Reeling from an economic recession spurred by the financial industry’s collapse, consumers are eager to finger big bank villains. ANZ gladly offers up “Barbara,” the rude, cranky, deceptive and dismissive bank manager starring in a pair of parodies that demonize the bank’s competition.

ANZ, the largest bank in Australia, is using Barbara — the epitome of what people detest about banking services and policies — to draw wry contrasts between itself and the cold-hearted perceptions of big banks.

In one of the spots, a customer complains to Barbara. “You said I should open this everyday account because it had NO monthly account fees,” the customer protests.

“No need to thank me,” Barbara snaps back.

“I’m not, look at all these!”

“Ah yeah,” Barbara says. “You see when I said no monthly account fees that was no with a silent ‘k’ as in you may not know about the fees until the fees are charged. Your mistake.”

ANZ – “KNOW FEE CHECKING”
Barbara tries to straighten out one of her customers who complains about fees on her no-fee checking account.

ANZ – “NO GO AWAY”
Barbara dismisses the complaints of one of her customers and instead signs him up for a product he doesn’t want.

Reality Check: It wouldn’t be funny if it wasn’t true.

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ANZ produced the TV commercials after the bank eliminated 27 different fees and charges on personal accounts. The spots are intended to highlight ANZ’s simple and transparent approach to everyday banking.

“We are not just parodying our competitors, we are parodying the entire industry, including ourselves,” David Lindberg, ANZ’s managing director of marketing and strategy, told the Daily Telegraph in an interview.

The role of Barbara is played by comedian Genevieve Morris, who has been enjoying a level of notoriety unbefore seen in her 20-year career thanks to the ANZ spots.

An unofficial account for Barbara has over 1,500 fans on Facebook.

Comments at various websites hosting copies of the commercials reflect a range of consumer sentiment. Some say the spots backfire, perfectly capturing the experience they had with an ANZ employee. Most take the spots for what they are: a light-hearted poke at crappy bank service.

The campaign was created by Australian ad agency M&C Saatchi.

Most organizations struggle to define their brand strategy — who they are, what they stand for and what they do differently. In fact, many don’t even know where to begin. Not to worry. Here’s an easy way to get started.

Make a list of all the things you aren’t. What don’t you want to be? Who aren’t you targeting? What aren’t you selling? What do you not want to do?

• We aren’t a mega bank.
• We aren’t corporate and stuffy.
• We don’t try to serve people living on the other side of the country.
• We don’t push products on people they don’t need.
• We don’t treat people like a number.

Sounds pretty good so far.

When you hear someone on your management team declare authoritatively, “We aren’t _______ ,” or when one of your employees responds with, “But that’s just not who we are,” make a note of it and keep track. Update your list. If you keep going, you’ll be on your way to writing a Brand Manifesto.

What the Dodge Charger Isn’t

Here’s a blunt-but-beautiful example of how this branding technique works, courtesy of Dodge Charger. The script for this 30-second commercial speaks volumes without ever saying mentioning anything about the product at all:

What is that thing? Well I’ll tell you what it isn’t. It isn’t a man bag. It isn’t man sandals. It isn’t a low-cal plate. It isn’t a yoga class. It isn’t an exfoliant with added moisturizer. It isn’t a couple’s cooking class. It certainly isn’t a small dog that needs a jacket if the temperature drops below 70. That’s what it isn’t. Dodge Charger.

WHAT THE DODGE CHARGER ISN’T

The message is clear. You don’t need to know about the Charger’s 370-horsepower Hemi V8 engine with variable cam timing to know the Charger is a “man car.”

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What USA Fed Isn’t

Spike is the official spokesdog for USA Fed, a credit union based in San Diego. Spike oozes with character, laying down brand messages about what USA Fed is not: “Say no to the fat cats,” “180° from banking,” Spike is a revolutionary. It’s more about what he’s fighting against than what he’s fighting for. “Viva la credit union revoluçion!”

What Apple Isn’t

When people think of Apple, they frequently associate themes like “innovation,” “cool,” “easy-going,” “friendly,” “intuitive” and “stylish design.”

But with its latest ad campaign, Apple has decided to amplify those perceptions by illustrating the stark contrasts between what the company is- and isn’t, what it does- and doesn’t stand for.

By personifying Mac and PC, Apple is making qualitative claims on a simple scale: Do you want to be like this guy? Or more like this guy?

Are you dull and boring? Or funny and friendly?

Complicated? Or simple and straightforward?

Convoluted, tedious and bureaucratic? Or intuitive?

Would you rather be ugly and unattractive? Or stylishly gorgeous, as this 30-second TV spot for Mac’s iMovie clearly illustrates:

APPLE MAC AD FOR iMOVIE FEATURING GISELE BUNDCHEN

Key Takeaway

Branding is all about focus — a focused promise, focused audience, focused messages, etc. It can be easier finding your brand’s focus when you dismiss things outside your field of vision. That’s why defining what you aren’t can be as valuable as defining who you are. These cultural absolutes are powerful insights that can create real clarity for your brand. (Tip: For everything you say you aren’t, you should be able to create a contrasting statement that defines what you are.)

Reality Check: You’re only going to get so far by defining what you aren’t, what you oppose and what you don’t like.

Dexia Bank, serving France and the Netherlands, has done two of the most innovative things you may ever see in financial services marketing. First, they have targeted a Gen-Y audience with live rock concerts streamed in the bank’s banner ads (more on that in a moment). Second, they’ve set up a whole separate bank, Axion, to exclusively serve customers ages 12-25.

AXION
Dexia’s youth bank, exclusively for Gen-Y.

This idea of a bank-within-a-bank is not entirely unique. For instance, Bank of the Wichitas created Redneck Bank, an online/direct spinoff targeting Midwest mullet lovers. But Redneck is merely a reskinned bank with a lifestyle veneer. What Axion is doing is quite different: unique products, promotions and educational resources exclusively targeted to a narrow audience segment and marketed under a separate standalone bank brand.

By 2020, the retail financial landscape could be littered with hundreds — if not thousands — of these micro-niche banks. A big bank that may be struggling to serve everyone today could be completely transformed into a collection of sucecssful sub-brands 10-20 years from now. Instead of one corporate website, think “many different websites,” all with different styles and different products.

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The ‘Banner Concerts’ Concept

To promote Axion back in 2009, Dexia created one of the most innovative promotions of the year — in any industry. Axion introduced what it believes is an internet-first: “Axion Banner Concerts.” The bank streamed rock concerts — real live-gigs — within the frames of traditional banner ads. There’s no easier way to explain it. You just have to see it.

First, Axion started with a contest to select 25 young, up-and-coming bands. Then they invited each of these bands to perform live on a specially-constructed sound stage. The filmed concert was broadcast live, and streamed onto popular Gen-Y websites in a complex media plan. Axion provided an “embed” option so bands could easily incorporate performances into their websites, fan blogs and social network pages.

BAND PLAYS CONCERT IN LEADERBOARD SIZE BANNER AD
Click on the ad to play the concert and see how it works or view the performance on YouTube.

TIM VAN HAMEL – “GARDEN OF WEEDS”
Click on the ad to play the concert or watch it on YouTube.

Clicking on one of the banner ads would drive visitors to the Banner Concert microsite, where the public could vote for their favorite among the 25 bands. The winner got to perform a live gig at Ancienne Belgique, one of Belgium’s biggest concert halls, with live streaming on an Axion Web-TV channel.

Axion supported the Banner Concert series with a mix of media, including emails, an ad on MTV, and by spreading posters in music stores, CD shops, bars and restaurants. The Banner Concert campaign was developed by agency Boondoggle.

The campaign’s results are impressive:

• 6,807,442 banner impressions on well known internet sites
• The “embed” option on bands’ fan pages and blogs generated another 43,479 impressions.
• 44,845 unique visitors hit the campaign’s microsite.
• 7,581 people voted for their favorite band, more than half utilizing a SMS text-based voting option via their mobile phones.

The campaign won several awards, including 5 Golden Lions in Cannes. For the Banner Concert project’s innovative use of online technologies, its creativity, imagination and the bank’s utter commitment to a Gen-Y audience, The Financial Brand is also bestowing one of its Breakthrough Brand Awards to Axion. Great work and congratulations!

PROMOTIONAL POSTER

CAMPAIGN MICROSITE
Each banner ad led to a microsite showcasing a collage of all 25 bands’ performances. There the public could vote for their favorite show. There’s a little navigation strip at the bottom of the site with links to Axion, but the Axion brand should probably be more prominent. You might not ever know this was a promo hosted by a bank.

Bands play their concerts on a stage that was exactly the same proportions as traditional online banner ads. The idea to have bands perform — quite literally – within the confines of a banner ad is simply brilliant. Concerts were filmed and produced by Mojuice. The sets were developed by Stakka Concepts.

VIDEO CASE STUDY
A 3-minute YouTube video summarizes the entire project nicely,
including some behind-the-scenes footage.

During the 2010 Super Bowl pregame show, The Credit Union of Johnson County ran an ad announcing its new name — Mainstreet. The new moniker is meant to align the credit union with the sensible Midwest values of folks living around Kansas City, where the credit union is based, while distancing itself from the widely-reviled greed of Wall Street. The Financial Brand talked with John Mathes (pictured left), Director of Brand Services at Bancography, about the firm’s name and brand work for Mainstreet.

Financial Brand: Why change names?
John Mathes: Primarily because the credit union is growing outside of its original geographic trade area. The credit union recently merged three others into its operations — two in Kansas and one in Missouri. With its reach extending beyond Johnson County, John Beverlin, the CEO, felt it was time to change the name.

Secondarily, the original name was burdened by sounding as if you had to be a county employee to belong. The original charter was for the Johnson County Teachers Association.

FB: Why ‘Mainstreet?’
JM: It doesn’t get any more “Main Street” than suburban Kansas City. The members and associates (staff) all embody the tenets of the new brand as we’ve crafted it.

The huge coup here is the on-going, numerous references to “Main Street” vs. “Wall Street” in the media. Every time they mention it, it is a mention for Mainstreet Credit Union.

Never has a new name been launched with so much “pre-awareness” already established for the “big idea” behind the brand. The whole Move your Money grassroots effort, and the flight to safety from Wall Street, plays right into the essence of the new brand.

FB: How is the brand being positioned?
JM: “We live where you live.”

MAINSTREET CREDIT UNION – POSITIONING STATEMENT

FB: Is there a new slogan or tagline?
JM: We haven’t settled on a on-going slogan…and may not have one. The main copy point for the brand launch is: “You’re not Wall Street. Neither are we.”

FB: Was research used as part of this process?
JM: Yes, in a couple of steps. First, Bancography established benchmark awareness and attribute rankings, as well as a market share and competitive analysis. The development of the brand positioning and name alternatives were a result of the Bancography Brand Map process. Communication audits were also performed with the credit union’s primary competitors.

As the process wound down and we got closer to the name selection, qualitative focus groups coupled with quantitative verification (telephone intercepts) were conducted with both members and non-members in the trading areas. The credit union’s associates also participated in separate focus groups.

FB: How did the credit union approach the name rollout?
JM: The name and brand was launched internally first back in mid-November. Great care was taken to be sure that every associate understood the process, the rationale and the reason for the change. Outside sales training consultants are assisting with the transition.

Member awareness was the second phase. The credit union took great care to explain the rationale behind the change and to reassure members that it was not being taken over.

You’ll notice the advertising elements do not mention the old name. This was careful thought-out strategy, so as to not burden ads with any explanation. The idea was that if someone was not currently a member, it would be for one of two reasons: they had already dismissed the Credit Union of Johnson County (for any number of reasons), or they simply weren’t aware of it. So there was absolutely no benefit to making the connection.

MAINSTREET CREDIT UNION – BRAND LAUNCH
A 30-second TV spot used in the 2010 Super Bowl pregame show to announce
the Credit Union of Johnson County’s name change to ‘Mainstreet.’

FB: How long did the whole process take?
JM: The original market survey for benchmarks and the kick-off “ideation session” for the Brand Map process took place in November 2008.

FB: What’s the timeline for rolling the brand out?
JM: The credit union will implement its new brand over several months, changing out signage, print materials and advertising.

FB: What size is the credit union?
JM: The credit union has $240 million in assets, over 52,000 members, eight branches and two satellite locations in the Kansas City area.

Credits: Bancography (research, branding, naming, logo), The AMP Group (advertising), Margaret J. Blankers Public Relations Group (public relations), and Graphic Edge KC (graphic design).

[Editor’s Note: The Credit Union of Johnson County has applied for a trademark with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. There is already a federally registered trademark for “Mainstreet Financial” for a financial planning firm. There is also another credit union named Main Street Financial FCU in Louisiana (formerly LA DOTD FCU). Domestic Bank in Rhode Island has held a USPTO federal trademark for the phrase “We’re Main Street, Not Wall Street,” since 1998. The bank still uses the slogan on its website today.]

Written by Jeff Stephens, CEO/Creative Brand Communications

In 1967, when Ralph Lauren opened his first shop, a necktie store, he had a vision for a powerful brand. And today, over 40 years later, it’s obvious that he was very smart for investing so much time, money and energy into building his family of brands. In fact, Interbrand reports Polo Ralph Lauren is the 99th strongest brand in the global market, with its brand alone worth nearly $3.1 billion.

That’s a lot of money for investors and execs. But who really benefits the most from the strength of the Polo Ralph Lauren brand? The consumers who use his products.

When the horse-riding polo player is stitched on my shirt, that little equestrian icon becomes my way to help shape the way you think about me. And it’s not by chance. I carefully chose that brand to reflect the way I want to position myself in your mind. When I wear a Ralph Lauren shirt, I know people will judge me…which is exactly what I want. I choose Ralph Lauren because I want you to see me as “classic,” “preppy,” “upscale (but accessible),” “successful,” etc.

Now, let that sink in for a moment, because chances are this represents a 180-degree shift in your thinking about your bank or credit union brand.

You probably think your brand is a tool to shape people’s perceptions of your organization, and you’re right. But your brand is also a tool for people to shape the way others perceive them. This concept is simple but fundamentally profound.

Key Takeaways
People use strong brands as tools to communicate things about themselves. They use brands — quite literally — as badges on their sleeves to send messages to people around them. The message is, “This is how I want you to judge me. I want you to think of me as a Polo kinda guy.” When your bank or credit union’s brand is really reaching its potential, your customers will want to use it to shape the way people perceive them.

Key Question: When people whip out their debit/check card with your financial institution’s logo on it, how do they feel? Do they feel proud? Indifferent? Embarrassed? When others see that logo on your debit card, what does it make them think about you?

Reality Check: In all probability, people are not using your brand as a badge.

Why not? More importantly, what can you do about it? Spare us all the boohooing about how “banking is too boring to build a brand around.” Of course banking is boring! But that doesn’t mean your brand has to be boring as well.

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%.

Bottom Line

According to these three studies, it seems a big bank’s brand value hinges on how well it continues to attract customers who are willing to pay a premium despite their lack of trust in the institution. Translation? Big bank brands are worth more because consumers expect to get bent but bring their business to them anyway.

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