Moreish were recently asked to present at the Financial Services Forum on the topic ‘a visual identity masterclass’. And it was a more difficult topic than you’d expect. That’s because it’s becoming increasingly hard to make your brand visually different from everyone else’s due to an area I’ve written about before; ‘Blanding’. It’s the trend of simplicity sacrificing differentiation (but more on this a little later!)
The human response to visual identities
Money and our relationship with it triggers deep emotional responses in all of us, driven by our primitive brain – what psychologists call ‘System 1 thinking’. This instinctive part of our mind makes lightning-fast judgments, leading us to size up financial brands just as quickly as we judge books by their covers. And, just like a nightclub bouncer, you’re your brand doesn’t look right you’re not coming in and making it to our more rational ‘system 2’ process of decision-making.
Key elements that make up your visual identity
In its simplest form we’re talking about five key things that make up your visual identity: logo, colour palette, typography, photography style, and brand devices. It’s like your brand’s visual language which acts together to create immediate impressions and lasting associations in customer’s minds. It’s defined by who you are, the audience you want to reach and where you want to sit in your marketplace.
Trends in visual identities
Have you noticed that more and more brands are beginning to look the same? It’s a trend driven by the need to simplify and appear modern and fresh, it’s the ‘blanding’ effect. Brands are becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate from a purely visual brand perspective, and this is only going to increase with the use of AI design tools. Take a look at some recent examples of this simplification in action;
Why does this happen?
A lot of it comes down to the behavioural psychology conformity bias. As people and brands we can’t help feel the need to confirm to the general movement towards simplicity.
This lack of differentiation is further amplified in financial services due to long-standing ‘colour theory’ beliefs. Have you ever noticed how many financial institutions use dark blue in their branding? This isn’t coincidental. ‘Colour theory’ suggests that dark blue is strongly associated with dependability and professionalism, security and conservatism– exactly what you want in a financial partner. Think of Barclays, JP Morgan, RBS, Standard Life, Halifax, Nationwide, Natwest.. the list goes on!
In fact, Nationwide’s recent visual identity refresh so closely follows the industry ‘colour norms’ that it’s almost indistinguishable from its competitor Natwest.
(For those with school children, a common analogy you’ll be all too familiar with is the school coat; every kid seems to turns up in a black North Face coat at the moment, but it’s the way they show up with their personality that makes them stand out, be different and be likeable).
This trend for blanding and simplification will only continue, so it’s even more important than ever to ensure your brand personality comes through in your comms. But unfortunately bland communications are widespread too, and it comes at a cost!
Research undertaken by Bennett and Field from 2023, using a creative testing platform called system 1, worked out the cost of NOT being creative.
And based on the thousands of ads that get put through the system 1 platform, it showed that 48% of B2C ad responses and 78% of B2B ad responses are neutral; evoking very little emotive reaction from the audience.
They proved that it costs your average dull financial services ad £10.8m extra in media spend to achieve the same impact as £1m spent on an emotive ad that successfully inspires people to share or talk about them. So how does your brand cut through the ‘blanding’ and avoid falling into this trap of having to spend 10x the amount of a competitor? By using emotion and brand personality in your campaigns, lets take a look …
5 Tips to beat ‘the bland’ and communicate with personality:
- Show up in an interesting way. For example LV= ‘electrifying’ insurance campaign stands out in the category and puts a heart at the centre of the work, and Vitality’s sausage dog imagery sets the tone for the brand. We’ve seen that modern fintech companies are using their choice of colours to do this and deliberately break away from traditional financial service visuals – take Monzo’ with its eye-catching hot coral pink card or Wise’s pastel green.
- Be relatable. Use language to make your communications more relatable to your audience, for instance our brand campaign for Equiduct compared their service to great discoveries that changed the world or Marmite’s ‘you either love it or hate it’ branding.
- Give people something different and unexpected. Persil did this back in 2004, disrupting the industry with a ‘Dirt is good’ message. Likewise, Avis breaks assumptions and encourages a double-take with their tagline ‘Not The Number One’.
- Tell stories. Using emotive storytelling creates a deeper connection with an audience, making the message more memorable and impactful. Stories like ITV’s post office scandal drove real action on account of its emotion and authenticity. Our income protection campaign for LV= gave an emotional first-hand account of how life-saving her insurance was as told by TV sports commentator Jennie Gow.
- Use humour to attract attention. A recent example of this is the Nationwide campaign featuring Dominic West as a hapless out-of-touch executive. (And we can’t forget the ‘Who gives a crap’ toilet roll brand for their bold tagline!)
Final thoughts
So at a time when conformity to simplify and follow norms means it’s harder to cut through, particularly in FS, your brand needs to show up in an interesting way. Your brand must stand out authentically – through brand personality, emotive communication and the use of distinctive brand devices to give you a chance of getting past the ‘blanding’.
If you’re thinking of a visual identity refresh, or just have some initial questions, get in touch with Moreish here to chat about our branding services.