Consistency is the key to effective branding; says author Pete Laver -

There are brands in the world that have survived centuries and even civilisations. Beer brand Stella Artois has been around since the Middle Ages. "Research shows that the big brands are more trusted than the church and the government," adds Laver.

How do these age-old brands survive? One thing is for sure – the people who work under this brand are all clear about what the brand stands for. There are values and qualities that jump out immediately when you think of those brands.

In other words, it is critical that your brand attributes are clear. And to do so, a brand audit to articulate those attributes is critical.

Establish a brand identity statement

Creating this will give you the anatomy of the brand. It is a template which you can use to set strategy, advise staff and creative agencies working with you about how to portray and treat the brand.

Here are some points to consider when crafting your brand's blueprint.

• Core values: the essential nature of the brand
• Benefit statement: the functional, social and psychological benefits of the brand
• Attributes: youthful, senior, feminine, masculine, sophisticated, casual, etc.
• Visual and audio cues: symbols, signs, colours, jingles, shapes that are consistently associated with your brand
• Competitive sets: determine the category of product and services the brand operates in, and then list its main competitors
• Image: this is the image customers have of your brand. If this image is significantly different from your brand indentity, you have to do some work to align it.
• Extensions: list down any brand extensions there may be.

Create a brand book

Take after large global brands, many of which develop brand documents. Include in this the visual identity – logos, fonts, colour schemes, etc. Have staff be familiar with this so that any portrayal of the brand (even if it is in conversation) is consistent with your brand identity.

Profile your customer base

Next, do a customer profiling exercise. Look at your existing customer database (they should be your most important clients) and also your prospective client lists. See how they match up with your brand. Do they have similar attributes to your brand? If you have a very youthful brand with a young voice, but yet have older communities in your databases, something is not quite right.

Study the competition

Competitor analysis evaluates the competition and potential competitors who could or might supply to your customers. It is important to be aware of your competitors and how much their brands' attributes and values overlap yours.

If they do, you want to consider ways to differentiate yourself as much as possible. You do not want your consumers to identify the attributes without being able to tie it with the right brand.

Once your brand audit is complete, be sure to keep revisiting it. Although the market is a dynamic one, competition and consumers change, your brand should always be consistent and survive those changes.

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