The missing piece of the puzzle: you can't take an off-the-shelf brand and expect it to work for your bank. A unique brand must be 'uncovered' as a natural outgrowth of an institution's intrinsic identity. This painstaking process of revelation requires an investment of time, effort and money.

• Author: Pannell, Tim
• Position: Branding

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Over the past several years, a lot has been written about the value and priority of building a strong brand for your bank. We have been told that if we focus on building brand over a three- to five-year period, we'll show a higher return on assets than banks that do not. A strong brand will allow us to command a higher price point for the consumer, which results in greater profitability. And a clearly defined brand will increase customer loyalty, increase customer retention, and ultimately result in a greater wallet share from our existing customers. In a recent article in American Banker, Tony Langlinais, from Accenture Ltd., articulated this point:

"My firm has identified 'high performance' banks as those that outperform peers in return to shareholders and market value added over cycles of three, five and seven years. A common factor among these banks is strong brand management. High performance companies inject the meaning of their brand consistently throughout the entire consumer experience--across products, services and channels.... Strengthening brand value can increase market share, provide protection against competitors and raise profitability."

Not only has much been written on the value, priority and "why" of branding, but also on "how" to communicate your brand. However, is it possible that in our pursuit of communicating a brand, we have missed a critical piece in the puzzle? Is it possible that we can know the value and priority of brand and how to communicate a brand and yet not know the actual brand of our organization? The often-missing piece of the brand puzzle is the actual process of "brand discovery. "Many banks are willing to invest the dollars into a new look and a new campaign, but very few have stopped to invest the time, effort and money into discovering the brand of their organization. Yet, until you truly discover your brand, you cannot reap the full benefits of communicating that brand to the marketplace.

To understand the value of the brand discovery process, we must first have a clear understanding of what we mean when we say "brand" and "branding." A brand is what your product, service or organization stands for in the consumers" minds. It is the promise, the big idea. and expectations that reside in each customer's mind about your products, your services and your organization. Yes, brand stems from the bank's belief system and core values, but ultimately the customer determines brand. It is what they "feel" about you. Your bank has a brand; it just might not be the one you want. That is why branding exists. Branding is the process of executing and...