Design Branding Consistency

🎩 “How We Designed a Multi-Brand Design System” (https://lnkd.in/erc3mA4i), a fantastic case study by Ness Grixti on the pains of maintaining multiple systems, how to make a design system work seamlessly across multiple brands — with a multi-system token infrastructure in Figma, applied everywhere. Most teams eventually go through a “consolidation” effort — and that’s where struggles emerge as different systems have slightly different needs. Wise team created a system where the entire library is controlled by a top brand layer, which contained nested libraries for type, spacing and colors. I love Wise's approach of 1 system with 2 tracks to avoid duplications — typography and spacing on one track, and color on the other. Both pulled from shared primitives and brought together in a single Global Token library that houses all brands. As a result, designers can manage responsive type, spacing and interaction states across all color themes from one place. 🧱 Raw values core → for color, type, spacing without brand associations 🧅 Layered structure → primitives, scaling/device, sentiment, brands 🌈 Sentiment themes → for alerts, neutral, warning, success, proposition 📏 Accessible dynamic scaling → for type and spacing values 📦 Nested variables → scaling lives within responsive device library ♻️ Avoiding token explosion → tokens shared across brands + diffs If you'd like to dive deeper, I highly recommend to take a look at the Multi-Brand Design System Figma Kit (https://lnkd.in/eShgnPnW) by Pavel Kiselev, a practical guide and Figma kit on how to set up a design system in Figma for multiple brands, platforms or products — with full control over colors, typography and visual styles. And huge kudos to Ness Grixti (along with colleagues Henrique Gusso and Willem Purdy and the wonderful Wise team) for sharing the challenges, the failures and successes for all of us to learn from! 👏🏼👏🏽👏🏾 #ux #design

Public Relations. Corporate Communications. Marketing. Digital Marketing. Social Media. Content Strategy. Same thing? Nope. Different departments? Sometimes. Working in silos? Too often. Should they be aligned? Always. You might think they’re interchangeable — and sure, the lines have blurred. But I think each plays a very specific role in shaping how a brand is seen, heard, and experienced. Here’s how I see it: PR is about reputation — earned trust, third-party credibility, media relations, narrative control. Corporate Communications focuses on internal and external clarity — from employee updates to stakeholder messaging. Marketing? That’s about demand — campaigns, leads, revenue. Digital Marketing is the engine — performance, targeting, data, optimisation. Social & Content? That’s your personality, your daily voice, your engagement magnet. Different goals. Different metrics. But all moving toward the same end: visibility, relevance, trust, and growth. The real power happens when they work together — not in a tug-of-war for budget or attention, but in a coordinated rhythm where PR amplifies the brand story, Marketing drives results, and Comms keeps it all consistent. You might think they’re all the same. I think the future belongs to teams that know the difference — and know how to sync.

Creativity is killing your brand. Let me be clear: Creativity is still the driving force behind successful brands, but changing that creativity too early is a deadly mistake. Every brand has that one campaign they killed too soon. You know the one. It worked. People loved it. But someone got bored. Someone in the upper floors couldn't hold their shiny object syndrome at bay. Amazon just re-ran their 2023 Christmas ad. Same grandmas. Same story. Same everything. It topped the UK charts at 5.9 stars from System1. Think about that. They literally pressed replay on last year's campaign and beat everyone trying to be "fresh" and "innovative." This isn't laziness. It's math. System1's data is pretty clear on it: Consistent brands generate double the profit gains. Not 10% more. Not 50% more. DO UB LE. Meanwhile, we're out here killing campaigns after 3 months because "we need something new." New for who exactly? Your customer sees 5,000 ads a day, interacts with 10,000 brands a day, and makes 35,000 decisions a day, including picking up or not picking up the dog's poop. Of all these decisions and interactions, your consumer will perhaps remember 3. None if they spend most of the afternoon at the pub. So why drop something that is finally working for your brand? Why not squeeze it more? Kevin the Carrot is 10 years old. Still crushing it for Aldi. Coca-Cola's trucks have been "coming" for decades. Still owns Christmas. M&S brought back Dawn French's fairy. Another winner. McDonald's jingle is the same since 2003. The Coca cola bottle is the same since 1915 (Go check the design brief, it’s awesome). These aren't reruns. They're compound investments in memory. Every time you repeat a winning idea, a creative campaign, positioning activation, or other, it gets stronger. Recognition deepens. Memory structures are built. Your competitors scramble with their latest "breakthrough" while you're banking emotional equity. The research shows consistent brands see effectiveness improve eeevery single year. Inconsistent brands? Zero improvement. The gap compounds annually. Plus we also know that the subconscious part of the brain, which guides emotions, is responsible for triggering most (95%) of all purchasing decisions. Meaning as all markets get more and more saturated, we need to remember that people don't buy features. They buy feelings. They buy what they remember. And memory needs repetition to stick. Even more so today, where “saving it for later” means “never seeing it again”. We spend millions creating campaigns, then cut their legs before they can walk. Find what works. Run it till it hurts. Then run it some more. Because while you're briefing agency number 4 on your "fresh new direction," Amazon's grandmas are killing it, year after year.

Why does your brand team talk about simplicity while your product team adds complexity? Because they're not in the same conversation. Brand promises simplicity. Product ships 47 features. Customer experiences chaos. That's not a coordination problem. It's structural. McKinsey & Company's research on brand-led growth shows companies with tight brand-product alignment see 20% higher customer lifetime value. Not because they market better. Because they deliver coherently. Yet most companies organize like brand and product are separate functions that occasionally sync up in Slack. Brand team: "We stand for simplicity." Product team: "We're adding everything the competitor just launched." That's not strategy. That's contradiction with a shared calendar. When brand and product operate as one strategic function: _ Features prioritized by promise, not by pressure _ Roadmaps that prove positioning, not chase competitors   _ Kill decisions that protect what you stand for The companies winning in 2026 aren't building more. They're building truer to what they said they were. That's not a product management problem to solve. It's a leadership integration decision to make.

Walt Disney created a $223B brand empire by training everyone at his studio, from animators to janitors, in character development and storytelling. Here are 7 ways to teach your team to think about brand the way Disney did: 1. Connect every role to the brand vision Every Disney employee spends day one in "Traditions" class. Pixar animators, parking attendants, everyone learns Walt's story and why it matters. Show your accountant how protecting finances protects brand promises. Connect the dots. Make it personal. 2. Define brand beyond design and messaging Disney's 230,000+ employees navigate decisions through Four Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency. Simple. Memorable. Actionable. Brand isn't just your logo. It's response times, invoice language, meeting culture. Everything is brand. Everything. 3. Share the founding story religiously Disney dedicates an entire training module to Walt's origin story. New hires learn to "carry the legacy forward." When your team knows the why, they protect it instinctively. No policing needed. 4. Make brand a decision-making filter Disney cast members ask one question: "Is this show-ready?" That's it. One question guides thousands of daily decisions. Teach your team their version: "Does this feel like us?" Simple filter. Powerful results. 5. Align internal rituals with external promises Cast members use the two-finger "Disney Point." It respects all cultures. Small gesture, massive impact. If you promise innovation, kill boring meetings. Promise simplicity, burn the 47-step processes. Live what you sell. 6. Reward behaviors, not buzzwords Disney managers carry "Guest Service Fanatic" cards. See great behavior? Card handed out on the spot. Not for using brand language. For living it. That engineer obsessing over load times because you promise speed? Celebrate them. Publicly. Immediately. 7. Turn everyone into brand detectives Disney's "Backstage/Onstage" thinking transforms 230,000 employees into quality auditors. Something feels "off-show" and it's flagged. Create your version. When someone spots misalignment, don't just listen. Act. TAKEAWAY: Walt Disney picked up trash in his own parks. Not because he had to. Because he wanted every employee to see: “We ALL own this.” That philosophy built a $223B empire. 230,000 employees. One mindset. Brand isn't what marketing says. It's what your entire company believes. When your janitor can pitch your brand as passionately as your CMO, that's when you know you've built something real. Motto®

Can you build a brand with just Amazon? Sure, it's possible. But is that really the best strategy? From my experience, your brand grows faster and stronger when you take a multi-channel approach: → Use Amazon as your foundation (reach, logistics, trust) → Leverage social platforms where your customers already are → Work with influencers who speak to your audience → Build presence in places where you might go viral The math is simple: When people discover your brand organically through social or influencer content, you don't need to rely on deep discounts or aggressive advertising to drive sales on Amazon. It creates better unit economics and stronger brand equity. Your product and brand will ultimately determine the right mix of channels. Not every brand needs a DTC website or TikTok Shop presence. But limiting yourself to Amazon-only means missing opportunities to connect with customers where they spend their time BEFORE they shop. Amazon is your powerful sales engine, but don't forget to fuel it from multiple sources. What's your take? Are you Amazon-only or taking a multi-channel approach?

Over the years, I've discovered the truth: Game-changing products won't succeed unless they have a unified vision across sales, marketing, and product teams. When these key functions pull in different directions, it's a death knell for go-to-market execution. Without alignment on positioning and buyer messaging, we fail to communicate value and create disjointed experiences. So, how do I foster collaboration across these functions? 1) Set shared goals and incentivize unity towards that North Star metric, be it revenue, activations, or retention. 2) Encourage team members to work closely together, building empathy rather than skepticism of other groups' intentions and contributions. 3) Regularly conduct cross-functional roadmapping sessions to cascade priorities across departments and highlight dependencies. 4) Create an environment where teams can constructively debate assumptions and strategies without politics or blame. 5) Provide clarity for sales on target personas and value propositions to equip them for deal conversations. 6) Involve all functions early in establishing positioning and messaging frameworks. Co-create when possible. By rallying together around customers’ needs, we block and tackle as one team towards product-market fit. The magic truly happens when teams unite towards a shared mission to delight users!

What do a bullseye, a swoosh, and a golden arch have in common? You don't need the name. You already know the brand, the product, the promise. Packaging has to work the same way. Not just protect what's inside, but signal identity fast enough to register before someone consciously starts reading. On shelf, colour and shape land first. Words come later, if they come at all. That split second matters. Most decisions are made before the brain finishes forming a sentence, which means your visual identifiers are either doing the work or being ignored entirely. If recognition relies on copy, you're already asking too much. There's a simple way to pressure-test this. Describe a pack once, then see if someone can spot it again without help. If the answer's yes, the system's doing its job. If not, you're leaning on explanation instead of recognition. Children are good at this because they respond to the basics. Strong colour, clear shape, repetition. Busy adults behave much the same way when they're tired, distracted, or shopping on autopilot. The same visual shortcuts apply. Brands that last build identifiers that operate at that speed. Not just logos, but shapes, colour relationships, layouts, cues that repeat until they stick. Get it right and the pack becomes recognisable long before the name comes into focus. There's a balance to strike. Too rigid and everything blurs into sameness. Too loose and there's nothing to hold onto. 88 Acres, redesigned by ROOK NYC, sits in that middle ground. Each SKU has its own colour and personality, but the seed icon, structure and layout keep the range readable as one thing. Take the logo away and it still makes sense. Familiar without being identical. Useful when someone's scanning a shelf on a midweek shop rather than browsing for inspiration. That's the difference between a system and decoration. Systems scale, artwork just adds noise. Strong identifiers also travel well. They're harder to imitate, easier to defend, and quicker to recall. In categories where own-label products shadow whatever's selling, those cues become protection as much as expression. Even if someone copies the format or the claim, the product still reads as yours. Could a kid spot you before a competitor rips you off? 📷ROOK NYC

Brand guidelines aren’t a nice-to-have, they’re your north star. One thing we always tell clients is that their brand doesn’t start and end with their logo, it’s just the beginning. What makes a brand live inside your business and stay consistent is a clear, usable, and intentional brand guideline document. Because if you’re still asking: “Which version of the logo should we use?” “What font did we choose again?” “Can we change the colour for this slide deck?” ...then it’s time to go back to your guidelines. While every studio approaches guidelines slightly differently, here’s what we typically include in ours: ↳ Brand overview (mission, values, voice) ↳ Logo suite and usage rules (spacing, sizing, dos/don’ts) ↳ Colour palette with codes for print & digital ↳ Typography (primary, secondary, accent) ↳ Brand application (social, packaging, website, etc.) ↳ Imagery and art direction ↳ Tone of voice and key messaging guidance ↳ Creative examples and mockups for real-world context A great brand guideline document empowers: Internal teams to make confident creative decisions Other designers or agencies to stay consistent Founders and marketing leads to scale their brand without diluting it Because the truth is if no one inside your business understands how to use your brand, it becomes guesswork and that leads to inconsistency, confusion, and a brand that doesn’t actually look like yours. If you want your brand to scale then having proper brand guidelines are a non-negotiable.

Your marketing team is guessing what your sales team already knows. I see it every single week: Marketing creates campaigns. Sales talks to customers. Zero collaboration. Wasted opportunity. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺: - Marketing creates personas (guessing) - Sales hears actual pains (knowing) - Marketing writes messaging (guessing) - Sales handles objections (knowing) - No information sharing - No collaboration - No growth 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀: Your marketing team creates content, campaigns, and messaging based on assumptions, marketing research, and industry reports. In contrast, your sales team has actual conversations every single day with prospects who share their real pains, objections, and buying criteria. Yet somehow, these valuable insights never make it back to influence marketing strategy. [𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨] One person creates the foundation and the other leverages it to reach new heights. Your sales and marketing teams need to function as a single unit. Sales should provide real-world insights and direct customer language, while marketing should amplify and scale these proven messages through channels that reach more people. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸: 1. 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 Not separate worlds: - Weekly sales-marketing sync - Marketing joins sales calls - Sales reviews all content - Customer language documented 2. 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐚𝐥𝐬 Unite the metrics: - Pipeline over MQLs - Revenue over activities - Quality over quantity - Customer success over volume 3. 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 Loop Make it systematic: - Sales validates personas - Marketing tests messages - Results shared transparently - Continuous improvement 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻: 1. Schedule weekly sales-marketing sync 2. Create a shared customer language doc 3. Have marketing join sales calls 4. Build a unified dashboard Remember: Like those wall climbers, Neither one could make it alone. But together, they're unstoppable. ---- ❤️ 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬. ♻️ 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 🔔 Follow me for more helpful and entertaining videos to improve your go-to-market approach. 🤟