What is a brand? Now, I don’t mean to get philosophical right out the gate, but it is an interesting question, and an important one. Common responses include that it’s a logo or the name of a company, perhaps a slogan, or even the range of products and services on offer.  

None of those answers is wrong, they're just not the whole picture.  

A company’s brand is not just what you see – it’s what you feel. And getting that part right is so much more difficult than people imagine.  

When Twink Field founded the marketing consultancy now known as Alpha Agency back in 2014, she set out to tackle that very challenge.  

Read on to find out more about her views on asset and wealth management branding and what companies need to be focusing on.  

Single-minded mission 

“Alpha Agency is in a privileged positioned because we are privy to a lot of the conversations that are happening across the industry. And it's safe to say brand is very much on the agenda as a strategic lever,” Twink says.  

“We’ve seen big positioning from the likes of T. Rowe Price, Capital Group and Janus Henderson, among others, who are all homing in on the values they want to be known for,” a development she describes as “really exciting”.   

“It takes a lot of work to get to a very clear, concise, single-minded message for a very global business that services all sort of clients.” 

Smiling, she adds: “It’s strange that, in a cluttered market, people seem to want to fill it with more clutter. But the way to generate cut through is to commit to the single-minded message and I think we’re seeing more of that.”   

Heritage is also taking more of a backseat, she says. “There has been a movement away from that sort of ‘we’ve been around for 100 years’ legacy branding. The emphasis is more on forward-looking narratives, which I think is really healthy. It's about transparency, partnership and the innovation that’s happening within the business, rather than looking backwards.” 

Be more BlackRock and Vanguard 

Part of Alpha Agency’s role is to challenge our clients and nudge them out of their comfort zones. When asked about changes Twink would like to see in the industry, her immediate response is “more personality”.   

“Not around an individual or individuals,” she quickly clarifies. “People worry that it might make the industry look less serious and perhaps a bit flippant. But when it’s done well, I think it’s actually the opposite. You create better and deeper engagement and loyalty. Rather than a faceless corporation, I think that’s more of what we need. 

“There is comfort in the pack, and I appreciate the colour blue is associated with caution and conservatism with a small ‘c’, which are helpful when running money. But there are other colours.  

“BlackRock and Vanguard run more assets than any other business and don’t even touch the colour blue. You do not need to be blue to be credible.”  

What’s in a name? 

One of the main purposes of a brand identity is to generate cut through and for Twink that requires intentionality. When setting up her own company in 2014, she was effectively working with a blank canvas, which also meant endless possibility.  

Quickly dismissing any idea of naming the company after herself, Twink’s priority was clarity. “Sales and distribution people should not be spending the first 20 minutes of an hour’s meeting explaining what your business is. You want that to be short and sharp, then get to how you are helping the client.”   

She adds: “Inevitably, there is curiosity. People want to understand where a brand comes from. Having roots, being clear on your story, gives people a sense of your logic. Importantly, it should also support your positioning in the market.”  

All under one roof 

It’s not very often that companies truly walk a mile in their clients’ shoes; but Twink and wider team had to do just that last year when White Marble Consulting was acquired by Alpha Group. Within a few months, we rebranded to Alpha Agency.  

While she will admit to experiencing a small pang at the change, “I think I’m quite pragmatic at heart”, Twinks says.  

“It was clear to my mind that the Alpha brand hierarchy very much followed a branded house business model, so I knew change was coming. And there were so many great attributes about Alpha Group in the market around its specialisms and the way they work with clients that echoed within White Marble.  

“I also don’t know how healthy it is to have a legacy brand in a business,” she adds. “You don’t want people feeling tribal. The focus is on looking forward together and focusing on what you’re going to achieve together.”  

With a smile, Twink admits: “It was fun. It was quite liberating to make sure you’ve got the right rigour in place. The biggest challenge was getting it done really quickly. Having established that we were going to change, everybody was bought in almost immediately. Luckily, our brilliant creative team had really inspired us with how our visual identity might refresh.”  

The biggest learning Twink took from the exercise was that the process is not just about new articulation, banners and potentially a new name across the door. “There is a big culture lift required as well. People move at different speeds and not everybody is going to be there straight away.  

“Despite it looking like the job has been done, the culture work needs to continue,” she adds.  

If you are interested in finding out more about how Alpha Agency can help your company articulate and develop your brand, please get in touch.