How to Stand Out in a Big Bank

Anyone associated with a major financial institution knows about colouring inside the lines. There are brand standards, firm mandates and compliance processes to contend with every time you seek to market yourself. 

Within these confines, you may wonder if it is really possible to develop a memorable identity—to be seen distinctly, not just as part of the whole.

Having worked with countless bank-owned firms, this is how we approach it.

Emphasize the advantages of your affiliation.

When you’re part of a big bank, its reputation precedes you. So you might as well leverage it. Lean on the name and logo recognition, and articulate the implication that your clients are supported by a vast network of resources and a long history of professionalism. 

When someone becomes a client, they’re partnering with both you and your parent institution, so it can be helpful to “sell” your own value proposition as well as your bank’s. The resulting brand should serve you well in your efforts to develop marketing channels within the institution’s own network, as well as outside of it.

Tell your own story.

While standards and compliance at major institutions can feel constrictive, more often than not what they boil down to is logo prominence and a few disclosures. The rest of their regulations are no different from those of independent firms—like promissory language, for example.

That leaves lots of room to stand apart without toeing the line. In most cases, modern design layouts and unique stories are completely within the realm of possibility for bank-owned firms. Add to that things like professional photography—so potential clients can see that’s really you in those pictures, not the stock models from the bank brochures—and you’re well on your way to a stand-out brand identity.

All that being said, one of the traps these teams can fall into is the quick-and-easy corporate template. Plugging your name into a ready-made brand might be convenient, but for those on the outside looking in, there can be very little separating a $1B team from a newbie practice. 

So the key, we believe, is to leverage the familiarity and (hopefully) trust that your audience associates with your parent institution, and to take every opportunity to elevate your own image within that framework.