The Race to Define Yourself

I roll to the red light as my engine settles to a low rumble. Glancing to my right, a perfect stranger ... now a 2-wheeled, mortal enemy ... who gives me an ever-so-slight nod of the head and rev of an engine. I return my own rev of approval. My pulse quickens. A bead of sweet sweat forms on my temple.

Our focus turns to our electronic taskmaster while we await its permission to unleash hell. When the cross light clickers from green to yellow I can sense our combined muscles tense, like TNT anticipating a lit fuse. I shift into first and back off the clutch as much as possible to shed precious milliseconds. 

The cross light flickers from yellow to red ... it's time. My hand tightens on the gear shift. My feet, light on the pedals. 

At green, our tandem of engines scream with excitement, like thoroughbreds released from their gate. My smaller, lighter foe pulls ahead with ease and I imagine his cocky, confident smirk just feet in front of me. My car, Sunny, and I are one as I listen and wait for just the right tone. When the engine hits that perfect note, I tap the clutch - scarcely long enough to slide into second gear. I pull even and sense my prey's smirk turn to scowl as he torques his throttle beyond its limits.

Our dance continues from second to third to fourth gear. Though Sunny and I are smooth through to shifts and united in our desire, we simply can't keep up. The Vespa scooter pulls away, not even looking in his rearview as he offers a triumphant wave.

With a sigh, I pat Sunny's dash in our own sense of victory. We putt down the road with the satisfaction that we've helped yet another person smile with this bright yellow classic convertible VW bug.

Sunny will never win any races with her 78 horsepower, 35 year old engine. She'll never take the prize in a car show with her dented trim and ripped rag top. But I've found in the year that I've owned her that she has a gift. When I pull her alongside the faster, flashier, more expensive machines at the local Friday night car show - she draws the crowd. More importantly, she demands smiles. Every single time I take her out, people point and flash a grin.

To be honest, Sunny fits me. She reflects my personal brand. Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather see myself as a drop-top '67 Camaro SS or a '63 split-window Corvette. From a running perspective, I can make a case for being a Jeep Wrangler - at home in the solitude of nature, ducking under fallen trees and splashing through rocky creek beds (heck, I wrote this blog on last night's trail run). But that's just me for a few hours a week. Every minute of every day, I'm quirky. More interested in having fun than being flashy or high-performance. Looking to make people smile. That's my '78 bug. We know who we are and we own it. Voluntarily trading trophies and ribbons for smiles and waves.

So, that's the branding challenge, isn't it? To set aside a Corvette dream that may not really fit you or a cooler Jeep persona that doesn't truly define you. There are hideous cars that win countless races and show-stoppers that spend more time on tow trucks than pavement. For yourself and your organization, know who you are, what you do naturally well, how it separates you, where that fits in the grand plan and work it like there's no tomorrow. 

Your brand isn't built in your imagination or in your Board room. It erupts from your soul.

We bring these marketing philosophies to credit unions and community banks nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too. Contact us to see how.

With more than 250,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues. Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker. Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

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937-426-9848

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Goldilocks and the Three Brands

Make sure your brand is just right.

If you look up the word “brand” in the dictionary, here is what comes up:

brand  (brænd)
— n
1.	a particular product or a characteristic that serves to identify a particular product
2.	a trade name or trademark

But a brand is a whole lot more than a mark or a characteristic.  There are many imperceptibles that go into a brand, and it is a lot more complicated than just an icon or logo as a successful brand has many elements.

Look up “brand” in business or marketing books, however, and it is overcomplicated, impersonal, and ambiguous:

"Unique design, sign, symbol, words, or a combinationof these, employedin creating an imagethat identifies a productand differentiates it from its competitors. Over time, this image becomes associatedwith a level of credibility, quality, and satisfactionin the consumer'smind. Thus brands help harried consumers in crowded and complexmarketplace, by standing for certain benefitsand value. Legal namefor a brand is trademarkand, when it identifies or representsa firm, it is called a brand name."

(Source: www.businessdictionary.com)

Getting Your Brand Just Right

A brand is personal.  People choose to buy and/or interact with brands they can relate to and that evoke a set of emotions.  The easiest way to define a brand is to think of your organization as a person.  Everyone has a certain consistent appearance, a tone, a set of personality attributes and quirks, likes and dislikes, ideal friends and partners, etc.  This definition is easy to understand and is just right for any business.

While a brand takes a long time to build and define, there is a science behind it.  The great and successful brands of today are personifying their brands, and many have actually hired someone to embody those attributes in order to amplify their brand awareness with consumers.

Some brands that, in my opinion, do a fantastic job of personifying their attributes are Progressive Insurance, M&Ms, and Geico to name a few.  And, while they are actual people, Oprah, Martha Stewart, Donald Trump and even Jennifer Lopez are successful brands.

What words describe your brand?

If you’ve had trouble knowing where to start in defining your credit union or community bank’s brand, take a step back and start describing it as you would another person.  Then you’ll be on the road to getting your brand juuuuuust right. 

Amanda

***Stay tuned for next week’s blog for tips about how to define the different elements of your brand!  

Let MarketMatch help you harness the power of your brand to impact your bottom line.  Our proprietary branding process will target opportunities to obtain new customer relationships, grow existing customer relationships, and build brand awareness.  Contact me for details.

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If you were a... (A fun branding exercise)

When we work at molding a bank or credit union's brand, we ask a lot of questions.  The whole goal is to find that magic intersection between an institution's personality and strengths; the market needs; and a positive point of competitive differentiation.

We ask obvious questions about perceptions, and processes and capabilities, but SOME of our questions are always greeted with funny looks.

If your institution were a person, what would it be like?
   ~ Man or woman?
   ~ Introvert or extrovert?
   ~ Physically fit?
   ~ Liberal or conservative?
   ~ Are you Oprah, Woody Allen, John Wayne or Forrest Gump?
   ~ What socio-economical background?
   ~ What do they regularly wear?
   ~ What kind of movies do they like?
   ~ How do they act at a party?  Do they even go to parties?

We all have a personal brand.  This question helps to humanize the bank or credit union and get at the institution's true personality.  It's funny how often a bank's "personality" matches those specific characteristics of their CEO.  If you want to know your institution's real personality, throw this question around the office this afternoon.  

If your institution were a car, tell me about it?
   ~ New or old?
   ~ Clean or rusty?
   ~ How does it run?
   ~ A lot of upgrades or basic?
   ~ Escalade, Corvette, Lexus or VW?
   ~ Does it have GPS or hand-crank windows?
   ~ How many miles are on it?
   ~ Is it well cared for and oiled every 3,000 miles or can it use some TLC?

Our vehicles are an extension of ourselves.  We name them and we talk to them.  Of all of our functional tools, they probably have the most personality.  When you compare a financial institution to car, you get a feel for how it's built.  You will quickly get a handle on it's efficiency, it's primary target audience demo and it's self-perseption.

If we put a music score to the security tapes of your branch lobby, what would it sound like?
   ~ Indiana Jones adventure?
   ~ A love song from Casablanca?
   ~ Boring - simply "white noise?"
   ~ Is it more Kenny Logins or Randy Newman?
   ~ Something from Friday the 13th
   ~ Yakety Sax?

Nothing sets the mood in a movie like the music.  Think about it ... where would Rocky be without his iconic training montage tunes?

When you think about the mood, culture or environment that you provide to your customers or your staff, what does it sound like?

Here's a fun homework assignment.  Ask these questions around the office this afternoon.  It'll generate some interesting conversation and answer a lot of important questions about your brand in a unique way.  Then come back to this blog and share some of your most interesting responses in the comments section below or on the LinkedIn link to this article.

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With more than 170,000 visits worldwide, we hope that you enjoy this blog.  If you find it helpful, please share it with your colleagues.  Also, check out our YouTube Channel for short video blogs about financial marketing.  

We bring these marketing philosophies to community banks and credit unions nationwide, and would love to bring them to your institution too.  Contact us to see how.

MarketMatch is also a nationally and internationally requested speaker.  Contact us to bring our marketing ideas to your next conference.

Here are the conferences where you can find MarketMatch.

See our story here. (click)

Chat with me LIVE! (click)

Or email me directly (click)

937-426-9848