Brand Message Consistency: Why Your Message Keeps Changing
- Kim Fischer
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
A shifting message can be frustrating. For many leaders, the first instinct is to fix the communication. They hire a new writer, build a brand guide and run a messaging workshop. When the inconsistency continues they can't understand why. I do. Brand message consistency starts at the top, not in a guide. If the leaders of the organization have not agreed on the message, no amount of fabulous writing is going to fix that.
Three People, Three Different Answers
A few years ago, I was working with a national early education nonprofit that was gaining real momentum. They had a solid program, a growing reputation, and a message that changed from employee to employee. I sat down separately with three senior leaders: the CEO, the head of community engagement, and the head of school relations, and I asked a simple question: what does this organization do and why does it matter?
Each one told a version that was true, but they were telling it from their department's persepective and for their individual audience. While their versions each told a truth, they didn't come together to tell a single story. So, the leadership team got together to create a vision statement. It was a long process where every leader shared what was most important to them. What was produced was a two-sentence statement that covered every stakeholder, offended no one, and was technically accurate. But it wasn't easy to repeat in a conversation. Instead of trying to find what was true, the CEO made everyone happy. Unfortunately, that is not the way to produce a story that works.
The Thing a Messaging Strategy Can't Do
If your team is not saying the same thing, that means your leadership is not aligned. And if you're the CEO, the final decision is on you. You have to decide, what does this organization stand for the most? The organization may do many things for many audiences, but there can only be one thing it does above all else. Until that decision is made, every piece of communication is guesswork dressed up as strategy. A skilled writer with a fancy messaging document can't make that decision. They can help you say the thing clearly once you know what the thing is. But they can't tell you what the thing is.
There's a test I use for whether a messaging statement is actually working: can an employee remember it and say it to someone else without reading it first? If it requires two reads to follow, it hasn't done its job, no matter how accurate it is. Accuracy isn't the standard. Memorability is. If the people who work for you can't carry it in their heads, it won't be repeated.
Frequently Asked Questions About Brand Message Consistency
Why does our message keep changing?
Usually because someone in a leadership position hasn't made a decision about what the organization stands for most. When that decision is unclear at the top, everyone fills in the blank with their own version. Each version is defensible, and none of them match.
Is brand messaging consistency important for early-stage companies?
Yes, and it's harder to get because early-stage companies are still figuring out what they are. The mistake is waiting until the message is perfect to start repeating it. You need a clear enough answer to build from, not a final one. Decide what you stand for now, say it, and refine it as you learn more.
What's the difference between a message that evolves and one that's inconsistent?
A message that evolves is based on a deliberate decision to update it: new information, new market, new strategy. Everyone who represents the organization knows the current version and knows why it changed. Inconsistent messaging is what happens when different people are telling different stories simultaneously with no one in charge of which one is right.
Do I need a brand messaging document?
Maybe. What you need first is the decision that lives underneath any document: what does this organization stand for, and what is it willing not to stand for. Once that decision is made, a document is a useful tool for spreading it. Without that decision, a document is just organized inconsistency.
Why does everyone on my team describe what we do differently?
Because they're working from their own interpretation of something that hasn't been defined clearly at the top. This is especially common when the leadership team is made up of people from different functions: sales, programs, operations. Each describes the organization through the lens of their own work. Strong leadership communication means giving your team a common language. Until someone does that, everyone defaults to their own version.
About the Author
Kim Fischer is a strategic communications consultant and Fractional CCO with 16 years of experience in journalism and nearly a decade working with founders, executives, and leadership teams. She helps leaders understand how to talk about what they do, whether that means writing messaging, sharpening a pitch deck, or finding the story that was buried in the one they already had. She is based in Dallas-Fort Worth and works with clients across the country.
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