Strand Out is the very first blog devoted to financial services marketing.
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Time for ToneMonday 18th August 2008 The way we say things is just as important as what we say. This excellent example of a concise style guide from Fidelity demonstrates a real commitment to employing the correct tone of voice.
"Fidelity aims to achieve a tone of voice that conveys and reinforces our core brand values. Our voice should be a human one - real, friendly and informative, presenting the company as committed, professional and trustworthy. Our copy objectives Customer-focused: know who you are talking to and adapt the tone and content accordingly. Clear: however long you've been working in the investment arena, keep trying to put yourselves into your clients' shoes. Will they understand easily, or is the copy heavy with financial services jargon? If you must use jargon, explain it in plain terms immediately. Competent: use an authoritative tone, to help position Fidelity as an expert and the market leader. The tone of voice should show how seriously we take our jobs, recognising that customers have put their trust in us and demonstrating how we live up to that trust. However, confidence should not be pushed into arrogance. Concise: get your point across as soon as you can, or you might lose your readers halfway through your text. Humour: this is useful in the financial arena and has been used to great effect by Fidelity. But it has to be the right kind of humour. We don't want: flip, frivolous, puns and gags. We do want: apposite wit, bon mots. It's not about raising a laugh just to get a laugh - it's about raising a laugh, or even just a wry smile, to make a point. Personal/accessible: avoid formal, old-fashioned language. As a test, read your copy out loud and see how it sounds. But take care not to go the other way - too chatty or clever and you could sound patronising and as if you're talking down to our clients. The use of humour or irony can help us to communicate on the readers' wavelength. Accurate: check your work carefully. Typographical and grammatical errors detract from the overall quality of our material." What’s the Big Brand Idea?Friday 15th August 2008 Here are some of the criteria that Strand Financial believes can create market space for its financial clients:
These are the ideas that we feel should be avoided and they form a useful filter:
Consistency In ConsolidationThursday 14th August 2008 During periods of market consolidation, it is inevitable that there will be a shake-out of people, including some highly skilled and experienced senior players. The ability to handle these changes successfully is vested, to no small extent, in the consistency of brand delivery, sales process and customer experience. Consistent rituals and familiar encounters that reassure customers are critical at this time. Without them, financial organisations are more exposed to key salespeople leaving with their clients and muddied messages clouding what should be a clear brand promise.
The first step is to visualise the kind of customer experience that would be true to the core essence and UVPs (Unique Value Propositions) of the business. For example, if your target clients value the core brand promise of "Inspiring Confidence, describe the conversations that would lead your customers to experience this. Then, define the sales processes and activities necessary to create and support the ideal customer-preferred, brand-aligned customer experience every time.
I Can't Get No Satisfaction (Without Differentiation)Wednesday 13th August 2008 Poor problem resolution, long wait times and additional fees all contribute to an overall decline in customer satisfaction with retail banks, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study. The study, now in its third year, finds that overall satisfaction with the retail banking experience has decreased considerably since 2007—down 26 index points on a 1,000-point scale to 737 in 2008. In particular, dissatisfaction with fees is the most commonly reported problem by customers, as well as the second-most common reason for switching financial institutions. In addition, a rise in the number of problems experienced and problems that go unresolved, increases in wait times to see tellers or speak to phone representatives, and declines in the ease of accessing branches all contribute to the drop in satisfaction. “Many retail banks are experiencing a decline in their brand image, especially in the current economic climate, where many consumers hold banks responsible for the current housing and mortgage crisis,” said Rockwell Clancy, executive director of financial services at J.D. Power and Associates. “With customers experiencing more problems, longer wait times and more fees, that negative view is intensified.” The study also finds that retail banks that provide high levels of customer satisfaction have more highly committed customers, which are essential to financial growth. Increasing by even 5 percent the number of customers who are highly committed can lead to incremental deposit growth of 3 percent annually. “As banks struggle to meet shareholder demands, the common reaction is to focus on short-term financial gains by increasing fees and reducing staff - leading to longer wait times and poor problem resolution,” said Clancy. “But now is the time for banks to really differentiate themselves from competitors by focusing on customer service and convenience. Banks with higher levels of customer satisfaction will generate higher deposit growth and achieve better financial results over the long term.” What Do You Want Your Bank to Be?Tuesday 12th August 2008 Is “suprising” or "unexpected" one of your organisation's key brand attributes?
How many of your clients would say that your financial services brand is "delightful"?
ABN AMRO offers its Preferred Banking clients access to a special lounge that the bank has built within Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. It's part of a move towards greater customer engagement that has prompted the bank to add "Surprising. Unexpected. Delightful. Helpful. Innovative. Relevant" attributes to its brand.
Personally, I like the first two attributes, provided that the customer experience is positive!
Travelator CommentatorMonday 11th August 2008 If you've been on the travelator at Bank tube station recently, you can't have failed to notice Grant Thornton's first international advertising campaign. Based around the insight that ‘big decisions follow you around’, the ads feature people in a range of scenarios outside the office, wrestling with tough business dilemmas. These thought leadership ads are all headed with 'big questions'. It gets pretty interesting when you answer these dilemmas with some 'Create Your Own Space' thinking: Half the board say now, half the board say wait. Which is the riskiest option?
Everyone says that we are interesting times and most will sit there and watch their competitors to see ‘what shakes out’. The biggest risk lies in doing nothing allowing your competitors to take the lead. These are opportunistic times - don’t wait to differentiate your brand. Take action by finding your unique core essence now and build your brand from there.
Expanding abroad is attractive. How do we make it happen? We've missed our target two years in a row. What should I do if we miss it again? We have to reduce costs. What are the options this time? Pick An Attribute, Any One!Sunday 10th August 2008 I'm often asked by financial marketers how to go about selecting which attributes are right for the business and how these should be prioritised. In theory, this is straightforward - choose attributes that map to the core essence of the brand - the closer these are to the brand essence the higher these are ranked.
Whilst I stand by this approach, to prevent your branding programme becoming a purely touchy-feely exercise as far as the board is concerned, it is helpful to think about your brand attributes in terms of proportionate share of wallet. Brainstorming is just part of the equation. The fundamental objective of determining brand attributes is to identify which are most closely linked to customer attraction/ acquisition and loyalty / referral and to try to quantify the advantage.
By examining which brand attributes are working most successfully, we recommend conducting a survey with your highest spending and most loyal customers. In this way, you will gain compelling evidence of the relative importance of these attributes to your business.
First, segment your customer base in order of contribution to profits. Next, use the survey to establish share of wallet by asking those customers what proportion of total business they place with you. Finally, ask your clients to rate on a scale how much they agree or disagree with various statements about your company or website, where each statement focuses on a single brand attribute.
This is also a great opportunity to test off-brand attributes as negative statements. For example, a strong negative score on 'complexity' could mean that 'simplicity' is a powerful brand attribute. These assumptions require careful scrutiny. That's why as well as scoring the attribute itself, we recommend asking a second-tier question to determine whether or not the specific attribute is actually of importance to the client.
Don't Get Stuck In NeutralThursday 07th August 2008 At Strand Financial, we are starting to seriously dislike the phrase, Media Neutral Planning. It’s simply that we don’t ever want to recommend a strategy to our financial clients that we feel either 'neutral' or 'agnostic' about. Of course we believe in using the right media, with the right message at the right time to communicate with each customer segment - it's just that th terminology doesn't sit well with a creative agency.
We always operate in the best interests of our clients and their stakeholders by carefully analysing the media with our planners and buyers. We like to call it Space Planning, the vehicle by which our clients can Create their Own Space. Get into overdrive!
Internal RealityWednesday 06th August 2008 I read this today and I felt that the call for internal reality was clearly articulated:
“An organisation can only ‘walk the talk' when its managers deliberately shape its internal reality to align with its brand promise…(the brand's) values must be internalised by the organisation, shaping its instinctive attitudes, behaviours, priorities, etc.”
Alan Mitchell, “Out of the Shadows” Journal of Marketing Management Snail MailTuesday 05th August 2008 I never cease to wonder at the sheer volume of snail mail I receive from banks, nor how similar these pieces are. I decided to collect them and read through in detail. Rather than cluster by brand attributes, the communications focused around the well-travelled but unremarkable trail of product and service features. In order, offers focused on the following: 1) better rates
2) higher returns 3) personal service 4) fast turnround 5) product specific benefits - including insurance, identity protection, travel benefits
6) affinity programmes - sport, holidays etc The majority of these feature happy families, happy employees and serious bankers - oh and the colour blue! In other words, corporate wallpaper. Come on banks, it really is time to accelerate your marketing and Create Your Own Space!
The Heat is OnMonday 04th August 2008 Everything we do as an agency is concerned with getting brands to boiling point:
First we boil everything down to a brand promise that matters to your target audiences; creating relevant differentiation.
Next, we ignite imaginations by communicating the brand promise, increasing awareness in a way that is memorable and measurable. Then, we increase the heat and velocity of delivery - living the brand promise and gaining brand traction.
Heat bonds, strengthening your brand promise; enhancing your brand, and its value, over time
Pleasure and Pain!Thursday 31st July 2008 One excellent way to Create Your Own Space is for your company to become much easier to deal with than your competitors. Separating the 'pleasure' from the 'pain' is one smooth step towards enhanced customer engagement. Disney sums it up perfectly: “When there is both pain and pleasure associated with your service, work extremely hard to separate them by time and geography.” Your prospects want the financial services you are offering. After all, your solutions provide a series of benefits they want and need. More often than not, they solve a serious problem that affords your prospect ‘pain relief’, if not yielding them exciting new opportunities. Deep joy! To neglect employing a call to action or to avoid collecting basic contact data on your web site are both missed opportunities - even marketing crimes. But do you really need that lengthy sign up page? Wouldn’t it be better to collect a detailed level of data after you have made contact and built both trust and permission with your prospect? If the pain of completing a long, highly detailed form is involved before your prospects even feel they know you, they may just end their contact with you right then and there. Many companies have moved towards online quote strategies and these create a new obstacle. These organisations may look technically savvy but the reality is that they have effectively delivered the pain (cost) before the prospect has had any meaningful contact or exposure to your brand. The prospect has all of the information they need to compare with the incumbent lender or other competitors, with no contact, no opportunity to engage with the brand or the brand ambassadors. And no contact means no contract.
Start the dialogue by asking your prospect for less. You’ll gain so much more.
Stay Ahead of the PelotonWednesday 30th July 2008 On Sunday, Carlos Sastre of Spain claimed that he rode like two men to clinch his first win in the Tour de France from eight starts. His achievement makes for a strong marketing analogy for these challenging times. The climb up Alpe d'Huez is 13.8 km at an average gradient of 7.9% with 21 hairpin bends (les 21 virages) - the toughest stage of the gruelling 3,500km race. Sastre deliberately selected that time and stage to make his move ahead of the main group of riders – the “Peloton”. "I suffered a lot on the way to the summit, but I take great pleasure in capturing the jersey," Sastre said through a translator. "A pure climber has to take advantage of his opportunities, and this was mine." His decision as to when and where he would move ahead defined him as a true champion. This is not the time to keep your head down and just do enough to make it through the credit crunch. Now is the time to focus on how you are going to thrive, not just survive. It’s time to Create Your Own Space and be as far ahead of your own “Peloton” as you can be when the economy rallies. Norse NamingTuesday 29th July 2008 Íslandsbanki (not to be confused with Landsbanki) has changed its brand name to Glitnir, at the same time adopting a new logo and appearance. Bjarni Ármannsson, CEO, says this transformation called for a new brand name for the company. "We now work in the international financial market, and this means certain changes had to be made."
He continues: "Brands must reflect the environment in which they operate, and in our case we need a name that can be used all over the world...It has positive connotations for Icelanders, contains an historical reference, is both Icelandic and Nordic, is easy to pronounce in all the main languages involved and also contains no unusual letters or accents."
“The new name derives from Norse mythology: Glitnir was the home of Forseti, son of the divine pair Baldur and Nanna. At Glitnir, all quarrels were settled and those who came there were pardoned for their misdeeds.” The new brand offers depth of meaning to the markets in which it operates and travels easily across borders. Glitnir is tied into a compelling story from Norse folklore that evokes justice and fairness, qualities that really do stand out as a clear brand promise. Standard Bank - Yes, Isn't It?Monday 28th July 2008 Brand strategies need to focus more on customer benefits. When we re-branded Credit-IQ as “Vision Critical”, we did so because the fundamental benefit is that the company gives its asset based lending clients complete visibility of mission-critical customer financial data. With Litmus Advisory, we wanted to emphasise the scientific nature of the due diligence process that leads directly to the fulfilment of their core essence, “Delivering Certainty”.
The brand names are both evocative and grounded in the very things that are special about the approach and ethos of the business. They map to the core essence of their respective businesses.
OK then - who branded Standard Bank? Hands up! No takers? That aside, who changed their poor but customer-focused “Simpler, Better, Faster.” brand pillars to the internally-facing, “Inspired, Motivated, Involved”? Let’s listen to what they have to say: “Our new pay-off line - Inspired. Motivated. Involved. - encapsulates the essence of what we are and what we would like to be for our customers, our people and our stakeholders. We are striving to make a real difference.” Well, you have to applaud the sentiment but the delivery, from brand name to brand pillars, is anything but concerned with making a real difference. They continue: “We have carried out extensive research to develop a greater understanding of attitudes, beliefs and expectations of Standard Bank and the way in which these could best be met. Based on this research, it became apparent that a revised brand promise and pay-off line needed to be developed to align with the group vision and values. The intrinsic value of the brand has also been maximised by aligning a core set of brand characteristics and principles to assist in providing a consistent brand experience.” Again, I can’t fault the brand logic. The plain truth of the matter is that, sadly Standard Bank has missed the point. It may seem on the face of it to be a perfectly acceptable text-book rationale of what every bank needs to do, but where is the central customer-focused brand driving action that it relates to – what and where is the core essence? They have skipped the hard part of branding and the result is a "Me, Me, Me" exercise in committee-based self-adulation which has ended up being "me-too meaningless". I would have preferred to have seen either an announcement of a brave, bold new evocative brand name to replace the lacklustre Standard Bank tag or alternatively the strapline of “Standard Bank – Anything But” – with brand pillars aligned around the genuine ways in which its delivery to customers is distinctive from other banks. Coco Chanel summed it up perfectly – Ask yourself the question from your customer’s point of view: “Why should I care about you?” Maybe my comments seem harsh - it's probably because I care. The Quest for Internal LifeFriday 25th July 2008 Living the brand has everything to do with authenticity, clarity and differentiation. The core essence of your brand must be rooted in, reflect and strengthen the culture of your organisation before it can ever become a reality to your customers. To engage with your clients, you first need to engage with your internal stakeholders – your employees. Here are six steps you can take now in your brand’s quest for internal life:
Five ValuesThursday 24th July 2008 The following five values represent what The Bank of America believe in as individuals and as a team, and how they aspire to interact with their customers, their shareholders, their communities and one another. I really like the first of these particularly:
Doing the Right Thing
We have the responsibility to do the right thing for our customers, shareholders, communities and one another.
Trusting and Teamwork
We succeed together, taking collective responsibility for our customers’ satisfaction.
Inclusive Meritocracy
We care about one another, value one another’s differences, focus on results and strive to help all associates reach their full potential.
Winning
We have a passion for achieving results and winning – for our customers, our shareholders, our communities and one another.
Leadership
We will be decisive leaders at every level, communicating our vision and taking action to help build a better future.
Inspired to create your own core values? Do the right thing!
Sample SWOTWednesday 23rd July 2008 Here's a sample of a completely fictitious SWOT Analysis on a financial business, which I hope will inspire you to create / update your own:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
SWOT Up on StrategyTuesday 22nd July 2008 This week I was asked how a SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) could be made to be more relevant as a basis for action, rather than the dry theoretical academic exercise it has become in many corporates. A SWOT Analysis is a method for assessing an organisation’s resources and capabilities in the context of the competitive environment in which it operates. A simple rule applies - Strengths and Weaknesses are Internal and Opportunities and Threats are External. Here's a tip - a good way to prioritise your SWOT Analysis is to put yourself in the client’s shoes to identify the areas of greatest importance to them.
The analysis identifies:
What the business does well
How it could improve Whether it is taking full advantage of the opportunities (particularly those that match with strengths) Whether there are any changes in the environment which require a corresponding change in business strategy That doesn't sound too dry to me at least. In fact it can be turned into an incisive way of communicating competitive advantage. A great way of starting to produce your Strategic Action Plan is to place S / W as headers at the top of a four box matrix with O / T to the left. Then apply the following rules: S-O Capitalise / Crush!
S-T Monitor / Anticipate W-O Improve / Change W-T Eliminate / Reduce Vision – The Real Banking CrisisMonday 21st July 2008 Credit crunch aside, a lack of differentiation is the most critical issue for the retail banking sector right now. A closer inspection of the various vision statements of the major UK retail banks is revealing. Almost without exception, banks show an undifferentiated, uninspiring approach to defining themselves and why they matter to people – so much so that you could describe it as “the bland leading the bland”. Be Different Be Specific Be Bold Be Memorable It fulfills all of the criteria of being Different, Specific, Bold and Memorable. When I read that vision, expressed as a strapline, I find myself filling in the blanks – making the bank’s offering personal in a way that makes an emotional connection. There is a sense of its strong global presence and perspective. The bank belongs to the world and by implication, the people of the world. They are local and, therefore, closer, implying that they care for their customers and (re-enforced by advertising) that they are an integrated organisation that can help businesses expand internationally. It tells me that they not only know where they are, they know where they are going as a business and a brand and that fills me with confidence.
Be distinctive. Encourage us to draw pictures in our minds so that we may have co-ownership of your vision.
Genius ServiceFriday 18th July 2008 We all know them. Just say the magic word,"Apple", and off they go. Any excuse to preach the virtues of the infinitely superior Mac over the PC. True fanatics, they love Macs and all things Apple. And they are probably Apple's most effective sales force. I’m one of those fans (you may have noticed) – even when things go wrong.
Yesterday, something did go very wrong. I must have gone through the KeyNote Triangle, somewhere near Clapham Junction. I was unable to launch this amazing software on my Mac Air – just before I was due to make an important presentation. Truly 'Up the Junction', I did the only thing that anyone would do under the circumstances and took the tube to Oxford Circus and ran like the wind to the excellent Apple Store Genius Bar. Trained at Apple headquarters, Geniuses have extensive knowledge of Apple products and are able to answer any technical questions and troubleshoot issues.
The Genius in question, Ambrose, couldn't have done more to help and fixed the issue within minutes at no cost. He was a genuine brand ambassador for Apple. The level of service I received made me think about what the financial services marketer can learn from the customer experience at the Apple Store:
For experiences like these, Apple will rightly be rewarded by:
Apple comes across as the company that cares, that will do the right thing by customers. It’s an example of the brand promise delivered – which in turn enabled us to deliver our presentation.
Ron Johnson, the Senior Vice President for Retail at Apple, has often referred to the Genius Bar as the "heart and soul of our stores". To me, that sums up what customer engagement is all about and today, it is more important than ever. Apple knows it. Ambrose knows it. Banks could learn a great deal from it.
Are You Sitting Comfortably?Thursday 17th July 2008 This is the age of the brand-bite, the era of the authentic brand story. In these days of similar companies with me-too messages, authentic brand stories are our strongest differentiator.
Imagine if the editor of the Financial Times was to tell you that he is going to interview you this afternoon and that it will appear as the lead story. What would that story look like? Are you sitting comfortably? Use the process to tell your story anecdotally with a clear beginning, middle and end:
1. Beginning – What made you start / join the business? What was the vision? Who were the founders? 2. Middle – Who are the characters / heroes? What is the plot? What are your values and beliefs? What are your customers’ stories? Is there a twist to the tale – has your focus changed? 3. End – What is the outcome expressed in customers’ / stakeholders’ terms? What is the defining moment of the story? What is your vision for the future? What is the impact or outcome of your actions?
The result is your authentic brand story that you can tell with passion and belief because you were there. Now, listen carefully as your story becomes my story, becomes our story. For this is how all of the great corporate legends are made. Marketers as StorytellersWednesday 16th July 2008 Since early cave dwellers left their graffiti in Lascaux, we have relied on storytelling to define whom we are. Stories help people learn, absorb, remember and share information and ideas. They have the power to motivate, persuade and inspire, leading to direct collective action.
Compelling stories have far-reaching emotional impact and form a powerful currency in human relationships as they are told and re-told. It makes no sense whatsoever to me that the original and most powerful form of communication and learning – storytelling – does not have a greater place in the world of business finance today.
The Cluetrain Manifesto, a set of 95 theses drawn up as a call to action for every business, states: “Stories are much more compelling than information. Stories differ from information in that they have a start and a finish; they talk about events, not conditions; they imply a deep relationship among the events; stories are about particular humans; and stories are told in a human voice. As markets once again become conversations, marketers need to excel at telling compelling stories.”
In an age where social networking is bringing individuals and communities together and where we need to engage increasingly at an emotional level, financial marketers need to re-learn the art of storytelling.
Once Upon A BrandTuesday 15th July 2008 “Nothing else worked. Charts left listeners bemused. Prose remained unread. Dialogue was just too laborious and slow.” Stephen Denning was working as a director at World Bank when he discovered that every time he tried to talk to the board about investing in knowledge management armed with bullet points and spreadsheets, their eyes glazed over.
"Let me tell you something that happened two weeks ago.” Denning discovered his moment of truth as he told the simple story of how one doctor in a village in Zambia could treat malaria by going online to find answers. In that defining moment, his story persuaded senior board members to invest time and money in knowledge sharing, resulting in the World Bank becoming a global leader in this area. His corporate story changed the face of the business he worked in and saved countless lives. What could your brand story do?
The Key to a Balanced BrandMonday 14th July 2008 The 4 Rs from The Customer’s Viewpoint
To what extent do your customers agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) Our Brand is:
1. Relevant - The company has a set of value propositions that match my needs, wants and expectations. 2. Remarkable - I understand what makes their brand stand out from the crowd and I’m happy to talk about it with others. 3. Reputational - I’m very proud of my association with the brand and it makes me feel good about my decision to use them.
4. Real - I care about the brand a great deal, have a real sense of loyalty and belonging and would definitely miss the relationship with the brand if it no longer existed. Why not compare your Customers' viewpoints with your own by mapping these on a radar chart to look for potential gaps in perceptions and expectations.
The 4 R’s ScorecardFriday 11th July 2008 The 4 Rs from The Brand Owner's Viewpoint
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) Our Brand is:
1. Relevant - Matches our customers’ needs, wants and expectations
2. Remarkable - Makes our customers take notice of us and tell other people about us 3. Reputational - Makes our customers feel good, giving them a sense of esteem 4. Real - Matters to our customers creating an emotional bond with our brand and our business Plot your scores from the Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit against the 4Rs Scorecard on a radar chart for a visual representation of your brand's position. Completed the Audit? How did you get on?Thursday 10th July 2008 See how your brand scores in the Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit: B 150 – 195 C 100 - 145 D 50 - 95 E 0 - 45 Engagement AuditWednesday 09th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points)
Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. Our clients recognise that our brand promise is unique and understand how it is distinct from our competitors' propositions.
2. Our clients participate and interact with our brand. 3. Our customers feel an affinity and an emotional connection with our brand. 4. Our clients are happy to give written testimonials about us. 5. Our customers are strong influencers and actively recommend our brand, products and services to others by word of mouth. Communications AuditTuesday 08th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. Our key messages and designs are distinctive, memorable and break through the marketplace clutter.
2. We have developed a brand positioning statement that all customer-facing employees understand and can communicate (A shared, realisable vision as to how the brand will act on its insight, articulated in the form of a practical 'elevator pitch', including the following elements: target audience, core essence, brand pillars and value proposition). 3. We have a series of compelling anecdotal brand stories that fire the imaginations of our customers. 4. We have a list of proof points (facts, figures, testimonials, editorial endorsements) at our fingertips that endorse our key differentiators and demonstrate our competitive advantage. 5. Our employees use a consistent brand vocabulary and tone of voice in all our day-to-day conversations (that our customers can relate to and that maps directly to the core brand essence). Architecture AuditMonday 07th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. We have engineered / re-engineered our Unique Value Proposition around our core brand essence.
2. Our brand name and corporate identity is evocative and maps to the core brand essence in a way that resonates with our target audience. 3. We protect our brand and have a stewardship strategy in respect of domain name ownership, company registration and trademarking of our organisation's name, logo and strapline. 4. We have up to date brand guidelines that are applied and followed by both internal and external users consistently, without change or compromise. (these govern the use of the company name, logo, icon, strap line, colours and its applications across various media). 5. A clearly defined brand strata exists within the organisation; how the corporate brand and sub-brands relate to and support each other; and how the sub-brands reflect or reinforce the core purpose of the corporate brand to which they belong. Positioning AuditFriday 04th July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points)
Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. Our brand has a distinctive Core Essence and creates competitive space (The brand's promise distilled in the simplest, most single-minded terms - the phrase we most want to own in a client's mind).
2. This Core Essence is based on an analysis of customer needs, organisational strengths (core competencies), competitive weaknesses and market gaps. 3. Our brand positioning is disruptive, creating the potential to displace the entire market.
4. We have defined Brand Pillars (The guiding insights and qualities that support the essence of the brand).
5. A clear Brand Personality has been developed (The brand's recognisable personality traits expressed in terms of admirable human characteristics).
Strategy AuditThursday 03rd July 2008 To what extent do you agree or disagree with the statements below?
Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) 1. We have identified the brand's Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT).
2. Our company is committed to a shared, long-term Brand Vision.
3. We have a deep understanding of our customers’ / introducer channels' values, attitudes, needs, desires, hopes, aspirations, fears and concerns.
4. We have developed a marketing plan with measurable objectives linked to my our business plan.
5. We have mapped how we differ from our competitors and understand why our customers buy from us.
Create Your Own Space™ Brand AuditWednesday 02nd July 2008 Take our quick and easy Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit to see how you score in the five critical areas that are integral to the SPACE Model™ – Strategy, Positioning, Architecture, Communications and Engagement.
Over the next few days, you will see five sets of five questions relating to the above SPACE headings. (Please note that I have blogged ahead of myself, so you can follow the thread rather than waiting for each days posts).
For each question, simply select the option that best describes your views: Strongly Agree (10 Points) Agree (5 Points) Disagree (0 Points) Once you've completed the Create Your Own Space™ Brand Audit, add your points together and then we’ll show you exactly how you’ve scored.
Customer Engagement – Voyage into Deep SpaceTuesday 01st July 2008 Last year, Forrester Research published a report called "Marketing's New Key Metric: Engagement". Brian Haven, a research analyst at Forrester Research, interviewed a variety of leading brands such as Nike and Procter & Gamble to identify the basic elements of customer engagement.
The report says: "Engagement goes beyond reach and frequency to measure people's real feelings about brands. It starts with their own brand relationship and continues as they extend that relationship to other customers. As a customer's participation with a brand deepens from site use and purchases (involvement and interaction) to affinity and championing (intimacy and influence), measuring and acting on engagement becomes more critical to understanding customers' intentions. The four parts of engagement build on each other to make a holistic picture." However, what does this mean for today’s financial marketers? First, it focuses on the belief that continued customer engagement is always an ultimate brand objective. Secondly, it gives us four criteria by which our success in attaining the optimum state of customer engagement may be measured:
Involvement comprises customer participation at various brand touch points. Interaction concerns the actions taken by a customer at those brand touch points. Intimacy consists of the affection that a customer holds for a brand. Influence is the probability of a customer recommending your brand. To these criteria, I should like to add: Immersion which takes into account the depth and breadth of customer experience (which I believe is of primary importance as a practical barrier to exit) and Integrity which is concerned with the quality and authenticity of that engagement. What is clear from the above is that Differentiated Customer Engagement may be powerful enough to create Deep Space.
Get Your Coat, You've PulledMonday 30th June 2008 Interruption marketing no longer works. People are more adept than ever at being able to filter you out. They ignore banner ads, they skim through commercials on Sky Plus and TIVO, they click to another site in seconds if they don't see what they're looking for. Pull marketing, on the other hand, is about engaging your prospects and clients in a way that attracts them towards you.
The dynamic has changed from interruption to attraction. Companies can no longer market at people, they must connect with them. The focus has switched from reactive marketing to interactive marketing. There's a new kind of ROI, not just Return on Investment but Return on Involvement. As we move from a strictly rational level of engagement to embrace that all important emotional dimension, it's high time financial marketers went out on the pull.
Real QuotesFriday 27th June 2008 "It is not slickness, polish, uniqueness, or cleverness that makes a brand a brand. It is truth." "A brand that captures your mind gains behavior. A brand that captures your heart gains commitment." "A brand is a living entity - and it is enriched or undermined cumulatively over time, the product of a thousand small gestures" Reputational QuotesThursday 26th June 2008 "A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well." "Google actually relies on our users to help with our marketing. We have a very high percentage of our users who often tell others about our search engine." "Ordinary people can spread good and bad information about brands faster than marketers." Remarkable QuotesWednesday 25th June 2008 "Something remarkable is worth talking about. Worth noticing. Exceptional. New. Interesting. It's a Purple Cow. Boring stuff is invisible. It's a brown cow. Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product or service." A lady, sitting next to Raymond Loewy at dinner, struck up a conversation. "Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business." Relevant QuotesTuesday 24th June 2008 "Customers must recognise that you stand for something." "Marketing is the art of meaningful differentiation." "A brand is a set of differentiating promises that link a product to its customers." "To uncover hidden category needs, don't ask 'How can I differentiate my brand from its competition?' but rather ask 'What are the unmet needs that no brand is addressing?' " Legendary Marketing Quotes SeriesMonday 23rd June 2008 Brand stories, quotations and anecdotes make a point real to people and imbed these truths in their memories. As they are told and retold, they can raise the brand to a mythological level. This week, I'd like to share with you some quotes that I find interesting and inspiring. For those of you who have been on the journey with me through the development of the 4Rs methodology, I have collated these under the headings: Relevant, Remarkable, Reputational and Real. |
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