A brand apart

The facts are simple. In today’s world flashing a toothy smile and your business card – even with an impressive logo on it – is simply not enough. A logo is often, according to branding experts, misconstrued as being synonymous with 'the brand',  when in fact one‘s business brand goes much deeper than that.

The DNA

The branding expert and strategic director of marketing and branding specialists Bang Australia, Simon Steele, explains that a brand is not a superficial entity.

“The common misconception is that a brand is just a logo, but in truth it’s the essence, the DNA, of the business – the spirit and the culture of an organisation,” he says.

Leading small business marketing expert and author of Small Business Big Brand, Carolyn Stafford agrees: “A brand is all the elements of a business – the tangible and intangible. The logo, shopfront, name as well as the experience the customers have, the way they feel about your business and the goodwill.”

Branding, therefore, is the process by which a company aligns the values, goals and essence of its business with how the world perceives it. Or, to put it in the words of Steele: “Branding is the way you interest people through various different touch points to influence the way they feel about your organisation.”

The brand is where the heart is

A crucial point to remember when considering how to build you brand is that its value is determined by how it is perceived by your clients – not you.
“A brand is a person’s feeling about a product, service or company. So a brand is not what we, as the brand owner, say it is. It's what our audience thinks it is, and that’s a real distinction,” says managing director and founder of FlyingSolo, Robert Gerrish.

Director of public relations company IMPACT, Allison Lee, stresses that this is a point that brokers should always keep in mind. “If a brand is hollow and has nothing at the heart of it, clients will work it out quickly – and vote with their feet,” she says, adding that if a brand is not trustworthy, neither is the broker it represents.

The dynamics of the broker market also place emphasis on the importance of a brand.

“Mortgage broking is competitive. There are a lot of brokers doing the same thing, so success is a matter of managing your brand to the expectation of customers or potential customers,” Steele says.

Furthermore, according to Steele, the service and technical aspects behind a mortgage broker’s business can easily be copied and offered by others in the tight market. However, a strong character and essence are something else – and set that broker apart.

“How you deliver and differentiate yourself on an emotive level to make people say 'I feel better going with that company' is what will bring business,” he explains.

“When you have a well constructed brand, the message of your brand is being passed onto people easily,” Gerrish adds.

“If all the parts of the jigsaw come together, all of your customers are getting satisfaction from the experience – and that’s what you want.”

The BBQ pitch

It is hard to put out a strong, coherent, convincing brand if you do not understand your business. So before commencing any type of work on branding, the experts suggest you carefully consider the ‘what‘, ‘why‘, ‘where‘, ‘when‘ and ‘how‘ of your venture carefully.

“It’s been my experience that many businesses think that branding is going to be the magic bullet for the business but don’t often take the time to understand what their brand stand for,” Lee reveals.

“But it is crucial for a broker to decide what they’re going to peg their business on. They need to think about what they have to sell and what makes them different from their competitors. It’s a crowded industry.”

The experts suggest that brokers put aside some time for research and reflection.

“A good point for brokers to begin at is to take a step back and take a look at their brand and get clear on their customer value proposition. Define who they are, what the position of their business is, who their target audience is, what their pricing is and so forth,” Stafford advises. “The next step is to create a brand brief to define all of those elements.”

Enter the BBQ pitch. According to Steele, a broker should also be able to  articulate the essence of their business – as well as the point of difference and the value proposition – verbally. He says that these elements need to be so clear that if the broker was approached at any point in time, they should be able to coherently express the business DNA – and, furthermore, they should reinforce their brand while doing so.

Gerrish also suggests that brokers do research into where their brand is at that moment – how it is being perceived by their customers.

“Certainly when you get a cold lead ask: 'How did you hear about us?'
'What do you know about us?' That will tell you where you sit in the market,” Lee agrees.

“Talk to your customers and find out what they think, what your referrers think, ask consumers what they expect from you and how you measure up to their expectations.”

Make your mark

Once brokers have a clear idea about where they fit in and what they’d like to achieve, they can begin to work on their branding – that is, aligning the two concepts as closely as possible.

 “What has to exist for a brand to be successful is a real congruence between what a brand is purporting to be and what the brand really is,” Gerrish explains.

Steele agrees: “The key thing is to be consistent in your key touch points and your communication."

Branding is all about getting people to behave in a certain way and Steel says the only way you can get people to buy into that is to trust you – "and the only way to do that is to be consistent".

So, according to the experts, a “brand audit” isa  good starting point for this: look at all the elements of the branding and ensure that they are consistent and uniform with the essence of the business.

“Everything from language to visual identity, consistency in the use of colour, logo, fonts, language style and so forth,” Stafford says. “Then consider the whole brand in its entirety – from a visual, verbal and experiential perspective and really assess whether your promises match it.”

Gerrish stresses that brokers need to pay particular attention to detail, no matter how minor it may seem.
“What many people don’t realise is that if they turn up 15 minutes late for a meeting it damages the brand," he says

"If they don’t return a phone call – or even turn up without a notepad and a pen – they’re undermining it.

“Think about it this way. If the soap dispenser on a plane doesn’t have any soap in it, it makes you wonder whether the engine has enough oil in it. The most important thing is that you have to absolutely practise [putting your brand] into everything you do."

“In this crowded marketplace brokers need to decide what makes them different and they have to back it up. They’d better be able to walk the walk,” says Lee.

Keeping it personal

So what does all this talk about branding basically boil down to? It‘s really all about building trust.

According to Robert Gerrish, a broker‘s job is to hold a borrower‘s hand and guide them through the finance minefield.

"A broker is saying to another individual ‘I will help you with your money‘. That requires an incredible amount of trust.”

So you need to do more than ensure that your carpet carpet matches the colour of your letterhead. In keeping your brand consistent, maintaining a clear understanding of your brand internally is just as important as its external presentation.

“Mortgage broking is a one-on-one relationship, so it’s a very personal experience. Therefore each person within a company has to be representing the brand values all the time,” Steele explains.

“Each person that makes up a business has an individual personality and an individual brand and these need to be aligned with the values of the business,” Stafford agrees.
“Product knowledge can be taught – personality can't.”