Why Brands Still Matter

Recap

On Thursday, November 13, the Cheil Agency Network welcomed the FCS for our Cocktails with Content event, “Why Brands Still Matter.” The panel discussion featured Patty Sachs, Global Head of Wealth Marketing, Citi; Jon Sellman, Chief Brand Officer, M&T Bank; and Jennifer Lindauer, Director of Brand Marketing, Plymouth Rock Assurance, and was moderated by Joe Maglio, CEO, Cheil Agency Network. Here are the key takeaways from this insightful panel:

Brand Trust & Brand Awareness Go Hand-in-Hand

Building a strong brand is not something that happens overnight; rather, it’s a marathon that differs for every company. Jennifer has a unique perspective at Plymouth Rock Assurance, a small brand with regional, but not national, awareness. She applied this local advantage as a selling point for its customers, highlighting that a smaller brand knows its customers more than any national one.

At M&T Bank, a more well-known bank expanding into new regional markets, Jon applies a similar strategy to Jennifer’s. Dominant in the Buffalo and Baltimore areas, M&T is focused on continuing to foster customer relationships and trust in these regions, while creating awareness in new markets that have dominant players with generations of customer relationships. Jon explained that building brand awareness and brand trust requires curating a differentiated brand DNA that stands out from competitors and is agile enough to be modulated to different markets.

Patty explained that though Citi brings a broader brand awareness as one of the largest financial brands in the world, its value in the wealth management space is less well-known. She expressed that building a brand for a division within a giant brand is both rewarding and challenging. Bolstering brand awareness for Citi Wealth Management requires tapping into the larger Citi brand to bring decades of brand trust to benefit her growing division.

Balancing Performance and Brand Marketing

Oftentimes, performance and brand marketing are placed in opposition: the former prioritizes driving measurable and immediate results, the latter plays the long game to foster customer loyalty and emotional connection. The panelists did not subscribe to this traditional, if not outdated, view and stated how they place value in utilizing both. Jennifer explained that though Plymouth Rock Assurance has been spending more on performance marketing, infusing elements of brand marketing (messaging, trust, consideration, etc.) has been more successful than just focusing on the metrics and ROIs. Patty cautioned against solely relying on performance marketing, as this can lead to higher churn and less valuable results.

Brand and AI

As the topic of AI technology continues to dominate the financial services sector, panelists agreed that businesses must commit to embracing AI or risk becoming obsolete. Jennifer shared that Plymouth Rock Assurance is assessing how the brand shows up in AI. Her team launched a multi-pronged effort involving organic social, reputation management, TrustPilot, and more, to ensure brand consistency when AI models crawl various sources to produce an overview or summary. For Patty, AI is an exciting development in financial services because it challenges professionals to look at their brand assets from a different, deeper perspective.

Brand Across Generations

Brand appeal to different generations has become more important. Jennifer outlined that Gen Z is placing a lot of emphasis on research when choosing a financial institution, which has made promoting reassurance and trust through brand marketing crucial.

Patty shared that $100 trillion will be passed down from the Baby Boomer generation, and the majority of beneficiaries will most likely not bank or manage their wealth where their parents currently are. This presents an opportunity for Citi to continue using its human-centric approach to brand marketing, as Gen Z has expressed an affinity for human connection in an era of mass digitization.

To Sponsor, Or Not to Sponsor

Sponsorships can be enticing for any brand. They are an effective vehicle for reinforcing presence and commitment to communities, while adding more value and providing greater meaning to the brand. However, the panelists posited that a sponsorship or activation must make sense (i.e., provide value for a brand’s customer base). Before he worked at M&T, Jon worked at Citi and was instrumental in the Citi Bikes launch. Now a staple of New York City, the bikes, Jon explained that the initiative became popular because it solved a problem for people, whether they were Citi customers or not. This improved brand awareness, trust, and foot traffic in Citi branches. However, Patty advised that there is a fine line with sponsorships, as it’s easy for anyone to place a logo anywhere or on anything. Intentionality is key when brands consider sponsorships or activations.

— This recap was based on reports by FCS Marketing Scholars Gabrielle Branch, Ylhana Ortiz, Ava Rabeni, and Adam Serfilippi, with editing by FCS Administrative & Communications Coordinator Juliet McAlee