On a Mission
A day with Mike Harris
Stand for Something
Building trusted brands
The Upside of the Downturn
Ten Management Strategies
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Best B2B Brand Passes 4Rs TestFriday 29th February 2008 Much of the focus within the banking sector is on differentiation at product level in order to drive short-term tactical initiatives to meet targets. However, in order for a brand to stand out in the mind of a customer it must reach far deeper.
Ultimately, a brand must stand up to the 4 Rs test and be measured against the following criteria: remarkable, reputational, relevant and real. For a brand to fulfill its promise, the four Rs must be
adopted at every level from corporate strategy through to engagement with the customer. Here, I take a look at some of the recent comments made by Annabel Pritchard, brand manager at Deloitte, highlighting why the firm's emphasis on using its 11,000 staff to ensure its brand promise is delivered resulted in its recognition as the Best B2B Brand of 2007. Remarkable
"The rebrand was very visual for the first couple of years, but it has moved on. We're still responsible for its visual aspects, but more significantly, we're focused on getting people involved and understanding what makes Deloitte different."
"We're not the only professional services company that did outdoor advertising in 2007, but we thought about it carefully, and we probably spent more. The aim was to be different and bold. Advertising on the Imax is something usually associated with consumer brands, but Waterloo is also a prime location for commuters. At another location we took four billboards and put nothing on them. That was brave. It's not what people expect from us. We want to be part of the Big Four, but also different." Reputational Relevant Real
"Branding in professional services is very different from FMCG. Our people are our brand. Their behaviour delivers and reinforces it. You can set expectations through sponsorship and advertising, but it's the people who make the difference." "This kind of engagement and passion, she says, is the 'Holy Grail' of professional services marketing."
The Global Banking 100 IndexTuesday 26th February 2008 According to an analysis of the top 100 global banking brands, the top 10 most valuable are all headquartered in Europe or the US. No emerging market banks make it into the top ten and as yet there are no Chinese bank brands in the Global Banking 100 Index – at Strand Financial, we recognise this is just a matter of time. Interestingly, it is not only credit card oriented consumer bank brands that display the highest proportion of brand value to market capitalisation as we would expect.
Investment and wholesale banks also demonstrate surprisingly large brand values. In the consumer sector, the story behind the stats would appear to be the emotional and image related factors and in the investment banking sector the lack of requirement for retail infrastructure key personnel know-how and the corporate brand significant drivers of demand itself.
Asset Based Lending - A Branding Success StoryMonday 25th February 2008 Although consumer retail and investment banking have seen a downward spiral in public trust and performance, it's by no means all doom and gloom for the financial sector and the Asset Based Lending industry is extremely buoyant.
John Stewart, former CEO of Quaker once famously remarked, "If this business were split up, I would give you the land and bricks and mortar, and I would take the brands and trademarks, and I would fare better than you." In fact, brands and Asset Based Lending have clear similarities - the key is to understand the underlying sources of value intimately and manage them closely like any tangible asset. Here we consider a case study where a company has avoided the worn product route and uses the core essence of the brand as the key differentiator to create their own space.
Iceland, the home of Landsbanki Commercial Finance's parent company, is a world leader in geothermal energy. By combining the descriptive with the evocative in the term, 'Lending Energy', Strand Financial has created a unique and perfectly balanced brand essence for Landsbanki - a promise that translates to the customer experience. The Brand Pillars, which form the theme of the corporate brochure, represent the three principal types of business energy: Creative, Positive and Sustainable. The dramatic images used seek to convey the power and majesty of the dramatically changing landscape. Landsbanki's marketing and advertising brief extends to promoting the brand to its key target audiences and communities, including professional advisers, managing directors and financial directors. The concept of the Landsbanki 'Brand Iceberg' takes this a stage further. Just like an iceberg, only a small proportion of the brand's mass and power is visible, the rest is hidden. Effective brand management requires attention to the hidden internal brand elements as much as to the visible external ones. The team at Landsbanki knows that the key to branding success is to embody the brand itself in ALL words and actions. They also know that the relationship with the brand deepens as everyone becomes involved - moving from awareness to understanding as the essence of the brand comes alive through creating a clear, differentiated client experience. Ultimately, this is a recognition that brand equity is the sum of all the hearts and minds of every single person that comes into contact with the company. How Financial Brands Are Rewriting the HeadlinesTuesday 19th February 2008 With the recent headlining losses from second largest French bank, Societe Generale and our very own baled-out, propped-up Northern Rock, the public's trust in consumer banking and investment as a whole is floundering.
This week, B2B Marketing Magazine asked me what actions the marketer should be taking to address these issues. My view is that global banks need to look very closely at the way in which their own crisis communications functions are operating. The court of public opinion is more important to their reputation than a court of law, particularly in B2B markets, where knowledgeable customers tend to be less forgiving. If the banks spent rather less time with their lawyers than their marketers and PR agency, they may have smoothed the roller-coaster dipping curve of crisis far earlier. There are two fundamental rules of engagement in a crisis situation. Firstly, the time to plan is before, not during a crisis and secondly, speed is of the essence in countering adverse publicity. The adoption of the latter rule was
much criticised by the national media in the handling of Northern Rock. One financial institution stood out positively in its text-book handling of a crisis situation with a carefully crafted campaign in the FT: "Why Merrill Lynch is Still Bullish on Merrill Lynch." The high impact campaign was planned meticulously and delivered at speed to market. The key to the success of the communication was its honesty and that it hinged on the core essence of the brand. The campaign acknowledges the position in the first line: "These have been a challenging few months." The communication reassures with quiet confidence: "Our financial position and liquidity remain strong." Then, they set the context with an example of how they had overcome previous setbacks with resilience: "It's worth remembering that less than a decade ago the economy and financial industry suffered an unprecedented series of shocks. In the years following 2001, the company produced five straight years of exceptional growth." The piece pivots on the brand values of the organisation: "The symbol on this page is not just a corporate logo. It represents the philosophy of Merrill Lynch, an embodiment of the pride, strength, integrity and optimism that have driven the company for nearly a century, and will continue to do so for a long time to come." With a brand-focused, values-based approach, Merrill Lynch is rightly bullish. The Brand IcebergThursday 07th February 2008 One of the main areas that delegates at the recent Financial Marketing TV seminar have asked to learn more about is the “Brand Iceberg”.
In the best-managed brands, the brand’s values are accepted by the entire workforce, particularly in financial services businesses. The employees have a relationship with their brand that is the counterpart of the intended client relationships. This recognition that brands now serve as much more than just an identity system can be illustrated by the concept of the
Like an iceberg, only a small proportion of the brand’s mass and power is visible, the rest is intangible and hidden. But effective brand management requires attention to the hidden brand elements as much as to the visible ones. Externally
Name Brand Identity Brand Experience Marketing Collateral Advertising Public Relations Referral Products & Services Internally Brand Values Management - Control Structure Internal Communications Business Process Training Quality Staff Motivation Knowledge Management Recruitment Policies HR Policies & Processes Technology 10 Immutable Laws of InnovationWednesday 06th February 2008 Here are what I consider to be the 10 Immutable Laws of Innovation, as featured in my Connected Marketing column in Business Money magazine this month: The Law of Inspiration
Think creatively to position your brand, solve a specific problem or create a specific opportunity
The Law of Intelligence Gather accurate, relevant and recent marketing intelligence; don't make important brand decisions in a vacuum
The Law of Invention Invest time up front in developing or re-inventing your core brand essence, brand pillars and unique value proposition
The Law of Image Focus on maintaining a consistent, coherent image that resonates with your core market
The Law of Integration Gain organisational commitment at every level
The Law of Impact Be distinctive, bold and original if you can't lead your existing segment in positioning terms, create a new segment you can lead
The Law of Impression Reverse-engineer your brand from the perceptions you wish to create in your prospect's mind
The Law of Interpretation Listen closely to the market when you're treading new ground
The Law of Interaction Engage in conversations with customers, encourage a dialogue of ideas
The Law of Influence Identify how you can gain great testimonials and referrals as a result of your commitment to continued innovation
When you keep the above laws and act on them, you know you are truly embracing innovation, not imitation!
Venice on Video, Finance on FilmMonday 04th February 2008 Here’s a brief extract from my Connected Marketing column in Business Money this month, in which I discuss the Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) conference. “I thoroughly enjoyed the 1st ABFA Conference in Venice. From the moment we were picked up by a James Bond-style water taxi, to the reception at a magnificent palace and from the quality of the conference itself to the quiet times wandering the lanes adjacent to St. Marks’ Square, the ‘difference’ was both experiential and evocative. Above all the conference made me think. Entrepreneur, Doug Richards said, “If you can’t decimate an industry, what good is an innovation.” This contrasted with the comment in the session with the smaller independents, where the trusted values of “delivering our promises”, “regional focus” and “choice”, were cited as points of difference. I believe that the challenge of innovation is an individual one, not a collective one – that focus on a distinctive attribute or ‘core essence’ is brand-shaping and potentially market-shifting.” I hope you enjoy the conference video!! |
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