We have recently conducted a very unscientific survey of banking brand slogans compiled by The Financial Brand in order to see roughly what proportion of bank slogans focus on a civil message for society.

Now, the survey has all sorts of bias, (slogans do not a brand make, country bias, historical bias, our bias, etc.)  but it provides an interesting benchmark for where banking brands position themselves and how many take a stance that addresses society’s needs.

We simply filtered the slogans through our consulting team, asking them to agree on some broad categories. Here they are with some definitions:

• Aspirational (34%): Promise of a better future for you or belonging to an exclusive club e.g. Making More Possible (ABN AMRO). Where Membership Matters (Bridgewater)
• Customer Centric (24%): Putting the customer first e.g. We’re all About You (Mazuma). You and Us (UBS).
• Boast (18%): Statement about how good the bank is e.g. Fluent in Finance (Barclays). Altogether Better (First Choice)
• Functional (8%): Statement about value or function e.g. More Broker for your Money (Scottrade). Let us quote you happy (Norwish Union)
• Civil (5%): Focus on wider society and improvement – not about the individual e.g. Capital Ideas. Human Values (New Alliance). Live Richly (Citibank). Let’s Change the World (Shorebank).
• Simple (3%): Focusing on ease of use e.g. Simpler. Better. Faster (Standard Bank). It’s That Simple (Vantus Bank).
• Local (3%) Promoting the e.g. Hometown Banking. Real Value (Numerica). We’re From Here (Frost Bank).
• Security (3%): Encompassing protection of investments and protection of the family unit e.g. Because Change Happenz (Zurich). Ready for Tomorrow? (Norwich Union).
• Pun (2%): Being cutsy with the name e.g. Investments with Abbey Endings (Abbey National).

It’s no surprise that the most common kind of slogan promotes aspirational themes and ideas. Aspirational narratives are the legacy territory of banks and many are reluctant to move away from this safe harbour. Over time, these messages have evolved from ‘exclusivity’ narratives surrounded by membership (think Diner’s Club) to celebrating the human spirit best typified by American Express and the ‘Long Live Dreams’ campaign. We expect these aspirational messages to decrease in number as a category and increase in social meaning (i.e. less individualistic) in the future.

It’s also quite sensible to see that customer-centric slogans are the second most used kind of slogan. Banks everywhere are moving from operations-focused to customer-facing companies. Most large retail banks have made the transition we expect this proportion to increase over time. Of course, if this many banks are talking about putting the customer first, how differentiated can this category be in the future?

It was a real surprise to see just how many banks boasted about their own prowess in their slogans. While banks are not known for being the picture of modesty, it’s hard to imagine why such a large portion of them continue to talk about themselves in these society-focused era. We can only guess that this group will diminish quickly as banks go through their natural cycle of repositioning.

Happily, civil-positioned slogans do not appear at the bottom of our list and are well represented by some of the world’s most successful banks. Even banks that do not indicate a civil notion in their slogan e.g. HSBC’s ‘The World’s Local Bank’ promote overtly civil messages in their communications.

This simple survey demonstrates the opportunity for banks to increase the meaning in their brands and become more differentiated. Many have slogans that are purely functional or belong to a previous age, where speaking about ones’ self was considered expected behaviour.

There is plenty more to say on the topic. The next post on this might examine top 20 global bank narratives and see what portion of them focus on civil messages.

Some brands do their best to encourage us to achieve more, to shift our perspective. Obvious achievement and accomplishment narratives are old hat and the traditional territory of financial services, heavy goods industries and telecoms belong to the past. Most brand stories are becoming more interesting, more complex and more subtle than prompting us to reach for the skies.

These brands inspire us with what is possible. They urge us to do better. They prompt us to re-frame our current situation into a more positive narrative and give up any existing internal negative plots for more positive paths. Whether it’s a glib shot-in-the-arm or a more meaningful prod to follow our dreams, these brands are offering a civil dimension to their communications. Encouraging brands provide the kind of stimulus we are looking for in times like this: where pessimism is running high and we are looking for an external sign that they can get better.

Boots Wishing us well

Pepsi Relentless pursuit of a dream

London Pride Talking about their namesake

Adidas Breaking down pessimism

Honda & Amex Talk a lot about dreams. See previous post

Microsoft Prompting people to pursue

Nike Giving us the poke we need

As marketers, we like to talk about potential, being a catalyst and enabling people. Historically, we used this type of narrative set to create a direct correlation to the product we promoted. Telecommunications, technology and financial services have utilised this narrative area more than most.

Lately, it looks as though some brands are loosening up the requirement to lock each achievement-oriented idea back to product and are simply encouraging people to reach for the bar. Further, it seems as though some brands are softening up on the senses of achievement they are promoting. This softening up on achievement might be an attempt to find common ground between raising the bar and relating to more people with a kind of achievement that they can realistically aspire to.

Alain de Botton in his popular ‘Status Anxiety’ explains how many cultures are suffering from the over-development of meritocracies. He feels that a certain level of anxiety is a good thing and helps progress everything from sciences to the arts. But if too much anxiety is broadcast in a society, many people feel disenchanted and marginalised since they feel the bar is too high to ever be achieved.

This can be an important lesson for marketers when we are developing our brand narratives. We have always known that if we set the bar too high, we end up reducing the relevance of our communications to the segments we serve. In an increasingly media savvy world, we also run the risk of alienating large swaths of society and causing long-term damage to our brands if we develop too much anxiety through the messages we promote.

Honda The power of dreams

Amex Long live dreams

During an interview with Brand Republic, Katherine Whitton, Head of dvertising at American Express, said: “The ‘Long live dreams’ theme reflects the changing aspirations, personal and professional goals of American Express’s existing and potential customers. The campaign brings to life the ways in which American Express, through its range of products and services, can support consumers in realising these dreams.”

It is difficult to see how  Batman in a trailer park ‘brings to life the Amex range of products and services’, but it certainly evokes nostalgic feelings and rings true to an acheivement narrative.