Can we differentiate from our competitors without alienating our customers?

If the first conversation with our financial service clients is about trust, the second one is always about how we can help them differentiate without alienating their current clients. This is an understandable need. We help them prepare for a future that includes their current clients and, hopefully, a bunch of new clients, too. Our culture-first process overlaps your brand concerns to help you stand out for the right reasons.

Clear position

We start our process by digging into your company and your competitors. We understand your business and its landscape. We emerge from this stage with a clear strategic statement. These words plainly state what makes you unique. Our strategy informs our work from this point on. It could be a focus on a customer segment, a unique product/service, or a purpose that makes you different.

Leverage history / culture

At the same time, we use our workshop-based approach to understand what makes your culture unique. We work through branding exercises with your core team, hosting small group conversations, and assessing surveys. To differentiate, you need to know what you are doing differently, but you also need to know how you are different. This is the same thing that drew your current customers, and it is the thing that will retain them as you expand into new markets.

Develop distinctive assets

Once we understand your brand position and culture, we can create brand assets that reflect who you are, where you are going, and what sets you apart. This could be the logo, brand colors, typography, and photography. It could be a unique illustration style. It will also likely be your tone of voice. Your language will sound as coherent and consistent as your visual assets. They will all be an extension of your people aimed toward solving business problems.

Humanize

You have more opportunities to communicate with your customers now than ever before. You have mailers, email, a website, social media, call centers, offices, or branches. Your brand assets can help all of those interactions feel human. Your language and design will be flexible and scalable to work in every context, from a social post to a mural on the side of a building.

Embrace your purpose

Your current customers know you. They appreciate your purpose. Why you exist. This could be related to your positioning or your philanthropy. Either way, talk about it clearly and openly. People today want to do business with organizations that are consistent with their values. Communicating your purpose through your brand will help you retain the customers you want to retain and gain the customers you are going after. Some attrition may happen, and that is okay.

Your brand challenges overlap our process in a way that will help you differentiate yourself while maintaining relationships with your current customers. If this sounds like something you want to work on, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to host a free consultation to see if a fit exists.