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Getting The Message Across: WealthBriefing Explains The Power Of Brands
Tom Burroughes
WealthBriefing
8 June 2012
In today’s turbulent economic conditions it has never been
more important for wealth managers to get their message across and a strong
brand identity is crucial even if it can be difficult to define. The importance of effective branding and marketing, and
strong communication with clients, was the theme of a recent 90-page report,
Reaching Out To The High Net Worth, authored by this publication’s deputy group
editor, Wendy Spires, and published in association with Coutts.
Last week, members of the editorial team, including Spires
and Stephen Harris, managing director of ClearView, which publishes this
website, spoke about the report and its importance at Coutts’ London
headquarters in the Strand. Others who spoke to a select audience of industry
professionals were Ian Ewart, head of products, services and marketing at Coutts; Paul Drummond, founder and group commercial director of Quintessentially, the global concierge firm and Mark Ellis, managing director, Syzygy, an “ideas agency for the digital age”. Also speaking was Sarah Wyse, head of marketing strategy at Coutts, who spoke about the bank's recent brand revitalisation.
Outlining the report – but not giving all the contents away
so as to encourage people to read it – Spires explained how a notable upturn in
spending by wealth managers on branding and marketing had sparked an interest
in the topic. Coutts itself, for example, has recently revitalised its brand.
Spires explained that a brand can sometimes be summarised like this: “Your
brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room.” While a
simple comment, Spires said, it captures the issue of how brand is a complex
issue of intangible things that might be associated with how a firm appears to
a potential client. In framing the report, she described, for example, how she
had asked her colleagues (including the writer of this article) which wealth
management firm they would choose if they had suddenly come into a large
fortune. As Spires went on to explain, the answers were very revealing, not
least because in some cases, some people were unable to give a definite answer. Details on how to get a copy of the report follow... In his talk, Coutts’ Ewart explained how this blue-blooded
bank has approached its brand revitalisation and the issue of marketing and
branding more broadly. In particular, he said an institution such as a bank
that wants to establish a strong brand has to consider four key elements:
Differentiation from peers (what makes a bank stand out); recognition; how a
person gets to know a bank and fourthly, esteem (“Is this a bank where I would
like to open an account?”) Ewart, while agreeing with ClearView’s Stephen Harris that
the issue of restoring trust in wealth management is important, used the word
“relevance” to explain what is at the core of how he thinks of branding. “We
believe that it really is all about relevance to clients. Will you
do what I tell you to do? Can I rely on you?” he said, explaining how the issue
can be framed. In the case of Quintessentially’s Paul Drummond, he
explained the recent marketing re-brand of this global concierge firm and the
importance of closely studying any local market, including keeping strong track
of spending trends from high net worth individuals. And in the case of Mark
Ellis of Syzygy, he pointed out the sheer diversity of HNW individuals is an
essential fact for firms to grasp when considering how their brands come across.
For example, he pointed out that private banks are often surprised by how
knowledgeable high net worth individuals – of all ages – can be about modern
technology and communication channels such as social media. Whereas many
financial brands still treat mobile technology – devices such as iPads – as
afterthoughts, the development of such technology should be an integral part of
banking and understanding of marketing brands, he said.
To find out how you can get either a PDF or hard copy version of the report, please contact Hugo Chamberlain at hugo@clearviewpublishing.com.