The document discusses various aspects of building a strong brand including clarity, being compelling yet controversial, having strong character and credibility, consistency in messaging, engaging in conversation with customers, focusing on culture, demonstrating commitment, and driving change. It emphasizes standing out while also listening to customers and aligning employee actions with brand values.
15. very relevant to people irrelevant to people radically different from competitors extremely similar to competitors antes drivers neutrals distinctions Source: McKinsey & Company
16. very relevant to people irrelevant to people radically different from competitors extremely similar to competitors antes drivers neutrals distinctions Source: McKinsey & Company high-interest checking member dividends innovative $1 billion in assets free checks rewards program trustworthy accurate best places to work
17. what you do best what people really want what your competitors struggle with THE SWEET SPOT Source: Brand Aid by Brad Van Auken
32. dumb “ unstable” “ losses” Were they smoking pot? crazy stupid hate it blunder why? The CEO should lose his job. “ I’m switching credit unions.” Agency: Weber Marketing Group
64. Hello there! I work for Bank of America. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. So Bank of America charged me $5 overdraft but my balance was positive. That’s not cool. Credit union here I come.
[Hello…Good morning…Good afternoon…and] Welcome to The 11 Cs of Breakthrough Branding This presentation is going to be part strategy and part brand theory, plus some hands-on exercises you can apply to your credit union’s brand. In the end, you will have the knowledge and understanding of what it takes to build, grow and sustain a truly breakthrough brand. ============= Some people struggle with “what a brand is.” I’ve got an easy, one-word definition for you. Almost everywhere you see the word brand…
You can use the word reputation. Basically, your brand is “what you’re known for.” So if a “brand” is your reputation, then “branding” is the act of creating and managing your reputation. Here’s another meaning of brand…
A brand is “trust.” When you have a reputation and you are known for something, people can “trust” you to deliver a certain experience. This means “your brand”…
“ Your brand” is “your promise.” Now, do you know what your brand promise is? Honestly – and it’s nothing to be embarrassed about – most organizations don’t. Which leads us to the first “C” in the 11 C’s of Branding…
The first C in the 11 Cs of branding is clarity. Breakthrough brands have clarity. They know who they are and what they stand for. Ask a financial institution what their brand is about and you’ll hear themes like “quality,” “service” and “value.” But those are just safe expressions masquerading around as brand positions everyone can feel good about. What is value? What is service? Fast? Professional? Easy? What??? These are feel-good themes that don’t really provide any brand clarity. Having brand clarity boils down to this…
Most credit unions are going to get stuck right here – on the first C of branding: Clarity. Until you can answer this question… you’ll never have a compelling brand position with any real Clarity. The three most important words in branding are…
If this is the amount of stuff you should be focusing on… … then this is probably the amount of all the other stuff you are actually talking about. “ We offer a full range of financial services, including insurance and investment solutions, from a friendly place that’s local, with great service, good rates, lower fees and free checking. Oh, did we mention investments?”
Focus on a Who If you think your target audience is “all people ages 18-55,” you’re not going to have a lot of brand clarity. Focus on a What You’ve got to get a lot more specific than just the umbrella catchall, “financial services.” That’s not narrow enough. When you’re focused on a Who, it makes it easier to figure out What you should be offering them. Focus on a Where Focus on a Why You can’t be all things to all people. Instead you should try to be a few things to a few people…
You have to get specific. You have to focus. Focus is what creates brand clarity.
Common Wealth Credit Union’s “Young & Free” demonstrates two aspects of what we’re talking about. Young & Free has Clarity about Who they’re targeting and What with. They are focused on Gen-Y and their unique checking needs. They are not throwing a shotgun solution at the lowest common denominator. That’s what makes a brand compelling…
People have to really want your brand. They have to have what you offer because no other substitute will do. I’m sorry, I apologize…
You can take everything you could possibly ever say about your organization and graph it out. Take everything you ever HAVE said about your organization – in ads, brochures, in the press and in person. Take all that and you can map it out. Here, let me show you how it works. [RUN THROUGH ANIMATIONS] […Now let me give you some examples…]
Neutrals First order of checks free. Antes Accurate. Trustworthy. Distinctions $1 billion in assets. One of the top 20 best places to work. Innovative. Drivers Rewards program High-interest checking (Rewards Checking) Member dividends Drivers are what you want to build your brand around. But all too often, financial institutions build their brands around the other stuff – the antes, neutrals and distinctions. Now you probably could dispute where each of these things fall on the grid, so let’s break it down and make it real simple…
Take what you do best… … with what people really want… … and what your competitors suck at… … and right where those things intersect, that’s you’re branding sweet spot. That is the heart of a compelling brand. Speaking of “heart,” great brands have heart. They have…
Courage is #3 on the list of of 11 Cs of Breakthrough Brands Bill Bernbach, advertising legend, once said, "Safe advertising is the riskiest advertising you can do.” So true. You’ve got to have the Courage to stand out. ING Direct has a brand focus. They have brand clarity. They are all about saving people money, which is pretty darn compelling for consumers. ING Direct also has Courage. Do you know one of the ways they save people money?
It takes courage to DO this, much less ADMIT it. Heck, this guy is BRAGGING about it. Why would they do this? Because their brand model of saving people money requires a homogenous audience that can be served in a standardized way: Online, self-service. Period. They need everyone to fit in a mold in order to be able to offer the rates they offer. If you don’t fit in the mold, YOU’RE FIRED. Okay, here’s the thing about courage…
But when it comes to branding [CLICK]… that’s wrong.
It’s because we are hard-wired to notice things that stand out. It’s an instinct. Our primordial psychology is wired to alert us when something out-of-the-ordinary occurs. It’s part of our “fight-or-flight” mechanism. It triggers alarms. It says, “Hey, this needs your attention!” It works with things that LOOK different, and things that ACT different. We notice breakthrough brands because they LOOK and ACT different. Or in Steve Job’s case over at Apple, they THINK different. But the intrepid and fearless need to be prepared… If that’s the case, then why do so many financial institutions do this…?
This is the price you pay for having a breakthrough brand. You’re going to take arrows along with the accolades. Great brands are polarizing. Some people love them, others hate them. Breakthrough brands aren’t all things to all people. That’s what makes breakthrough brands Controversial…
There’s an adage or old maxim in the direct mail industry. It says you should shoot for a 2% response rate. Wrong.
Now you’re probably saying, “Whaaa…?!?! Why would I want to do that???” The only way you’re going to cut through the clutter is if you make some noise and ruffle some feathers along the way.
The truth is, we see over 3,500 brand messages every day. Now you might be saying, “No way. That’s impossible.” Well, when think about it… Here, let me give you an illustration…
My daily odyssey through 3,500 brands starts pretty much like this: The minute my Panasonic alarm clock radio goes off. Tuned into National Public Radio . I grab my Oral-B toothbrush. Put some Crest toothpaste on it. Use some Degree deodorant. Have a glass of Sunkist orange juice. A bowl of Cheerios . Get in my Jetta . And — of course — drive to Starbucks . THEN you get to work. NEC monitor, Dell computer, Windows operating system, Intel chips, Logitech mouse, Expo markers, Sharpie markers, Energizer batteries. We live in a brand-saturated world. That’s why ads for financial institutions have to stand out. Like this one…
[VIDEO] Virgin Money’s “Blingola” card is a duel-purpose card. It’s both a debit and a credit card.
“ MILF?” If this isn’t controversial, I don’t know what is…
When Weyerhaeuser Employees Credit Union changed names to Red Canoe, the local paper ran a story. Now keep in mind, this is a sleepy little logging town in rural Washington. When the paper ran its first story, it got over 350 comments at its website. The paper ran a follow-up story about how many comments and how much reader feedback the first article received. That article got another 400 comments. Not all the comments were negative. In fact, many of them were positive. But the negative comments…Oh boy. There were some doozies.
Today, the Red Canoe brand is one of the most respected, most admired brands in the financial industry. If you just moved to this small Washington town, you’d think this was the coolest financial institution in town – without a doubt. Maybe even the coolest bank or credit union you’ve ever seen. And the important thing about the name change is that existing, older members didn’t defect in protest. They never do. Red Canoe has the Courage to stand out with a unique personality – one that is bold, passionate and distinctively Northwest. They have character. They have style.
Speaking of style… Apple is known for its sense of style. They’ve almost entirely built their brand around their personality. They are innovative. They are cool. Casual. Easy-going. Friendly. In this recent ad campaign, they took the next step to actually personify their brand. They created contrasts between Mac and “all the other guys” = “P.C.” Look and compare. They are both regular guys. But one is gray, corporate, drab, frumpy, reserved, dispassionate. vs. hip, individualistic and scrappy. Mac isn’t rude or arrogant anymore than PC is an evil moron. But the contrasts in character are stark. Defining what you aren’t can be as important as defining what you are. This is an important branding technique. This is what Apple is doing here. Some people call it “brand attributes.” Some call it “personality traits.” Whatever it is, you’ve got to have it. No one likes being around a dull, boring person. It’s the same thing with brands. They have to have “Character,” and that’s #5 on our list of 11 Cs of Breakthrough Brands.
Here’s a financial example. The Geico Gecko. He’s friendly, easy-going, practical, British – which of course makes him smart and polite. What’s odd is that Geico has personified its brand TWICE, with TWO DIFFERENT brand characters.
The Geico Caveman. You don’t have to invent an imaginary spokesperson for your brand – that’s not the point at all. But you have to be aware of your brand’s personality – understand its true character – in order to become a breakthrough brand. Let me share a common brand exercise with you that will help you identify your brand’s character. What you’re going to do is imagine you could have any spokesperson – like the Geico Caveman. If you could pick anyone in the world to be your spokesperson, who would it be? Who would you pick? Why would you pick them? What personality attributes do they have? Because those are probably your brand’s personality attributes too. Here’s a couple other similar exercises: If your brand was an animal, what would it be? A dog? Horse? Lion? Tiger? Bear? If your brand was a car, what make, model and year would it be? And then, what kind of car do you want to be? How big is that gap between who you are and who you want to be?
You remember when I said that defining what you aren’t can be a powerful brand-building insight? Make a list of the things you aren’t. Keep track. Write these things down. Here, I’ll get you started: “We aren’t A BANK.” We aren’t like everyone else. We aren’t stuffy and bureaucratic. Okay, that sounds good. If you keep going, you have the beginnings of a Brand Manifesto. Here’s how this technique played out with one credit union’s brand…
This is Spike. He’s the official spokesdog for USA Fed. They have built a brand oozing with Character, with a heavy emphasis on what they’re NOT. Say no to the fat cats. 180° from banking. Viva la credit union revoluçion. But let’s say your team doesn’t just know what you aren’t. Say you know who you are…
Let’s say you know what you are. Your group got together and reached a consensus. These are the words that describe your personality. At times caring and personal. Fun and zany at others. The problem is that all these words aren’t equally weighted. Just like real people, brands have dominant personality traits. Do I dress like a professional? Or do I have an edgy, fun sense of style? You can reach a consensus about your personality attributes without ever agreeing which ones are the dominant traits, the most important aspects of your character. Just like with real people. People don’t have a dozen equally-weighted personality attributes. Let me show you what I mean…
These are all the same words from the list on the previous slide. This is how one person – the EVP – saw the organization’s brand character. Caring, comforting, concerned and personal are the dominant attributes. That’s going to suggest a certain style of advertising and marketing. Then someone else – the VP of marketing – saw it a different way…
Fun, edgy, quirky, zany. The important thing here is to not just define your character, your personality. You have to define (1) which ones are most dominant, and (2) where, when and how they manifest. If you were a fun, edgy, quirky, zany financial institution, you might create a campaign like this…
This is fun, edgy, quirky and zany. This is from WestBank in Australia. Their brand is entirely driven by its personality, its Character. Happy, upbeat, positive, optimistic… BUT do they really deliver a “happy banking experience?” Is it credible…?
Credibility simply means the organization can deliver on its brand promise. In other words, brand promises have to be believable.
Back to the whole notion of “happy banking.” [READ AD ALOUD] “ A bank you’re actually excited to go to???” “ A bank that has your back???” Really??? Are consumers going to buy this kind of message? As the subjects of 3,500 brand messages every day, our radar is tuned to this kind of B.S. This positive and upbeat brand campaign from WaMu was their last. When this campaign came out, WaMu had nothing to be happy about. They were on the brink of failure. This just isn’t credible. I know it. You know it. We all know it. Do you know that WaMu made some of their employees get together in their branch lobbies to shout “Whoo hoo!” at noon? [WHINCE] These are the same employees who knew it was just a matter of time before they were out of a job. This is bad…
When your strategy and messages are saying one thing… And your actions and execution are saying another… You’re telling brand lies. Your words have to be consistent with your actions. You’ve got to be Consistent from one day to the next… From one promotion to the next. From one channel to the next. From one touchpoint to the next. You’ve got to be Consistent…
Remember these ads?
It ran for yeaaarrrrsss…. It’s so good, I can sum it up in one word…
Of course you do.
So this is what Absolut ads look like now…
Now they look just like every other brand of alcohol. And I’d bet you haven’t noticed them. I can barely figure out what’s going on in them. Here’s a warning. The truth is: Most campaigns are killed prematurely. As in, right when they are gaining traction. You will get bored of it long before the audience does. That’s a burden you have to bear for the brand.
You know who gets the Lifetime Achievement Award for Consistency? Wells Fargo. They’ve used their stagecoach as an icon of their brand for – what – over a hundred years? I’m SURE agencies have told them to dump it. Even though a stagecoach has almost zero relevance today, getting rid of it would be a big mistake. Consistency isn’t just about doing the same thing in your advertising. It’s also about doing things Consistently from one channel to the next.
The cool, stylish Apple iPhone. I don’t want to see a cool ad for this and then go buy it here…
That’s being inconsistent from one channel to the next.
I want to go to the cool, stylish Apple Store. You have to be consistent. All aspects of your brand must align. If not, you’re creating…
… Brand gaps…the difference between the image you project and the experience you deliver.
#8 is Conversation. Strong brands build communities. Strong brands have disciples. There is dialogue. Interaction. Engagement. Another word for Conversation is Communication. Another word for this could be Community.
If you have a great, breakthrough brand, people will do your marketing for you. They’ll talk about you. That’s the power of word-of-mouth. This is also the allure of online social media. The only problem is, most financial institutions have unremarkable brands, so no one want to talk about them. But they keep trying it. And then what do those financial institution then conclude? They conclude that online social media doesn’t work. “ It’s the tool that’s broken, not the guy using it.”
Great brands talk with people – one-to-one. They don’t talk at people. Not “to people.” “ With people…”
Conversation is a dialogue. A balanced discussion. It involves as much listening as it does anything.
If you want to talk about superior financial solutions… or extraordinary service… Would you be prepared to do something like this? Create the conversation and hold yourself accountable for your brand in front of your constituencies.
Over 1,000 people saw positive feedback about BofA… right smack in the middle of a financial crisis that involves them.
One of the most important constituencies to have brand conversations with is your staff. You can have the best brand strategy ever devised, with the greatest marketing and the most-admired ad campaign running. But it all means nothing if your staff fail to create an experience that delivers on your brand’s promises. In order for your brand to thrive, employees must be on-board. They must know what your brand stands for and how to live it out. Here are some thing you need to do to build your brand. Invite staff to participate in defining the brand further. Produce an internal branding campaign. You need to give your staff brand orientation. They need to learn about the brand, what it stands for and how they can live it out.
[KINECTA BRAND VIDEO FOR STAFF] Spark staff excitement with initial brand presentation. You don’t need to wait until you rename or rebrand to have a Brand Event. You can have one any time. In fact, you should probably have some sort of “refresher event” every few years. This video, by the way, was not shot on film with a cast of hundreds. It’s entirely stock footage. You could make something like this for as little as $5,000.
No matter how much brand information you’re sharing with staff, it probably isn’t enough. You know the expression, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The same applies to branding. If staff aren’t hearing about- and learning more about your brand on a regular basis, they’ll forget about it.
Screening Prospects According to the Brand If your organization has defined its core values, they should be used to screen applicants. Say, for instance, one of your core values is “Teamwork.” You need interview questions that explore an applicant’s experience working in teams: Do you prefer working in a team? Or are you more comfortable working independently? Why do you like working in teams? What size team(s) are you most comfortable with? Have you ever been part of a team where something went wrong? Can you give me an example? What could have been done differently? If you aren’t screening applicants according to your brand and its core values, what good are they?
Congratulations! You have a baby brand. Now the real work begins. Too often, brands are born only to live their lives neglected and unloved. To thrive, brands need the same kind of attention as little babies.
A black hole somewhere in a binder lost on someone’s shelves. Why? Because no one owns it. Branding is not the marketing department’s responsibility. It is EVERYONE’S responsibility.
They need time, energy and money. If you don’t give your baby brand these things, it will never grow up. It will never mature into a contributing asset in your organization. It will remain continually stunted. My advice: Put “brand” on the agenda. Make it a topic your organization is focused on. You should create a cross-departmental brand team. Your management team should discuss your brand-building efforts at least monthly. You need to establish a budget for branding – not a portion of the marketing budget, a new, separate budget.
Branding is never done. Changes will always be required. Often, many of the changes require operational adjustments. Adjustments in HR. Lending. You can’t say, “Well that’s they way we’ve always done it.” It takes work. Years of it.
clarity = focus compelling = relevant and different courage = stand out controversial = can’t be all things to all people, you’re going to break some eggs character = personality credibility = where the rubber meets the road, you better not be telling brand lies
Check out ICONiQ’s website at iconiq.com. There’s a PanoramiQ Brand Assessment that can help you identify your current brand.
Check out ICONiQ’s website at iconiq.com. There’s a PanoramiQ Brand Assessment that can help you identify your current brand. You can also email me at jeff@iconiq.com.
