Brand Currency
Brand Currency is the podcast where branding actually makes sense.
Hosted by Charles and Jonsi McGill, this show breaks down how to build a brand that not only looks good, but works. Whether you're just starting out or scaling up, we talk design, messaging, confidence, and strategy in a way that’s clear, honest, and real. No fluff. No gimmicks. Just real conversations about the moves that grow brands and the mindset it takes to lead them.
Brand Currency
Stop Running A Catfish Brand | Ep. 14
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Your brand can be brilliant and still lose the sale because it looks inconsistent. When your social posts feel one way, your website feels different, and your emails carry a random logo or color set, people hesitate. That hesitation is expensive. We talk through why “does it all have to match?” is the wrong question and how cohesive branding creates trust, clarity, and momentum from the first impression to the purchase.
We pull lessons from the way major brands handle identity over decades, including why they keep core marks stable and why a true rebrand gets rolled out everywhere fast. Then we bring it back to real small business marketing: ads that do not match the landing page, campaigns rushed out with slap-together graphics, and teams where every VA or contractor brings their own fonts and style. If you have ever worried that your brand looks “all over the place”, this gives you a clean way to diagnose the problem and fix it.
You also get practical tools we use with clients: creating a brand guide as your foundation, choosing a design anchor so every asset has a through line, and building templates that protect design integrity when you are moving quickly. We even get into the bigger point behind it all: branding is not just how it looks, it is how it feels, and that feeling drives conversions and brand loyalty.
If you want a more cohesive brand identity, stronger digital first impressions, and higher conversion rates, hit play and take notes. Subscribe, share this with a business owner who needs a reset, and leave a review with the most inconsistent part of your brand right now.
Thanks for listening to Brand Currency, where we have honest conversations about branding, business, and what it really takes to build a brand that people trust.
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When Your Brand Looks All Over
Speaker 3So you know, we we've been going through uh uh these discovery calls. They've been great lately, the ones we've been having lately. But I started to reflect on some of the ones we've had in the past, like a while ago, uh, when folks were coming that just kind of were all over the place. Um and you don't remember that season. I mean, we had sometimes we have folks that literally had like, you know, they're telling me they want to go through uh like a rebrand or a redesign, and you know, they showed me some of their sites and some of their their graphics and all these different things that they currently had. And I saw like four or five different logos, you know, for like the same business. And I wasn't sure like which one was the current one. And they were like, oh, I'm still working on it, you know, this one's cool, but I'm open to changing it again. I'm like, whoa, like that's a lot.
Speaker 2That is a whole lot because it can confuse your audience. You know, when you like what you were saying about socials, if your social media looks one way, your website looks another way, and then you have different logos in your email. You know, the email can look like spam, and people just get confused.
Speaker 3They get confused, you got different logos, sometimes they got different colors. You know, it's like what's your color pile? They're like, Well, what's that? I don't I don't have one. And then there's their website, you know, may have like a maroon feel, then their offers each have like, you know, one has like a green, one's like yellow, one's blue. It it's like, is this the same person? Is the same company? Like, you know.
Speaker 2Well, we need to talk about it because those people need help and we're here to help them.
Speaker 3Yes, yes. I mean, fonts all over the place. I mean, it just, you know, it it's it's it's a lot to deal with. Um, and it needs to be cohesive, and we want to help people out because I think the question people keep asking us, or not keep asking, but have asked us before, and we give them the same answer. But the question is, does it have to be consistent? Does it all does all this have to match? I want you to answer that. I know you laughed, I know you laughing, but I'm serious. Because some people thinking to themselves, does all this have to match?
Speaker 2Of course it does. That's you know that's your brand. You know, it has to be cohesive. Of course it has to match.
Speaker 3Okay, well, let's break that down for them and tell them why it has to match.
Speaker 2Okay, let's do it.
Speaker 4This
Does Everything Really Need To Match
Speaker 4is the brand. This is the boys, this is the pay. Moved by choice, Charles and John said, don't chase trends, brand currency for perfect teams.
Speaker 3Welcome to the brand currency podcast, where we break down branding and design in a way that actually makes sense for your business. My name is Charles McGill. I'm your host, and I'm joined by my lovely co-host.
Speaker 2Hi, I'm Jonsi McGill, his wife and partner in business.
Big Brands Leave Consistency Clues
Speaker 3Yeah, so we we're gonna break this down, guys, today. We're gonna talk about uh, you know, whether or not this stuff should match, right? That's the question. People be like, you know, like, you know, it's okay, like you don't go through different things, and so it's okay if all that stuff's out there because people can see my transition.
Speaker 2Yeah, but people don't need to see, people don't need to see the transition. They don't need to see that your your brand or you are going through something.
Speaker 3She said going through something. Yeah, I mean, I I get it, right? Because and I think about it like, so the way we want to get our, we want to get our cues from big corporations, right? People who have spent millions of dollars researching. Millions doing things the right way in terms of marketing, in terms of brand, spending not only just a lot of money in it, but also time. Like, you know, these big brands have been around for 30 years, 40, 50, you know, like a long time. And so they they leave clues in terms of how they have, you know, but from you know, relatively a small startup sometimes to this big conglomerate that's everywhere across the world. And you know, you gotta ask yourself if if if if it makes sense for Nike to carry this logo for I don't know how many years 30, 40, it was 60. Decades with that, yeah, whatever it is. If it makes sense for them to just do that, they'll check, right? And the swoop hasn't ain't changed.
Speaker 2Been the same, it's the same thing decades later. Decades later. They don't make little enhancements, there's no like little, you know, flowers coming out of it or a lighthouse, or and maybe if they if they do something like it's an intentional brand partnership with something else, yeah, or a campaign. It's a campaign, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3Specific thing, very specific thing, but they're not going through those iterations, and even if they did go through an iteration, and I remember we did um uh an episode about uh like Walmart um and their iteration of their logo. It's like, hey, we're changing the logo, and here's an announcement, and then what are they gonna do? Are they gonna leave the logo? They're gonna change it maybe just in their new stores, or what are they gonna do?
Speaker 2Man, they changed that thing so fast. I saw like immediately after they announced it, I saw it on trucks driving by.
Speaker 3Everywhere on all the stores immediately, immediately all the graphics, all the stores, all the outside, their plastic bags, like everything, everything, the app, it all changed. Everything they don't want you to remember the old one, right? They changed so now you get to see the new one, and it's all consistent. Now, I'm sure it costs a lot of money to do that. Yes. Think about that. Like all of a sudden now they're like, oh, stop, no more of the old logo, everything must have the new logo.
Speaker 2Yeah, because the signage is expensive, re-wrapping the trucks is expensive. The branding company that they hired to develop the new logo and you know, the new font, that was definitely expensive. So it's like, you know, it's an expense.
Speaker 3Yeah. So why would a big company like that choose to do that? What do you think, babe? What's what do you think the obvious answer is?
Speaker 2There there might be a few.
Speaker 3Okay.
Speaker 2But one is they want to just kind of refresh, you know, their audience. Yes. And let the the new wave of audience be attracted to the new logo. They're attracting new people. They're trying to attract, I think they're trying to attract like a younger crowd too. Um, but I don't know if it's working.
unknownOkay.
Speaker 3Well, in general, the the main reason why people decide to do something like that and they will invest all that money in changing is because there is a return on the investment.
Speaker 2Oh, most definitely.
Speaker 3That's the only reason why they would do it. Like the primary reason, right? It's not just because like vanity, like they just want to look or someone got tired of it. Right. Not because they're like, uh, you know, I'm just tired of seeing this logo all the time. I want something different. No.
Speaker 2No.
Speaker 3Then in it, they do the research and they they figured out that, hey, if we are going to try to go out to this new market share, right, trying to capture these new audience, we need to update our look.
Speaker 2Right. Because the the new logo actually looks better in digital format.
Speaker 3It does.
Speaker 2Like on the app or um, you know, on the website, in their ads. It looks a lot better than the old one. So that's, you know, yeah.
Speaker 3That's what they're trying to do. That's what they're trying to do. And so when we look think about our own companies, right, and we're like, okay, how do we how do we um make sure we're consistent? We have to make sure that our logos, right, is the same across every medium, every platform, no matter social media, website, graphics, in-person, your tablecloth, all that. All that your fonts are consistent. Like you have a brand guy that anchors your brand. So it you you know what fonts to use, you know what colors to use, your colors are consistent, right? Across all platforms, because you want to make sure it has the same, the same vibe, right? You also want to make sure from a branding perspective that you have the
Trust Is Built In The Details
Speaker 3same voice, right? The same tone, right? The same messaging, the same type of design, right? Um, this is important because it it lets people know, it makes people feel safe.
Speaker 2Oh, yeah.
Speaker 3Like, you know, because you think about that, that consistency it makes people trust you more. It makes people trust you more. Absolutely. Because it'd be, it'd be, I think about like this in like real-time experiences. Like, if you if you like I gave I gave an example um from another episode of like uh Raising Cain when we had first heard of that restaurant. And I went to the website and I looked at it and I was like, this website looks like, you know, like man, it looks like they've been in business for a while. We ain't never heard of them. And they were they were new, uh, coming coming new to uh to California or the area, the city that we were in. And never heard of them, but people in the South, of course, here, you know, we're in Atlanta now, of course, raising K. Everybody knew about raising cake. But um, but there they hadn't heard of it.
Speaker 2Yeah.
Speaker 3And they had their website was awesome, right? Um, the branding was was really on point. So I felt like I was like, man, I don't know what this restaurant is, but it looked like it's it's good. Like let people really like it. They opened up and the storefront looked just like the website. It was consistent. Consistent across the board. Font, branding, colors, logo, everything's the same, right? And what did that do? That that let us know. And also the messaging, right? The whatever their slogans are, we're all the same. And what did that do? That it just made people feel like this is a legit, even though we've never heard of it, this fast food, it must be on point because they're on point. And yeah, it was, it all came together. Um, because people trust that consistency, and it's a subconscious thing, right? It's not necessarily something that like you're gonna openly, like everyone's gonna know. Like, I'm talking about now because I'm a branding person, right? So of course I pay attention to those things.
Speaker 2Other people don't, but they can feel it subconsciously, and they can't necessarily express it, but they will definitely have a feeling around it. And you know, sometimes if the feeling's off, or if they're looking at something and it's off, they're not gonna move forward, they're not gonna buy or anything like that. So, you know, you have to be aware and you know, conscious of how people look at your brand.
Speaker 3A hundred percent. Do you think that that's something that only us adults think about, or do you think that even children can pick up on it?
Speaker 2What? Of course, children can pick up on it. That's why we have Disneyland, you know, because you know, they see, you know, all their favorite characters and all that messaging, the happiest place on earth, you know. So that plays into people of all ages. Yeah. I think about like um like my great aunt. She was, you know, God rest her soul. But I lived with her for a little while while I was in college, and she had she always had to have a Coca-Cola. She didn't want any other brand, any other, you know, flavor or soda or anything like that. She had to have her Coca-Cola and her certain type of bread. And if you get a different type of bread, she would not eat it. She'd be like, go back to the store, give me the one that I want. People, you know, they get to build relationships with brands, and that can last for years and years and years. Because she was, you know, kept buying the same thing for years. Because she knew if I buy this, I know how it's gonna taste. Exactly. I know how it's gonna make me feel, and that's what I want, and I'm good with it.
Speaker 3Yeah. I think about like, see, to your point, like Disney and all that stuff. Like, imagine if if if if if people weren't uh like whoever is in charge was allowing people to draw Mickey Mouse different ways. Right? Not not picking up on the details, and he's showing up and every episode or every whatever, just looking slightly different, right? Then changing the colors up.
Speaker 2We'd be like, who is this Mickey? This is not the Mickey I know. The character I've come to know and love and trust.
Speaker 3Right? Mickey, you can think about any of those, like, you know, Marlboro. And then what happens is why does that matter? Because when you look at it in the totality, you're like, okay, I can take this brand, I can take this uh figure, this image, whatever that people really attract are attracted to, and I can now place it in different places and people will trust it again. Because you could take that Mickey Mouse brand or Sonic the Hedgehog or whatever and go, you know, let me put this on a McDonald's box, let me put this on a cereal box, let me put this on a t-shirt or whatever, and that same trust gets transferred over.
Speaker 2Mm-hmm. Because the kids will come flacking.
Speaker 3That's right. Adults too, but you'll you'll know. Here, here's proof and point. How do you know when you buy a knockoff of something like that? Like if you if you were to go the quality won't be the same. The quality, yeah. Like it looked like somebody drew it and they didn't, they wouldn't, they wouldn't work for Disney.
Speaker 2Right.
Speaker 3Like, you know, I think about like the like the like the uh flea market or something like that, like when I was growing up. Uh-huh. You know what I mean? Like you you trying to get something based on somebody you like, you know, like a character or whatever, and you go some, you know, your parents give you some discount place, they like, oh, they got it right there.
Speaker 4Ain't that uh ain't that so-and-so. But Nikki's ears are small and something ain't right. That ain't right.
Speaker 3That's not that's not to say, you know, and and uh, and you don't want to buy, you don't trust it, right? Because it ain't consistent. And we do that as adults, right? We we do that as adults. Um, I I remember too, you know, I I give these analogies, but it's it happens in our business as well. We got to think about it, how it's applicable for the things that we offer, how things applicable for the things that we you know promote. But I think about like over the years, like we going back to McDonald's, you know, McDonald's been, we we we haven't been nice to McDonald's. But uh but what I think about like I remember when I used to used to eat there frequently, and then like I stopped, but then you know you come back every so often to to eat, and then you notice like all the burgers got smaller. You know what I'm saying? Like or or let's say you you you eat in uh, I don't know, whatever kind of scenario.
Speaker 2But they're putting extra ice in your drink and not giving you as much of your beverage.
Speaker 3Man, there's so many stuff that that people do or companies do that lead to that inconsistency, and then it subconsciously messes with you, and you start to think, man, I don't know if I can trust this thing anymore because they switched it up on me.
Speaker 2Right? It's not the same experience I've been having. Not the same experience. But maybe something's going on, they're changing.
Speaker 3Exactly. And that inconsistent branding, you know, it makes people pause. And when people pause and they have that hesitation, that often kills yourselves. And that's something that people need to be thinking about as, you know, small business owners.
Where Small Businesses Get Inconsistent
Speaker 3Um, you know, where where do you think the the inconsistency uh shows up for small business owners? Like they're saying, okay, Charles, we hear you what you're saying, but I what do you mean? I feel like I'm pretty consistent. Where have we how where have you seen it show up?
Speaker 2Well, since you asked, I see it all the time when people, let's say, you know, they have a campaign that they're doing and they, you know, try to rush it out without really like planning and strategizing through, you know, what people will experience um, you know, when they're introduced to that campaign. So they just kind of slap together the graphics and it just it just doesn't look polished. It doesn't look, you know, like, oh, this person usually does, you know, has puts out some really nice looking things that I usually like to attend or whatever. And then you have that, and it's like, maybe they're falling off.
Speaker 3It could look like that, right? It could look like they're definitely falling off if it doesn't look as good as the other stuff. Um, also, you know, it'd be mismatched, you know what I mean? You got uh you got some designs that are all mismatched, you got like different agencies working on the same campaign, different VAs in-house. You try to, you know, like so. Everybody got own their own style, everyone using their own font, everyone using their own colors. You know, everyone's doing their own thing, and it starts to look crazy, you know, all together. Because the consumer is looking at it and they're seeing ads that look one way, and then they see your social media posts, and then they may go to your website, and that looks different because it's like somebody else.
Speaker 2If you've got ads that look one way, and then they click the link and go to the sales page, they're gonna be like, Oh, is this the same thing?
Speaker 3Is it the same thing? Yeah, did I click the wrong link?
Speaker 2Is this the exact color?
Speaker 3Like and that happens a lot. A lot, a whole lot. Yo, when that sales page looks different, um, it it it really does confuse the mind. So when we design a panic commission, that's one thing we do. We'll we always say, we tell our customers, we need to create a design anchor. So, like if you're gonna do a campaign and we're building a website, we're doing graphics, we're doing promo all this different stuff, what's the design anchor? Sometimes we'll design the promotional flyer first, the graphic, and we'll say, okay, based on this, we'll create the website design and everything else will be based on how this looks. Or sometimes we'll create the sales page first and say, Okay, based on the sales page, everything else will look like this. But we intentionally do that. Um, and we make sure that we remind the client too, like, hey, um, you want to keep this consistent. I remember we had one that was new, a new client, and they uh asked us to do a campaign. And so we uh provided the client three different options for what the campaign could look like. And we said, okay, the design anchor will be this uh sales page. And so there were three different sales pages that we did and said, choose one, right? And they were like, we like them all. And I'm like, okay, that's cool, but choose one. You know what I mean? Um they're like, well, and we didn't have the time to split test because we could have split tested, but they're like, just go with um, they said you choose. So I was like, we're gonna go with this one, and then we'll make all our other designs based on this one. And so they were like, okay, cool. But then as we were moving on, they were like, hey, I really like the other designs as well. Can you include some graphics that look like those other designs as well? And we're like, because the thing is what's tricky about that is we're like, we can, but we have to make sure there's a through line, that there's a consistency between how these other ones look and how this one looks. We figured it out, but we're the type of agency that will do that. A lot of people aren't even thinking about that. They're not thinking about it looking consistent.
SpeakerYeah.
Speaker 3They're like, yo, we just need to put it together. We need to just put it out there, right? Oh, the put it out there, the just put it out there. Man, but if you have all that and it looks, you know, you got your emails going out, that looks different, the banner looks different, that that promotion looks different. It just it's it's giving it's giving um what is it giving, babe? It's giving confusion.
Speaker 2It's giving confusion, it's giving rush. It's giving, do they need some money or something? What's going on? That's what it's giving.
Speaker 3They don't look put together. Right. Right. And and and I just feel like there's so many times when we are judging people this way, we're not being honest. And I don't know why in the online space we're not honest with our our friends and families, and and not friends and family, but our our colleagues. Yes.
Speaker 2To be like, yo, because they're you know, something it's like you know, what Eric Habadu said, you know, I'm an artist, I'm an artist, and I'm sensitive about my sensitive. And so people are sensitive about their appearance, they're they're sensitive about how they look, you know, how they present in person and also online. So when you tell somebody, yeah, you know, maybe you should change something or do something a little different, yeah, they'll feel some type of way.
Speaker 3And you're right.
Speaker 2And the thing is, we don't want to hurt people's feelings.
Speaker 3We don't, and they're and they're and they also I you're you're making me kind of think about it. Most of the time, it's a personal thing. Like it feels personal to them because they either did it themselves, so they spent the hours in it, or they paid someone to do it, and it feels like you know, maybe it's close to what they want. So for someone to come along and let them know that it needs improvement and that it's not that great, that probably could hurt a little bit. Yeah. I mean, I think about it like, you know, just like similarly, like you, you maybe you went to the closet, you you thought you put you thought you put that thing together, right? You thought your outfit was was was doing its thing. You know, you looked in the mirror, you was like, yeah, they gonna they gonna like this, man. Like, oh man. And you get out there about the stuttle. You get out there and they like, that ain't it. That reminded me of it. You remember that uh that one uh that one video where uh Safari uh he was rapping. Um he was they was on a breakfast, he was on a breakfast club with Charlemagne. Do you remember that? You probably don't remember that. Anyway, Safari he asked Safari to rap Safari, you know Safari? Yeah, yeah. Nikki Minaj's oh boy, whatever. So asked him to rap, and he he thinking he going in, he, you know, la la la la la la la. And he thought he like had bars, right? And then he finished, and everyone was just quiet. Yeah, that ain't it, bro. Like that is the most hilarious thing.
Speaker 2And I feel like that's sad too, cuz you know, Safari was probably feeling some type of thing.
Speaker 3Well, because yeah, because he because he I I've well, I think he has written rhymes, allegedly, I guess. Written rhymes for Nikki.
Speaker 2Oh, that's right.
Speaker 3Yeah, so he probably felt like he's like, hey, she out there selling millions, those are my bars. Like, but you know, it ain't it ain't that ain't it. That wasn't it.
Speaker 2Sometimes it's a hit, sometimes
Honest Feedback And AI Profile Pics
Speaker 2it's a miss. Yeah. And we need to be honest. We need to be honest, that's the point when they miss.
Speaker 3That's right. Cause that that's how people get better, right? Cause I mean, there's nothing wrong with having confidence and thinking that you your stuff is good. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with thinking that your website that you spent hours doing and all that stuff came out really well. Ain't nothing wrong with that. But sometimes we just gotta be honest and And and and let people you know, let people know like, you know, that ain't yeah, it's like when you change your profile picture, right?
Speaker 2Maybe you lost a little weight, you got a new hairdo, and you look a little different, and people like, wait, is that is that still them? You know?
Speaker 3Yeah, well, okay, let's let's be see you you you didn't really fully say what you wanted to say. I think what you wanted to say was when you change that pick to that AI pick, that's what you wanted to say. Yo, obviously, hey, listen.
Speaker 2I want this wave to be over. Like, that ain't you. If I'm looking at this AI picture, and then I meet you in person, it's like, or like a super airbrushed, like totally not that person. And that happens to be so often, Charles. People be like, oh, you're gonna be amazing. And and then I go, you know, to the event and somebody comes up to me and they're like, hey Jesse, you know, and I'm like, that's not that. You know, you wanna do it. I was expecting that picture. Wow. I don't recognize them.
Speaker 3Wow. So I mean, you know, to each day home, you know what I mean? I mean, you know, if they're getting away with it, I always look at it like what's the outcome, right? So to determine whether or not it's worth it or if that's a good decision, is are you getting the outcome that you expected? Just like your website. If your if if if your website, you know, people people could have the opinion that that they don't think it looks good. But if it's getting you sales and it's converting, then it's doing what it's supposed to do.
Speaker 1Yeah.
Speaker 3So, you know, if that person maybe, you know, they they catfishing folks, but like catfish brands?
Speaker 2Lord have mercy.
Speaker 3Hey, if it's working, I'm not I'm not mad at it.
Speaker 2So if you're not trying to have a catfish brand, listen to our sponsors.
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Fix It With A Brand Guide
Speaker 2and fix their brand? And, you know, some sometimes people just need a little guidance, Charles. So give the people a little guidance. What can they do?
Speaker 3First thing that you can do to fix it is establish a brand guide. Like to get consistent, right? That's what we're talking about. Being consistent, you gotta establish a brand guide. Yes. That brand guide is your foundation, it's your anchor to let people know that you know, and anyone else who works on your brand what fonts they should be using, what colors they should be using, which logo they should use, how to use it. Like, because some people, you know, they have logos that have primary logos, a full mark, we call it, that includes your logo mark, your logo, the icon, what it looks like, that logo, that simple thing, and then the word mark, which is the words. So all together that combine is your full logo mark, right? And so um you can have alternative logos. So you can have a logo logo that's uh horizontal, you can have a logo that's vertical. You could have a logo that includes, you know, the logo mark and the full word mark, or maybe just half of the, you know, the word. So sometimes you have a brand that says something like, you know, um, um you got the logo mark, which is the icon, and then the the word mark will say something like, you know, Johnson and Co. And then on the bottom of that it'd be like, you know, um your tagline, you know, best plumbers in the world. That'll be like your full logo mark, right? And then you can have alternatives where it's just the logo mark and the word mark, so it's just the logo, and then it just says Johnson and Co, and that's it. But that can look different because since we're trying to fit that tagline in there, it's gonna be sized differently. I don't want to get too technical, but basically there's different ways that the logo will show up depending on the medium. So, for example, like, you know, if I'm gonna have um, you know, like a logo for like the shirt, you know, we got our logo logo on it. This the panda logo uh for our web our brand panda commission. I could have put the full logo mark on it. If I didn't know what I was doing, I know how to design it. I might have put the full thing on there. But if I put the full thing on there, that may not look that good because it's supposed to fit in on my sleeve, and you may not be able to see the whole thing. Right. So you'd be confused.
Speaker 2You know, you'd be looking like panda cops. Yeah, panda comments. People exactly where communications go. What does that say?
Speaker 3You know, and so yeah. And some people, oh, I did it on purpose. Like, no, it's not supposed to be like that, right? So we we have it like this, so it looks you know stylish. And you know, if people are curious, they'll ask what brand is that? That's what they'll usually ask. They see something like that, they'll be like, what brand is that? You see the logo.
Speaker 2That happens when I wear just the panda on a hat. Exactly. People are like, Oh, the hat is fire. Where'd you get that from?
Speaker 3What brand is that? Exactly. So anyway, but you you establish with the brand guide the way to use all of your branding elements, right? And so that's what it's for. And even if you don't like brand guides, sometimes can be five pages up to eight pages. Um, they can also or a single page, or a single page, they can be. Um, but you can include other things like uh like a mood board on it where you're giving designers like images in terms of like how they should how you want to show up in different spaces. If you have a like a luxury look, a modern look, a rustic look, all these different the aesthetics of your brand. Exactly. So all that can be in a brand guide. So it can be very you know thorough and and drawn out, or it can be pretty simple, like a one-pager where it's just literally the font, the colors, and the logo, and that's it. Um, so
Templates And Design Integrity
Speaker 3you could do that. Um, one other thing that you can do to kind of help yourself is to establish some templates, right? Some some some styled, custom-styled templates for your brand. I think about social media, I think about um, you know, um banners. I'm thinking about like even your website, making sure that you have a foundation design design-wise that will uh easily like you know, for whoever's using it, they can easily uh recreate your look and feel without having to think through it.
Speaker 2Yeah, that's really good, Charles, because templates, like even if you are trying to figure out, oh, I need to hurry up and put something out, at least you'll have that to fall back on that's branded and looks good that you can, you know, put out if you don't have time to get something professionally designed.
Speaker 3Absolutely. Those templates are like a a fail-safe. Like, you know, you you can't you it's really hard to mess them up. Um, you can mess them up.
Speaker 2And I see people mess them up. Oh, yeah. You know, because because you have to edit yourself.
Speaker 3Exactly. Because Canva has templates. And sometimes people will start with one template, and then by the time they're finished, what it looks nothing like the one they started with. That's a mistake. Most of the time, that template that you saw on Canva and you're using, um, you are attracted to it for a certain reason. You should try your best to keep the design integrity. This is a word we use design integrity. Keep it by not changing too much of what it looks like. And I understand sometimes like, well, I gotta fit my copy, I gotta, I gotta fit my words in, I gotta fit my brand in it.
Speaker 2I have to fit my whole sales page in it.
Speaker 3It was like, no, actually, you should edit yourself to where you can still keep the design integrity because for for the purpose of that like promotional graphic, it's likely more important that people will stop their scroll, become interested, and be interested enough to actually click on the caption or click on the link in the caption to go to your page. That's more important than them trying to necessarily get all the information they need on that one flyer.
Speaker 2Yes.
Speaker 3Yeah, and I've I've had to tell clients that too, because they'll they'll ask us for like YouTube thumbnails, right? Or they'll ask us for different things. Promo and I'm like, and they want to fit so much stuff on that in that one thing. And they're like, Well, why doesn't my thumbnail look like the reference I provided you? And we're like, we can make it look like that, but notice the reference has two words. Yours has 14. So there's just no way that we could really make it look like that with all of these words. You know, well, I don't want to chop down my words. Well, we got to use a different reference, or it's it's just gonna look different. So that's one thing people can um, you know, need to be thinking about. But you know, overall,
Stay In Your Lane For Conversions
Speaker 3when you're trying to be consistent, you gotta make sure that you really pick, like, you know, pick your lane, like stay in your lane, figure out what you're trying to do.
Speaker 2Stay in your lane. Stay in your lane when it comes to design. That's a bar right there. This people need to remember when it comes to design, stay in your lane. When it comes to your brand and the branding, all the stuff you're putting out, stay in your lane.
Speaker 3What does that mean to you?
Speaker 2That means I mean, be in other words, be consistent. There you go.
Speaker 3I don't make sure people understand it.
Speaker 2Okay. Yes. The road of consistency, the lane of consistency.
Speaker 3Yes, yes, yes. It's not even though it's your brand, and you could do you could do you technically you can do whatever you want. But if you're trying to attract the most amount of people, you're trying to get the most amount of clients or attract the right people, the consistency is what is gonna help you. Right. And if you can't do it yourself, we strongly suggest that you hire somebody.
Speaker 2Hire Panda Commission. Hire us, right?
Speaker 3That's right. Uh, if you really yeah, hire us. But if you, if you, you know, for whatever reason don't work with us, make sure that whoever you're working with is someone who understands how to be consistent, understands brand, who understands these things, who has that eye of consistency, who's looking for those things to be like, I don't know if this is right. You know, let's make sure that we do this, or that can edit you, you know, kind of give you feedback. Because, you know, we've dealt with some people who be all over the place and they want us to be all over the place. They want us to join them, you know.
Speaker 2The over-the-place party. Oh, man.
Speaker 3All over the place party. They like, and the thing is, you know, to a degree, you know, they're paying us to do work. So, you know, we'll do the work, but we are also the type of agency that will give feedback and say, hey, um, we noticed that you've, you know, you want this, it looks completely different than the other thing, um, but it's the same brand. That we want to, you know, just kind of raise the flag here to say, hey, you may not want to do it this way.
Speaker 2Yeah, because at the end of the day, we want that design to convert.
Speaker 3There it is.
Speaker 2So a lot of people, when they're designing, aren't necessarily thinking about, you know, how will this look when they start to market their offer or whatever. So, you know, you have to be aware of things like that.
Speaker 3Yeah, you gotta be aware. You gotta be aware of that. And I love that you say that because that's what separates us from a lot of other agencies and freelancers. We're thinking about the marketing, we're thinking about the branding, we're thinking about the design. We know that all those things are different, and we're thinking about how you are positioned to make sure that you're maximizing your conversions. Exactly. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, brand consistency, um, you know, that is what builds the familiarity. That's what, that's what uh, you know, allows people to trust you, the familiarity, right? You know, what's that saying? Game recognized game, right? You know, game recognized game. And if you look an unfamiliar, I ain't giving you my money. You know what I mean? That's the way it is. Um, you know, and I think about it whenever we you and I go to like different towns um and different trips, you know, we're always looking for, we like to have new experiences in new restaurants. But I know like when we go into a place, there's certain things that you and I look for. We look for is anybody eating there? That's one thing that we always look for, right?
Speaker 2How many cars are in the parking lot?
Speaker 3That joint is empty and it's eight o'clock at night. Like, what is going on? It must not be that good a food. Because it should be popping, right? It should be lit, right? But so that's that's one other thing we look at. Uh, because if it's a long line and it's a lot of people, we're like, okay, this must be good. Um, but we also look at we know the decor, we look at how clean it is, we look at the the the menu, right? We look at all that, with how people treat us, the experience. All of that is determining whether or not we're gonna spend money here.
Speaker 2Exactly.
Speaker 3And if you're looking crazy, guess what?
Speaker 2We're gonna keep it moving.
Speaker 3That's right. We out, and that's the way it works, oftentimes online for people, and they just gotta understand that. They gotta understand that.
Speaker 2Yeah, and they also have to understand that it doesn't have to be fancy, you know. People always think, oh, I don't want anything fancy. I don't need fancy design for you know, for my brand. It's not about the fancy, it's about being consistent. So, you know, your brand, wherever you show up, whether it's online, in person, or you know, whatever campaign you're running, it's consistent. That's right.
Speaker 3And and your brand isn't just you know, isn't just how it looks, it's how it feels. Right. That's what people gotta understand. It's that feeling that you get. You know, when your logo, when they see your logo, what's that feeling that they get? Right? When they when they when they hear your whatever it is, what's the feeling that they get? Because um, you know, the feeling being consistent, that's what really matters. Um, and as far as you having a consistent experience, that is what leads to the sales. That's what leads to people having a good feeling about your brand, wanting to come back to your brand, creating that brand loyalty is when you understand that it's not just about the aesthetics, it's about how you make people feel and the experience you give them. You combine all that and you're attentional and you're consistent, then that's how you get the money.
Speaker 2And if you want to get to the money or more money, hit us up at Panda Commission.
Speaker 3Yes, we would love to have you. We would love for you to join our Panda family. It's easy to
Wrap Up And Where To Find Us
Speaker 3do it. You can go to PandaCom.com, check out our website, uh, you know, look at our different things that we got going on, see how consistent or inconsistent we are. I bet you you're gonna see some consistency. Now we're not perfect. Uh, there's some definitely some areas probably that you know we need to clean up just like anybody else. And you know what? I challenge you. If you find something that you think is inconsistent, go ahead and put it in the comments, let us know, and I bet you we will fix it. Um, and if you want us to work on your stuff, we can work on your stuff as well. You can follow us at uh Panda Commission on all the social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube. If you like what you heard, like this episode, subscribe to our channel, and you know, hey, we would love for you to become a part of our Panda Family.
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