Why Branding is Critical to Success in Today's Shifting World
3 Steps to ensure your Brand is poised to adapt and lead.
Competitive differentiation and reputation are everything. This is especially true for financial institution brands competing with commoditized products and services that all look the same.
So, in this historic time of unrest, how does a financial institution build competitive distinction to stand apart? First, you must begin with re-articulating your Brand position today, but this is only the beginning. Defining your brand is a singular moment in time. It’s what you do next (or not) to integrate your brand into your corporate philosophies, messaging, operations and brand actions that ultimately will determine your brand’s success.
These actions are Branding and it is the most important aspect of your brand—the proactive systematic and strategic shaping of consumer perceptions and feelings about your organization and their experiences. Ultimately, it’s what will earn customer loyalty, build trust and drive consideration for your brand and your reputation.
“Consumers are watching brands very closely in how they act, what they say and how quickly they support their communities.”
Consumers are watching brands very closely in how they act, what they say and how quickly they support their communities during this historical time of unrest. Just days ago, an internationally respected brand quickly fell from its pedestal when Reebok dropped its long-standing partnership with CrossFit after the CEO Greg Glassman tweeted “It’s Floyd-19” in response to a statement made by a University of Washington research center stating that racism and discrimination are public health issues. CrossFit athletes were outraged and scorned the organization for violating its cornerstone values of Community and Belonging. Some CrossFit gyms nationwide retaliated quickly by abandoning their long-time and loyal affiliations because the statement was so egregious and counter to their values.
Step 1: Preparing for a values culture-first brand shift.
Core values can influence the actions of your brand and are cultural cornerstones—they define your beliefs and reveal what’s most important to a company, its employees and customers. When all else is considered equal, shared values that align with consumers are one of the tipping points for their purchasing decisions. The 2020 Consumer Culture Report reveals that 83% of Millennials say it’s important for the companies they buy from to align with their beliefs and values, and two-thirds have called out or even boycotted revered brands like Apple and Starbucks that went against their values. It has forced leaders to rethink and adapt their values to their practices and actions quickly to retain their reputation.
How well does your organization demonstrate and live out its Core Values? Are they talked about and recalled by staff and management? Are rewards given for living them out, or reprimands if offended?
“Core values should reflect and reinforce an organization’s brand. We have learned it is vital that rebranding processes explore and discover if an organization’s values, mission and purpose are outdated, uninspiring or not reflective of where executives want to lead the company forward,” says Karen McGaughey, Strum’s VP Client Services/Principal. “If your Core Values are not a focal point of recruiting the right people, and are not boldly shared externally with the market, this may be a sign that your culture, and therefore the brand, are adrift. A rebranding process is a ripe opportunity to reexamine Core Values and Mission relevancy to ensure a vital and relevant set of messaging, tone of voice and distinct brand foundation.”
“If your Core Values are not a focal point... this may be a sign that your culture, and therefore your brand, are adrift. ”
When financial brands allow their values and brand promise to be usurped by corporate initiatives like building a “cross-selling culture,” they can also risk losing their heart and soul. Wells Fargo’s brand became a lightning rod of media attention and gained the scorn of consumers, regulators and politicians that punished their brand reputation and stunted years of growth.
How, then, do financial leaders create or re-invigorate a company culture that supports and reflects an inspiring set of values that aligns with their brand? It begins with first learning who you are today with intelligent research; and then defining who you want your brand to be in the future. A well-guided branding process must bring executive and cross-functional teams together to engage in a deep collaborative process to discover the organization’s strengths, misalignment and opportunities to position their brand for future growth and relevancy with employees and well targeted audiences.
“The current work-from-home state with teams in and out of the office should not discourage you from pursuing critical strategy shifts, research and exploring the relevancy and market position of your brand,” says McGaughey. “Strum has successfully engaged several organizations in an innovative branding process that is fully adapted for deep online engagements, including external online research, during the COVID-19 work-from-home environment.” Disruption is often a catalyst of great innovation, creativity and openness to new ideas and adaptation. Now is not the time for leaders to retrench and hope things get better and return back to normal; they won’t.
Step 2: Positioning your brand to thrive during this economic storm, not simply survive.
A mega-disruption like this pandemic coupled with a swift and severe economic recession, has forced some back-burner initiatives like branding to the forefront. Many executives are now facing the sudden reality that their once thriving brand needs attention to re-center the entire organization around its purpose, beliefs and brand promise.
“Fanatic loyalty isn’t found in the center; it’s in the fringes.”
“Your brand uniqueness lies in discovering what makes you different in ways that matter,” stresses Josh Streufert, Strum’s Creative Director/Principal. “It may sound simple, but consider that to most consumers, credit unions are about 90% the same: They offer checking accounts, auto loans, mobile access, friendly service, low fees, etc. The fresh perspective is finding the 10% that is different—and there’s a good chance it falls outside the realm of products, services or rates.” The difference might lie in your personality, community impact, organizational purpose, or your aspiration for change. Uncovering your distinction requires research insights, imagination and creative expression to build an emotional connection to people.
Streufert references a classic creative strategy: “If you can’t win on the strength of your products alone, make people like you more.” Above all, be human. “Have a point of view, and don’t be afraid to turn some people off,” says Streufert. “Fanatic loyalty isn’t found in the center; it’s in the fringes. Differentiate with your attitude by crafting a message to a niche audience you can win with. Help them see a bit of themselves and their hopes and dreams (or who they aspire to be) in your organization. Frontwave Credit Union ($877 million, Oceanside, California) differentiated itself by focusing on the scrappy, blue-collar work ethic of the military and beach community of north San Diego County.”
It’s important to build long-term brand equity systematically through branding. Streufert reflects that your audience learns a little bit at a time, and because high-functioning brands take time to form, branding guidelines will instill consistency in communications. “It can’t be done all at once, so think of consistency as a tool that connects back to the emotions, experiences and expectations set in the audience’s mind.”
Still, successful brands are not simply applying a series of design or messaging rules over and over. “Brands need flexibility built in to be their best,” adds Streufert. “Ask what makes the brand your brand. If it’s healthy and high-functioning, the answer probably lies in intangible qualities that keep evolving: a consistent and distinct personality, an attitude, the way it makes you feel.”
A brand’s impact will be greatly influenced by its ability to genuinely connect with its audiences through personalization and a range of channels and delivery methods.
Brands also must adapt to reflect the world around us and changing attitudes, lifestyles and behaviors that are evolving more rapidly than at any point in time. Social media, mobile apps and new technologies are constantly changing and have created new conversations among consumers. Financial leaders no longer have the luxury to passively sit back with a false confidence, “we rebranded three years ago, so we’re fine.” Imagine how much life has changed for consumers and business owners in three months, let alone three years.
Step 3: Meeting rising consumer demands for greater personalization and brand relevancy.
A painful start to 2020 has led many companies to reallocate resources towards customer experience, managing brand reputation and messaging, and helping customers with immediate product solutions like loan deferments.
“Strum has helped more companies than ever accelerate their data analytics journeys to gain greater consumer insights, product journeys and personalization through applied business intelligence, segmentation and marketing strategies. These are critical tools that enhance customer experience, ensure focused revenue growth and ensure higher retention,” says McGaughey.
“80% of people said they would be more likely to give their business to a company that offered them a personalized experience.”
According to IBM, a sobering statistic reveals the stark contrast that 80% of CEOs believe their companies are delivering exceptional customer experiences; but 78% of consumers don’t believe brands understand them as individuals. 80% of people in the same study admitted they’d be more likely to give their business to a company that offered them a personalized experience.
The path to personalization lies in unlocking rich lifestyle insights from your data that can guide and inform strategies and help create enhanced and personalized customer experiences. The path to harnessing and leveraging data to gain consumer insights and improve decision-making for many financial leaders has been long and trying. Industry studies have shown that 50-70% of digital and analytics transformations have failed.
The analytics journey doesn’t need to be daunting, but requires a proven process guided by expert hands to turn complex variable data into advanced analytics, simple visualized dashboards and daily metrics that allow leaders to make smarter, faster decisions. From these customer and product usage insights come the ability to create richer customer experiences that help organizations move towards greater personalization and improve marketing results.
Analytics-driven data insights can also help executives and marketers identify key customer growth and retention segments: who to reach, when and why – for more effective and targeted communication. “These insights can reveal critical perceptions or pain-points at the individual level, such as financially triggered events, hobbies, interests, brand preferences and media consumption.” McGaughey adds, “They empower us to connect more closely in real time, and in more meaningful ways with our audiences that matter to them right now. Essentially, the consumer wants to know what your brand stands for, and how you’re helping them improve their financial health; not the stuff you want to sell them.”
Identifying and defining segments and personas enables you to connect with consumers in relevant, helpful ways and target the right prospects in your market before they become a customer. “Personas built from rich data models with psychographic insights, media preferences, relationship profitability, can help you humanize the data with brand storytelling. This makes personas relatable and easily understood at all levels of the organization; and, they empower staff with actionable data to help manage, track, and build personalized brand experiences,” McGaughey notes.
“Your staff can’t empathize with data, but they can understand real people and learn to help uncover their needs.” She continues, “With proper integration and training, financial institutions can leverage their customer data and use it to build higher impact strategies – such as efficient digital media allocation, retargeting and tailored product solutions. Focusing on individual journeys leads to greater personalization, enabling the brand experience and service delivery to resonate with customers fiercely.”
“Your staff can’t empathize with data, but they can understand real people and learn to help uncover their needs.”
“Remember, fact-finding journeys, such as comparison shopping for auto loans or mortgages, usually begin on a digital platform,” says McGaughey. “Being digitally present, ready to share the relevant aspects of your brand story to specific segments at all stages of the purchasing funnel, from prospect visits, to new customer onboarding, will lead to higher conversions, increased revenues and happier customers—and that drives more effective branding.”
Approaches will vary by segment: no single approach will have the same appeal.
The right approach requires using data-driven insights derived from consumer behavior (i.e., channel usage, content response, product adoption, propensity to buy triggers and brand preferences) to tailor relevant messages and create valued experiences not ignored by the consumer, says McGaughey. “Imagine you’re a new parent filled with equal amounts of joy and fear. Then a financial institution reaches you with a message congratulating you on your growing family while sharing the reality that in 18 years, college for your baby will cost an average of $180,000. The message highlights the importance of saving now, plus an offer for a special incentive. Here, having a new baby triggered a financial need, and the financial institution personalized the message with a relevant solution showing they can help is a win-win.”
A brand needs branding to be successful.
“Disruption is often a catalyst of great innovation, creativity and openness to new ideas and adaption.”
2020 has thrust financial institutions into a new era of competitive threat of consumer uncertainty and many unknowns about what’s ahead. Customer needs are high—emotions around communications are keenly sensitive—and financial institutions need to step up as the backbone of helping their communities get thru this time well.
How you approach branding is critical. It is the most actionable part of your brand — the systematic steps and actions that organizations take to proactively instill positive perceptions in the eyes of its customers.
Consumers are motivated now more than ever to truly know what a company’s beliefs and values are. Equally, they will reward brands with their loyalty to those that align with their values, take consistent actions to live out their brand, and demonstrate that you know them and can help them.
Is it time to revisit your brand reputation and position in the minds of your audiences, and learn what the possibilities of inspiring and leading people forward looks like?
More to discover.
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If you'd like to talk to someone on the Strum team about your branding goals, please let us know. We'd love to be in touch.