Is your logo your brand image? No, it’s a lot more involved than that! A brand is made up of a collection of consistent design decisions around the logo, the colours used, the fonts and sizes, the imagery, the communication style, and all the related associations consumers make about it all. It refers to your mission and vision, taking into account the organisation’s goals and values. It even involves your employees’ attitudes, the way they talk to customers, behave, and present themselves. All this dramatically impacts the way customers and potential customers feel about a business. Let’s explore.
A great brand image creates recognition
The tangible aspects of a brand are coloured and enhanced by people’s feelings about the interactions they have with a business. And the whole thing is underpinned by the critical commercial decisions you arrive at around your vision, mission, and goals. The biggest and best brands are instantly recognisable, easy to pick out from the crowd. When every aspect of the brand is consistent – from simple business cards to company reports, sales brochures, websites, intranets, internal and external communications materials and more – recognition is immediate, powerful and influential.
A brilliant brand image builds trust
When you see what you expect to see, you feel safe. A recognisable brand acts like an emotional shortcut. People see it, know it, and trust it. They don’t need to think too hard, do any research, or wonder what the company is all about. When customers and prospects see a familiar logo, typeface, or colour combination, it has a positive impact. Achieve this level of consistency and people will be more likely to build relationships with the company, become loyal, and recommend friends and family. If the treatment they get matches their expectations of the brand they can even become advocates for the business, happily spreading the good word without payment or encouragement… and that is marketing gold dust!
Powerful branding makes a good first impression
People are busy. They click around, they make quick decisions, so it’s your brand’s job to make the best possible first impression. When the first touch point experienced by customers and potential clients is a great one, you win. Even the smallest detail matters, including the way your people answer the phone and, if they’re customer-facing, the way your people behave and present themselves. Make an excellent first impression and people will feel they’ve made a good decision, one they’ll want to repeat in future.
A strong brand builds credibility
We all do it – when we feel a brand is credible we’re happier to buy, stick around, and become loyal. Credible brands operate from the perspective of consumers, more outward looking than inward. A brand without credibility doesn’t last long simply because people decide not to engage, and not to buy. Credibility involves an end-to-end determination to inform, inspire, reassure and please customers via non-verbal cues like the logo and imagery, marketing and advertising, the company’s mission and vision, goals and values. Internal operations are just as vital in keeping promises to customers.
Once you’ve achieved a good first impression, credibility, recognition and trust, you know for sure your financial services branding is working hard to convince people you’re the best provider of the things they need.