The Future of Financial Brands in a Post-Wall Street World

 
Since 1792, it's been America's most valuable brand name.

Wall Street, the center of the financial world. Wall Street, the engine of capitalism. Wall Street, the audaciously meritocratic hothouse of risk, reward and riches.

Make no mistake, Wall Street is a brand every bit as specific and as emotionally resonant to its constituents as Nike or Apple or any of the other corporate names that define our culture. 

And for thousands of brokers, advisors, researchers, underwriters and other independent financial firms, it's provided a foundation of trust, confidence and credibility for their individual brands.

Surviving the aftershocks.

Unfortunately, even before the seismic events of October 2008, we began to see cracks in the Wall Street brand:

With all the expenses associated with Sarbanes-Oxley, more and more fledgling companies are deciding to forgo Wall Street money and seek their funding in London.

Sovereign funds, not Wall Street, are propping up our financial institutions.  Singapore invested $9.7 billion in UBS, China $5 billion in Morgan Stanley, and Abu Dhabi $7.5 billion in Citibank.

Does this mean that Wall Street is going away? Of course not. "The markets will not disappear," Robert Teitelman of TheDeal.com writes, "just because the whirlwind has knocked down some storied institutions. "Still, it's clear that Wall Street's value as a brand has been severely damaged. And those financial entrepreneurs who have sheltered in its foothills will have to look for ways to build their own foundations of credibility and trust. Three recent trends suggest a strategic and tactical course of action.

1. Objectivity = opportunity.

As confidence in big-name brands and institutions decreases,  there's been a marked increase in the flow of assets to independent firms. According to a recent Citigroup study, about two-thirds of all new assets are coming from the full-service brokers.

"For many, objectivity is the most attractive feature," explains Adrian Mastracci, an independent investment counselor. "Investors seek a professional who has no financial stake in their investments."

As always, your brand must offer a clear, compelling value proposition - but in this environment, independence and objectivity should become the cornerstones of that proposition. Even the established  megabrands are working hard to establish their maverick credentials. As a recent TD Ameritrade ad claims, "There's never been a better time for a second opinion."

2. Brand processes, not products.

Once upon a time, the ability to offer branded financial products was considered a sign of leadership. But now...

"Investors are taking a long, hard look at their portfolios and how they were created," notes Alan Brachfeld of Manhattan-based independent KBK Wealth Management.  "They want to know that their advisor is completely focused on their needs, not somebody else's sales goals."

Given investors' skepticism and their renewed desire for objectivity, transparency and accountability, many firms are finding that a clearly defined and branded planning process is one of their most important marketing tools.

Whether it's as simple as re-packaging the CFP Board of Standard's six-step process, or as elaborate as Lincoln Financial Advisors' graphic methodology (go to lincolnfinancial.com), a branded planning process offers your prospective clients concrete proof of your commitment. And allows you to place any proprietary products you may recommend into a more client-centric context.
 
3. Customization is king.

A consistent brand image has always been one of the prerequisites of a successful marketing program.

Today, however, more and more investors are looking for a customized brand experience. "Customers simply want a personal relationship," says Richard Smith of Financial Services Technology. They expect an acknowledgement of their specific needs, and solutions tailored to their individual issues at every brand touchpoint.

How well are these expectations being met? Consider the typical financial services website. "Deplorable," Dirk Knemeyer, author, educator, and founder of Involution Solutions puts it bluntly. "Customers are not being brought deeply or compellingly into the brand experience. The information and interaction models, the lifeless usability choices, resemble those that were in vogue in the late 1990s."

Clearly, there's an opportunity here.  Thanks to the growth of open-source programming and free analytics, it's relatively inexpensive to transform even the most static piece of brochure-ware into a dynamic, customizable media channel.

Build your own foundation.

The good news is, confidence in The Street has been severely shaken - but it isn't fatal. As Robert Teitelman points out, "Wall Street is a set of functions as much as a collection of institutions. The need for those functions hasn't gone away."

The bad news is, confidence in The Street has been severely shaken, and can no longer be trusted to provide a firm foundation of trust and credibility for entrepreneurial financial brands.

For the foreseeable future, you'll have to build it yourself.