Who needs me, and why
In brief, anyone looking for ideas to tackle a brand, marketing or communications issue in any part of the financial services industry, from mass-market High Street banking, savings and lending to the most complex and sophisticated b2b services.
Here's a checklist of 20 situations where my ideas and advice might help. Do any of them sound familiar? (If not, there are probably 120 more):
Missing Zip
Despite much evidence to the contrary, you remain convinced that financial communications can be fresh, engaging and involving: but at the moment yours somehow seem to need an injection of zip.
Big Squeeze
With all your budgets under great pressure, you have to figure out what's most important – or maybe least unimportant – and make sure you can preserve it.
Differentiation Anxiety
For all the work you've done, and money you've spent, on brand strategy, you're not convinced that you've really come up with anything different.
Big Gap For Big Idea
You have a lot of good solid thinking about the brand, but what you don't have is that single, inspirational idea that brings it to life.
The B2B Brand
You don't think you're anywhere much with your b2b brand. You need ideas on how to develop it – and perhaps most of all on how to bring the sales guys into it.
The Joining-It-All-Up Problem
All the different things you're doing are good, but the trouble is, that's what they are – different things.
Unaligned Staff Syndrome
You'd have a great brand if only your people got it a bit better and lived it a bit more.
Sceptics In The Boardroom
There are too many important people in your business who just don't get brands, marketing and communications.
previousWrong Ads
Try as you might to brief them properly, your agency just doesn't seem to come up with the kind of creative you're looking for.
Online Off Course
You know you could – and should - be making much, much more of the Internet, but you need some specific ideas.
A workshop that works
It would be an excellent plan to get a bunch of us from round the business together in a room, and see if we can't make some real progress with this brand thing.
The View Looking Out
You don't spend enough time looking at your competitors, figuring out what they're doing right and what they're doing wrong.
Developing The Team
You have a young team. They're great, but they could really do with some sessions to help them understand how to be even better.
Brand Coach
You have a management responsibility for the brand, but it's not your main expertise. It would be good to have your own adviser/guide/sounding board in this area.
Oh God, The Back Office
Brand and communications-wise, your front office is in good shape but, to be honest, the back office is pretty horrific and you don't really even want to think about it.
Negotiating With Logocops
You work in a business unit within a large group. How can you address your own brand and marketing issues while staying within the Group guidelines?
Greenfield Site
Brilliant, you have a chance to start a new business with no baggage and no legacy. Now what the hell do you do?
But What About Your Verbal Identity?
Your visual identity is distinctive, attractive and pretty consistent. But can you say the same about the way your organisation uses words?
Babies and Bathwater
You know you need to move the brand on, but it's not easy to be sure what you should keep and what you should throw away.
None Of The Above
None of these suggestions really works for you, but it would be good to meet anyway.