Branding from CASCO helps InvestorCOM optimize messaging and reach new levels of success in financial technology field
Leader in financial technology and services for banks, asset managers, insurance, and investment dealers, InvestorCOM sought a new brand expression to support their growing business.
Background
Founded in 1992, InvestorCOM has developed an innovative suite of FinTech solutions in response to increasing regulation and to meet the demand for more effective client communication and disclosure from the financial services industry. To build on their existing success, InvestorCOM recently formulated an ambitious business strategy. Leadership recognized that a stronger brand platform would be required to help realize their newly established business goals.
Challenges
A key issue for InvestorCOM was a lack of consensus on the brand’s value proposition. As a result, marketing and sales initiatives were not consistent across departments, delivering mixed messaging. Their presentations imparted quality knowledge and insights and provided value to their audience, but without brand guidelines to follow they encountered a disconnect among all the pieces. Marketing materials were being produced by a variety of sales and marketing leads who catered to their own unique tastes, often with “off brand” results. CASCO was engaged to help address the missing brand cohesion and secure internal buy-in on the potential for refreshing the brand to take the organization to the next level.
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Our process takes our clients along a path of self examination to achieve differentiation in their market. We have them listen to what their customers are saying and asking for, as opposed to only hearing what they [the client] have to say about themselves. Taking a hard look at competitors also helps establish a position that sets the organization apart, or creates alignment, depending on the client’s goals. Client participation and input in the strategy phase is key. Discovery sessions and one-on-one interviews are a great way to get people involved which ultimately results in buy-in because their views and concerns are heard.
Process
Insights gathered from interviews with internal and external stakeholders helped to identify a unique value proposition for the organization: professional expertise and business intuition that have been acquired through many years of experience.
We set out to explore creative ways to convey a sense of security, accuracy, and quality in the delivery of services. The brand message would help clarify the company’s purpose of helping clients meet compliance needs through digital transformation and innovative thinking.
Brand cohesion is important because customers need to feel comfortable in knowing what to expect. From a logo, to a PowerPoint, to the way the client answers the phone, it is all part of the brand experience, and a positive brand experience ought to be coherent. Branding guidelines provide a blueprint that helps the client stay on brand across all communication channels, making the marketing process more efficient and effective, which is good for business.
The new direction pulls together graphic elements from the existing wordmark, bringing structure and consistency to all marketing elements. The butterfly imagery was customized so that various sequences can be employed to provide flexibility and bring presentations to life. In flight or motionless, the butterfly aligns with the organization’s unique differentiators by evoking transformation, innovation, nimbleness, and responsiveness as well as the resilience required to thrive in the financial markets for the long term.
Result
The new brand platform is adaptable and expressive. Curated messaging resonates with the firm’s sophisticated audience and is presented in a serif font which helps convey InvestorCOM as established and approachable financial services experts. CASCO developed a comprehensive branding package that encompasses brand strategy, identity design, stationery, sales collateral, and presentation materials.
“We challenged the CASCO team to develop a platform that would tie our identity, our brand, and our diverse products together. It was clear they knew what they were doing as they tactfully guided us from getting in our own way to a vision that is fuelling our brand and communications with new energy and clarity.” Dave Carr-Pries, Vice President, Product & Marketing
InvestorCOM Inc.
Takeaways
- Educate your client to help them understand that their logo is not their brand. The logo is a key visual component, but not the entire brand. Once they understand this, they can feel more confident in decisions they make on what direction is best for the future of their business.
- For a ‘brand refresh’ project, remember that it isn’t always about changing a logo. In this case, we were able to develop a supporting visual platform to help InvestorCOM differentiate themselves in their market.
- Always present in person! It is worth it to include travelling in your proposals so that if an important group of stakeholders are at different locations you can go to them. Virtual presentations are just not the same.