Is branding really all that hard?
Your article, "Branding Business" (Money Management, September 16), seems to suggest that branding is an all-to-tough proposition for financial planning organisa-tions. Why is this so?
Your article, "Branding Business" (Money Management, September 16), seems to suggest that branding is an all-to-tough proposition for financial planning organisa-tions. Why is this so?
The notion that planning firms cannot brand because they are "one-on-one" busi-nesses, or that they are "intangible", or that people within the business "run their own race" is nonsense.
If other advice-based businesses can successfully brand themselves, why can't finan-cial planners? Some examples of the may successes in this area are LJ Hooker, Raine and Horne, ITP, H and R Block.
In terms of branding to specific markets and by smaller firms, look no further than real estate companies such as McGrath Partners. The fact is you can brand anything.
If financial planning companies have failed to brand themselves, it is because they are, by and large, sales-driven, rather than marketing-driven businesses.
A successful brand must first establish two things: a point of differentiation and a fo-cused positioning strategy. I can't think of any planning firm (or for that matter, too many fund managers) that have succeeded in this regard.
In the national arena, everyone is fighting for the same clients, over the same turf, making the same offer, and saying the same things. If you want to be known to con-sumers, you must narrow your focus, and stand for something quite different from that of your competitors.
Make no mistake, brand building is equally as important for financial planners and funds managers as any other current issue.
Gary Chow
Recommended for you
The central bank has released its decision on the official cash rate following its November monetary policy meeting.
ASIC has cancelled the AFSL of a Melbourne-based managed investment scheme operator over a failure to pay industry levies and meet its statutory audit and financial reporting lodgement obligations.
Melbourne advice firm Hewison Private Wealth has marked four decades of service after making its start in 1985 as a “truly independent advice business” in a largely product-led market.
HLB Mann Judd Perth has announced its acquisition of a WA business advisory firm, growing its presence in the region, along with 10 appointments across the firm’s national network.
