Set out your stall
3 Nov 08
David Reid offers firms an action plan to make sure they are marketing themselves as hard as they can in an ominous economic climate
by David Reid
There are numerous definitions of what constitutes a brand, but leaving out all the fluff and hyperbole, it is basically a collection of emotional and rational attributes which influence attitude and ultimately purchase decision.
Marketers can build extra value into brands by helping what they are promoting differentiate itself from the competition and creating a more compelling offering.
In order to achieve long-term success, it is essential that any accounting practice must have a robust brand that is capable of doing exactly this.
Nowhere is this more important than in a downturn, when strong brands with a clear proposition, a strong sense of what they are and a synergistic approach to business development will be the survivors as others stagnate and possibly fall by the wayside.
Before I discuss why increased marketing during a recession makes sense, let’s go back to basics and think about what it is exactly that we are marketing. After all, effective marketing will just expose a weak product or brand offering more quickly.
Establishing powerful brand credentials is paramount to developing existing and new business but the question that really needs to be asked of a lot of companies in the accountancy sector is: are they really behaving like brands? Can they really look at themselves in the mirror and say that they possess a strong sense of where they are, where they wish to go and how they are going to get there?
I would argue that most do not, but rather than point the finger, let’s look at a route map to defining what constitutes a brand in this sector and think about how your firm might become one.
1. Do you know where you are? When was the last time you sat with your partners or the rest of the board and thought about what sort of image you want to portray and what sort of message you want to convey? Now let me rephrase the question – when was the last time you did that and then acted on what was said?
2. Do you have a clearly defined point of difference – one that is on message through all your marketing materials and helps form the backbone of your business development activity? Creating a brand proposition means thinking carefully about what defines your business, and will make others want to either hire your firm or come and work for it. It is not having a check-list of refreshing the logo every ten years, tickling the website and hosting the odd drinks event.
3. Do you know who you are talking to? Strong branding starts by having a rigorous assessment of your target audience, and of your current brand position in the minds of these people.
4. Do you have an army of ambassadors? Are your people representing your firm in the way you would like them to? Are they assisting your business development drive with a cohesive cross referral strategy?
5. Do you know where you should be spending your money? Great brands only fish where the fish are. There is little point in using hard-to-justify, expensive advertising or direct marketing campaigns or tedious company newsletters if they are irrelevant to the needs of your client. Focus on how marketing can aid business development by listening to your clients and targeting them better. Applied marketing techniques should also add more imagination to tenders and increase your ability to stand out from the crowd.
If the answer to all of these questions is not an unequivocal “yes”, it is definitely time to be thinking about developing your brand and establishing its credentials. A business with a strong brand message and a clear sense of direction that motivates its staff will have a far greater chance of standing against the buffeting wind of challenging market forces.
Creating an action plan to re-align your brand credentials need not – and should not – be done in isolation. Help is readily on hand to guide you through what for the untrained, is a highly confusing area.
Accountants are expert in their field. Your clients are expert in developing the products they sell and the service they provide. They earn money, but are not expert at financial services and that is why they come to you. Following this logic, why do you not use the know-how of marketing experts with a track record of assisting firms and determining what makes them unique as brands?
And why is it more important now than ever?
As you know, this downturn is not going to last a few weeks or months, it is going to last a whole lot longer. If you are planning to be in business during the “lot longer” bit, I would like you to think less about pulling in your horns and more about supporting your business development drive and ensuring there is a constant stream of opportunities from new and existing sources.
To use an analogy, think of a long-distance runner. A strong runner will speed up when he or she hits a hill and will have the capacity, nerve and strategy to cope with the challenge. Is your firm well placed to run up the hill that is looming in the next two to three years? If so, a bullish approach, rooted in core brand values, will help achieve your goals and bring in additional reward.
The following characteristics are ones I believe any firm looking to thrive during this uncertain period must display.
You must believe in marketing and business development. You must have committed to a joined-up approach that clearly sets out your stall and defines the business targets that you are going for.
You need to foster a culture bold enough to increase investment in marketing and be determined to push harder in your messaging.
You need to accept your limitations and be prepared to budget for expertise to help you deliver a compelling brand proposition and marketing strategy to market.
Obviously it is reasonably rare to find a firm that has traditionally valued marketing, features a corporate culture of risk-taking and has spare cash but if you look at brands that behave as proper brands should, you will be looking at firms that will do well in times like these.
Look at Artemis for example.
I say the word Artemis to you and what do you say or think? The Profit Hunter! This is an excellent example of a firm that has followed all the core principles of becoming a brand and created an excellent market proposition. There are lots of investment management companies that could have claimed to be profit hunters, but did not have the presence of mind to work with marketing experts, create such a compelling positioning and then stick with it.
I have not noticed Artemis cutting back on marketing and I would be very surprised if they even considered doing so. Artemis has become a brand that just oozes reliability, sense, calculated risk, confidence and business enlightenment.
One never knows what is round the corner, but I don’t think we will see the Artemis founders at the dole office any time soon.
It's easy to talk oneself into inertia right now and I have spoken to a few professional services firms of late who see battening down the hatches and putting on tin hats as the way to deal with these challenging times. Unsurprisingly, I would like to stand up for the alternative view.