Three separate studies indicate there are significant contradictions between how big bank brands are valued, what consumers feel about large financial institutions, and where consumers choose to bring their deposits.

Big bank brand values rise in 2009

Brand Finance, a independent brand valuation consultancy, says that the top U.S. bank brands recovered during 2009, with an overall increase in brand value of +29%. According to Brand Finance, BofA saw its brand value grow to $26.1 billion, up by +24% over 2008.

Reality Check: These guys had the value of their brands kicked to the ground in 2008. The percentage gains in 2009 may look impressive, but many of the world’s biggest bank brands are still worth a lot less than they were pre-meltdown, and some are still on their knees.

The Brand Finance study tries to quantify the price premium each bank can command for its products and services. The assumption is that Bank X has a stronger brand than Bank Y if Bank X is able to charge more for the same product or service.

Most studies, including this one from Brand Finance, attempt to quantify the financial value of brands while ignoring what those brands are really all about — consumer’s feelings, perceptions and goodwill.

Key Insight: The power of a brand’s profit potential hinges entirely on the degree of influence the brand has in consumers’ purchasing decisions.

If the value of brands was determined by how much people trusted them, these types of studies would tell a markedly different story about banks. Like this next study…

People trust the big banks least

A New York Times article titled “The Least-Trusted Banks in America” cites a Forrester Research study that found customers of the biggest banks in the US don’t believe their financial institution does what’s best for them, but instead does what’s best for their bottom line.

In Forrester’s annual “Customer Advocacy” study, the research firm asked 4,500 bank customers whether they agreed or disagreed with this statement: “My financial provider does what’s best for me, not just its own bottom line.”

Credit unions were the most trusted financial institutions in the U.S., with 70% of members saying their credit union looked out for their best interests. After credit unions, USAA’s bank came in second, with 64% of its members saying the organization was trustworthy.

Key Question: If a brand cannot be trusted, how can it have any value?

Banks are consistently among the least-trusted brands in Forrester’s study, but this year, HSBC broke a record. The world’s biggest bank got the lowest customer advocacy score ever reported in the U.S., down a full 10% over last year.

Meanwhile, Brand Finance says in its study that HSBC’s brand value rose 12%. Something weird is going on here. But wait, it gets even weirder…

Consumers put deposits — not trust — in banks

Consumers may say they don’t trust big banks, but that apparently isn’t enough to stop them from bringing in their deposits.

Despite near record-low APYs in 2009, the 10 largest U.S. banks posted higher deposits in the fourth quarter for the first time since 2005. JPMorgan Chase posted an 8.1% rise to $938 billion. US Bancorp said deposits rose 7.9%.

Early in 2009, Australian banking giant ANZ began quietly but methodically rolling out its new brand identity. There was little fanfare when a new ANZ logo popped up in an Indonesian airport last April. But when the bank debuted its new identity on its home turf later in the year, Aussies started taking notice, including many in the design community who lambasted ANZ’s new symbol as “dreadful.” Now after all the dust has settled, The Financial Brand takes a look at why and how ANZ decided to undertake its branding initiative.

“Uncomplicated Banking”

ANZ’s growth strategy hinges on the wider Asia Pacific region, believing the bank’s future lies beyond the shores of Australia and New Zealand.

“ANZ is increasingly a regional bank, now operating in 32 countries and speaking 19 different languages,” observes Mike Smith, CEO/ANZ.

But, according to ANZ, the bank’s brand had become “fragmented and not consistently leveraged across all customer touch points and messages.”

In strategy documents provided to The Financial Brand, ANZ says it rebranded in order to look like “one bank,” and “provide a consistent experience for people wherever they come into contact with the bank.”

“A strong, unified brand across all our geographies is an important part of our future growth,” Smith said in a press release.

At the core of the brand strategy is a promise that is — quite literally – “simple”:

Uncomplicated Banking
Simple Solutions to Complex Problems

ANZ says “Uncomplicated Banking” is about delivering products and services that are convenient, simplified and straightforward.

But ANZ says “uncomplicated” doesn’t always mean “simple.”

“Certainly, our customers don’t want their experience with us to be any more complicated than it needs to be,” the bank explains. “But ‘uncomplicated’ means different things to different audiences. In every case, we listen and use a language they can understand.”

A “People-Shaped” Bank

ANZ spent 18 months developing the strategy, including research with branch staff and customers in China, Vietnam and Australia.

“We talked to more than 1,300 customers and 250 staff around the Asia Pacific region,” the bank said. “Despite differences in culture, geography, language or business type, they all said they wanted a bank that was two things: uncomplicated; and focused on people.”

ANZ describes its vision of a “people-shaped” bank as “one that shows respect and understanding for its customers.” The bank has tied its core values to align accordingly:

• We do this by being responsive to customers needs and being approachable and transparent in all of our interactions and living our values.
• We’re a bank that is shaped by our customers. We understand their needs. And we prove it in what we say, and the experiences and solutions we offer.
• We see things from their point of view. We are a bank that demonstrates empathy and values our customer’s voice.
• We talk with them. Not at them. We listen and speak in a way that makes it easy for them to understand.
• We talk from experience – we share insights to provide proof we really do understand their lives. We value each individual.
• We demonstrate this by how we behave with our customers and also our colleagues.

Rolling the Lotus Out Slowly

ANZ’s most significant change to its brand identity was a redesigned logo. ANZ simplified the typography and adding a symbol, something the bank calls a “lotus.” ANZ describes its lotus as “a symbol of unity and growth relevant to customers regardless of differences in language and culture.”

“The symbol provides another way for staff, customers and the community to recognize and connect with ANZ and what we stand for,” the bank says of its lotus. “Especially in regions where the name ANZ is not yet well recognized, or where non-English characters are used.”

ANZ offers further rationale for its lotus symbol:

• The organic nature of the symbol acknowledges the core premise of our business – growth.
• The three shapes signify Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific, Europe and America — our three regions coming together as one.
• The central human shape represents our customers and our people — the driving forces behind our business.

ANZ doesn’t feel any particular pressure to rush the brand identity change-out. The new brand will be rolled out in stages over the next year or two. ANZ says it will “contain costs by linking to business-as-usual upgrades.” ANZ has already switched signage on buildings, branch collateral, corporate stationary, advertising and online.

The Financial Brand’s first article about the new ANZ logo in the Spring of 2009 didn’t receive much attention until the bank debuted its new identity on its home turf later in the year. Then in the fall, a flood of Australian designers and financial marketers descended on the story, viewing it over 2,850 times and making the article the #2 most-read on the site last year.

ANZ expects the initiative to cost AUS $15 million in 2010, claiming the cost does not represent a significant increase in marketing expenses.

The rebranding effort also marks the first global advertising campaign for ANZ. In Australia, the campaign consists of TV, print and outdoor ads, and in-branch materials.

“A Long Way to Go”

As part of its branding process, ANZ looked at the ways it was already making banking uncomplicated, and came up with it calls some “Initial Proof Points.” Among some of the products and services recently introduced by ANZ:

• Smarty Pig – Goal-based savings
• ANZ Money Manager – Online personal financial management tools (PFM)
• ANZ iPhone Banking – Mobile phone banking application
• ANZ Online Investment Account – Internet-based stock portfolio platform
• Online ATM Locator – It actually helps you find all kinds of locations, not just ATMs

But ANZ also recognizes its ‘Uncomplicated Banking’ strategy raises expectations beyond what the bank is currently delivering.

“Really delivering on our new brand promise to our customers and staff is an aspiration,” ANZ explains. “We have made some good progress but we still have a long way to go.”

The bank’s strategy calls for “additional proof points” and “future initiatives in 2010.” Some of ANZ’s other recent and planned initiatives include:

• Establishing a simplified fee structure by eliminating 27 fees on personal accounts.
• The introduction of specialist bankers who focus on individual customer needs including retirement specialists, small business specialists and Asian specialists.
• Simplified mortgage pre-approvals.
• Extending branch opening hours during the Christmas season. This includes late nights and open Saturdays in major shopping centers.

Key Takeaways: Average brands are built around what the organization can already deliver today. Breakthrough brands are built by living out the brand to its fullest potential. You will never maximize the opportunities lurking within your brand unless the entire organization makes changes. It takes time, energy and money.

ANZ New Product Developments
A subsection of the main ANZ website detailing some of the bank’s recent product and service launches.

ANZ – “UNCOMPLICATE”
In this one-minute TV spot, ANZ shows a whirlwind of digital and financial information swirling above everyone’s heads. The announcer says, “Have you noticed how everything that was supposed to get simpler, somehow got more complicated?” He then asks, “How do we know you want simpler banking?” The answer is offered in the bank’s slogan, “We live in your world.”

NEW LOGO – INDONESIAN AIRPORT
ANZ started introducing its new logo in its outer markets before rolling it out in Australia.

With more than 54,000 members, over $600 million in assets, and 12 branches in the Austin, Texas area, United Heritage Credit Union is one of the largest regional credit unions in Central Texas. Facing intense competitive pressure from banks and large credit unions, United Heritage turned to the Cartis Group for “a strategic and tactical marketing plan” that would be based on both “primary and secondary research.”

“Its brand was disjointed and lacked credibility,” the agency says about the credit union’s image prior to the rebranding.

“Using our BrandSmart process, we enhanced and solidified United Heritage’s brand, including its positioning, messaging, marketing materials, website and identity system,” the agency says.

Cartis says United Heritage also made several operational changes as a result of the firm’s research.

The tagline “Be Smart. Bank Smart.” is part a deliberate effort to position United Heritage as a “banking center” that can compete with other major Central Texas financial institutions.

The Cartis Group’s work for United Heritage has been recognized by CUNA, AIGA, the ADDYs and NCUA.

WELCOME KIT

UNITED HERITAGE WEBSITE
Ads in the sidebar rotate as you navigate through the website. Ads are contextually relevant, so if you’re in the “Loans” section, you might be seeing ads for United Heritage’s “Skip-a-Pay” option, or their “Debt Consolidation” loans.

BRANCHES
The credit union’s BRANCH DESIGN includes some distinctive architectural statements, such as the tower. They are nice, attractive spaces, but a little light on the branding and merchandising. Architect: Clark Mente Architects.

UNITED HERITAGE CENTER
The credit union has secured the naming rights for “The United Heritage Center at the Dell Diamond.” It’s a large, multi-purpose space for meetings, conferences, banquets, weddings and parties. It holds 320 people for dinner, or 500 in theater seating. It is located along the first-base line at The Dell Diamond, home of the local Double A baseball team.

Your brand isn’t
what you say it is.
It’s what they say it is.
– Marty Neumeier,
‘The Brand Gap’

You can have a carefully calculated brand strategy, ripe with insights and good intentions. You can have a multi-million dollar marketing campaign. You can run your billboards, TV commercials, print ads, radio spots — all delivering a consistent message, paid off with a snazzy sounding slogan.

But it’s all meaningless if the actual experiences you deliver don’t align with your brand’s messages.

Reality Check: All talk and no walk = branding fail.

Key Takeaways:

• Your staff are the real secret sauce behind your brand. They must “buy your message” before consumers do. Savvy brand builders will engage staff around the brand and keep them informed. (Make sure you check out the three hotlinks in this paragraph.)
• Don’t rebrand publicly unless you are ready to deliver. Cosmetic brand changes never work because they fool no one. This is a message to be taken to heart by financial institutions (and their agencies) who believe you can advertise your way to greatness.

Bottom Line: Your brand isn’t what YOU say it is. It’s what THEY (your consumers) say it is. No matter what your financial institution may say, ultimately your brand is built by what you do. Consumers judge brands the exact same way they judge people — by their actions, not their promises. Do you follow through? Hypocrisy undermines any brand message you send, which damages trust — that almighty bedrock of financial relationships. Everything boils down to what kind of experiences you deliver.

The subject of a national campaign for credit unions has been widely debated over the years. Some argue about whether it should be a brand campaign or an awareness campaign. Others dispute what such a campaign should say. And a few even question the very need for this sort of campaign.

Regardless of who supports- or opposes the idea, one question bothers everyone: How would such a campaign be funded?

Here’s the easiest funding formula. Every credit union could contribute a proportionate amount relative to their asset size — a proposed multiple of 0.005% of assets. That’s 1/200th of a percent.

Where does this 0.005% number come from? Simple. As a rule of thumb, the marketing budget for a financial institution should be around 0.1% of its assets (it can be a little more for smaller financial institutions, and a little less for bigger ones). For example, a $500 million credit union should spend around $500,000 per year on marketing. That means if credit unions contributed 0.005% of their asset size to fund a national campaign, it would work out to around a 5% slice of their annual marketing budgets.

Key Question: If you’re a $100 million dollar credit union, could you afford to contribute $5,000 from your marketing budget to a campaign that benefits all credit unions? If you’re a $1 billion credit union, can you make a $950,000 marketing budget work while contributing $50,000 to a national effort?

Reality Check: Some credit unions are still spending almost 0.005% of their assets on advertising in the Yellow Pages.

If credit unions would contribute only 5% of their annual marketing budgets to some sort of nationally-organized effort, they could collectively build a $50 million annual war chest. Keep in mind that this isn’t additional marketing dollars; this would be a reallocation of money that’s already being spent. It’s simply about achieving economies of scale… and “credit unions helping credit unions,” as the expression goes.

What could credit unions do with this $50 million budget? Certainly they could run ads in print and on TV, as some credit union experts have suggested. But what if $50 million was spent all online (ads, SEO, etc.), pointing towards a website like JoinACreditUnion.com? How many Gen-Y members would credit unions draw? Or what if credit unions used the $50 million all for a coordinated public relations effort? How much more good press could credit unions pick up in the mainstream media? And what would happen if credit unions sustained this for five years?

Reality Check: This isn’t likely to happen — especially now. Beyond the massive pressure on everyone’s capital, CFO’s everywhere are wondering if- and when another “special assessment” might be coming. The notion of a national campaign probably just sounds like one more hit to the bottom line. The last thing most credit unions feel like talking about is another way to spend money. Don’t expect to see a flood of credit unions volunteering anytime soon.

Bottom Line: The majority of consumers have no clue about what credit unions really are, and/or don’t include credit unions in their list of primary financial options. Credit unions could afford a national campaign that addresses this reality…that is, if they really wanted one.

Key Questions: Can credit unions afford to not run a national campaign? What are the opportunity costs? What would have happened if credit unions had been running this sort of campaign throughout the financial crisis?

“People can now accept
more complex brands with
multiple, distinct narratives
highlighting various aspects
of the brand.”
– The Martin Agency,
about its GEICO ads

GEICO uses more branded characters at one time than probably any other company in the history of marketing. Turn on the TV tonight and you could see an ad starring their Gecko, Cavemen, or the googly-eyed pile of Kash. Or all three.

Presently GEICO has no fewer than six — count ‘em…SIX! — different ad campaigns running, each with their own unique tone, style, flavor and message.

Ask any brand-builder in the world, and they’ll tell you that using a seemingly disjointed and eclectic lineup of ads is the wrong way to create a cohesive, focused brand image. Consistency, they all say, is the key to shaping people’s perceptions and getting your messages to stick.

GEICO (pronounced “GUY-co,” and short for Government Employees Insurance Company) doesn’t just ignore these widely-accepted branding “rules.” They do everything possible to break them.

1 – The Gecko

The gecko first appeared in 1999 during a Screen Actors Guild strike that prevented the use of live actors. In the gecko’s first TV debut, he pleads for people confusing “gecko” with “GEICO” to stop phoning him. The gecko speaks with an English (Cockney) accent. Why? Because it would be unexpected, according to GEICO’s ad shop, the Martin Agency.

Message: “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance.”

“Trust Me”

2 – Cavemen

These metrosexual cavemen have somehow eluded extinction while developing a taste for racquet sports, plasma TVs, and “duck with mango salsa.” They are insulted by GEICO’s ad tagline, “So easy, a caveman can do it.”

GEICO and its ad agency tried to capitalize on the success of their Cavemen with a TV series in the fall of 2007. The move made GEICO the first advertiser in recent history to turn a fictional company spokescharacter into the star of a primetime TV show. But the show received overwhelmingly negative critical reaction, and was canceled after only six episodes. It’s a clear case of “jumping the shark.”

Message: “So easy, a caveman can do it.”

“Caveman Montage”

3 – Kash

Starting in 2008, GEICO has aired a series of TV ads featuring two paper-banded stacks of U.S. bills with a pair of big, buggy eyes on top. Kash, who never says anything, just sits and stares at people (it’s intentionally creepy), set to an obnoxious remix of a Rockwell/Michael Jackson song, “Somebody’s Watching Me.”

Message: “This [stack of cash] is the money you could be saving on your car insurance.”

“On a Date with Kash”

4 – Rhetorical Questions

An actor asks the familiar question, “Could switching to Geico save you 15% or more on car insurance?” He then follows up with a rhetorical question: “Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?” or “Did The Waltons take way too long to say goodnight?”

Message: “15 minutes could save you 15% or more.”

“Does Elmer Fudd have trouble with the letter R?”

5 – Talking Objects

Objects causing damage to people’s cars — a pothole, a fire hydrant and the fender of another car — stumble through feeble apologies.

Message: “Accidents are bad. But GEICO’s good, with emergency road service.”

“Southern Pothole”

6 – Motorcycles & Toys

GEICO’s division for motorcycles, RVs and other toys has an entirely different campaign. These ads occasionally feature cameo appearances of the Gecko and Cavemen, but not usually. Most of them are markedly less creative than any of GEICO’s other spots.

Message: “You could save with GEICO motor cycle insurance.”

“Florida Sunset”

But wait… There’s more!

There’s a multitude of different spots GIECO rolls out every year, and no two campaigns are ever the same.

In 2003, Geico debuted a campaign called “Good News,” featuring ads where one character would break bad news to another, ending with the tagline: “I’ve got good news! I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to GEICO.”

In another spot circa 2008, a squirrel causes a car to swerve and crash. The squirrel fist bumps and high-fives another squirrel. The message: “Accidents can happen anytime. That’s why GEICO’s here 24 hours a day, every day.”

Little Richard, Joan Rivers, Peter Frampton, Don LaFontaine, and James Lipton are among the notable celebrities who spoofed themselves in yet another series GEICO spots.

“Don LaFontaine – That Movie Announcer Guy”

The agency’s rationale

The Martin Agency has given different assignments to multiple creative teams, along with instructions “to tell multiple, distinct narratives that highlight various aspects of the brand.”

“Once upon a time, an ad was about a company’s unique selling position. But people can now accept more complex brands,” Mike Hughes, The Martin Agency’s president and creative director explains.

“I thought we might be able to build a deeper relationship if we built on multiple fronts,” Hughes told Fast Company.

The Martin Agency believes it has found a better way to do branding, perhaps even a new media strategy altogether. The ad shop has since begun rolling out multipronged strategies for a variety of clients including UPS and Wal-Mart.

Reality Check: This strategy is probably not for you. Most marketers have to spend a ton of money just to make one message stick, much less two (or more!). GEICO spends in the neighborhood of $500 million.

What do you think

How do you feel about the mish-mash of ad campaigns GEICO uses to build its brand? Please take the poll below. You can check all answers that apply. Also, feel free to leave your thoughts and questions in a comment.

Key Questions: Before you take the poll, ask yourself how many of GEICO’s brand messages can you recall? Do you know “it’s so easy, a caveman can do it?” Do you know “you can save 15% or more on your car insurance?” How many GEICO commercials can you recall?

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Australian bank Westpac is considering reviving the Bank of Melbourne brand it retired years ago following an acquisition. Westpac is reportedly planning to relaunch the Bank of Melbourne as on online internet direct bank.

“The idea is to use the Bank of Melbourne as an online deposit store with price-leading offers,” a Westpac insider told The Age.

Westpac is reportedly responding to competitive pressure brought by rival NAB which launched its online direct arm U-Bank back in 2008.

According to Australian newspaper The Age, Westpac is pursuing a multi-brand strategy to grow its share of the personal banking market across a range of customer segments.

What makes Westpac’s move particularly unusual is that the bank is resurrecting a dead, stodgy, conservative brand and applying it to an online division. Most other online banks have decided to brand with an edgy, casual and/or high-tech image — 180 degrees from the historically stuffy look-and-feel associated with financial institutions.

Key Questions:

• When financial institutions launch online direct banks, why do they feel compelled to create separate brands, like NAB’s Ubank, HSBC’s First Direct and Bank of the Wichitas’ Redneck Bank?
• Why would Westpac pick a geographically-limiting name for an online bank that can theoretically serve anyone anywhere?
• What’s wrong with the name ‘Westpac Direct?’

NAB’s UBank (above), HSBC’s First Direct (left) and Bank Wichitas’ Redneck Bank.

It’s a little hard to see, but the Bank of Melbourne logo includes a complex herald, with
lions flanking left and right of a shield — a style of design dating back over 400 years.

Westpac acquired the Bank of Melbourne in 1997, but waited seven years before killing the brand off. When Westpac finally announced in 2004 that it was joining the two banks under a single national brand, a bank spokesperson said the decision had been made based on “feedback from customers, confused by the multiple brands.”

Key Question: If consumers were confused by two brands back in 2004, why won’t they be confused by two brands in 2010?

It seems the Bank of Melbourne was quite popular among Aussies, and its replacement with the Westpac brand reportedly sent thousands of customers to Bendigo Bank and ANZ. Prior to Westpac’s takeover, the Bank of Melbourne had been consistently rated as Australia’s best bank for customer service.

Key Question: Is the resurrection of the Bank of Melbourne brand a defacto admission by Westpac that it screwed up when it dumped the popular Aussie bank brand?

Westpac also came under fire — this time, more recently — for a marketing misstep involving a banana smoothie analogy the bank used to explain a hike in home loan rates. The bank’s explanation was widely panned by Aussie consumers as “condescending.”

When Ally Bank was borne from the ashes of GMAC earlier this year, the bank’s CMO told us that “talking straight” is one of the three principles at the heart of the Ally brand. Well then, in light of Ally’s recent $3.8 billion infusion from the U.S. Treasury, here’s the ad they should run…but probably won’t. (Please note: This ad was created by The Financial Brand for instructive and illustrative purposes only.)

Source: ProPublica “Bailout Recipients”

“A strong company
needs a strong brand.”
— Commerzbank

When the third-largest bank in Germany merged with the second-largest, it left a big question: What to do about the brands? Easy. Pair the logo from one with the name and color of the other, and…whammy! You have a new brand that, well, actually works pretty well.

The new logo consists of three key elements: the “Commerzbank” name, the color yellow, and the three-dimensional Dresdner ribbon.

BLENDING BRANDS
The new logo is a hybrid of traits from the original two.

DUE DILIGENCE
Even though the bank decided to retain one of the two logos almost entirely intact, it still went through the design process to see what other symbols might result from merging the styles of each.

FINAL NEW LOGO

The only new aspect to the logo is the typeface. Commerzbank says its new logotype is “clear and confident,” while expressing “stability and quality,” while its yellow color is “vibrant and full of energy, emphasizing our self-assurance and performance.”

Commerzbank says its new, intertwined mobius logo represents “growing together.” The new icon symbolizes a connection between “customers, employees and investors,” while reflecting brand attributes like “dynamics, continuity and stability.”

Commerzbank is so proud of its new brand that it produced a 3-minute video about the “making of” its new logo.

THE MAKING OF THE COMMERZBANK/DRESDNER LOGO
In this video, you can see the bank polled its people to see which logo embodied the qualities they sought to project in the new, combined brand — dynamics, continuity and stability. Even though the video is narrated in German, you’ll be able to keep up.

About the rebranding, Martin Blessing, Chairman/Commerzbank, says it was important to balance brand changes with heritage and stability. “A new bank has to set new signals visible from the outside,” he said.

For Commerzbank, that means keeping components from both organizations. “It was important to us that all customers continue to recognize their bank in the new bank,” Blessing explained. “That will allow us to take advantage of the strengths of both brands.”

“Our new brand is designed to give Commerzbank a modern and dynamic image, underline our high standards in all areas, and serve as an expression of our identity,” the bank says on its website. “A strong brand symbolizes reliability and quality and thus helps build trust among customers.”

Analysis: Mergers always seem to trigger difficult, often painful, questions. “Who will be president?” “Who’s name will be retained?” Compromises are struck, if for no other reason than to keep the merger moving forward. Many times, these compromises come at the expense of one (or both) brands. This is not one of those times. The new Commerzbank logo achieves the bank’s strategic objectives without creating a mishmash, Frankenstein identity. Even though most of the bank’s customers will probably never know the rationale underlying the logo’s design, they are likely to see the logo as “sunny” and “solid.”

Commerzbank also used the merger to roll out a new slogan (something they refer to as a “brand promise”): “Achieving more together.”

“The brand promise stands for the core values we would like to be measured by — partnership and performance,” Blessing said.

Commerzbank says its new slogan has multiple audiences. “’Achieving more together’ applies to each and every one of us: externally, together with customers and business partners, and internally, together with colleagues.”

On its website, Commerzbank details its brand strategy with remarkable transparency — something that is as refreshing as it is rare in the financial industry. In the strategy, Commerzbank says its “brand position” is based on these two principles:

• “Partnership means that we take care of you as customers. We want our business relationship to be based on an equal footing and find the solution that is best for you. We do everything we can to help you achieve your goals. From an internal perspective, partnership also means that, as employees, we work as one — as a strong, united and target-oriented team.”
• “Performance means that we lead you on the path to success with strength and experience. Today we are already one of the top banks in Germany and unite the strengths of two successful institutions. Thanks to our size, we are always close to our customers, combining international expertise with local roots. Our competencies coupled with our powers of innovation mean that we can accommodate your specific needs and develop solutions that are tailored tor you. This makes us a high-performance partner.”

Ulrich Sieber, HR/Commerzbank, admitted that not everything has gone perfectly, but Commerzbank continues to monitor its merger progress by engaging customers.

“We regularly ask our customers how they feel about the integration process,” said Sieber. “Many clients would like to see the branch offices integrated more quickly, a wish we take very seriously. We have therefore moved the branch integration forward by six months.”

All branches will be operating under the new Commerzbank brand by the second quarter in 2010.

First Independent had been family-owned for nearly 100 years, during which time the bank’s solid track record helped it forge deep roots in its southwest Washington communities.

That was the good news for the bank’s ad agency, Grady Britton.

The bad news? First Independent was a nearly 100-year old family-owned bank, perceived as “my grandfather’s bank” with a “dusty” image easily ignored by a younger, fast-paced audience.

Recognizing its image problem, First Independent turned to Grady Britton to help “re-invent and re-introduce the bank’s brand.”

Andy Askren, the agency’s Partner and Creative Director, described the underlying rationale for the bank’s rebranding strategy. “The bank’s heritage, it’s renewed energy, it’s commitment to leading each individual’s financial well-being — no matter what stage of life they were in –helped shape First Independent’s renewed promise to their audience,” Askren said.

That led to development of the bank’s catchphrase, “Ready When You Are,” something Askren described as “part invitation, part challenge.”

“A statement this bold needed a mark — an icon — as solid and contemporary to match it,” Askren explained. “We developed a badge of sorts that incorporated a 3D ’stair-step,’ reflecting the bank’s commitment to helping people ‘up.’”

NEW LOGO
Three red steps up are a metaphor for the bank’s onward-and-upward perspective.

Askren said the bank wanted to make sure it could “live the brand” before it was rolled out to the market. “Education, process changes, even rethinking many of the bank’s products were part of a nearly year-long internal campaign of ensuring the bank was ready to actually demonstrate being ‘Ready When You Are,’” Askren said.

For the launch, Grady Britton developed a teaser campaign. Various installations of “Big Red Steps” began appearing in public venues around the bank’s area — at malls, city parks, outdoor markets. These 10 foot tall sculptures were surrounded with “police tape” with a URL: BigRedSteps.com. This microsite featured a countdown clock to an unnamed event.

BIGREDSTEPS.COM
People could upload photos of their own sightings of the Big Red Steps at the microsite.

Targeted ads in the Vancouver Business Journal featured a painter painting a set of Big Red Steps, signed off with only the headline of, “It’s coming. BigRedSteps.com.”

Askren said research showed that First Independent went from eighth bank people would consider to #3 in the first year following the rollout of the new brand.

In 2008, Grady Britton helped First Independent respond to the financial crisis with a new series of messages within the “Ready When You Are” brand theme.

“We retooled our message with a new ‘survivor’ angle,” Askren explained. “We introduced the ‘Welcome to Life in the New Economy’ ads that reflected the reality everyone was now living.”

NEW PERSPECTIVE
Yes, indeed, this ad was intended to run sideways.

TONE FLABBY FINANCES
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FIRSTINDY.COM

At the heart of every brand rests a promise, a certain experience — good or bad — that people can count on. Some branding experts call it a “brand promise.” Others call it a “brand essence.” Or a “brand position.” You could even use the throwback term “Unique Selling Proposition.” Call it what you want. Your brand has one, whether you’ve defined one formally it or not.

If you think you have an idea about what your brand stands for, here’s a short quiz you can take to see how compelling it is.

1. Is your brand differentiated?

Is your brand position something unique to you, something that only you are known for, and none of your competitors?

Of all the components fueling a strong brand, differentiation is the most critical. Most brands fail this first test because they say their brand stands for something like “service” or “value.” If everyone else is saying the same thing, it doesn’t matter if you’re the best.

Tip: If you say “trust,” try again. Brands, by their very nature, embody “trust.” When you’re brand is known for something, that means consumers can trust you’ll deliver a predictable, reliable experience. Moreover, trust is the bedrock of every financial relationship, so forget about positioning yourself as the one who is “more trustworthy.” Trust is something you can only earn through your actions, over time.

2. Is your brand relevant?

Do consumers really care about what your brand stands for? How important is it to them? Does it benefit them? Why should they care?

“Value” and “service” may be very important to people, but they are themes so ubiquitously used by your competitors… nay, used by everyone — from plumbers to car dealers to supermarkets — that you cannot successfully differentiate around them.

Tip: You can have a highly-differentiated brand promise that you can credibly deliver on, and people still might not care. You have to strike a nerve. The best way to accomplish this is by (1) listening to a (2) narrowly-focused audience so that you can (3) understand their unique needs.

3. Is your brand credible?

Do you walk the talk? Can consumers really believe you can deliver what your brand promises? Are you capable?

Tip: If you’ve found a direction for your brand that is both differentiated and relevant, you’re on to something, even if you aren’t able to deliver…yet. The good news? You’ve solved the hardest riddle in branding: finding something people care about that your competitors aren’t doing. The bad news? The execution of a strategy meeting these criteria is no picnic. You’ll need all departments — operations, training, HR, IT, lending, compliance and marketing — to work together to build the infrastructure. The result is worth the effort. Don’t be discouraged.

4. Is your brand irreproducible?

Is your brand difficult — if not impossible — for competitors to copy? If one of your competitors started copying your strategy today, how long would it take them to catch up?

Tip: You’re looking to build something that either your competitors can’t credibly deliver, or something that would challenge them so much — logistically, financially, or otherwise — that they won’t even bother. Who wants to try to outmaneuver a brand like Apple, Google or Virgin?

Conclusion

If you answered “yes” to each of these questions, your brand is rock solid. It’s quite likely your brand is contributing significantly to your bottom line.

If you answered “no” to any one of these questions, you still have some work to do. If your brand isn’t differentiated, then you have to ask, “What can we do differently?” If your brand isn’t relevant, you need to go focus on an audience and find out what really drives them. If your brand isn’t credible, you need to either change your marketing messages or your service experience, because the two don’t align. And if your brand isn’t irreproducible, you need to push yourself further and faster than your competitors could ever imagine.

Some may question Sir Richard Branson’s timing. Why would he launch a bank now?

Well, for starters, Branson is exceptionally good with money. Who better to run a bank than a guy who makes money almost faster than it can be printed?

But there’s a more serious and strategic reason Branson is launching a new financial brand right now: Every financial institution established prior to the credit crisis has, in the consumer’s eyes, a somewhat tarnished brand. People are apt to lump most pre-2009 financial brands into the same category, at least to some degree, making them share equal bits of blame. Guilt through complicit complacency, if nothing else.

Why do you think consumers have responded so enthusiastically to Ally Bank? Folks don’t really know/care that Ally is simply a reskinned GMAC. People love the fact that the bank is fresh and funny. It’s a new brand, so it’s new to them.

Reality Check: The financial industry is ripe for new “challenger brands” to come in and rock the status quo.

Branson’s announcement that he is expanding Virgin Money to become a full-fledged bank — with branches! — undoubtedly shocked those in the financial industry. If you’re like any of those Branson has challenged before, you’re probably reacting with a mix of anxious excitement and fearful nausea.

The Virgin brand — in any industry — is known for shaking things up. Branson loves doing things that everyone else says shouldn’t- or couldn’t be done. He takes chances. But when it’s all done (usually with great success), everyone looks back and admires Virgin’s unique flair. It’s a stylish and sexy combination of courage and cunning that reflects the cavalier playboy behind the brand.

And the same thing is bound to happen in the financial industry. But don’t despair; there is a silver lining. A few years from now, everyone will be thanking Virgin for coming along and loosening up banking. Branson will burn banking’s figurative (yet ever so restrictive and uncomfortable) bra, and liberated financial marketers will owe Virgin their gratitude for defining the new extremes of “what’s acceptable.” Financial marketers will be able to rationalize their crazy new ideas by pointing to Virgin and saying, “See! At least we’re not that far out there!”

If you doubt Virgin’s powers of disruption, all you have to do is look at what the brand has already done in other industries. These guys are smart marketers, crazy innovators, and they know how to execute. They are creative, provocative and obsess over details. Just look. These guys bring their A-game every day, something that should scare everyone in retail banking. Their sometimes lewd nature may not appeal to everyone, but then again, the best brands never do.

Much like this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, The Financial Brand could bestow a “Breakthrough Brand Award” for what the Virgin Bank brand will likely achieve. But that feels a tad premature, so we’ll wait and see what comes next.

The Financial Brand sat down with Kathy Hammond, VP/Business Development, Kent Credit Union earlier this year to talk about their rebranding project. The credit union rolled out a new logo, website and brand slogan, “We Make Banking Better.” While the rebranding is mostly cosmetic in nature, it’s a major image upgrade. There are plenty of credit unions with a lot more than Kent’s $38 million in assets and 6,300 members that don’t look this good.

What was the purpose or motivation behind the rebranding?

We wanted to re-evaluate what Kent Credit Union meant to our members, our board and our staff. And also what desires, wants and needs our members have. By combining the results of a member survey, a strategic planning session of executive management and board of directors, and “brandstorming” with the staff, we compiled valuable data from all perspectives of what Kent Credit Union means to each of them.

We also wanted a fresh, more relevant look that was representative of Kent Credit Union given all the components of branding. The new brand and identity is more iconic, focused and contemporary than our previous brand. It clearly links us to our roots in the community (Kent is known as Tree City), but also represents stability and growth. New banks and credit unions are expanding into our communities and I think the brand differentiates us from them.

OLD LOGO

NEW LOGO

Kent Credit Union’s slogan is “make banking better?”
How does Kent make banking better?

At Kent Credit Union, we take away the “fear” in banking. Our members’ funds are safe and secure, and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. We strive daily to make every banking experience a positive one, by providing excellent member service and offering a full array of products and services, many of them free.

We are committed to going beyond simply a financial relationship with our members. We are our community’s oldest credit union and have positioned ourselves to be a source for honest financial counsel; a safe place in the community that truly looks out for our members’ interests. Our new brand aligns with that. Our staff buys into this philosophy and displays it by learning names, taking a few extra minutes to chat when they can, or sending a dog biscuit through the tube at the drive-thru when they see a dog in the car. We’re committed to providing convenience, good rates and low fees, but also to giving members something extra – something better – at every opportunity.

How was the brand introduced to staff?
What are staff being asked to do to “live out the brand?”

Riding Tigers Communications did a presentation to our staff, explaining that branding is much more than a logo or a website. At the end of the presentation, they unveiled our new logo and website.

NEW WEBSITE

We also shared the results of a member survey with our staff to let them know our members’ likes and dislikes, and how they perceive Kent Credit Union. We compared that to our short-term and long-term strategic plan, all of which helped to formulate our new branding and the roles we would all play in achieving our goals.

The best thing about the rebranding is that staff was already living out the brand. The re-branding wasn’t about becoming something new, it was about better defining what we already are so we can communicate it better. The agency met with us multiple times, we spent a day taking them on a tour of our communities and our branches; they met our board, shot photos of the community, met most of our staff and talked with them about what we are. Then combined with a survey of our members, the new brand grew from our strengths as an organization. We never wanted to be something that we are not. Our staff was always making banking better.

Where are you at with the rebranding process?

We started out with changing the imagery on our glass doors and replacing wall posters in the offices, along with business cards and other paper collateral. We also introduced the new logo at our annual meeting to our members, and have had several ads in the local media sporting our new logo. Brochures and other credit union literature will be introduced as we deplete current supplies, which may not be ideal, but in this economy, we must use our funds wisely.

We’ve also done giveaways such as pens, sports bottles, keychains, etc., with the new logo that have been distributed at showcases and various other credit union events.

MISSION STATEMENT & ENTRY DOOR

Every time you start to think the financial industry’s fixation with Twitter may be easing, something completely new comes along and shakes things up. Like this stunner: TweetMyMoney, a new fully-proprietary innovation from Vantage Credit Union that allows people to access account information and make transfers via Twitter.

With the revolutionary new service, members can check their account balances, deposits, withdrawals, holds and cleared checks with simple commands. They can also transfer funds within their accounts. And it can all be done through Twitter for free.

You could call it “Twitter 2.0″ for financial institutions.

Instant Registration, Easy Utilization

Once you’re an online banking user with Vantage Credit Union, you can register for TweetMyMoney instantly. You can do both online.

Then all you do to make it work is send a direct message with a basic command to Vantage Credit Union’s Twitter account (twitter.com/myvcu).

There are seven basic functions TweetMyMoney performs:

• #bal – Reports balances for as many as five different types of deposit accounts
• #15d – Returns the last 5 deposits, including the date posted.
• #15w – Returns the last 5 withdrawals, including the date posted.
• #15c – Returns the last 5 checks to clear, including the check number and date cleared.
• #15t – Returns the last 5 transactions, including the date posted.
• #holds – Reports any active point-of-sale (POS) holds on the account, including the name of the merchant and the amount of the hold. Hotels are one type of merchant that commonly put holds on debit cards. The amount of the hold counts against your balance, which, if you didn’t know about it, could trigger overdraft fees.
• #tran – Allows a member to transfer money between their deposit accounts. A transfer can only be make between various accounts held by a specific member. Money cannot be transferred to any external third-party.

How registered users can request their balance by sending a direct message to Vantage within Twitter.

What Vantage sends to someone who requests their balance via Twitter.
Note: In this example, the member has 4 separate accounts (numbered 0, 6, 7 and 9).
The #bal command returned balances for each of the four accounts.

There’s an online video that should give you a pretty good idea of how the system would look and work from the end-user’s perspective.

TweetMyMoney Overview Video

In fact, there’s no shortage of tutorial videos and documentation. Most curious parties should be able to get most — if not all — of their questions answered by reviewing the library of materials Vantage provides:

• How to register for tweetMyMoney account access via Twitter
• How to send tweetMyMoney banking commands
• Transfer example
• Enrollment instruction screenshots
• Commands instruction screenshots
• tweetMyMoney Commands reference document
• tweetMyVantage FAQs
• Correspondence Authentication Codes explained

How Secure Is It?

If you’re like most people, you’ll immediately wonder about the security of such a system. But Vantage seems to have done a good job ensuring its new system is secure. The credit union devised its own Correspondence Authentication Codes that puts a special six-digit “signature” in digital communications such as eAlerts, eStatements, and, of course, banking information delivered via Twitter. It’s a very slick yet simple idea that is summarized in a short video. As a method to ensure authentic eCommunications, it’s really worth studying:

Correspondence Authentication Codes Explained

The real security within the TweetMyMoney platform is that money can only be transferred between accounts held by a single member. There’s no way to use TweetMyMoney to deliver — or pry with malice — funds externally.

And if the TweetMyMoney Twitter account is ever hacked, Vantage says the hacker wouldn’t have access to any private or sensitive information. Tweets sent directly to members aren’t saved, and private messages from members would only contain meaningless commands. There really wouldn’t be much for a hacker to utilize. (Of course, a hacker controlling a financial institution’s Twitter profile doesn’t need anything else to wreak havoc and steal people’s money.)

Four-Prong Strategy

In an interview with The Financial Brand, Eric Acree, EVP/Vantage Credit Union says TweetMyMoney is the first step in a four-prong strategy centered around mobile banking. Vantage chose Twitter to debut its online banking offering because it was “the easiest and least expensive” option.

In phase two, the credit union plans on unveiling essentially an identical set of features and services via Facebook, which Acree thinks should be ready around Q1 next year.

Further on the horizon, in phase three, Vantage is considering introducing SMS- or text-based banking from mobile phones. In the fourth and final stage, Vantage wants to unveil an iPhone application. Acree says no plans have been finalized yet.

“It something we have to carefully consider.”

Acree says it took only three months to conceive and deploy TweetMyMoney, but says most of the credit belongs to Vantage Credit Union’s chief “Technovation Guy,” Cam Minges.

Is 4,000 Users Realistic?

Acree says the strategy is designed to target a younger demographic with services they find attractive.

“Seventy percent of our new members are under 40,” Acree points out.

With over 100,000 members, Vantage is hoping TweetMyMoney will ultimately have a base of around 4,000 users.

“We have about 30,000 to 40,000 members using online banking today,” Acree says. “We’d be extremely pleased if we could get 5-10% of those to start using TweetMyMoney.”

Despite his optimism, Acree is not blind to the realities of launching Twitter-based banking.

“We know this isn’t a mass-market service,” he admits.

Inasmuch, Acree doesn’t expect the credit union’s more exotic flavors of mobile banking to appeal to everyone.

“People will have one of two reactions to TweetMyMoney,” Acree predicts. “They’ll either think, “Wow, that’s awesome!’ or, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s stupid!’”

“And that’s what we anticipate will happen when we roll out our Facebook application,” he reflects candidly.

What Lies Ahead?

For many months now, the retail financial industry has found Twitter both fascinating and puzzling. A few financial institutions have enjoyed some success offering customer service through Twitter, but the vast majority have struggled to integrate the popular social media tool into their marketing in any meaningful way.

Earlier this summer, ING Direct Canada launched its FeeTweeter service, the first-ever Twitter application from a financial institution. Now, with the launch of TweetMyMoney, it seems the financial industry is taking Twitter to a whole new level. It makes you wonder, “What’s next?”

Ask a retail financial institution to define its target audience and you will frequently hear something like, “All people ages 18-55.” They might say it “skews slightly towards women.”

Reality Check: This is essentially the same thing as saying, “We’re targeting everyone with money and a pulse.” It’s not a targeted market segment, it’s the entire market.

“Try to appeal to everyone, and you will end up appealing to no one.”
— David Ogilvy, ad legend

Everyone’s heard the expression, “You can’t be all things to all people.” But when you define your target audience so broadly, you’ve committed a major error in branding: You are not concentrating your brand on a specific, focused segment. You are essentially targeting “all people,” which, by extension, means you have to offer all the things those people want.

The rationale for this common branding mistake is understandable. Most financial institutions need to attract deposits — usually from a more mature audience — in order to make loans to younger, credit-driven consumers. But this only defines your basic business model. You still need to build your brand around a specific market segment.

It seems many organizations view marketing as “an entire company” communicating with “a target audience.” But groups don’t talk to groups. That’s not how human communication works. People talk to people, one-to-one. The marketing messages you send aren’t being received by “all people ages 18-55.” They are being received by real people, individuals like your husband, or your sister, or your mother, or your daughter.

Key Question: How hard do you think it would it be for a financial marketer to create a single message in the financial services industry that appealed to your husband, sister, mother and daughter?

Beyond Demographics

Demographic data can hurt as much as it helps. Putting everyone into buckets based on age, income and gender is easy and manageable, but in most cases, it grossly oversimplifies the definition of a real target audience. Demographics may have been sufficient for the marketers of yesteryear, back when concepts like “target marketing” were in their infancy. But these days, you need to be placing more importance on things like lifestyle and psychographic profiles.

Reality Check: Knowing someone’s age, income and gender may give you a vague idea of the financial situation they’re in, but it really doesn’t give you any insight into the real issues and concerns they face.

The essence of branding hinges on two central concepts: relevance and differentiation. The more you focus your brand around a narrow market segment, the more relevant you can become. You can tailor your products, messages and experiences specifically for this audience, thereby maximizing the relevancy of your brand. On the other hand, as you widen your target audience, your brand will increasingly be forced to share its position in the marketplace with more and more competitors. Simply put, the more people you target, the more competition you’re going to face.

Key Question: What is the largest audience segment that provides the most growth opportunity for your brand in the next 10-20 years?

“Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous. You get knocked down by traffic from both sides.”
— Margaret Thatcher

It’s hard — very hard — to get everyone in your organization to agree on a single, focused, well-defined target audience. But until you do, your brand will suffer. Your team must work together and have hard discussions to strip out all the subjective opinions of what the correct, most-profitable segment is. (Hint: Research will probably be needed.)