blog
Are you Branding Effectively?
By Jesse Mark
As part of kasina's research for our latest paper Top 10 Web Sites for Financial Intermediaries in 2011, we performed advisor Web site reviews of 45 asset managers and insurers. Among the hundreds of metrics we looked at, the one I want to focus on is branding.
Why focus on branding? Because it is the one aspect of the Web site that most frequently poses questions and provokes debate among e-Business and digital marketing teams.
When analyzing the firm's brand image on the Web, I have seen some firms create long check lists of criteria to evaluate uniqueness of color palette, discussion of the firm's history and financial strength, power of the firm's value message, etc. The list goes on. But lists are unnecessary - not because the Web shouldn't do all of these things, but they are failing to measure whether you are truly "branding" your firm any differently than your competitor. Branding isn't a check the box activity. To "brand" your Web site effectively, your firm's name and Web site must encompass an identity which affects the personality of the products you sell. It needs to be unique!
Take a look at the screenshot below from the products page of a consumer electronics store. I have blocked out any reference to the store name. Even if you have not shopped on the site recently I bet you can recognize the company, why? Because the firm has developed a total marketing and branding strategy that encompasses the offline, online, and in-store experience.
Now take a look at an online fund profile from one of the top fifteen largest asset managers. Can you guess which fund company it is? It isn't as easy as the last example. As firms invest in advisor sites, many are still missing a resonating message as to why their firm is any different from other firms selling almost identical products.
In the coming years firms will need to "catch up" with their peers outside of the asset management industry, who are far ahead in creating integrated marketing campaigns and effective brand messages.