A brand isn’t proven in a style guide. It’s activated in decisions: who to hire, who to serve and how to show up in the world—in an integrated, cohesive way. Unfortunately, those are exactly the things most brand standards never address.
Here are four things your brand standards can’t afford to leave out.
1: The employer brand
Most brand standards are focused around marketers, not leaders or HR. But your brand activation starts before a customer ever interacts with you. You can’t promise effortless experiences to customers if your employees don’t feel cared for or their jobs are impossible.
Best in class brand standards devote significant time to the employer brand. Be sure to detail:
- Our promise to employees
- How leaders should model the brand
- Behaviors we expect from leaders and teammates/colleagues
- Behaviors we reward internally
- How the brand shows up in recruiting language
- Voice and tone guidelines for hiring communications
- Interview experience standards
- What benefits offerings support our employer brand promise (not just PTO and great insurance)
- Internal storytelling library
If employees experience a different brand than customers do, the brand isn’t real to anyone inside our outside the institution.
2: Who we seek to serve
Brand standards rarely address this. But knowing it helps you make the right decisions about where and how your brand should show up.
You can’t skirt important compliance rules, nor should you want to. It’s not about leaving anyone out, but it is about asking the question, “Who are we prepared to serve exceptionally well?”
Ask yourself where your financial institution excels (or could excel with some enhancements):
- A life stage we’re well-suited to help
- Problems we are uniquely designed to solve
- Groups where our expertise naturally fits such as law firms, faith communities, HOAs or people with a side hustle
- People with a philosophy such as sustainable food production, green energy or economic equity
Figure this out. Then state the difference clearly enough so the people in that segment recognize themselves and your offerings as a match to their needs and values.
3: Brand activation
This is where most standards completely collapse: they don’t define how the brand slogan turns into visible action.
Many FIs say “We’re active in the community.” But so is everyone else. That’s not a differentiator.
Where are you active, and why? Powerful brand standards help ask the questions and answer them in a way that brings the brand promise to the forefront.
“Do Something” brand activation examples to cover:
- Community sponsorship criteria
- Event participation rules
- Partnership choices
- Swag philosophy—“Why should our brand actually give this away?”
- Customer experience behaviors
- Physical environment
- Vendor selection standards
If your brand guide can’t help make decisions about what to choose and what to leave out, your brand will show up like everyone else.
4: How to handle the hot seat
Most brand standards describe the brand at its best. Very few define the brand when the situation is difficult. But knowing how your brand voice should speak in challenging situations is vital. You can’t make it up on the fly.
Designing brand standards for tough situations prepares you to put your institution's best foot forward.
- How do we respond to mistakes?
- What tone do we use when denying requests?
- How transparent are we during crises?
- How do we handle complaints: online, in person or by phone?
- When do we walk away from opportunities that aren’t a fit?
- How do we handle unfair attacks?
- Are we prepared (and do we practice) crisis communications?
Brand vulnerabilities and reputation risk are heightened when you’re not ready for the unexpected.
The best brand standards protect the promise, not just the logo.
Many institutions struggle to cohesively activate their brand for the public and for their employees. That’s because the most important parts of brand are often missing from the standards document itself. They need to be well defined from the inside so they can permeate outward.
With planning and strategy, the brand standards can be the guiding force to build an enduring brand that’s authentic and consistent from the inside out.
For help developing an integrated, results-driven financial brand, book a meeting with Martha Bartlett Piland. Let’s have an introductory conversation about where you are—and where you want to be.
Image credit: A Curated Lifestyle on Unsplash
