Starting 2014 with a unified brand look online
by. Kayla Byers
With your foot in the door on so many social channels, it can be difficult to maintain consistency and uniformity on all of them. But the value of consistent branding across all of your online channels has never been more important. A strong brand will allow consumers to emotionally connect with you and 70% of young adults are loyal to the brands they like.
Purdue Federal Credit Union in West Lafayette, Indiana, has their website, a blog site, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube. As you can see above, the brand presence across all of them is seamless. I spoke with Carrie North, Marketing Manager at Purdue FCU, and she explained that “It’s important to have a unified brand because delivering on your brand promise builds credibility and trust among your members and potential members. A strong brand, if executed right, can have a major influence on its target audience.”
While we’re touting the importance of having a consistent brand across all channels, it can be a bit easier said than done. To aid in their ability to create a unified presence, Purdue FCU uses a comprehensive brand standard book that is applied to all of their marketing efforts for web and print. One person manages their website, social media, and digital marketing efforts, which allows them to breathe easy knowing that they have a single person watching for consistency.
Different online platforms have different style confines and constraints (for example, you will have greater flexibility on your own website than you do on Facebook). Purdue FCU recognizes that while they need to work within the confines of each platform, there are certain elements that they try to display throughout. Carrie says, “We try to keep our image fresh and trendy, while still staying true to our brand standards. It can be a difficult balance, but we usually stick to our key fonts and colors, as well as keeping our website text and headers consistent and aligned with all our marketing efforts.”
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