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Is Your Brand a Noun or a Verb?
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On the Mark Strategies | May 2015
Is Your Brand a Noun or a Verb?
Google, FedEx and Photoshop all have something in common. Their brands are so popular that society has
turned their names into verbs. Even when we are using a different search engine, shipping service or photo
manipulation software, we tend to use these brand names to describe our actions. A FastCompany.com article
calls it brand verbification–consumers latching onto a dominant brand and “verbifying” it whether the company
wants them to or not. That’s the power of effective branding.
Truth be known, your brand should be a verb even if your customers or members don’t verbify it. All brands
should be verbs – not necessarily action words, but active brands which engage consumers and/or inspire them
to do great things.
“Many brands feel like nouns,” writes the team at emotivebrand.com. “They are simply static ‘things’ that are
devoid of feeling and meaning. But then there are brands that are clearly verbs. They are about action, moving
forward and changing the status quo. They help people create meaning through their engaging and generous
actions and behavior. They are evolutionary processes that help people advance, achieve more and find greater
satisfaction. As such, they become an "integral function" of the universe occupied by their customers,
employees, partners, investors and so on.”
Do your customers or members feel that way about your financial institution? You don’t have to be a large
global brand like Apple or Starbucks to make a difference to consumers. You help people change their lives
every day by funding their dreams, helping them make money or taking a chance on them that another financial
institution wasn’t willing to take. That is your brand in action.
If your brand is static, transform it to a verb. Engage consumers. Influence their lives. Make a difference. Your
business depends on it.
Fully Embrace
Consumer
Engagement
Training
If your bank or credit union is stuck in the same
"consumer service training" rut, it's time you break
free and fully embrace consumer engagement
training. Keeping consumers merely satisfied will no
longer cut it. Banks and credit unions must work to
ensure their consumers are raving fans. And
consumer engagement training is the way to do
that. In fact, many successful organizations have
replaced traditional sales and service training with
consumer engagement training. The key is to
encourage and teach your staff how to connect
and engage with consumers. For more information,
check out our engagement training page or call
Is Your Brand a Noun or a Verb?
Mark at (214) 538-4147 today.
Poor Service by Way of Technology
My neighbor had to replace his central air conditioning unit recently. Like most consumers, he contacted several
companies for an estimate. One was from his church, one from a postcard he received in the mail and two were
referrals from friends. He contacted all of them via their web forms but only heard back from one. Guess who
got his $6,000?
Last week, a colleague e-mailed her movie club to resolve a mistake made on her account. She received this
auto reply: “Thank you for contacting us. Please be assured that your message is very important to us! We will
respond to your email within 48 - 72 business hours.” She actually received a response the next day (26 hours
later), but that response told her she had to call them to resolve the problem.
What do these two scenarios have in common? Poor customer service by way of technology. Unless a
company is open 24 hours (and this one is not), 48 to 72 business hours is an unacceptable time frame for
responding to a member or customer e-mail. Telling someone your message is important to them doesn’t
lighten the blow when they see how long it might take to resolve the issue. That’s a week or more. Equally
unacceptable is a response telling the consumer to call, because the problem can’t be resolved by e-mail. The
company should have called her.
Let’s talk web forms. These are great tools, but only if the company is equipped to respond in a timely manner.
It’s even worse when consumers respond to a postcard they received in the mail and the company doesn’t
reach out. That is marketing suicide.
If your financial institution does any of these things, stop. It’s better to not offer these options at all than to offer
them with poor or no service.
Blog Updates
Label at Your Own Risk
Marketers love labels. After all, labeling helps us focus our promotions. Since we know for a fact certain
demographics are drawn to certain products and services we design entire campaigns geared to one or two
groups with mediums we know they use. But what if that perceived knowledge has some false assumptions in
it?
Give a Little Lagniappe
I learned a new French/Cajun word recently in working with one of my clients (Lafayette Schools Credit Union):
lagniappe. It is the French word for “extra.” For example, if you’re cooking up some great Cajun gumbo, you
might add a little lagniappe (something extra in your kitchen) to kick it up a notch. What lagniappe can your
financial institution add to every transaction?
Follow-Up Key To Strategic Planning
Keith Ferazzi, author of Never Eat Alone, once said, “Follow-up is the key to success in any business.” That is
certainly true when it comes to the success of your strategic plan. No matter what great strategies you create, if
you don’t execute that plan with superior follow-up you just have words on paper. With three months in the
books, the second quarter is an ideal time to assess how your strategic planning follow-up is going. Here are
five suggestions to ensure your follow-up is as strong as possible.
Mark Arnold 1709 Flowers Carrollton, Texas 75007 United States (214) 538-4147
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