In today’s fast-paced culture, people are always looking for quick ways to improve. Fast diet plans and pills guarantee you can drop 20 pounds in two weeks. Quick exercise regimens offer ways you can move from the couch to a 5K in a month.
It’s often the same way with branding…institutions want quick fixes. The challenge, however, is that branding is a long-term play. It’s certainly not an overnight process.
As Tom Asacker says in A Clear Eye For Branding: “Branding is an ongoing process of renewal.” There is no such thing as a branding “project” because you are always doing branding at your credit union or community bank.
Most branding efforts take months or even years to fully implement. Branding is strategic. But there are some immediate steps you can take that will yield positive improvements sooner rather than later.
Here are five ways to improve your brand starting today:
1. Talk about your brand with staff — Every single time employees gather for a routine meeting (all-staff meeting, branch or department meetings, etc.), you should start the conversation with your brand. If it’s a branch meeting, carve out time for employees to answer the question, “how did you live the brand this past month?” One tool you can use is Living The Brand videos. These are short messages that offer a central brand idea and talking points for staff to discuss.
2. Desterilize your branch — Most financial institutions are sterile. In less technical terms, they are “banky.” You don’t have to completely remodel your branches to have a powerful impact. It’s amazing what a few bright colors can do. You can even take some simple steps like offering free Wi-Fi, comfortable couches, charging stations or a modest kids’ play area. Visuals and looks matter. While more and more transactions are going digital, consumers are still visiting branches. Make those visits matter.
3. Tell brand stories — Your brand has stories to tell. These include ways you impact your consumers’ lives, ways you impact the community and ways you make financial dreams come true. One practical step you can take immediately is to start collecting brand stories on a regular basis. Systemize story and testimonial collection. People connect with stories, not products. Start telling stories. And here’s a bonus tip: collect those stories via video with your phone.
4. Conduct brand surveys — Branding involves research. But that doesn’t mean you have to spend tons of money or time analyzing and crunching numbers. The kind of information you can gather through a simple Survey Monkey questionnaire is amazing. Brand questions to ask include: “What words describe our financial institution?” “When you think of banking, what comes to mind?” and “What makes us different?” Knowing how your customers or members perceive your brand is valuable data. Ask people what they think about your brand.
5. Improve your bathrooms — Branding touches everything (including your bathrooms). When we do marketing audits for clients, we do bathroom smell tests. That’s right…how your restrooms smell communicates something about your brand. Make sure you use two-ply toilet paper, have a nice smelling aroma and clean the bathrooms more than just once a day. Your restrooms are actually brand ambassadors. Take care of your bathrooms.
Branding might sound too big to handle. But you can improve your brand with these five simple moves forward. And for more help tackling brand improvements, book a free consultation with On The Mark Strategies. We help many institutions better connect with their consumers every year, and we’d love to help you too.
