Recently, an asset manager client asked us to produce a film aimed at attracting new investors. With half of their investors based outside the U.S., including a growing number from emerging markets, the firm needed a consistent and compelling way to introduce themselves and give investors a peek “inside” the firm. The film introduced key investment professionals, showcased its infrastructure and presented a high level overview of its investment philosophy. Importantly, the video created a human connection with investors who were reluctant to travel oversees to meet the team in person without a preliminary sense of who they were and what they stood for.
This assignment got us thinking about the role that branding can play for financial services firms looking to tap into the growing wealth in emerging markets – a growing trend, spawned by economic growth in emerging markets over the past five years. Recent studies point to opportunities in wealth management, consumer financial services, SME financing, and corporate bonds. And competition is already heating up beyond the BRIC countries as multinational firms and new domestic entrants make inroads in countries such as Mexico, Turkey and Indonesia.
For any company pursuing expansion, it’s important to realize that the change in business strategy is really just the first step. To attract prospective clients and attain top talent, financial services firms must have a clear and distinct position, one that resonates in new markets. This may mean that specific messages will need to be developed for each new market, messages that reflect potential language and cultural sensitivities.
Firms also need to think about the right communication channels for reaching these new audiences. As we saw with our asset manager client, film can be a powerful medium for telling a firm’s story and creating connections with clients or even prospective employees, but channel preference will likely be vary from market to market. Research can close some of these branding and communication gaps, shedding light on what messaging resonates best in each geography as well as how prospective audiences want to be reached.
The focus on emerging markets represents an exciting, and challenging, opportunity for financial services firms. Success will depend largely on how well firms understand and address the unique preferences and priorities of target prospects in local markets, and how effectively they align their brand strategy with their growth strategy.
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Today, many asset managers are facing a complex branding challenge. How can they develop a consistent and cohesive brand across multiple investment strategies? This topic came up over and over again. How do you find one brand that cuts across fixed income, multi-strategy, real estate, long-only, large cap, etc? Should you have one…
Trees are symbols of maturity and wisdom, of resilience and sturdiness. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that so many mutual funds choose to name themselves for them. As we see it, the sense of long-term security that tree names convey may be particularly appealing to people saving for retirement, exactly the…