“In order to grow, brands require trust. The world’s greatest brands are those trusted by their consumers, their employees and manifold other stakeholders.” Danny Rogers, prweek.com.

A brand is ultimately a promise of consistency.  When a company consistently does something, such as produces a consistent product or results, it builds credibility for the brand. A company dubbed to be credible through being consistent, leads to it being perceived as authentic. Once it is an authentic, credible brand, people start to trust it. When customers fully trust a brand, they become loyal to it.

The reason companies like Coca-Cola have such strong brands is because of consistency. Consumers trust a bottle of Coca-cola will have the same crisp taste as it does in a 2-liter and in a 12oz fountain drink. Coco-cola promises a consistent, distinct taste to its consumers.

Just picture the outrage if all of a sudden McDonalds hired a wait staff and made people wait 20 minuets for their food. What would happen if Four Seasons Hotel started leaving turnips on guests’ pillows? Or imagine the madness if ESPN started playing reality TV all day. People might lose their minds. They wouldn’t know what to think or who to trust. People trust these brands to provide them with consistency, and because of this consistency, these brands have formed a loyal following of customers.

Consistency in products and services is just as important as consistency in communications.This makes it an integrated branding experience. The CEO of the company, the managers and the interns should all use the same consistent elevator pitch when talking about their company. Any external and internal communication peices should be consistent with the brand. Even the company blog should have content consistent with the brand. Communicating consistently is critical for any company that is building a strong brand.

Brands must stay consistent with their promises or they will lose authenticity and credibility, which can ultimately impact a companies bottomline.