Tips to Maintain A Consistent Brand Experience

Ask any business owner who's expanded beyond a single location - keeping your brand consistent is tough. Whether it's making sure your coffee shop in Seattle feels the same as the one in Portland, or your retail chain delivers the same experience from coast to coast, maintaining that consistency is crucial. We talked to four business leaders who've cracked the code on keeping their brand rock-solid across multiple locations. Here's what they had to say.

"How can brands maintain a consistent experience and message across multiple locations? Can you share your top strategies?" Here is what 4 thought leaders have to say.

• Uniform Visual And Verbal Brand Elements

• Simplify And Unify The Brand Narrative

• Hire Employees Who Embody Core Values

• Create Comprehensive Brand Toolkit

Uniform Visual And Verbal Brand Elements

Maintaining a consistent brand experience across multiple locations is a challenge I've tackled headfirst. Our strategy focuses on uniform visual and verbal brand elements. For instance, we ensure that every client's materials—be it business cards, brochures, or digital content—adhere strictly to an identical color scheme and font style across all locations, creating a cohesive identity that reinforces brand recognition and trust.

Moreover, I emphasize the importance of regular brand audits. We regularly evaluate how each location presents our brand and adjust as needed to stay true to our core values and messaging. A case in point is Appleton Tech Supplies. By standardizing their branding elements and conducting consistent training sessions, we managed to streamline customer experience across their branches, ultimately enhancing brand loyalty and reducing customer service discrepancies.

Finally, leveraging technology is key. A unified platform can manage and synchronize digital and physical branding efforts, ensuring no matter where our clients engage with the brand, the experience remains the same. This not only solidifies brand identity but also allows for real-time updates and adjustments, maintaining a dynamic and consistent brand presence.

Dylan Cleppe, Co-Founder & CEO, OneStop Northwest LLC

Simplify And Unify The Brand Narrative

Maintaining a consistent brand experience across multiple locations is all about clarity and commitment to your core message. For me, the key lies in simplifying and unifying the brand narrative. We focus on clear messaging and positioning, which helps clients establish a uniform brand presence. Take the work we did for Albertsons—we created a branding package that not only included visuals like logos and color palettes but also a comprehensive brand guide. This ensured every store—from Boise to beyond—communicated the same story.

Another powerful strategy is using your website as a centralized branding hub. A well-designed site acts as a 24/7 brand ambassador that unifies information and customer experience worldwide. For instance, one of our client websites was designed to present the same user-friendly interface and clear messaging, regardless of where the customer accessed it. By employing consistent design principles and messaging on their site, we helped position their brand consistently across diverse markets, increasing their conversion rates significantly.

In my experience, the combination of crystal-clear messaging and a strong digital presence ensures that brands not only resonate locally but are also recognized and trusted universally. It's about creating that seamless experience where every touchpoint reflects the brand's core values effectively.

Josh Cremer, Founder & CEO, The Rohg Agency

Hire Employees Who Embody Core Values

Maintaining a consistent brand image and experience is important for businesses expanding to new locations. 

Beyond the basics of using a consistent color palette and product mix, the key driver of customer experience is the employees. Employees that understand and embody the brand's core values will consistently leave customers satisfied and a positive perception of the brand. 

You can do better with this through the hiring process. Finding applicants that have a reason for applying for your position, rather than any other company is a good start. This passion and energy will carry forward into their performance and most importantly their attitude. 

Once you have a team for the new location, train them at an old location. This gives them the opportunity to see first-hand how the brand prefers them to interact with customers. It will also help you develop a more cohesive team across multiple locations and continue serving customers the experience they enjoy.

Olivia Chiavegato, Founder, CMO, Head Writer, The Vitallist

Create Comprehensive Brand Toolkit

Consistency across multiple locations starts with strong brand guidelines. A clear framework for visual identity-logos, colors, typography-and messaging ensures every location represents the brand authentically.

One of my top strategies is creating a comprehensive brand toolkit. This includes pre-approved assets like templates for signage, social media, and marketing materials, so every location can easily stay on-brand. Another key is regular training and communication with teams to align on core values and tone of voice.

Using collaborative tools to manage content and updates ensures every location has access to the latest assets and stays in sync with the brand's vision.

Tanya LeClair, Graphic Designer, So Swell Studio

Looking at what these brand experts shared, one thing is clear: you can't wing it when it comes to consistency across locations. It takes careful planning, from the obvious stuff like keeping your visuals uniform, to the trickier aspects like finding employees who truly get what your brand is about. But when done right, these strategies create an experience that customers can count on, whether they walk into your store in Miami or Minneapolis. That kind of reliability doesn't just happen - it's built through intentional effort and smart systems.