Ever curious about what bankers are spending on their marketingand branding efforts?

A recent Creative Brand Communication survey has offered abehind-the-scenes peek at what marketers face at banks. Despitetheir larger budgets, they often have to deal with many of the samechallenges as credit unions.

The survey revealed that most grapple with branding challengeswith many saying they felt their brands were only somewhateffective in helping meet their strategic goals and barely morethan half of larger banks even have formal brand guidelines inplace.

According to Jeff Stephens, president of CRB, a Portland,Ore.-based financial services industry brand engagement consultancyfirm, a strong brand has less to do with a high level of awarenessand more to do with achieving brand clarity among consumers.

“True brand strength comes when a financial brand stands forsomething clear and distinct, and the people who are aware of thebrand whether it's just a few people, or millions, understandprecisely what this brand stands for,” Stephens said of the keysurvey takeaways. “Do a quick Google search for strongest brandsand you'll find many lists,” he said. “But when you look at thesehousehold names, ask yourself, 'Do I know what this brand reallystands for?' In many cases, the answer will be 'not really.'”

For the majority of respondents marketing budgets have stayedthe same while most indicated their marketing efforts were donein-house.

The CBC survey was based in part on a survey designed byThe FinancialBrand.

The biggest marketing and branding challenges at banks is thedifficulty in measuring and proving results and return oninvestment, according to a survey from Creative BrandCommunication.

The CBC survey was based in part on a survey designed byThe FinancialBrand.