A strong financial services brand, credit union brand or bank brand isn’t built overnight. It’s cultivated through intentional strategy, consistent execution and the occasional reality check.
So, when was the last time your financial services brand had a thorough checkup? If you’re thinking “didn’t we redesign our website in 2019?” – well, that’s not quite what we mean.
Just as your organization conducts regular financial audits, your brand deserves the same scrutiny. A comprehensive brand audit tells you what’s working, what’s collecting dust and where the real opportunities are hiding. Here’s your own roadmap to success.
1. Audit Your Strategy
Start with the foundation. Does your brand strategy still make sense, or has it become that document everyone references but nobody remembers? If your strategy feels disconnected from where your organization is actually going…you’ve found problem number one.
2. Audit Your Vision and Values
Vision and values aren’t lobby art. They’re supposed to drive decisions and shape experiences. Can your consumers see these values in action? If there’s a canyon between what you claim and what you deliver, no amount of inspirational typography will fix that.
3. Audit Your Target Markets
Markets shift. The consumers you targeted five years ago have aged, moved or changed their expectations entirely. New segments have emerged. Are you still aiming at the right audiences, or are you marketing to ghosts of demographics past?
4. Audit Your Messaging
Pull up your website. Read your tagline. Now read your competitor’s tagline. Sound familiar? If your messaging could work for any bank brand with a quick name swap, you have a differentiation problem. Your messaging should answer why someone would choose you over the bank or credit union down the street. Daniel Darst, VP and Deputy CMO at Flagstar, mentions that in an AI era of collapsing SEO data, “the messaging, the storytelling, the value proposition, and the actual attributes of your brand are more important than ever.”
5. Audit Your Name
Name changes are rare (and often expensive). But the question is still worth asking. Does your name reflect who you’ve become? “First National Bank of Small Town” works great until you expand into seven new counties and nobody remembers where Small Town even is.
6. Audit Your Logo
Be honest: Does your logo look fresh or does it scream 1987? Can you actually use it on a mobile app without squinting? Sometimes a logo just needs a subtle update. Other times it needs a mercy retirement.
7. Audit Your Copy
Grab any piece of your marketing materials. Now read it out loud. Does it sound like a human wrote it for other humans, or does it read like a compliance manual had a baby with a thesaurus? Does it use “rates” 55 times without mentioning people’s dreams? Strong copy connects while informing. Weak copy puts people to sleep with jargon.
8. Audit Your Imagery Style
Look at your photos. Do they feel authentic or like they came from “diverse-people-shaking-hands-stock-photo-page-47”? Or are you using goofy illustrations when pictures of real people appeal to your market more? Consumers may not actively think of why certain images don’t connect, but they feel it in their guts. Make sure your imagery style matches your financial services brand and connects with consumers.
9. Audit Your Journey Map
Walk through the entire consumer experience. Where do people get frustrated? Where do you exceed expectations? Your journey map should be your brand lived by the staff. If it isn’t, you’re turning people away. The moments between “I need a bank” and “I’m telling my friends about this bank” are where your financial services brand is really built.
10. Audit Your Service
Here’s where the rubber meets the road. Your financial services brand or bank brand promise is worthless if your service doesn’t back it up. Mystery shop yourself. Ask the hard questions. The gap between what you promise and what you deliver is where brand equity goes to die.
Moving Forward
A brand audit isn’t a once-every-decade project you tackle when things get desperate. The financial services landscape keeps evolving, and your brand needs to keep pace. Review these ten areas regularly, and you stay relevant instead of becoming a cautionary tale.
Did the findings of your brand audit turn up a lot that needs to change? On The Mark Strategies will help you make any changes you need, from strategy to a new logo to renaming. Book a free consultation today, put the past behind you and move forward with a financial services brand, credit union brand or bank brand geared for growth.
