ESOMAR Conference on Financial Services
London (UK), February 2005

BUILDING THE
CORPORATE BRAND
Beyond individual loyalties
Oliver Loch
Patricia Kidd

This paper deals with the specific research methods and tools used to help
UBS develop a global corporate brand with credible appeal to high net
worth customers who think of he individual advisor as the “brand.” The
Wirthlin Values approach is used to develop an emotionally-based global
positioning that links the relevant elements of the advisor and the firm to
motivating personal emotions shared by investors around the globe.

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Oliver Loch, Patricia Kidd

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INTRODUCTION
Financial services firms serving the needs of very high asset investors (those
with $500,000 or more in investable assets, excluding real estate and 401k)
face an unusual challenge. The sheer volume of assets being invested creates
an extremely strong reliance on the financial advisor. High asset investors
view their relationship with their trusted advisor as primary, and the financial

services firm itself is relegated to a secondary role.
This creates in interesting branding situation. It’s not advisable to brand
financial advisors. The best advisors are like major league football players –
their loyalty is typically limited and they might move to the firm that promises
them better financial rewards. However, in order to create the types of
associations necessary to have a clearly defined brand image, it is important to
define the relevance of the firm in a clear and credible way.
In 2000, UBS set out to define and begin to proactively shape its brand. The
approach used in this case is instructive for marketers faced with defining a
strong corporate brand, when advisors play a central role in delivering the
brand.
Who is UBS?
As context, before getting into the details of the case, it is helpful to provide
some background on UBS.
UBS is the leading bank in Switzerland, and is also one of the world’s leading
financial firms – the sixth largest bank globally by market capitalization, with
over 66,000 staff worldwide – serving the needs of high net worth individuals
and leading corporations.
In the early 1990s, the two Swiss banks that form the current UBS, Swiss
Bank Corporation (SBC) and Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) were
commercial banks operating mainly out of Switzerland. They shared a similar
vision: to become a world leader in wealth management while remaining a
leading player in commercial and retail banking in Switzerland. As the chart
shows, the firm has deep historical roots in Switzerland, dating back to the
1800’s - - and a deep institutional stability.
The 1998 merger of Swiss Bank Corporation and Union Bank of Switzerland
brought together these two leading Swiss institutions creating the world leader
in private banking and one of the leading players in investment banking. The
only gap in the portfolio was filled through the merger with the U.S.
investment services firm, PaineWebber, in 2000, making UBS a truly global

player in wealth management.

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Building the corporate brand
Figure 1
GRAPHIC HISTORY OF UBS

While awareness of UBS is virtually universal in Switzerland, it is a new name
in other parts of the world and in many countries the UBS name has replaced a
more familiar brand like PaineWebber or S.G. Warburg.
In this paper, we will be focusing on the dynamics of relationship the high
asset consumer investor has with the advisor and the firm.

IMPORTANCE OF BRANDING IN FINANCIAL SERVICES
Brands are most influential when customers lack the knowledge to make
informed product choices, or in commoditized categories such as financial
services. They take on even greater significance when the purchase decision is
of great importance to the customer and the customer is faced with a plethora
of complex choices. Fierce competition ensures that there is little sustainable
product differentiation in product features or price. However, the products and
services offered revolve around something that is very, very important to
customers: their money and financial security.
As a result, customers can rarely base their purchase decision on purely
rational factors, such as product features or pricing, but are forced to turn to a
more subjective appraisal based on their affinity with and trust in a certain
brand, as expressed through the individual advisor.

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THE HIGH ASSET INVESTOR: RELEVANT CHARACTERISTICS
The individual investors on whom UBS focuses tend to be moderately
involved in their investing, with most relying on an average of five advisors to
provide them with investing advice. More often than not, they have earned
rather than inherited their wealth and they do not think of themselves as
“wealthy.” While they enjoy the fruits of their labor, they also worry about
what impact market dynamics might have on their wealth. They mix the
optimism characteristic of high achieving people with the caution resulting
from a history of investment experiences both bad and good. With the
exception of some high growth emerging markets like China, which has a
disproportionate number of wealthy young entrepreneurs, the high asset
investors tend to be older. It has taken them time to accumulate their wealth.
While most realize they need some personal investing knowledge and
sophistication, they do not want “a second job” in the monitoring of the market
and their own investments. They have to strike a balance between trusting and
relying on the advisor and spreading risk through both their own knowledge
and reliance on multiple advisors.
Figure 2
MULTIPLE FIRM USAGE – REASONS

In choosing advisors, high asset investors look for strong recommendations
from people with whom they have a trusted personal relationship. The decision

to try an advisor is not necessarily a logical, rational process. It may come as a

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Building the corporate brand
result of talking with Uncle Joe at a family outing and hearing about the smart
investments his advisor has helped him make. It is often more episodic than
planned. It often starts with a relatively small investment that may be increased
over time as the advisor proves himself. Importantly, few if any of these high
asset investors start with the financial services brand when choosing advisors.
Figure 3
THE ADVISOR VS. THE FIRM (USA)

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In Europe and in Asia, the firm itself takes on somewhat greater importance in
the choice of financial advisory services. As figure 4 shows, there is a need to
more evenly balance the attention to the firm and to the advisor.
Figure 4
THE ADVISOR VS. THE FIRM: ADVISOR (EUROPE)

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Building the corporate brand

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TRUSTED ADVISOR
Advisors who work most successfully with high asset investors combine
extensive financial knowledge with the resources and attention of a good
concierge. They know their clients intimately and they proactively address
their clients’ needs. The personal trust they engender relies on a delicate
balance. They must combine their knowledge of the client with their own
extensive knowledge of financial products and services, to help the client
decide which investments make the most sense. That trust can be jeopardized,
however, if the client feels the advisor is using that knowledge to “sell” or
“push” products or services.
Many financial advisors to high asset investors are very independent and have
a proprietary sense of ownership of the relationships they create with clients.
They are protective of those relationships and in many instances resistant to
pressure regarding the specifics of how they deal with these clients. Clearly,
since they are in many ways the deliverer of the financial services firm brand,
this presents challenges. Those working to execute brand strategy must enlist
the support of the financial advisors in communicating the brand, while
respecting the advisor’s need for control and independence.

HOW BRAND RESEARCH TOOK THIS DYNAMIC
INTO CONSIDERATION
Defining the relative and relevant importance of the advisor and the firm was
one of many objectives around which the global brand research was designed.
Related issues involved:
1. Large variations in the awareness of UBS and strength of the brand
identity outside of Switzerland.
2. Variations in the role of the firm in different geographies (e.g. in Japan,

due to waves of bank failures, the size and stability of the firm takes on a
much greater priority than in other geographies)
3. Differences in the advisory model – the brokerage model common in the
United States is becoming more accepted in other parts of the world, as
stock market investment becomes more accepted. However, the nature of
investments and consequent advisory model differ in different
geographies.
Without going into great detail on each of these issues, the goal of the research
was to determine commonalities that would allow the creation and
communication of a truly global brand.

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Research was conducted in three phases:
1. Qualitative using Wirthlin’s proprietary Values approach to uncover
dominant motivations of consumer and business investors in choosing
financial advisory services.
2. “Linkage research” to quantify the strength of motivational pathways
uncovered in the qualitative.
3. Validation research to quantify the appeal, importance, uniqueness and
credibility of each brand element developed as a result of the prior
research phases. This was conducted not only among global external
audiences, but among internal stakeholders as well, to be certain the brand
elements that were developed resonated with UBS’s employees.

The qualitative research, backed by the quantitative validation, showed that the
advisor and the firm played different, but supporting roles in helping the client
feel a sense of security and peace of mind.
Figure 5
CONSUMER NEEDS

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Building the corporate brand
The client’s sense of feeling connected to the advisor sourced to feelings of
confidence in the advisor which meant they have a good relationship with the
advisor, feel they are able to trust the advisor and the advisor is top quality, in
the sense of really knowing the business and how to access for the client those
products and services that are most appropriate for the client’s very specific
needs.
Figure 6
CONFIDENCE IN ADVISOR / FIRM ORIENTATION

The attribute mentioned most frequently for the firm is that it is a stable
company with a good reputation. This leads to a sense of confidence in the
company and further enhances the sense of connectedness that contribute to
the client’s comfort level and sense of security.
Now, the “nodes” we show on the map are composed of a variety of elements.
The nodes are created as the result of a factor analysis of many elements that
people told us are important to their choice of a firm, and it is the nuance of
these nodes on the strategic map that contribute to the development of tactics,
for communications, for the creation of internal training programs, for the
creation of marketing support materials, and so forth. For instance, how do we
know what “top quality” means when it’s applied to the advisor?


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Figure 7
FINANCIAL SERVICES LEXICON

The words and phrases underlying the factor analysis are contained in a
lexicon that provides the underlying structure for each of the nodes on the map
and gives texture and detail that is applied to the creation of advertising,
marketing and internal education programs.
If we know that “good relationship with advisor” is composed of elements
like:
»
»
»
»

Working in my best interest,
Understands my needs,
Not pushy,
Long term relationship with advisor,

Then it becomes possible to envision how the advisor can be portrayed in

marketing communications. Additionally, it provides the basis for very
concrete feedback to the advisors themselves on what their clients are looking
for in the relationship.

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Building the corporate brand
From the perspective of the financial services firm itself, it is critical to
understand that “good reputation” and “stability” are critical to creating
investor confidence (particularly as the brand is establishing itself in
geographies where it is less well known). Elements of those attributes that can
be translated into communications include:
»
»
»
»
»

Well-known company, name recognition
No scandals/negative publicity
Established company (track record)
Global company
Financial stability

Further research indicated that some of these elements are particularly
important in the earlier stages of brand development (such as establishing
awareness of the firm’s global reach and long term history) but require less
focus as the brand becomes established.
Once consumer research was completed and the core brand elements were

determined, these elements were tested internally, with UBS employees, to be
certain they were credible, desirable to employees as well, and whether
employees felt they were currently achievable or aspirational. The data from
employee research was used to develop internal tactics.

APPLYING THE FINDINGS TO THE COMMUNICATION
OF THE BRAND
The research findings were collapsed into a core strategy that combined:
»

»
»

The focus and attention of the advisor on understanding clients’ needs and
proactively seeking solutions to meet those needs,
The global capabilities of a strong, stable firm.
Tonality that communicates relentless dedication to the success of the
individual client.

UBS recognized that to be successful, a consistent brand must be reflected in
all advertising and marketing materials, but that alone was not sufficient. The
UBS brand must be communicated in its face-to-face delivery to clients. The
chart below summarizes the holistic way in which UBS communicated its
brand:

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Oliver Loch, Patricia Kidd
Figure 8
APPLYING THE BRAND STRATEGY

Figure 9 below provides an example of the print advertising which you may
have seen in publications like the Economist, Financial Times, Forbes and the
New Yorker.
Notice how both the intimate relationship and the size and scale of the firm are
communicated in this execution.

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Building the corporate brand
Figure 9
APPLYING THE BRAND STRATEGY (PRINT)

Here are some shots from one of the television commercials from the
campaign running globally, with the same focus on both the scope of the firm
and the advisor relationship.

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Oliver Loch, Patricia Kidd
Setting: UBS Financial Advisor meeting the client at a branch office. The
camera crosses the room, showing various client situations, and zeroes in on
an intense Financial Advisor/client discussion but captures the little moments
of what appears to be a real relationship.
Voice-over: "At UBS, we offer our clients serious financial resources. 100
years of experience. The expertise of one of the world's largest wealth
management firms. And, of course, the most serious resource of all -- a
relationship... that's like... a relationship.
Wealth management at UBS. From wealth preservation to lending and
investments. You and us. UBS."
Figure 10
APPLYING THE BRAND STRATEGY (TV)

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Building the corporate brand

PUTTING THE RESEARCH TO WORK IN THE BROADER
ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is to promise something to
its customers and not deliver on it. UBS understood the importance of
supporting promises made in advertising with the experience of prospects,
clients and employees in interacting with UBS.
This is a challenge for a bank such as UBS with almost 70,000 employees
worldwide who stem from different organizations such as PaineWebber or SG
Warburg. Additionally, UBS serves many different customer segments, across
many different channels in many different regions. The way the brand is
perceived through the online banking site should be consistent with the inbranch experience. The customer experience with an investment-banking

advisor should be consistent whether it happens in New York, Hong Kong,
Zurich or Paris.
Client facing employees (such as financial advisors and asset managers) and
client influencing employees (such as HR, IR and PR) were segmented and
appropriate training was developed for each segment. Since the single brand
launch in June 2003, specific brand training has been conducted with
approximately 500 of these employees representing 15 countries. These
trainings, as with all internal communications regarding the brand, were
strongly based in the research. This was seen as key to driving buy-in.
As a part of ongoing internal communication initiatives, UBS also wished to
share key learning from brand tracking with client-facing employees, so they
would have feedback on how the brand was being received by target investors.
A brand scorecard was developed and is distributed bi-annually (after every
global brand research round). This helps to:
»
»

»

Raise awareness about the brand, and reinforce key brand objectives,
Summarize key statistics about the brand and facilitate communication of
the Brand Equity Monitor results within Business Groups,
Illustrate current state and progress made in bringing investors closer to
the brand.

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Oliver Loch, Patricia Kidd
Figure 11
INCREASES IN KEY BRAND METRICS

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Building the corporate brand

HOW HAS THIS STRATEGY WORKED?
PROOF OF PERFORMANCE
Results show significant improvements in advertising and brand awareness,
particularly in the U.S. – where the largest portion of UBS’ advertising dollars
has been spent. Ad awareness, brand awareness and familiarity are all up.
Since the announcement of the single brand strategy, UBS’s share price has
significantly outperformed both the Swiss Market Index and average banks
share price. As a final proof of the success of the brand strategy, UBS entered
Business Week’s top 100 global brands list at 45th in 2004, with a brand value
of $6.5m, as one of only five financial services entries. Its success was
credited to its “consolidated brand and its catchy ‘You and Us’ campaign.”

SUMMARY: KEY LEARNINGS
The most important learning from this case is that when the brand is delivered
primarily through a trusted advisor, it is important to understand in specific
detail what each party – the advisor and the firm – brings to the relationship
with the client. By fully understanding the nature of the relationship and the
relative equities each can contribute, it becomes possible to develop a brand
beyond individual loyalties.


REFERENCES
Aaker, D. (2000). Brand Leadership. New York.
Davis, S., Dunn, M. (2002). Building the brand-driven business, San Francisco.
Finan, J. (2002). Branding – the key issue in financial services marketing. Bank
Marketing International.
Harris, G. (2001). The Branding of Banks: How Financial Services Firms are Marketing
Themselves. Financial Times.
Lynn, V. (2000). The brand that binds. Bank Marketing.
Marketing Leadership Council. (2002). Returns on Branded Experience Investments.
Olson, J., Reynolds, T. (2001). Understanding Consumer Decision Making: The MeansEnd Approach to Marketing and Advertising Strategy.

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Oliver Loch, Patricia Kidd

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THE AUTHORS

Oliver Loch is Global Head of Brand Research, UBS, Switzerland.
Patricia Kidd is Vice President, Marketing Communications Research, HarrisInteractive,
United States.

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