Brits broke out their pitchforks and torches recently, when the above image flickered across their “tellies” as part of a new Jaguar rebranding effort. The new advertisement featured brightly dressed models but no cars, which did not go down well with many. Even billionaire Elon Musk had something to say on the matter. According to Business Today, Musk “joined the chorus of puzzled social media users,” “tweeting, ‘Do you sell cars?’”
Let’s not forget something that, apparently, may have slipped the minds of the Jaguar marketing team. Establishing and maintaining a credible brand is paramount, (not to mention costly and, perhaps, up to decades in the making) whether you’re the worldwide manufacturer of luxury automobiles or the provider of financial services in a small Midwest town. A consistent and authentic brand not only fosters trust, but can also differentiate a brand from its competitors. The recent misguided rebranding by Jaguar offers a cautionary tale on the risks of straying too far from core brand values.
The Jaguar Rebrand: A Lesson in Brand Consistency
What can happen when you mess with a storied brand? The renowned British automaker Jaguar’s recent rebranding initiative was aimed, according to the agency that developed the campaign, at “modernizing its image.” This included replacing its iconic "leaper" logo with a minimalist design reminiscent, critics say, of “the logo on a designer handbag” and a marketing campaign that featured a controversial image depicting the brand’s “younger, more diverse” audience. All of which was met with widespread criticism. According to an article in The Sun, Jaguar had abandoned “its heritage and alienated its loyal customers.”
Building a Credible Brand
As we used to say in “the business,” the ad agency business, that is, “it isn’t brain surgery. It’s just advertising.” Ergo, building a brand is certainly well worth taking the time and expense to do properly, but again, it ain’t brain surgery. Here are just 3 simple considerations:
- Understand your brand’s core values: Before any branding efforts, it's essential to have a clear understanding of your bank's mission, vision, and values. These should serve as the foundation for all branding decisions.
- Engage your consumer: Do the research! Test campaigns before launch. Testing the effectiveness of an advertising campaign is crucial for optimizing performance and ensuring a strong return on investment. Two of the most effective methods for this evaluation are A/B testing and focus groups, each offering unique insights into different aspects of campaign performance. A/B testing, also known as split testing, involves comparing two versions of an advertisement to determine which one performs better. Focus groups, on the other hand, offer qualitative insights by gathering a small, demographically diverse group of participants to discuss their perceptions and reactions to an advertisement.
- Be consistent across channels: Ensure that your branding — logos, messaging, customer service — remains consistent across all consumer touchpoints, from physical branches (i.e., customer engagement) to digital experience. This consistency builds recognition and trust.
Maintaining that Credible Brand
Building a brand is only the beginning. Maintaining brand trust and credibility requires an ongoing commitment. Marketers must regularly assess and refine branding strategies to ensure that their strategies resonate with evolving customer needs and changes in the marketplace.
How a DAM Helps
Maintaining and communicating a brand identity — which demands the management of a tremendous volume of digital files in various formats — can be a complex and costly process. But, not always. Not with a Digital Asset Management (DAM) platform.
A DAM gives the marketing team the ability to archive, locate, and securely share legacy files, ensuring that the content that’s distributed is always approved by all stakeholders, complies with brand guidelines (the importance of which we talk about in a past blog), and meets regulatory agency requirements. Now, the marketing team can focus more on those high-value tasks that generate revenue, and stress less about compliance issues or visits from the auditors.
Staying True to Your Brand Identity
What can we learn from the Jaguar rebranding episode? It underscores the importance of staying true to one's brand identity. And that means grounding one’s branding efforts in authenticity, consistency, and a deep understanding of the market served. By doing so, marketers can build both credibility and enduring trust in their brand, enhancing its ability to stand out in a competitive marketplace.
Bank Marketing Center
We’re Bank Marketing Center, the leading, subscription-based provider of automated marketing services to community banks. Our goal is to help bank marketers with topical, compelling communication with customers that builds trust, relationships, and revenue. And we do this through automating critical bank marketing functions, such as content creation, social media management and digital asset management, as well as regulatory and brand compliance.
We also want to share what we know – and learn along the way – with all our community banking friends. Whether it’s the latest on AI technology, suggestions on how to attract and retain top talent, or the importance of data protection, we’re here to make bank marketing the best that it can be.
Want to learn more about what we can do for your community bank and your marketing efforts? You can start by visiting bankmarketingcenter.com. Then, feel free to contact me directly by phone at 678-528-6688 or via email at nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com. As always, I welcome your thoughts.