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The 7 Deadly Branding Sins

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I just gave another webinar through CUES titled “The 7 Deadly Branding Sins.” These are the 7 biggest strategic errors financial institutions make. They are broad generalized observations based on my first-hand experience evaluating 75 financial brands over an 8-year period.

Here is the executive summary:

  1. DELUSIONS OF BRANDEUR
    Thinking you have a brand strategy when you really don’t.
  2. TOXIC SAMENESS
    Looking, acting and sounding like everyone else.
  3. LCD SYNDROME
    Trying to appeal to everyone (e.g., the Lowest Common Denominator).
  4. CRIMINAL NEGLECT
    A failure to commit. Not supporting the brand with time, energy and money.
  5. CULTURAL AUTISM
    Staff don’t know what the brand is or understand how to live it out.
  6. BRANDING SCHIZOPHRENIA
    Delivering an inconsistent look-and-feel and/or experience.
  7. COSMETIC FIXATION
    Undue significance or attention placed on the brand’s identity (it’s look and feel).

Tip of the Hat: To Ron Shevlin, for his coining of the phrase “Delusions of Brandeur.”

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Posted on Thursday, October 16th, 2008. Filed under Seminars. Follow responses through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses

  1. Chuck Says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 11:33 am

    Thoroughly enjoy your catchy titling. What you do must be similar to a teenager trying to teach his parents how to raise children. The parents may be wrong, but they’re unlikely to take the news kindly… or change.

  2. Jeffry Pilcher Says:
    October 20th, 2008 at 11:48 am

    ^^^ That’s my dad.

  3. Dan Says:
    October 22nd, 2008 at 2:25 pm

    You are very wise. Being specific about what you do well for people gets you closer to the goal many institutions profess of being trusted and preferred by the folks. I also appreciate what you said… The experience you give people determines their perception of you.

  4. The Financial Brand » Blog Archive » Podcast: Jeffry Pilcher on financial branding, naming Says:
    January 5th, 2009 at 2:30 pm

    [...] LOOKING AT 5 OF THE 7 DEADLY BRANDING SINS: [...]

  5. The Financial Brand » Blog Archive » Results 2.0: Social media for financial institutions Says:
    April 27th, 2009 at 10:11 am

    [...] The 7 Deadly Branding Sins [...]

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