At RUSSO, we’ve developed campaigns and branding initiatives for banks and financial institutions from across the country – and completed work for every service line, product and support industry imaginable. But what makes what we do, and how we do it unique, is our process, RAZOR BRANDING™. And while we specialize in the financial and legal industries, our branding experience in other categories, such as hospitality and tourism, gives us a unique perspective on how to position our clients to better connect with their desired audience.
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FINANCIAL BRANDING
Let’s be honest, most financial institutions offer the same amenities, which often leads to conventional branding routines that eventually feed into stereotypes that hinder a positive brand image. These issues will inevitably lead to a brand image dilemma and what we would call, the fall.
TO LEARN MORE, we invite you to download our FREE eBook on Bank Branding, along with our FREE Media Buying eBook that focuses on the 7 Mistakes most companies make when buying media.
OUR WORK
Our Process
Our philosophy is directly related to our process, which we call Razor Branding™.
Razor Branding develops brands from the inside out, establishing a series of branded touchpoints that form emotional connections with the consumer. Developing these connections relies heavily on understanding the psychographics of consumer behavior, and not just demographic profiles that rarely tell the whole story.
Understanding perceptions, attitudes, beliefs, and the lifestyles of our clients’ consumers better position us to develop messaging that motivates individuals and best meets their needs – regardless of industry, size, location, or category.
Razor Branding™ works towards four primary goals at all times: Focus, Promise, Connection, and Harmony.
Focus
Focus defines that one differentiating and powerfully compelling quality that makes brands razor sharp.
Promise
Promise defines the one differentiating and powerfully compelling quality that makes your brand razor sharp–in effect, the promise behind the brand.
Connection
Connection establishes the “voice” or message of the brand, making it the preferred choice over the competition.
Harmony
Harmony works to identify and then develop a series of branded touchpoints that establish trust between a brand and the consumer.
CHANGING THE CONVERSATION
Whether the Razor Branding™ process is carried from start to finish, or simply used in principle as a foundation for a project, this approach to thinking about the consumer and their brand choices, helps our team craft strategies and messages that motivate consumer behavior.
With the public more savvy and better armed with information today, we understand that it takes more than just a pretty picture and shelves full of awards to win the day. For us, creative without strategy is just art.
At RUSSO, the desired outcome for all marketing and advertising initiatives is to produce advocacy for your brand – and the only way an agency can do that is to lead creative with insights and strategy in a way that produces substantially different results.
By changing the conversation, we are able to clearly define the promise behind the brand, within any given category. In doing so, consumers can easily understand how a particular product or service can enhance their lives.
BRANDING A TRIBE
No matter how creative the advertising, a poorly positioned product, service, or brand will fail sooner or later. For this reason, we work with the client in developing what is most worthwhile to communicate to the consumer – giving them a reason to join their tribe.
Questions We Ask
What “mental real estate” is yours to own?
What emotions do you evoke?
What differences may you authentically claim?
Why should we (the public) care?
