Coastal VanguardBrand · Advertising · Marketing

INDUSTRY BRIEF · 03 OF 04

Financial Services.

Asset management, banking, insurance, and fintech where the buyer is institutional, the committee is plural, and the position is the regulatory shield.

SUB-SECTORS

Where we work.

  • Asset Management

    Brand-defensible to the institutional allocator and the retail investor. The mandate is the work, the brand is the trust.

  • Banking & Lending

    Brand-defensible to the regulator, the depositor, the borrower. The balance sheet is the proof, the brand is the equity.

  • Insurance

    Brand-defensible to the regulator, the policyholder, the agent. The loss ratio is the proof, the brand is the trust.

  • Capital Markets

    Brand-defensible to the institutional client. The execution is the proof, the brand is the relationship.

  • Fintech

    Brand-defensible to the consumer, the regulator, the partner bank. The product is the proof, the brand is the trust.

  • Wealth Management

    Brand-defensible to the client, the advisor, the regulator. The relationship is the proof, the brand is the equity.

WHAT MAKES FINANCIAL SERVICES DIFFERENT

Four principles we work by.

The committee is plural

The financial services buying committee is plural — typically 5–9 people for a category leader, with the actual decision-maker 2–3 layers removed from the person who clicked the ad. The work is the committee, the work is the navigation through the committee, and the work is the consistency of the message across the committee.

The position is the regulatory shield

A financial services positioning is, by definition, a regulatory shield. The regulator’s relationship is with the holding company, not the product, and the positioning has to be defensible to the regulator. A positioning that is not defensible to the regulator is a positioning that is going to be re-positioned by the regulator.

The mandate is the work

In asset management, the mandate is the work. A fund that is positioned as a "generalist" is a fund that is going to lose the next mandate. A fund that is positioned as a "specialist" is a fund that is going to win the next mandate. The positioning is the mandate, and the mandate is the positioning.

The brand is the relationship

In capital markets, the brand is the relationship. The institutional client is buying the relationship, not the execution. The relationship is the proof, and the brand is the relationship. The work is the relationship, the work is the cadence, the work is the long arc.