The professional brand communicates the expertise and trustworthiness the target audience is seeking. For the wealthy, the brand becomes a validation that the investment advisor is the right professional for them. For influencers, the brand reinforces the perception that their clients are going to be well taken care of by the investment advisor.
When crafting a brand, the advisor's staff should not be ignored. The brand and the culture of the firm are intimately linked. Not only does the investment advisor have to epitomize the brand, but the staff must do so as well.
Communicating The Brand
The brand and the investment advisor's professional persona are, by definition, equivalent. Essential to having a professional brand is communicating it to the target audiences. There are a variety of ways to market the brand and few investment advisors are very effective in this regard.
All marketing initiatives are opportunities to reinforce the professional brand. An advisor's elevator speech, for instance, is a prime device for communicating a brand. Regrettably, while nearly 80% of investment advisors report having an elevator speech, only about a quarter of them say their elevator speech is very good (Figure 4).
Another critical way to communicate a brand is with collateral materials (see sidebar), including business cards, brochures and Web sites. Of the 628 investment advisors surveyed, only about a third reported having high-quality collateral materials (Figure 5).
Conclusion
A professional brand can be a vital differentiator and a powerful business generator. Therefore, it makes sense for investment advisors to work
to maximize the impact of their professional brands.
The brand is not just window dressing. The investment advisor has to "walk the talk." If the professional brand is only a marketing ploy, it will likely prove extremely disadvantageous as the wealthy learn to equate the investment advisor with a lack of professionalism, if not out-and-out deception.