September 15, 2007
What Brand Management Is and Isn’t
It’s not the advertising. It’s not a positioning statement. It’s not a tag line. Too many financial service firms don’t understand this. When we talk to firms regarding their “brand,” too often they immediately refer to their advertising or their firm’s positioning statement. They think that is where their brand resides, and that brand management is in the hands of the keeper/enforcer of the brand standards manual.
What too many fail to recognize is that a brand resides in the collective perceptions of their clients’ minds. It is the firm’s customers’ and prospects’ collective perceptions — of their products, their literature, their value-added programs, the sales reps who call on them, the phone reps who answers their calls–that all leave a lasting impression. This amalgamation of impressions leaves a strong overall perception of the firm. These perceptions are the firm’s real brand in the customers’ eyes, regardless of how close they match the positioning statement. And, once established, these perceptions are hard to change.
Therefore, brand management is not restricted to the art of clever communications, or adhering to a strict graphic standard. It is the act of perception management. The only way to manage customers’ perceptions in your favor is to manage the message and meaning of all communications and interactions with the customer to make sure the collective impressions add up to the perception you want for your brand. And, the only way to effectively do that and take control of your brand is through a focused centralized branding approach that looks at the firm from the customers’ point of view, and manages the brand always with the customer in mind.
Brand management may reside in marketing, but actually it is the role of everyone in a firm. Consider all the customer touchpoints that are not directed by Marketing: Media interviews of portfolio managers, and top executives commenting about the firm and its products. Due diligence conference calls with analysts. Sales calls – in person or via an inside wholesaler’s outreach, etc. All of these must work together along with the marketing efforts for the common good. A firm’s entire employee base should know, believe and exalt the virtues of its brand. For brand management to be successful, you must talk the talk and walk the walk at every level.
What challenges are you facing in driving this approach to brand management within your firm?
