Matt Wilcox Pro

Branding is about values–the core values that describe your bank and why it matters. Pseudo-branding is a change in appearance without a change in substance. We don’t want that.

What we do want is to implement those core values at every level of the organization. And how well the bank adheres to these core principles will create the brand, even if you don’t spend lots of money on advertising and design.

Consider Nordstrom. Sure, they have a logo and they advertise just like other retailers, but what are they known for? Exceptional service and high-quality merchandise.

When you walk into a Nordstrom store, you know where you are. It’s not flashy and glitzy. It’s not cheap and tawdry. It’s quiet, self-assured, understated elegance and somehow, you just know you’ll find exactly what you need and receive just the right amount of assistance.

That feeling can’t be created with advertising or a clever logo. It has to come from the top of the organization and permeate every corner of it, with employees, vendors, and partners committed to integrating it into their work. Imagine what could happen if everyone that does business with your bank leaves thinking, “that was a really nice experience.”

Logos, and Colors, and Fonts…

Where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, is in visually communicating the brand to the outside world. Logos, typography, and color palette are three of the tools you’ll use to do that.

A logo is an icon that represents the company, like the Nike swoosh. A logotype is the name of the company presented in a standardized typographic format. The third option is a combination of the two, for example McDonald’s.

We all recognize the “golden arches” and, although the company has simplified the design to just the arches, for years the name was incorporated into it.

An effective logo should be an image that is readily associated with the bank, accurately represents its core values, is recognizable, and is easy to reproduce on everything from stationery to outdoor signs.

For advertising and marketing materials, pick a couple type styles that work well together. Too many different fonts can create brand confusion. Choosing fonts for a logotype should follow the same guidelines, although you’re probably going to have to stick with a single font. Choose carefully.

Colors are easily as big a challenge as typography. You should be able to coordinate your core values with colors that represent them, but in color choice you’ll again have to rely on your designer for the subtleties. Just for fun, here is some very basic information on colors and their meanings to get started:

Red – One of the primary colors (along with blue and yellow), red symbolizes passion, danger, anger, energy, and primal forces. It is one of our two favorite colors (after blue) and is the second most visible color (after yellow).

Yellow – Yellow is the color of happiness, optimism, enlightenment, and creativity, but it also has a “dark” side representing cowardice, betrayal, caution, and illness.

Blue – Our favorite color, blue is the color of sky and water, trust, strength, and authority. It is also the opposite (philosophically) of red: cold and damp, compared to red’s warmth and intensity.

Green – Universally associated with nature, green symbolizes growth and fertility, and money, at least in the U.S. It is also negatively associated with illness (green around the gills) and envy. More recently, green has become more than a color, being used as a synonym for all things ecological.

Purple – Because it is extremely rare in nature, purple quickly became the color of royalty. It is often used to symbolize magic, spirituality, creativity, and dignity. Light purples are floral and romantic, dark purples are more dignified and intellectual.

Orange – It’s hot and engaging and also the only color named after a fruit. Orange symbolizes energy and vitality, but it’s important to note that – as with all colors – different shades can have different meanings.

There’s a seductive myth floating around that designing a great logo, picking typefaces and colors, and creating a clever tagline is branding.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s not true. Making your bank look good is a part of branding. But in the larger and more useful sense, branding is about creating a memorable, positive experience for every customer, every time they interact with you. That’s just too big a responsibility to heap upon any logo, no matter how cool it is.

What is a brand?

The original brand was something ranchers burned onto the hindquarters of their cattle. The mark made it easy to track down lost or stolen animals, but it also stood for the quality of the livestock and the integrity of the rancher. (This is the important one for us.)

Like it or not, most customers view bank services as a commodity. To many, a bank is a bank is a bank (although we all know that’s not true). A solid brand for your bank will only emerge when the experience you create for your customers is markedly different from what they have come to expect.

Often, a brand evolves over time without much clear direction, until an identity emerges. Very often in banking, what emerges, notwithstanding logos, slogans and grandiose rhetoric, is “just another bank.”

What to do?

Decide what your bank stands for

In Built to Last, James Collins and Jerry Porras observe, “…an enduring great company decides for itself what values it holds to be core, largely independent of the current environment, competitive requirements, or management fads.”

Core values are principles that are integral to your organization’s existence. They are the essence of the business and the cornerstone on which the brand is built. As you determine the brand’s core values — the shorter the list, the greater its power — you create a rallying point for the organization.

Caution: it is too easy to slip into mindless hot air. “To provide the best in financial services with the utmost courtesy” may make the Board of Directors and their spouses feel good about themselves. But name one bank that couldn’t make that claim. Do better.

Once you nail down your core values, test how “core” your values really are. Advertising legend Bill Bernbach said, “More and more I have come to the conclusion that a principle isn’t a principle until it costs you money.” So ask what each potential core value is worth and what you’re willing to give up to keep it.

It doesn’t help much to choose core values if you can’t explain them and how they are essential to your organization. Write a paragraph or two explaining why each value describes the bank and why it matters. Be specific and passionate, because these will define of the bank’s identity.

Now, about that logo…

Once you know who and what you are and what you stand for, all communications should grow out of and support those values.

With that in place, if you want to talk about your logo and colors (and, if you must, your slogan), we can. And we can do so in terms of how they support a substantive brand promise. It’s coming up in my next post.