BE CONSISTENT — OR BE NOTHING.

Consistency is one of the toughest and most important things to achieve in communication. Why? Because anyone can claim anything, at any time, across any channel. Most of it will be forgotten by tomorrow. Only what is repeated consistently over time has a chance to remain.

But consistency is not only about words, even if a strong slogan should be repeated again and again. It is more broadly about patterns.

Humans are exceptionally good at recognising patterns. They can be made of many things: words, behaviours, images, colours, sounds, compositions, graphic codes, experiences — and even, perhaps most powerfully, smells.

Nature has trained our brains to identify and categorise these patterns rapidly. They act as shortcuts in our permanent decision-making process. Does this pattern signal danger or trust? Recognition happens before conscious thought. And the richer the pattern, the easier it becomes to recognise, even when not all its elements are present.

In our civilised world, where most immediate dangers are kept at bay, the biology of pattern recognition is still at work. By recognising familiar patterns, we process information easier and make decisions faster.

This is the basic science behind branding — and a cornerstone of effective communication. To cut through the noise, it does not help to simply turn up the volume. What matters is to create and maintain distinctive patterns that clients and prospects can recognise, understand and trust.

As Will Durant famously summarised Aristotle in 1926: “We are what we repeatedly do.” Transposed into branding and communication: we must shape the patterns that repeatedly express what we stand for.

In other words:

• In branding, we design the pattern.
• In communication, we make it visible.
• In the audience’s mind, the pattern becomes meaning.

A strong brand is not recognised because it says something once. It is recognised because it creates a coherent system of signals that people can identify, understand and trust over time.

But beware: this also works in reverse. “Customer focus”, “trusted partner”, “tailor-made solutions”, “global expertise”, “innovation” and “quality” are immediately recognised as generic patterns — of nonsense. So overused that they have lost any credibility before they even create meaning.

In our experience with international technology and industrial brands, the right sequence is always the same:

• First, clarify the identity.
• Then, create consistency through sharp, distinctive branding.
• Then, activate it through focused, well-targeted marketing and communications.

But never, ever the other way around.