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How Creative Consistency Can Work Magic for Brand-Building
A new study demonstrates the positive effects that steady, consistent advertising efforts can have on marketers' ROI
Creative consistency is the unsung hero of effective branding, and recent research confirms its profound impact on advertising success. A recent System1 study conducted in the U.K. in collaboration with the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Effectiveness Databank sheds light on the transformative power of maintaining a cohesive creative identity over time. While the study originates in the U.K., its findings resonate globally, including in the U.S., demonstrating that consistent brands significantly outperform their inconsistent counterparts in ad quality and business results.
Consistency has long been recognized as a driver of brand-building. Yet many brands struggle to embrace this principle, often succumbing to the allure of novelty or internal pressures to "reinvent," especially as new CMOs or creative agencies are brought in. Despite this, the System1 report, "The Magic of Compound Creativity," suggests consistency doesn't just sustain creativity — it compounds it, unlocking exponential growth over time.
The Power of Creative Consistency
At its core, creative consistency strengthens advertising effectiveness, brand equity, and business outcomes. Brands that consistently leverage recognizable elements — such as tone, characters, or themes — create campaigns that resonate more deeply with their audiences. According to System1's report, consistent brands' advertising is twice as effective as that of inconsistent brands, producing 27 percent more "very large" brand effects (e.g. brand awareness, differentiation, building salience and fame, changing attitudes and trust) over time.
FIGURE
Consistent Brands Generate More Brand Effects Than Inconsistent Brands
Take Budweiser as an example of a brand that uses creative consistency. Since 1986, the Budweiser Clydesdales have been a cornerstone of the brand's advertising, appearing in more than 30 Super Bowl commercials. The ads featuring these iconic horses consistently outperform others from the brand. For instance, Budweiser's 2020 ad "Typical American," which omitted the Clydesdales, scored a respectable 3.1 star rating (i.e., long-term brand-building potential) and 1.2 spike rating (i.e., short-term sales uplift potential) on System1's Test Your Ad platform. While this outperforms the average U.S. commercial, 2024's "Old School Delivery," prominently featuring the Clydesdales braving a snowstorm to deliver beer, achieved a stronger 4.2 star rating and an exceptional 1.4 spike rating attributed to the inclusion of the familiar steeds. This enduring success underscores the value of recurring fluent devices or brand-owned characters such as the Clydesdales in driving brand recognition and emotional connection.
Quantifying Consistency
To explore the mechanics of consistency, System1 in its report analyzed 4,164 ads spanning five years, incorporating insights from 56 brands, 624,600 consumers, and multiple data sources, including YouGov and the IPA Effectiveness Databank. The study introduced the creative consistency score, a metric based on three pillars: creative foundations, a culture of consistency, and consistent execution.
The findings were striking. Brands with higher creative consistency scores experienced significantly greater market share growth, averaging an excess share-of-voice market-growth rate of 1.8 stars over five years. Less consistent brands saw growth rates of just 0.8 stars over the same period, emphasizing that brands that commit to the consistency pillars produce work that has greater commercial potential, as evidenced by higher star ratings.
Consider State Farm, a brand that exemplifies creative consistency. Since 2011, the brand's spokescharacter Jake, clad in his iconic red shirt and khakis, has been a staple of the brand's advertising. This consistent presence has allowed State Farm to surpass the insurance category average for long-term brand-building potential, according to System1 data.
Building Blocks of Consistency
There are three key strategies brands and agencies can follow to foster creative consistency:
1. Stay grounded in creative foundations.
Consistency begins with a clear, insight-driven brand positioning and a creative idea with long-term potential. For instance, GEICO's partnership with The Martin Agency, which spans more than three decades, has produced memorable campaigns featuring the gecko, the caveman, and other characters all anchored by the slogan "15 minutes could save you 15 percent or more on car insurance." This continuity has allowed the brand to refine its messaging while maintaining a distinct identity, resulting in consistently strong ad performance.
2. Foster a culture of consistency.
Internal alignment and a strong brand–creative agency relationship are crucial for sustaining consistency. System1's research revealed that brands with no agency changes over five years performed better creatively, averaging three stars compared to 2.3 stars for those with two or more changes in the same period. Stability fosters deeper collaboration, greater understanding of the brand's creative vision, and a commitment to maintain it. Creative quality is not the only advantage of longer brand–agency tenures. The 2023 report "The Cost of the Pitch" by the ANA and the 4A's found that advertisers and incumbent agencies spend roughly $400,000 to review and defend their account work.
3. Champion consistent execution.
From tone of voice to visual elements, every aspect of execution must align with the brand's identity. Not only does consistency aid quick brand recognition (like the McDonald's jingle "I'm Lovin' It" or Mastercard's sonic identity heard in ads and at points of sale), but it also resonates emotionally with consumers.
The lifespan of a campaign is another critical factor. Ads that remain in rotation for 713 days on average saw a creative quality increase of 0.8 stars, as audiences grow more familiar with the messaging. Often, marketers don't give their ads — or their overarching campaigns — enough time to wear in, but research continues to demonstrate that consumers don't get tired of great ads. A classic example of an ad wearing in is the Tootsie Pop ad "How Many Licks" with the famous line, "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" Although various iterations have been featured since the ad's debut in 1969, the storyline remains the same. As of October 2024, the ad scored five stars and has increased over the years — in 2022, it scored a 4.8.
Furthermore, brands that generate new work that adheres to their campaign's creative foundations, such as KitKat's "Have a break" platform and T-Mobile's dynamic duo of Zach Braff and Donald Faison, often see their results compound.
Creative Consistency As a Growth Engine
The financial implications of creative consistency are undeniable. Brands with the highest creative consistency scores achieved average star ratings of 3.3 — one full star higher than the least consistent brands — translating to an approximate 1 percent gain in market share per the System1 report. Over five years, these consistent brands unlocked an additional £3.3 billion ($4.2 billion) in value and nearly doubled profit gains compared to their less consistent peers. Consistency also mitigates the costs of frequent campaign overhauls and agency transitions. By sticking to established creative foundations, brands can allocate resources more efficiently, focusing on refining and amplifying their messaging rather than reinventing it.
Creative consistency is more than a best practice — it's a proven growth strategy that compounds business outcomes over time. Rather than opt for constant reinvention and frequent agency reviews, brands benefit from maintaining a consistent approach across their creative and across the media mix for years and, in some rare but impressive cases, decades.
Like Budweiser with its Clydesdales and KitKat and its enduring global "break" campaign, brands that commit to consistency reap substantial rewards tied to brand fame, market share gain, sales volume gain, and profit growth. And these benefits compound at a faster rate compared to less consistent brands, showing there's great power in staying the course.
System1 is a partner in the ANA Thought Leadership Program.
