Break Through the Noise with Integrated Branding
These days, branding is everything. The average American citizen lives amidst a constant barrage of brand advertising and exposure as United States companies collectively spend more than $300 billion on marketing each year, and that number continues to rise. We see ads absolutely everywhere, from billboards and emails to the backs of receipts and even people’s foreheads. So, how can you hope to get your brand noticed and make an impression?
According to a recently released white paper from the CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council entitled Designing an Integrated Brand Approach, integrated branding is the solution. The white paper, authored by Mark Arnold, President of On the Mark Strategies in Dallas, TX, illustrates the importance and implementation of an integrated brand, a necessary component for survival in today’s advertising environment. “Branding is everything your credit union is and does,” Arnold states, “from the way the boardroom is designed to the cleanliness and odors in your public restrooms. Integrated branding is a demanding master and leaves nothing untouched.”
Integrated branding has a number of unofficial definitions. Collectively, they indicate that the process involves aligning every aspect of your organization and member experience to deliver instant and constant reminders of your brand. The purpose is to apply centralized messaging and generate customer satisfaction in relation to the brand, tangibly increasing brand consistency, employee retention and overall profitability. “The process is continuous and collaborative,” the white paper quotes an observation from Kathryn Davis, Senior Vice President, Xceed Financial Credit Union. “… Members are involved, as well as associates from all areas and at all levels of the credit union.”
Designing an Integrated Brand Approach assembles the observations, practices, and conclusions that Arnold has collected throughout his impressive career as a brand expert and strategic planner. Compiling his research as well as first-hand testimonies from high-level credit union marketers across the nation, the white paper produces definitions, trends and approaches for the development of an integrated brand as well as applicable tools and results-driven tactical ideas for producing desirable outcomes.
Amidst that research and advice, a common theme develops, emphasizing the crucial role that each individual employee plays in any successful integrated brand, especially those employees on the front line. “Employees feel connected to the brand. It’s not just a marketing thing,” states Bryn Vaupel, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Educational Systems FCU. “It’s an intangible essence that is prevalent in all aspects of, not only the member, but also the employee experience.”
Arnold spends very little time trying to convince the reader of the worth of an integrated brand, asserting early on that, “it’s an approach credit unions must take if they want to grow.” Instead, Designing an Integrated Brand Approach assumes that readers will undergo this necessary transition and assembles worthwhile information alongside proven strategies for avoiding pitfalls and maximizing success in implementation. “Developing a truly integrated brand is often the single largest challenge a credit union marketing or communications professional will encounter,” Arnold summarizes. “On the flip side, the rewards of all this hard work are more than worth it and certainly counter the blood, sweat, and tears you put into it.”
