When I first imagined my wedding, I chose what I thought was a unique theme – a sort of “rustic Tuscan” feel with rich colors. But as I struggled to choose “rustic” invitations and “rustic” centerpieces, something didn’t feel right. After a friend told me she was genuinely surprised by my chosen theme, it clicked – sure my wedding was different, but it wasn’t really me.

The problem was that I chose a theme just to be different, not because it reflected my style or personality – my “personal brand.” Rustic just isn’t my thing – I hate the color brown and refuse to be in touch with nature. As a result of the theme being off the mark, there was a lack of consistency with the event details, and my friends and family (the target audience) were getting mixed messages.

We all know that Challenger Brands need to be different to challenge market leaders, but that doesn’t need to mean losing sight of the overall brand message. Just like my original choice for a “rustic Tuscan” wedding theme didn’t fit my personal brand, Challengers shouldn’t execute a campaign only because it says something different. If your campaign message is too far from your company’s core values, you won’t be able to pay it off and will end up diminishing the brand.

Brands don’t happen overnight – they develop over time and through numerous interactions with your target market. Once you have invested the time to develop a brand identity for your company that’s differentiated and meaningful to consumers, hammer it into people’s heads. Be sure that your message is consistently repeated with every audience touch-point – whether it’s a campaign, social media or event, or in my case, save-the-date, centerpiece or cocktail napkin.

As for my wedding, I changed the theme to something that supports my personal brand – black and white with some vintage touches. Now it’s more sophisticated and polished – no “rustic” branches or brown in sight.