Branding is not only an integral part of any firm’s marketing strategy, but it is crucial for its entire strategy. Brand identity encompasses the way firms are viewed by others, including employees’ behaviour and the value placed on the firm by stakeholders and the rest of the world. A strong brand differentiates firms from competitors and it helps build trust among customers. Maintaining that strong brand identity is essential and far more important for FCA-regulated firms than those in other sectors, and there are a number of reasons for this.

The financial services sector, and the banking industry, in particular, has seen plenty of scrutiny in recent years with regards to reputation and ethics related to its operating model. Many view the financial services sector as one entity and don’t differentiate banks from other financial services companies. This can be particularly tricky especially when the industry faces difficult times – putting its ethics and morals into question. That’s why branding plays such a vital role for financial services firms, and those with a strong brand identity will definitely stand out from the homogeneous crowd.

One quality that’s more vital to a firm’s branding strategy than any other is consistency. But why is that so? Consistency in branding is key as it makes companies easily recognisable by both prospects and customers. It helps customers identify a company’s products and services - actively seeking them out and even forming associations with them. A consistent brand identity needs to be embedded in the marketing strategy to ensure that the level of service and product quality delivers on the firm’s marketing promise.

However, ensuring brand consistency within financial services firms can be quite a challenging task, especially in the professional services sector where brands are often represented by partners, consultants or advisers. So, how can the marketing professionals of these firms ensure all relevant parties stick to the company’s brand policy? Here are six tips for financial services companies to ensure consistent brands.

1. Consistency enhances the brand

Brand consistency needs to be communicated as enhancing the brand, not limiting it. But, why is that so important? Let’s imagine a scenario where a board member disagrees with the corporate image of the firm. Not only that but they are vocal in their differences and make attempts to disrupt enforcing it. This could be difficult to overcome, but it’s not impossible. The most efficient way to deal with similar situations is to ensure that senior managers of the business repeatedly talk about the strengths that consistency amplify.

2. Make brand assets easily accessible

One of the most common excuses for failing to adhere to brand guidelines is that assets such as logos, imagery and colour references, are not easily accessible. Making sure that these marketing materials are easily available to everyone at the firm will ensure that brand standards are always followed.

3. Regularly check all content for brand consistency

Checking all content for brand consistency can be very time-consuming and labour-intensive. However, this is a process that firms shouldn’t neglect. Incorporating an approval workflow platform that streamlines project management, compliance approval and archiving of all marketing assets, can make processes more efficient and ensure the marketing team reviews the brand consistency of all materials before publishing.

4. The marketing team is the biggest brand ambassador

Everyone in the marketing team must recognise, understand and support the firm’s brand policy. There are absolutely no excuses for marketing inconsistencies when it comes to brand compliance and clear, well-communicated brand guidelines must be put in place. Having a brand handbook that’s clear, consistent and easily accessible will educate employees on how to put the guidelines into practice.

5. Everyone is responsible for ensuring brand consistency

Achieving a consistent brand is the responsibility of everyone in the company. Therefore, regular brand training should be put in place for anyone who works with or produces client-facing materials. It’s essential that support comes from the top of the organisation, as senior management is in the best position to influence the perception of the marketing teams’ message.

6. Control marketing materials that are produced by other departments in the company

Managing brand consistency for documents that are not produced by the marketing team can be particularly difficult. Making sure that client-facing documents originating from other teams within the firm, such as sales or customer service, is a challenging task for all marketing professionals. Having a tool that creates templates for word documents and PowerPoint presentations, with a ‘library’ of approved options, can help ensure brand consistency and compliant documents right across the firm.

Having a strong brand identity is vital for financial services firms, especially if they want to distinguish themselves from competitors and be a customers’ first choice. However, this can be a challenging process, which requires a great deal of hard work and attention to detail for it to be successful. Following the advice contained in these six top tips will go a long way to ensuring a consistent brand identity that all in the firm can stick to.

 

By Nick Roi, managing director at Perivan Technology

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