Today’s winning brands can’t afford to play it safe. They don’t say "that's just how it’s always been done," and they understand that their brands are more just a sleek logo or a cool tagline. The brands that crush their competition understand that branding and brand strategy go much deeper than attractive website design and responsive mobile design.

Because financial institutions are known for offering a similar range of services, customers typically have little, if any, point of differentiation when choosing whom to give their business to, begging the questions:

Much has been written about the extent to which aligning your brand strategy to your business strategy makes your brand better positioned for success. In short, brand strategy and your brand exist to enable, express, and bring to life the business strategy. Creating a brand strategy often begins with answering the question: “Who are you and what do you do better than any of your competitors?” In a nutshell, what is your value proposition?