Financial marketing

25 warning signs your financial services business may need to rebrand

10th February 2024

There are numerous reasons why financial services businesses may need to rethink their brand strategies and there are some clear red flags signalling why they might wish to do so right now.

Organising the 25 main reasons to rebrand under the five key attributes of top quartile brands (the 5Rs) is revealing:

Relevant
1. Your brand no longer reflects your customers’ evolving needs and does not resonate with them as powerfully as it should
2. The existing leadership team has a new vision or strategy
3. There has been a leadership change and the brand is not aligned with the new vision or strategy
4. The brand is unable to capitalise on serving a new target audience, customer profile or opportunity
5. There has been an event-driven change (Merger, Acquisition, Divestment, Privatisation)
6. There has been a reorganisation of the brand architecture or a simplification or streamlining of a complex or cluttered brand portfolio under one core brand idea
7. The product or service mix has fundamentally changed
8. The brand is not understood by a global market
9. The target audience is not clearly defined
10. Internal and external brand perceptions are not in sync
11. The brand/website is not reflective of the digital age

Remarkable
12. The market position is no longer distinctive
13. The brand no longer sets you apart from competitors
14. The brand is too similar to a competitor in terms of purpose, values, identity or brand codes

Resilient
15. Sales have plateaued or are in decline or opportunities are not being realised
16. The market has moved on and the brand looks and feels tired and outdated in comparison with competitive brands
17. The business needs to keep up with technological or regulatory change
18. The brand name limits the scope of the business
19. The brand does not lend itself to international expansion

Reputational
20. There is a negative internal reputational or service issue that has been addressed
21. There is a key external reputational issue or association that has been addressed
22. There is a stakeholder conflict

Real
23. The brand promise or purpose does not reflect the authentic positioning of the brand
24. The values are not aligned with the authentic positioning of the brand
25. The identity and image is no longer in step with the authentic positioning of the brand

Have you identified that you may need to:
• Rethink your brand relevance and meaning?
• Reimagine your remarkable points of difference?
• Revitalise your brand for a more resilient future?
• Rebuild your brand’s reputation?
• Reclaim your brand’s real focus and truth?

Typically, the requirement for any rebranding intervention will either follow or be made in anticipation of a specific business situation or ‘event’ as a catalyst. If so, this could be the right time for you to carefully assess whether you should embark on a brand refresh or a full rebrand.

While the decision should not be taken lightly, the right rebrand strategy at the right time can unite and energise teams under a powerful and distinctive core idea that will captivate customers and create a sustainable competitive edge.