Banking on Trust

WITH MORE than 8,000 financial institutions angling for assets — and many more brokers/dealers, wholesalers and advisers vying to attract and retain investors — getting heard in this noisy, heavily regulated and volatile market is a real challenge.

While performance, products and service always will inform consumers' decisions, a well-defined brand can put these variables into a context. And that can help a firm build the trust and relationships it needs to compete effectively.

A strong brand can help an organization sell from the top down, rather than from the offering up. If an investor or adviser believes in an organization, then the transaction is less about a specific fund or service and more about “I trust these guys, so let's identify what products make sense for me.” Whether a firm is offering products or counsel, brand can help to move businesses from being about cost (and shopped and evaluated as a commodity) to being about value — and ideally, relationships.

Having this connection at the brand level also encourages all those in the financial services field to add, exchange and promote products and services from within both the organization and each relationship.

You might think every company, product and service has a brand, but they don't. A brand is a recognized set of promises and expectations that exists in the hearts and minds of key customers. Brands are built by consistently pairing a name with the attributes and positioning by which an organization wants to be known and understood.

Brands are learned. A brand can be defined in a conference room, but it doesn't actually exist until those potential customers you're trying to engage “get it.” Every communication — print, digital, environmental, interpersonal — is an opportunity to advance this learning. By itself, a logo is not a brand, but over time, it becomes a shorthand symbol of what the brand means.

WHERE TO START?

• Know the market

  Who are your prospects? What are they looking for? Why do they need your firm? What do they value? Does your organization want to connect with independent financial advisers, often unwilling to take risks, who are busy small businesspeople trying to keep their clients serviced? Or does the company want to engage more aggressive investors, those trying to realize their investment model with your firm's help? What kind of communications do these people like to receive?

• Understand what your company is about — and what it needs to be

  Where does your firm's values align with those of your intended customers? Is the company in a specific category like leveraged index funds, or a broader space? Does it serve as an adviser targeting a specific niche? What areas does it focus on? What attributes do you want your organization to be known for? Listening? Education? Customer service? Stellar performance?

• Understand the competition

  Where does your firm fit into the competitive landscape? Does it need to be perceived as the best and most trusted, or is it trying something different where it's hoping to communicate a new model? What position can your business own among the competition?

• Find a voice

  A company may have a finite number of channels to reach its targets — mail, print advertising, phone, e-mail, Web sites, in-person contact, etc. But there are many more ways these channels can be used to advance a brand.

  ENGAGE YOUR ORGANIZATION

  Beyond a logo and any registered trademarks, your outfit can't “own” the basic language, type, color, imagery and design of its communications. But it can develop approaches to these disciplines that compellingly and accurately project a well-defined image. While a given firm can't own a certain shade of red, the hierarchy of navigation on a Web site or a favored typeface, it can come very close to “owning” the complete package. By making intentional choices, and deploying them across all communications, a company can create a voice that's recognizable — and very much its own.

• A firm's name, logo and tagline really do matter

  Ideally, a name and logo help convey a brand's meaning. Early in a rebranding process it's important to evaluate whether a firm's existing identity is an asset, a liability or something neutral that can be reinvested with desired meaning. The existing mark may be too weighed down with unwanted baggage — or not.

  Because logos have to be learned by prospects and customers, it's also important to know how much positive equity the mark carries. If many know it and its meaning can be transitioned to a new place, this is a less costly strategy than starting over. Conversely, a new name and mark can send a strong signal that there's significant change happening in your organization that you want others to notice.

• Hone what you're saying

  Think in terms of communicating with investors, wholesalers or advisers, not to them. Your company's main messages help its audience understand what it's about, and why that audience should care. Such communications combine what a firm wants to promote tempered with an understanding of customers' needs and expectations.

  Most organizations focus on a top-level message, but effective messages are more person- or group-specific. Much as any individual would not recount a particular story to a stranger, an aunt or a spouse with the same words, emphasis and detail, good message systems build in “tilt” to better resonate with particular customers.

• Make sure your firm's voice is heard, understood and responded to

  Assuming your company doesn't have unlimited resources, it has to make decisions about where and how it's going to communicate. Do you want to push information or create pull? Broadcast or narrowcast the message? Do you want to create a dialogue? Use traditional media or create a viral buzz?

Your decisions need to be driven by the expectations, habits and culture of the customer base — and the behavior and personality that's associated with your brand.