Successful brands always forge deep connections with their intended audiences. They usually accomplish this by learning what prospective customers need, then building a brand that addresses those needs. But as one brand initiative supporting a new product reveals, sometimes the right brand doesn’t connect by focusing on what customers need. It connects—powerfully—by…
Brand behavior defines how a brand engages stakeholders in day-to-day interactions and moments, bringing the company’s values, personality and promises to life for customers, investors, partners and/or employees. It’s the brand strategy in action at the moment people make important decisions like whether to invest in the business, consider/buy…
According to Harvard Business Review, the failure rate of mergers and acquisitions ranges from 70–90%. Many factors can contribute to the success or failure of companies being combined. But too often, brand is not championed or leveraged during these critical moments—even though it can provide clarity and inspire invaluable unity across essential stakeholders…
Marketers should never assume their clients or prospects are aware of all the products and services that fall under their corporate umbrella — even with those clients for which there are long-term, established relationships. By developing marketing and sales strategies that incorporate opportunities for clients to learn more about a company’s offerings, marketers can…
The cryptocurrency market, which was once considered inaccessible—or even suspect—is gradually finding its way into the mainstream of global commerce, thanks to consumer-friendly apps, celebrity endorsements, and viral trends. Cryptocurrencies are rapidly being integrated into traditional financial markets. In 2021 so far, venture capital firms have invested $17 billion in crypto projects…
Before institutional investors turn over millions — and sometimes billions — of dollars to an asset manager, they want to know how their money is going to be invested. It’s not a question of which equities or bonds or alternatives the manager prefers. That’s easy enough to determine by looking at their current portfolios. What…
It’s not always easy to figure out when a new brand direction is needed. For many companies, the brand they build in the early stages of their business can often stay in place for years – long after the organization has evolved beyond its original offering and strategy. Which means that, down the line, they…
Branding is an overlooked operational element when evaluating a target company and maximizing performance of a portfolio company. Yet it harbors the most leverage in optimizing marketing and sales, growing market share and increasing retention, and commanding price premiums.
Here’s why a focus on branding is crucial:
1. Strong branding increases profitability
A company…
Blue: the most common color in financial services. A look at fifty top financial services brands found almost half had blue logos and another seven had blue elements in their logos. We weren’t too surprised with this result: blue is actually a great color. As we examined in our last Color Series post, blue…
Each year, agencies and research firms publish the rankings of the world’s most valuable brands. More than an ego boost for the listed brands’ marketers, these valuations are important intangible assets, and they become especially pertinent during M&A activity. In fact, a study from Houlihan Lokey showed that among its sample, 70…
Trees are symbols of maturity and wisdom, of resilience and sturdiness. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that so many mutual funds choose to name themselves for them. As we see it, the sense of long-term security that tree names convey may be particularly appealing to people saving for retirement, exactly the…
Branding and Asset Management: Research Findings from desantisbreindel
How effective are asset managers in communicating a differentiated value proposition? What are the key drivers of the asset management brand? And what are the most effective channels for connecting with key audiences? These are some of the questions we set out to answer in the Brand…
Much has been written about ‘key man’ risk — the danger for corporations that rely on one or a few individuals — and its impact on business value. Fashion firms with a celebrity designer, for example, or asset management firms with a star investment manager, are particularly vulnerable. Yet, even large, global firms can be exposed.
In…
Branding and Venture Capital: Key Findings from BIG:VC from desantisbreindel
In partnership with the National Venture Capital Association, the Brand Influence Guide for Venture Capital (BIG:VC) explores the importance of brand management in the VC industry. For BIG:VC, we surveyed venture capitalists, startup CEOs and limited partners from the NVCA and the…
Finding a unique brand position in a field as crowded and competitive as asset management isn’t easy. It’s tempting to fall back on safe ideas and tired claims. But in today’s financial climate, there’s nothing “safe” about an undifferentiated brand. This whitepaper examines best practices for creating a distinctive and compelling brand position in asset management.
At a Financial Communications Society lunch, Jaime Kalfus, then the Global Head of Brand Experience at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, presented a behind-the-scenes look at the creative strategy driving the firm’s new brand campaign. We were intrigued to see how her experience of the challenges in developing a specialty financial services…
Innovation. It’s been a recurring theme in almost every one of our conversations with B2B companies looking to refresh their brands. From the CMO to the CEO, B2B executives have been laser-focused on building brands that convey innovation.
When did this word become so ingrained in our lexicon? According to Google Ngram, the…
