We’re all familiar with the power of strong brands like Starbucks or Coca Cola – but building a strong brand is also key to the success of even the smallest of insurance brokerages.

Customers gravitate towards brands that they’re familiar with, that mean something to them. Get your brand right and you’ll generate more interest, more enquiries and cross-sales, greater loyalty and recommendations. That’s externally; internally, a brand can inspire confidence, promote staff loyalty, and be a galvanising, rallying focus. So with this in mind, how do you build a strong brand?

Building your brand – and keeping it fresh

This is more than about just coming up with a catchy strapline or logo. Your brand has to personify your organisation: your products, services and experience. It’s the first impression your prospects will have of you – whether that first contact comes face-to-face, on the telephone, via a website, or in a letter. And as we all know, first impressions last.

So, start by asking a few fundamental questions about your business: what are you, what do you offer, what is your expertise, who is your target audience, what do customers want from us, what are their needs?

Here’s where market research is invaluable. It was through ongoing extensive and innovative research that Marks & Spencer learned that people felt M&S was part of the community. They used this insight to launch “Your M&S” in 2004, with great success.

Ongoing research will also help you measure the performance of your brand: so ask your customers what they think of the brand, whether they remember the logo or strapline and so on. Just use every opportunity you have to converse with your customers to learn more about what they want and how they see you.

Seven more quick tips to creating and keeping a strong brand:

1. Differentiate yourself.

Carry out an audit of your competitors and see if you can identify a gap in the market. A great brand will combine both the benefit(s) your customers really want, with a unique positioning that sets you apart from your competitors.

2. Get support and buy-in from your leadership.

Your brand is important for generating new business and cross-sales – so they have a value on your balance sheet.  But a good brand will require investment and good management, so it’s essential to get full support from the top down.

3. Split your corporate ID from your brand framework.

Your emails, letterhead, website and so on can vary in their look and feel within a set framework, but your corporate identity/logo must always be exactly consistent. So for example, British Airways uses different images and layouts for different media, but their British Airways logo never changes. Your corporate identity also needs to feel new, fresh and appealing. So think about the kind of font you want, whether you want a logo, what colours you want – and whether you want a strapline.

4. Try to invoke an emotional and rational response through your brand.

There must be reasons to do business with you but you have to come across as warm and likeable, too. Otherwise no matter how good your offer, people won’t pay attention.

5. Deliver on the promises your brand makes.

So if you say you offer a professional and personal service, make sure the people who speak to customers and who answer customer calls can fully offer this. If you say you keep things simple, make sure the person who answers calls doesn’t overwhelm customers with technical jargon.

6. Avoid building a brand that’s expensive to represent.

Bear this in mind when you’re considering whether to use black and white or colour – and think carefully about all the ways your brand will be communicated. You want to aim for a simple, strong brand that you can represent cost-effectively across all possible media.

7. Be consistent across all your customer touchpoints

– from the way you answer the phone, to the letters you send, to your store frontage. Here’s where it’s worth creating a simple set of brand guidelines for your business. This helps ensure everyone is on the same page, and that everything you publish reflects your brand identity.

To find out more, email me at rick.morris@uk.zurich.com, or email broker.marketing@uk.zurich.com

Rick Morris
Head of Marketing Communications and Brand