The challenge of financial services branding: majoring on category or brand values?

Abstract

Research suggests that emotional values are more sustainable than functional values. It is argued that in the services sector the key to sustainable brand differentiation is a unique set of emotional values. This paper examines the nature of financial services brands’ values and finds that they tend to focus on functional category values rather than unique emotional brand values. A lack of congruency between brand team members’ perceptions of their brands’ values and a lack of correspondence with their brands’ espoused values were also noted.