Before we begin, let\u2019s get on the same page with our terminology.<\/p>\n
For the purposes of this article, we\u2019re using the term BRANDING REFRESH to mean reintroducing a bank or credit union to the marketplace without changing its name, but perhaps changing its logo. We\u2019re using the term BRAND (noun) to mean the true nature of an organization (i.e., what it does, what it believes, the way it operates, who it serves), and the term BRANDING (verb) to mean the way an institution expresses its brand.<\/p>\n
Now that we have our terms sorted out, let\u2019s consider a situation in which many financial marketers may find themselves:<\/p>\n
Does this scenario sound familiar? If so, take heart. There is a way forward, and we\u2019ll describe each step in the brand refresh process right now.<\/p>\n
A prerequisite for great branding (verb) is that it must express your financial institution\u2019s authentic brand (noun).<\/p>\n
If your branding is fresh, creative, and attention-grabbing, but it describes a brand that in no way matches your institution, it will end up being a liability rather than an asset, since it will lead to confusion and ultimately disappointment when your audience discovers your institution isn\u2019t what you\u2019ve said it is.<\/p>\n
For this reason, our first step is to understand and document the institution\u2019s brand. We recommend creating a Brand Document, which will help describe your institution\u2019s beliefs and true nature. The Brand Document should \u2013 at a minimum \u2013 consist of the following:<\/p>\n
You may also want to include:<\/p>\n
Once you have developed your Brand Document, we strongly recommend having your senior leaders review it and sign off.<\/p>\n
If, during this review process, your leadership cannot reach a consensus on key points, then we recommend taking the time to have more discussions, conduct research if necessary, and work toward defining your brand in terms that all senior leaders can agree to. It is critical that all senior leaders support your brand.<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019ve already established that you are refreshing<\/em> your branding \u2013 not<\/em> rebranding.<\/p>\n So you aren\u2019t changing your name, but what about your logo? Changing your logo incurs the significant costs associated with the development of a new logo, production and installation of new branch signage, and updating all the business forms and materials on which your logo appears.<\/p>\n If you can make do with your existing logo, you\u2019ll have more budget to put toward refreshing your branding and pushing that refreshed branding into the marketplace.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s our take: If you can live with your logo for the next four years, leave it alone.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t see any way you can keep it for four years, you might as well bite the bullet and address it now. In this case, you\u2019ll need to choose an agency partner to develop new logo options, and they should create your Brand Document as the foundation for their work.<\/p>\n If you are like most of our bank and credit union clients, your top priorities include attracting dynamic small businesses that are poised for their next stage of growth, as well as personal banking customers in their late 20s and early 30s who can develop into valuable lifelong customers. However, desiring a particular type of client and being prepared to woo them are two different things.<\/p>\n Your current service offerings, product descriptions, and marketing materials may not be tailored to the needs, objectives, and preferences of your target audiences.<\/p>\n If that is the case, now would be a good time to make sure that you are setting yourself up for success by filling in gaps in your service offerings and updating how you position your products to prospects. Customer personas are a useful tool for this exercise.<\/p>\n Once you are confident that you have the right service offerings and you\u2019ve tailored your product descriptions to your target audience\u2019s needs and wants, it\u2019s time to get creative.<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t already done so, share your Brand Document, personas, and any other relevant research with your agency partner. Ask them to develop three refreshed branding options, each of which will include:<\/p>\n After you\u2019ve reviewed your three options, select your preferred option, get buy-in from senior leadership, provide feedback to your agency partner, and work together to finalize the chosen concept.<\/p>\n Working on a parallel track with the development of your creative, plan how you will introduce your refreshed branding into the marketplace.<\/p>\n Our suggestion is to start from the inside out. Plan to develop and distribute internal communications first. Introduce your refreshed branding to your associates and explain the behaviors that will support the branding and create a positive customer experience.<\/p>\n Move on to the components that will reside in the branch environment (e.g., indoor and outdoor signage, posters, display screens, handouts, ATM screens), your web assets (e.g., website, microsites, email templates, digital newsletters, online content), and customer communications (e.g., email, mailers, statement inserts and messaging).<\/p>\n Finally, develop your advertising campaign components (e.g., digital display, landing pages, YouTube ads, billboards, direct mail, radio spots, TV\/OTT ads, print ads). Consider including special offers that will accompany your brand messaging (e.g., account opening incentives, special rates, free services).<\/p>\n Before you begin your campaign, decide whether you want to assess brand awareness within your markets before and after the campaign to measure lift.<\/p>\n As noted in the previous step, we strongly recommend starting your roll-out with your team members within your institution. It is especially important that your frontline team knows how to \u201ctalk the talk and walk the walk\u201d before you begin customer-facing communications and prospecting.<\/p>\n Omnichannel brand campaigns typically last at least six months, and often run an entire year. For longer campaigns, it is customary to update the creative around the midpoint of the campaign to keep the messaging from getting stale.<\/p>\n During the course of your omnichannel campaign, you will be able to monitor campaign metrics (e.g., views, clicks, visits, phone calls, form-fills) and business KPIs<\/a> (e.g., account openings, loan growth). If you measured brand awareness before the campaign began, you can measure it during and after the campaign for comparison.<\/p>\n Consider conducting formal or informal qualitative research with customers to gather opinions regarding the refreshed branding. Include all data in a report for senior leadership.<\/p>\n It is difficult \u2013 if not impossible \u2013 to measure the exact ROI of refreshing your branding. However, that doesn\u2019t diminish the importance of this endeavor.<\/p>\n Based on our close observations of the banking industry over many years, and our work with scores of financial institutions, we can tell you that effective brand management is one hallmark of the most successful banks and credit unions.<\/p>\n \u201cBranding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u2013 Sir Richard Branson<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Work with Lightstream, a full-service marketing and advertising agency that serves dozens of banks and credit unions across the country. With our thorough, step-by-step brand-refresh process, we\u2019ll help you breathe new life into your branding, boost visibility within your markets, and reach new customers. Connect with us today to learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is your bank or credit union branding due for a refresh? This 7-step guide shows you how to do it (even on a limited budget). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":8,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-1764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial","tag-bank-credit-brand-building"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1764"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1787,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions\/1787"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelightstreamgroup.com\/old_bak\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}STEP 2: MAKE A DECISION ABOUT YOUR LOGO<\/h2>\n
STEP 3: CONSIDER YOUR EXISTING & NEW CUSTOMERS<\/h2>\n
STEP 4: DEVELOP THREE BRANDING OPTIONS, PICK ONE & FINALIZE<\/h2>\n
\n
STEP 5: PREPARE TO ROLL OUT YOUR REFRESHED BRANDING<\/h2>\n
STEP 6: ROLL OUT YOUR NEW BRANDING<\/h2>\n
STEP 7: ANALYZE RESULTS<\/h2>\n
FINAL WORD<\/h2>\n
\nREADY FOR A REFRESH?<\/h2>\n