same manner. You need to integrate your message throughout your entire organization.
Message Longevity – Marketers tend to be in a rush to meet the next deadline or get the next campaign out the door. It’s important to realize that integrating your brand takes time. Don’t continue changing the direction of your campaigns. Keep it consistent for years if you need to…….there is no time limit to branding your company. Don’t lose patience and stop the momentum of keeping the same messaging out there. The worst thing you can do is confuse people with mixed messages.
Verbiage – Create messages that can be easily understood by your target audience. Don’t speak in terms that people don’t understand. A perfect example would be a company that has technical terms in a print advertisement that would be better suited for engineers. It’s important to make sure that your audience clearly understands what you sell and how the product will benefit them. Focus on the solutions you offer to take their problem away. This should be in every single piece of marketing communication that is sent out by your company.
A perfect time to use integrated marketing communications is during an acquisition. When a large organization acquires another company…..it’s important to have an integrated marketing plan in place. The time right after the acquisition is crucial to branding the new company and making sure people understand how the brand integrates into your own. An example would be a security integrator who installs security products and just purchased a security software company. Your marketing message would need to show how this new software company integrates into your existing company. The security integrator should show how they are working hand and hand to produce the ultimate security solution for the end user. In my experience, the company that is acquired usually changes their brand image to reflect the parent company. There have been some cases that the brand image was changed over time. As long as you have an integrated marketing strategy in place that delivers consistency….you will be ahead of the game.
Author:
Monique Merhige is the President of Infusion Direct Marketing & Advertising, Inc. She has over 15 years of marketing communications experience with technology companies ranging from small service firms and equipment manufacturers to a 1.5 Billion dollar division of Motorola. Infusion is a marketing consulting firm that specializes in the security industry and delivers marketing solutions that include Public Relations, Direct Marketing, Branding, Collateral Development, and Social Media Marketing. Visit: www.infusiondirect.com or call 631-846-1558
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