Pub. 4 2013 Issue 1

spring 2013 25 As a financial institution you have lots of target audiences – and lots of brand ambassadors. How can you make sure they’re all singing from the same song sheet? W hether it’s the front line teller, a commercial loan officer, someone in the trust department or a share- holder, it’s up to you to communicate your message in a consistent manner to get the best results. How can you con- trol that, though? A reporter calls for a quote. A cur- rent customer is considering switching banks. A potential customer wants to know what sets you apart from all the other financial institutions. A teller needs a quick “sound bite” to do some cross selling. Imagine having all those messages on a one-sheet handout for all your brand ambassadors – employees, officers and board members. And the more times your key messages are repeated, the more your brand message is reinforced. There are a number of branding pro- cesses out there. One that has been used successfully in West Virginia, as well as other states, is the Streamline™ Message Development Process. It’s a one-day process, and here’s a snapshot of how it works. • Gather your leadership team together • Be guided by facilitators through a series of questions to collaboratively develop message strategy and positioning • Build the strategic platform that will act as the foundation for all communications efforts • Identify Breakthrough, Action and Support messages that will lead to Reward messages • Break for one week while facilitators construct the Streamline™ Message Matrix, with customized messages for each of your target audiences • Receive a report that customizes messages for each of your target audiences, boiled down to a one-page summary for each target group In its most basic sense, your brand is a collection of perceptions in the mind of the consumer. It’s not so important what you think about your brand. It’s what they think that matters in terms of customizing your messages to them. The Streamline™ Message Development Process identifies and extracts those perceptions most beneficial to your organization, and it insures that all who are communicating these messages are saying the same thing. Steps in the Process • Developing your organization’s Anchor Message – your mission statement (company philosophy). This serves as the compass that will drive the entire Streamline™ process. Moving forward, only elements that support the anchor message are applied to the Streamline™Message Matrix. • Identifying Breakthrough Messages – why the target audience should care and what they need to know to get involved with your organization. These messages serve to get the audience’s attention in a way that’s relevant to them. • Creating Action Messages – what we want the target audiences to do or how we want them to respond to your communications. How Do You Get Everyone on the Same Page About Your Brand? By Linda Arnold, M.A., M.B.A., Chairman & CEO, The Arnold Agency Q Your Brand — continued on page 26