Brand Consistency: A New Holistic View On Creativity With IPA and System1

In partnership with the IPA, System1’s Compound Creativity research reveals how brand consistency enhances creative quality, strengthens brand perception, and drives significant business results. By analyzing over 4,000 ads across five years, we show why consistency in branding is vital in today’s fast-evolving advertising landscape.

"We've created a new holistic view of creative consistency, showing how consistency compounds creativity to grow ad effects, brand strength, and ultimately business results."

Andrew Tindall Author; SVP Global Partnerships, System1

Watch Andrew Tindall walk through the key findings from our report, “The Magic of Compound Creativity” (download it for free below). Learn more about the new multi-year brand metric, the Creative Consistency Score (CCS), and what we can learn from the most consistent brands, thanks to insights from System1’s Test Your Ad Premium database and the IPA Effectiveness Databank.

Creative Quality. Stronger Branding. Greater Success.

Consistent branding is the foundation of creative excellence, stronger consumer connections, and lasting business success. System1’s Compound Creativity research proves that maintaining brand consistency drives better ad quality, stronger brand effects, and greater profits. Ready to unlock your brand’s potential? Download the report and take action today.

Download the Free Report

What's in the Report?

The facets of creative consistency

Our research reveals 13 key features of creative consistency, grouped into foundational elements, cultural habits, and actionable practices that amplify ad effectiveness and brand growth.

Consistent brands make more effective advertising

Brands with consistent creative foundations produce higher-quality ads year-on-year, achieving greater Star Ratings and maximizing long-term and short-term advertising impact.

Advertising from inconsistent brands sees no average change in creative quality

Inconsistent branding stunts creative growth, leaving ad quality stagnant and limiting opportunities to achieve long-lasting emotional connections with audiences.

The powerful effects of keeping ads on air

Keeping ads running longer allows for creative wear-in, increasing familiarity, trust, and emotional resonance—key drivers of brand recognition and impact.

Consistent brand campaigns create 27% more very large brand effects

Consistent brands deliver 27% more significant uplifts in metrics like brand awareness, favorability, and action intent, driving higher levels of consumer engagement.

Consistent brands report more very large business effects

Our research shows consistent brands achieve double the very large profit gains, with stronger consumer trust, recall, and purchase intent.

Inconsistency will cost brands nearly £3.5bil

Inconsistent branding erodes potential profits, with our analysis estimating that inconsistent practices could cost studied brands £3.5 billion in five years.

DEFINITIONS

Wait... What Is Brand Consistency?

In short, brand consistency is the continuous use of elements like logos, colors, tone, and messaging across all marketing channels. But it’s way more than simple aesthetics—it’s about creating a cohesive identity that resonates with your audience.

System1’s Compound Creativity research with the IPA shows that consistent branding builds trust, enhances recognition, and compounds creative effectiveness over time. It ensures your brand stays memorable and impactful, driving better ad performance and stronger business outcomes.

Simply put, branding consistency is a master key for sustainable growth.

A NEW HOLISTIC VIEW

Branding and Creativity

System1’s Compound Creativity research, developed in partnership with the IPA, delivers groundbreaking insights into the power of consistent branding.

Using exclusive data and charts not available elsewhere, we’ve introduced the Creative Consistency Score (CCS)—a multi-year metric analyzing 56 brands across digital and TV for 13 key consistency features over five years.

This research involved testing over 4,000 ads with Test Your Ad, collecting insights from 600,000 respondents to evaluate how consistency enhances creative quality. We also connected this data with YouGov brand metrics and the IPA Effectiveness Databank to reveal how consistent branding boosts brand strength, drives memorable campaigns, and delivers measurable business results.

Why Branding Consistency is Important

Taking a unified approach to assets, messaging and brand strategy leads to greater loyalty and long-term business success.

system1 consistent brands creative quality

system1 research consistent brands generate more business effects

Build strong emotional connections

Consistent branding fosters familiarity and trust, creating stronger emotional connections with consumers
Increase creative effectiveness

Consistency amplifies ad effectiveness by reinforcing brand identity.
Drive business growth

Brands with consistent messaging and creative strategies see more significant business outcomes.

How Does the Report Measure Brand Consistency?

Measuring brand consistency requires evaluating creative elements, messaging alignment, and emotional impact across campaigns. Tools like System1’s Star, Spike, and Creative Consistency Score provide the insights that make it happen.

consistency of branding compounds creativity s1

Long-Term, Big-Picture Measurement

Beyond single campaigns, measuring consistency means analyzing performance across years. Tools like System1’s CCS and YouGov brand data connect creative quality with business effects, highlighting the role of consistency in long-term brand and profit growth.

Download the Research

A New Holistic View On Creative Brand Consistency

After a year’s research, you can now download the first look at Compound Creativity with data from the IPA Effectiveness Databank. Including exclusive charts that we’ve not shared anywhere else.

By defining a new multi-year brand metric, the Creative Consistency Score (CCS), we’ve analysed 56 brands across digital and TV for 13 consistency features over five years. That includes 4000+ ads tested with System1’s Test Your Ad with over 600,000 respondents to understand how consistency impacts creative quality.

We’ve also matched the brands to YouGov brand data and the IPA’s effectiveness databank to understand how consistency impacts brand strength and what brand and business effects their campaigns create.

Compound Creativity is a new POV for marketers that shows:

The facets of creative consistency that matter are split into three distinct groups, showing that marketers need to focus on Consistent Creative Foundations, then a Culture of Consistency, before Consistent Execution.
Consistent brands make more effective advertising. Using System1’s Star Rating (an ad’s brand-building potential), we’ve shown that the most consistent brands create higher creative quality.
Advertising from inconsistent brands sees no average change in creative quality annually, whilst consistent brands achieve greater Star Ratings year-on-year. This creates a consistency gap that compounds the effects of creativity.
The powerful effects of keeping ads on air longer (creative wear in) and not changing your creative agency.
Campaigns from consistent brands create 27% more very large brand effects, as reported in the IPA Effectiveness Databank. This leads to consistent brands being more famous and popular in YouGov brand data.
Consistent brands report more very large business effects in the IPA Effectiveness Databank. We even see them report double the very large profit gains.
We estimate inconsistency will cost just the brands in our study nearly £3.5bil over the next five years.

Complete the form to access the findings, made free by System1.

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