Fund Branding
2023
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Brand
Having a recognised brand is important across financial services. It does not matter if you are in traditional or alternatives, having a good brand imbues trust, which results in investor flows and 'stickiness'. Our goal is straightforward - it is to make a manager stand out on their own merits. It is about bringing together the strongest elements to build a singular stand-out proposition. Given the complexities in today's world, investors appreciate strong and simple messaging, which comes through consistency in look, feel and writing. This is the essence of
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a strong brand. It also needs to run deeper than this, with a corresponding institutionally high level of client service and communication. Now is the time to be bold and stand out. If you have a view, or a particular proprietary approach to investing, use it and say it, make the most of it. Be different and explain why. But don't go too left field, instead a golden thread should run through a business, across the website, presentation(s), factsheet(s) and other materials, from prospectuses to KiiDs.
new manager, the focus is “Foraboutanycreating an investment story;
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for any established manager, it is about developing that story.
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Retrospective For alternative managers, 2022 was a challenging year. It did not matter if a manager was in hedge funds, real estate, private equity, or crypto, it was a struggle.
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Performance for many could have been better, liquidity was often constrained and, in some cases, non-existent, and fundraising an uphill struggle.
...a brand really should not be complicated. It is about showing, or providing, a sense of direction clearly and concisely, visually and verbally...
However, those managers that communicated poorly or failed to position themselves effectively could not guarantee brand loyalty and all too often experienced outflows. You saw this with Carlyle, as it lost its CEO and any
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What 2022 showed was the importance of having a strong brand and clear direction. Those managers with dominant brands and that sense of purpose saw the bulk of the asset inflows. Even when times were tough, investors stuck with the big brands or increased their investments.
obvious direction, and as a result struggled to raise assets, unlike its peers. Various asset managers were being pilloried for being either too ESG or too little ESG focused and lost assets. In hedge funds, Bridgewater may still have its leading position but it is being caught up by the likes of Citadel and Millennium, the all-singing, alldancing, multi-strategy managers; hence Bridgewater 2.0, post-Dalio. In crypto, funds struggled with credibility after the FTX fallout, just as the sector was gaining institutional traction and now it is about rebuilding that confidence, which goes far beyond the inflows we have seen in early 2023. Building a brand really should not be complicated. It is about showing, or providing, a sense of direction clearly and concisely, visually and verbally, which then flows across all elements of a business. It is this that sets a manager apart from the competition.
2023
2023 is about simplicity. Over the past few years a number of the larger, more traditional asset managers have gone down this path. You see this in their positioning, descriptions, imagery and even logos - abrdn took this to extremis. All managers, regardless of creed, should follow.
Collateral
Presentation • Factsheets • Brochure • DDQ • Infographics • Language
Website
Holding Page or Informative Site • Investment Expertise • Background • Collateral Library • Contact
Brand
Logo • Structure (internal & external visual) • Positioning • Strapline • Mission • Language • Colours • Imagery (high & low) • Fonts
Activities
Conferences • Panel Discussions • Cap Intros • Press Releases • Advertising • Media (physical and digital)
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Simplicity
101 is getting the look right. Taking this document as an example, we have created a design that feeds across the pages. This same look should be used to show the structure of a business and provide the basis for infographics, for example to illustrate how the investment process works. This can then feed through to the factsheet, presentation, DDQs, etc. It is representative, or emblematic, of a brand - it is the identity and brings a brand together under one structure.
* For illustrative puposes only
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Unification
In financial services, building a dominant brand is an easier proposition than building multiple brands. Where possible, lean on a central identity that broadens the reach of a business. This is the central, golden thread, that runs through an organisation. It is the identity, across the look, feel and language; it is also about having a central repository of materials to turn to and central messaging to use. Ultimately, it is a more efficient way to run a business. It is the power of multiple voices, saying the same thing from the same book.
The parts
Unified
• Stakeholders • Products • Businesses • Brands
• Consistency • Scale • Recognition • Cross-selling • Efficiencies • Structured
The more individuals and entities come together, the better the business and stronger the brand.
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a dominant brand is an “...building easier proposition than building
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multiple brands. Where possible, lean on a central identity that broadens the reach of a business.
Process
Defining
Differentiation
Defining a brand is crucial to starting any project - it is about understanding what a manager and their firm stands for and how they are differentiated. It is about giving them an identifiable edge that should come across in a presentation, factsheet, commentary, website and media. This represents their persona, which should be different from others in the space. For any new firm, the focus is about creating an investment story; for any established manager, it is about developing that story.
Unsurprisingly, funds flow to the big brands, but there are also healthy flows to experienced teams and interesting ideas. It is these interesting ideas and professionalism that the smaller managers need to be focusing on.
Targeting In the earliest stages, if there are existing materials and positioning, these need to be reviewed. If we can, we will reverse engineer what a manager's investors are looking for. An example being institutions and family offices, which want to know a firm's ESG stance, so this needs to be addressed up front. With a good understanding of investor type - and character of the manager - designing the brand becomes a more straightforward job.
Developing With the brand requirements fully understood, defined and audience targeted, this becomes the mandate, which is then developed with different options. It is then down to the Client to agree to what they want and timeline agreed for deliverables.
Execution The end product for any full redesign is the brand guide, setting out the look - (colour palette, font (or fonts), logo - set against varying backgrounds); website (one page, or more intricate); templates (PPT, Word and email signatures); presentation; brochure; and re-skinned documents (DDQ, prospectus, etc.).
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Collateral
* For illustrative puposes only
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Requirements
It is not always clear what a manager is after, in terms of look, feel, content, etc. The below has been designed to tease out exact requirements - where the manager is coming from, what they already have to hand and most importantly what they are expecting. With this information, we can be very direct in our work and quote more effectively for a focused job.
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Momentum
Momentum marketing builds a range of activities, designed around a firm's positioning.
It is about being seen and developing a level of consistency that makes a manager increasingly recognisable. The relevance to alternatives is convergence with traditional, as managers increasingly need to show face to stand out and be recognised. Many initiatives that a manager view as a waste of time (and we often agree) include speaking at events and press releases, but there are times when these can be good opportunities to raise awareness. Events and awards are all too often pay-to-play, which sticks in the throat, but they can add value; so it is important to not rule them all out. Unfortunately, it is about repetition; doing them once adds little to no value; instead, you have to keep attending, speaking and being put forward for events. For example, if you are on the BBC's Today Programme, you may sound good and get
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the plaudits for that show, but soon listeners forget; the same with Bloomberg TV; and any form of advertising and press releases. You need to be back, time and again. It is only by doing this that you start to see momentum. 2022 was about big brands raising assets and crypto failures. FTX was an unfortunate example of momentum marketing and while the story ended in tears, what they built, in terms of brand and recognition, in only a few years was absolutely staggering. You can live by the sword but you can also die from it.
About
Brodie Consulting is a financial services marketing and communications firm. Over the years, the team has worked in multiple markets, across many situations and believes that it can always add fresh views to any strategic thinking. To help achieve the best results, Brodie Consulting also works with a network of trusted partners. Alastair Crabbe launched Brodie Consulting in 2019 and has over 25-years experience in marketing and communications, including
12-years heading-up the marketing and communications at Permal and Marex. He was previously at Maitland, where he helped set up their alternative advisory arm, and prior to that was at Bell Pottinger. Brodie Consulting, alongside Capricorn Fund Managers and RQC Group is responsible for The Alternative Investor, a monthly journal, with a 4k circulation, that writes about the latest goings-on in the alternative investment world (link).
Branding
Marketing
Writing
Design
Website
Comms
Building and strengthening a firm's identity to tell a clearer story.
Developing and updating collateral to enhance a firm's offering.
Editing and/or writing materials, commentaries, thought pieces...
Designing PPTs, documents, infographics, adverts...
Scoping, design, development and SEO for websites.1
Reactive and proactive, external and internal communications.
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Do get in touch with the Team and we'll be delighted to discuss any aspect of your marketing and communications.
T. +44 (0) 778 526 8282 E. acrabbe@brodiecg.com www.brodiecg.com 14 Brodie Consulting Group 2023