The Journal of Neural Plasticity (April, 2002) concluded that the epicenter of brand thinking fired up in the right parietal cortex, the brain area where conscious decisions are made. Women seem to be clearly more brand susceptible than men or compulsives, but all are brand conscious to some degree. This takes away a lot of the mystique about branding and explains why it is so effective in marketing.

Your brand, as what people seek from you as a financial advisor, is not about money or money management. Your business is about people and that is what your brand should emphasize and appeal to. That’s why consumers say things like “Let’s check the chemistry between us” and “Is s/he the one we want watching our money for us?” They know there are many financial advisors as good or better than any one, so they want to find the one who most closely matches them in values, style and integrity (that often talked about yet hard-to-discover quality of doing what you say you will do, when you say you will do it).

One misconception commonly held about brands, especially in professional services, is that a brand is some image fixed on your business card and letterhead. This would be your logo, tagline, typestyle and colors. These may represent and help deliver your brand to market, but if you do not support all this with truth, style and other packaging materials, you will fall disappointingly short.

The most important components of brand for a professional practice: truth and values captured in a benefit statement that makes your image real and alive for anyone who hears or reads it. A good benefit statement (1) captures both what the consumer will get from you and the “nourishment” they will receive, as well as (2) delivers your tagline implying how you go about it (your process). As marketing consultants catch on to this finally, expect to see even more hype about the importance of codifying and selling your process. Don’t do it without brand in mind, and don’t believe a nifty process alone will differentiate or brand you.

A last thought: form follows function. Don’t be suckered in by pretty or catchy words that are cute and linguistically interesting but leave you with a second thought of what does it mean? Great brands are uncomplicated and eloquently simple.

Gain your edge by developing a certain brand to make your marketplace know and feel you. Do not leave your branding to happenstance and uncontrolled rumors about you. Rather, shape and nurture branding of your very own. Image is everything and your brand speaks for you when you are not there.

Questions? Email jhmco@melchinger.com

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This newsletter is designed and distributed by Kirk Lowe of Freedomarketing (faWebProfiler.ca). Content by John H. Melchinger - The Marketing CoachT