What Tech Companies can Teach the Finance Sector about Branding

Technology and all its subdivisions remain one of – if not the most – successful sectors of the market. As a culture, people seem more hooked on technology now, than drugs in the 70s. As a result, technology reaps more profit than most other industries. More than even the industry dealing with profit – the finance sector.

How does this Happen?

Many people find this hard to believe. After all, who knows how to make money more than the people working in money, right? Wrong. In the past, and maybe even right up to the Recession in 2008, this was true enough.

But the economic crash caused a lot of problems for the finance sector – aside from the obvious one of lost dollars and cents. It created less disposable income for people to invest. And for those who did or can now invest, a steady distrust set in, which became difficult to shake.

As a result, more unconventional forms of money-management like “unbanking” continue to gain traction. This rings most true for immigrants and the current millennial generation, who harbor the greatest distrust of all for the government and finance sectors; following tuition hikes, student loans, and the rising cost of financing a car.

Simplicity is Key

People think technology thrives on the complex with all the features and specs of top-notch devices. But honestly? Most iPhone owners probably couldn’t tell you the megapixels of their phone cameras, or the processor speed. So it’s simplicity driving branding in technology.

Unified Branding

An old saying in the Android community is that Samsung has enough Galaxys to fill the universe, but no one mistakes a Galaxy of any make or model for anything other than a Samsung.

Things are grossly different in the finance sector where companies often brand branches of the company under different names to target specific markets. For instance, MassMutual owns Barings, Babson Capital, and Wood Creek Cornerstone. All the different firms cater to different specialties in the market, but not for much longer. The company plans to rebrand everything under one name.

Easy Explanations

Simplicity doesn’t just speak to brand names, but to the services offered as well. In technical areas – like technology, finance, law, and engineering – companies need to explain services in simple ways to attract consumers. This means ditching the fancy jargon that makes them sound important, and saying things in a way that even a high school student might understand.

This helps level the playing field and attract more customers who before thought the services were for the wealthy or super educated. It also makes people trust the service more since they develop a better understanding of what they might get themselves into if they choose to buy life insurance or stock, or start a pension plan.

Technology companies have learned to do this best. Rather than talk about the GHz under the “hood” of the phone, they say “faster than ever!” And who cares about megapixels when you can say, “clear, high-quality pictures for Instagram.” That makes sense and attracts people to their technology.

The finance sector should employ similar “translators” to attract more consumers. Save more money. Help your kids pay for college. Set money aside while you’re young to pay your way as an elder. Make the message simple, relatable, and valuable.

Though technology and finance share little in common, the finance sector should seek to learn from technology’s success. Not only for turning bigger profits but for creating products and services with more transparency that people can understand and trust.