Often, when you hear ‘brand makeover,’ you think about tearing a brand down and starting from scratch. However, that’s not always what needs to be done. In many cases, a brand has some ‘good bones,’ but just needs to evolve to become something more relevant, more engaging and more representative of today’s – and tomorrow’s - customers and members.
That was exactly what we talked about at last week’s Financial Brand Forum when we walked hundreds of attendees through a live brand makeover for Affinity Federal Credit Union (Affinity). If you weren’t able to be there, or you chose another break out session instead of ours, we won’t hold it against you. In fact, we’ll recap it for you right here, right now.
Before we jump into our specific recommendations for Affinity, we want to introduce you to the La Macchia Group way of branding. Our mission is to help financial institutions bring their brands to life. But in order to do that, we need to make sure everyone has the same understanding of just what a brand is.
If you think back on your strongest memories, you’ll find there are emotions tied to each one, bringing you back to how you felt during that moment in time. Scientifically speaking, emotions are the biggest motivator behind human actions. So, how does this apply to branding? In short, a successful brand is more than just it’s products or services, and definitely more than a logo on the wall or a pretty color palette—it’s the promise of an experience that produces an emotional reaction. Essentially, a consumer’s brand loyalty is tied to the feelings that are gained from interacting with that brand, rather than just the products or services themselves.
In short, a successful brand is less about transactions and more about interactions. It is a journey – what we call a Brand Journey.