Brand Constitution

A brand constitution serves as a brand bible. The constitution includes the brand’s core values and guidelines to inform all decisions regarding or on behalf of the brand. This covers design, tone, messaging, strategy, etc. Depending on a brand’s positioning in the market, the more unique the brand and the brand’s offering, whether it be a service or product, the more likely it is to be remembered, liked and acquired.

The most successful brands are those that trigger feelings and emotions in consumers across all verticals and consistently evoke feelings. Consistency being the key to success, all brand actions must be in direct correspondence with the brand’s constitution. The brand strategy holds brands accountable for every move they make such as marketing efforts, client facing, product pricing, culture, etc.

Consistency must permeate every aspect of the brand from production to execution in order to be reinforced and delivered. A customer who walks into a Nike store in New York will see the same Just Do it sign on the wall as the customer who walks into a Nike store in Madrid. The Target experience, both online and in the physical store, communicates the same happy, convenient aura. Starbuck’s trendy, contemporary vibe makes customers happy to shell out a couple of extra dollars to enjoy a perfectly crafted, personal specialty drink. “I think the best brands are those that create something for consumers that they don’t even know they need yet,” says former VP global creative at Starbucks, Stanley Hainsworth. “When people are surprised or delighted by how a brand can change their lives by just making it a little bit better — or a little bit more fun or a little more performance-oriented — that’s when they start creating a connection with that brand.”

If you are a brand like Fenty who claims to be both diverse and inclusive, all genders, sexual persuasions, and skin colors must be captured and portrayed in the brand’s messaging and marketing materials. If you are a sportswear brand like Nike that has strategically aligned itself with environmental health than all plastic bottles must be replaced with eco-friendly, environmentally conscious alternatives.

Inconsistencies among branding and messaging can potentially be detrimental to a brand’s lifetime. Inconsistencies pose distance in relationships between consumers and the brand, increase confusion, and decrease predictability, familiarity, and comfort.

What happens if Dove no longer runs its campaign to improve young girls self-esteem? Sure, they don’t make a direct profit from their movement; however, the brand’s purpose creates relations and triggers emotions; thus, driving brand loyalty. If Dove no longer stood by their driving purpose to help young women build their confidence, the brand would risk losing its place in the market because of denying their values and harm customer relations.

Warby Parker’s mission statement reads, “To offer designer eyewear at a revolutionary price while leading the way for socially conscious businesses.” If the company decidedly released a new line of eyewear at a significantly increased price, consumers would likely lose touch with the brand and its differentiating factor in the market due to unpredictability, alone. The move would require a complete, 360-degree pivot aiming for an entirely new audience as the current Warby Parker persona has been meticulously defined and served. The brand can’t oppose their values and constitution without damaging its reputation.

Large companies oftentimes launch multiple brands and own brands that compete with one another in the same market. Procter and Gamble, for example, own both Head and Shoulders and Herbal Essences. The two products are in the hair care market, but they are very different from one another. Head and Shoulders mission is to free the world of dandruff. Their audience typically suffers from a condition that affects the scalp resulting in dandruff. The product appeals to a problem/solution model. On the other hand, Herbal Essences describes its persona stating, “Herbal Essences hair is hair that is undone, natural looking and free. Just like the women who choose it.” This product thrives on niche marketing, further personalizing the authentic, free individual.

Both hair care products serve an entirely different audience and tend to different brand purposes. They have created different experiences and values. They stir different feelings, but both create emotional resonation with customers and cultivate brand feelings. They are two independent, separate entities under the same umbrella and both are successful.

Consider innovative, leading brands in saturated markets and consider their competitors and what they are doing…

Take Apple, for instance. Apple notoriously produces the next best thing, consistently. Apple caters to creatives, innovators, trailblazers, and an all-around ‘trendy’ audience. Apple encourages people to be different and think different. Their messaging is powerful. Now, who do they compete with? Consider HP or Dell. What kind of emotions do their mission or values stir in consumers?

A brand is as successful as it is capable of creating brand feelings and customer experiences. A brand constitution that pushes consistency and has a driving point of differentiation is likely to drive positive feelings and association, resonation, remembrance, and ultimately, conversion.