For ease of use these are the top 10 over-used words according to the Economist and source.
- Leader (161,000)
- Leading (44,900)
- Best (43,000)
- Top (32,500)
- Unique (30,400)
- Great (28,600)
- Solution (22,600)
- Largest (21,900)
- Innovative (21,800)
- Innovator (21,400)
As you can see, 'Leader' leads the pack (excuse the pun), three times over. If one were literal, this highlights that the industry is chock-a-block with leaders. OR, if one were a little more cynical, that the industry is crammed full of firms and people keen to be seen as leaders, when by very definition and to quote Highlander the movie, "there can be only one".
If you met someone who told you they were a great singer you'd probably nod and you may or may not believe them. If that same person just opened their mouth and sang (and did indeed have a beautiful voice), you might applaud, you might be dumbstruck (the SuBo phenomena), you would certainly tell them that they had an incredible voice and it's quite likely you'd tell everyone else too. Telling may be easier, but it's nowhere near as compelling, effective, memorable or indeed powerful ,as showing.
Firms use a great deal of their resources looking at what they offer customers, their values - what differentiates them. The savviest and more successful firms spend as much time thinking about how they communicate and illustrate those differentiators. They may employ just as much 'spin' as everyone else, but it will be a good deal more compelling and a lot more effective.
This reminds me of the genius of Saatchi when he replaced "Britain's Best Airline" with "Britain's Favourite Airline" for BA. The trouble with the words above is that they don't convey anything qualitative.
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the biggest challenges for financial services communications. With market commoditisation, are there any real differentiators beyond price (or value), risk and service...(with the possible exception of fund management, where one can sell the cult of personality)?
Coupled with the intangibility of most financial products, it's not surpring most FS firms focus on a leadership criteria. Previous FS companies attempts to create lifestyle brands have come to sticky ends.
Moreover, I'm not sure that consumers really care about the values of FS companies...if they did, surely ethical products would have greater success. In FS, decisions are still mainly driven by price/ brand awareness for new business.
Therefore, expect ongoing releases on unique, market leading, innovative solutions and great top rates from the best leaders and largest innovators.
Charlie
Interesting points Charlie. I think Chris Arnold of creative Orchestra describes the buying process succinctly and accurately when he expresses it as a "zig-zag" between rational and emotional. Rational is the practical - what does it cost? Can they do the job? Is there a track record? Emotional is the - do I like them? Do they seem approachable? Does anyone I know use them? Am I comfortable with them?
ReplyDeleteI believe that if you can respond to the emotional as well as the rational, you're on to a winner. Therefore, a lifestyle brand is missing the point as much as a pure this is the belt & here are the braces (note no mention of the trousers) approach.
Ethical products; well I would question whether ethical investment funds have really delivered much more than a feel good marketing message and in many cases a rather cynically delivered and quite hollow message at that (note many, not all). In the rational zone, as it were, there's been a distinct lack of delivery and as mentioned above, you need both. In Banking and food goods this has been more successful - Co-Op and Fair Trade for example. Note that in both cases the product has delivered as well as the ethical element and in both cases there's been a reflection in corporate values as well as product values - i.e. it's more than lip-service.
In terms of values, and do consumers care about Financial Services firms values, absolutely they care. Consumers have lost faith/trust in the financial services industry. The Banking issues of recent years has played a large part in this, but I'd argue it accelerated rather than created a trend. Yes products are esoteric, but this is an industry that manages people's savings - personally I don't think you get a great deal more emotive than that.