Wash Your "Brand Window"

Imagine your institution’s brand is a window. If it’s clean, sunlight pours in and you have the visibility to see out while others can clearly see in. But if it’s grimy, everything inside is dim and no one can see in or out. In fact, people on both sides can only see the filth built up over the long years that no one bothers to wash off.

The sad truth is many community financial institutions are like the dirty window. But it doesn’t have to stay that way…

It’s time to grab a bucket of soapy water and your squeegee. It’s time to tidy up your community bank or credit union brand, enhancing clarity for both internal and external stakeholders. Here are five ways to get started.

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1. Make a Vision and Values That Shine?

Before you do anything else, you must polish your brand identity to a mirror shine.

Firstly, you need an inspiring brand vision. No one is really motivated by improving your ratios or increasing your net worth and so on. Those things are certainly important while running your business, but they aren’t inspiring.

Your brand vision gets at the very core of who you are and why you (and every employee) gets up every morning. Is everyone clear on what your brand vision is? If you have a brand vision, does it motivate people?

Simon Sinek describes the power of a clear brand vision…

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Also, it’s helpful if your brand vision is unique. Everyone talks about serving the community and helping people with dependable financial products. Come up with something different, exciting and still easily understood throughout your organization.

Second, create clear values that represent your unique community bank or credit union brand culture. The best way to create clarity here is by taking your values from pre-existing staff behaviors. Since people already witness the values lived out every day, it’s not hard to understand where they come from and how they define you.

It’s ok to use “insider language” here, as long as people still understand your meaning. In fact, such language may impart special meaning to your values for staff and consumers. At On The Mark Strategies, our values are: own it, hit home runs and play for the team. This verbiage is common internally but you probably still get the gist as an outsider too.

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2. Mop Up Your Messaging

According to the New York Times, 52% of financial marketers said reaching the right audience was their biggest issue. That statistic shows how truly challenging it is to craft clear community bank or credit union brand messaging.

Unfortunately, your brand often miscommunicates with consumers. This results in a dysfunctional relationship (like the couple in this scene)…

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Don’t hang your consumers out to dry. Give them the help they want. Show them you’re the partner for them. There are a couple considerations here:?

• Dance with who brought you
• Pay attention to semantics
• Simple is best

“Dance with who brought you” means remembering the consumers who got you to where you are. It’s always a bad idea to totally abandon this group of core supporters. As you expand, remain inclusive in your messaging. Use allusions, metaphors or slogans both resonant with your core base and wider demographics.

Semantics (or the meaning of words) matters greatly because you could be saying something totally different than you think you’re saying. “Member” doesn’t have the same connotations to everyone. “Switch” might imply a lot of effort on the consumer’s part. Clarify your messaging by thinking more deeply about meaning.

Lastly, simplest is best. Marketing guru Donald Miller advises to ditch the “cute and clever” in favor or something clear. If you have any doubt about consumers understanding your witty message, rewrite it to be simpler.

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3. Close the Gaps?

Brand gaps quickly muddy up your community bank or credit union brand. What’s a brand gap? It’s the space between what you say your brand represents and how it’s represented.?

Brand gaps could mean:?

• Your employees’ behaviors aren’t consistent with brand values.
• Your marketing doesn’t match predetermined brand messaging.
• Your leadership doesn’t prioritize the brand.

Needless to say, these issues create confusion around your brand identity and plant doubts about if your brand even matters.

It may be time to perform some mystery shops or additional training if you suspect brand gaps exist in your institution. Your war against brand gaps will also, more than likely, be an endless one. Team members naturally become complacent over time, so organize monthly trainings to keep everyone excited about the brand.

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4. Have Sparkling Visuals?

You might already know one of my mottos is “lead with strategy.” But even someone as unapologetically strategy obsessed as me can’t deny the importance of visuals. Strategy doesn’t catch anyone’s eye…strategy-driven visuals do.

Sadly, many community bank or credit union brand visuals are less than stellar. Some logos are woefully old (despite the best practice being a logo redesign every ten years). Still, “sparkling visuals” don’t mean complex or overly designed images.

This Bloomberg video describes the current “debranding” trend…

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Make sure your own visual designs reflect current trends, your institutional growth and modern proclivities toward mobile devices. Use captivating colors and crisp images. Most of all, make your visuals consistent across all platforms and venues.

A lack of visual consistency means people won’t know when they see your brand imagery. You want instant recognition.

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5. Remove All Idle Hands

You’ve probably heard the expression, “Idle hands are the devil’s playthings.” Well, they also ruin your community bank or credit union brand clarity.

Every team member, from the tellers to the top, are brand advocates. The brand doesn’t survive without each person buying into your identity and living it. Foster a culture that attracts the sort of people who love your values and repels the individuals who don’t care about them.

There’s no room for brand freeloaders. Set everyone to work keeping that brand window clear for consumers to see who you truly are.

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Keep Your Brand Squeaky Clean?

Creating or maintaining a brand is a lot of work to do on your own. On The Mark Strategies provides help ranging from strategic rebrands to visual makeovers to brand training. See what Dan Price at Mountain West Bank had to say about On The Mark Strategies’ branding help:

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Book a free consultation now and clarify your brand.

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Want More Tips??

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