近日，美国国际集团(AIG)宣布将美亚控股注入一家特定目的机构(SPV),从而加快使其成为独立运作的实体。这标志着AIG开始了与AIU品牌分野的进程。这件事情也提醒我们：品牌是一项宝贵的资产。一家公司曾经承诺做什么以及未来将要如何行动都会影响品牌资产的价值。打造一个知名品牌需要数年的时间，而毁掉一个品牌则仅需几个月，甚至只是几分钟的时间。如果一个品牌失去了消费者的信任，那么它将不再称之为一个品牌，而只是一个名字而已。

美林证券如今便已经不是一个品牌。由于涉嫌在股票交易中进行欺诈，美林证券以及其管理人员的信誉遭到了挑战。在被美国银行收购前，美林证券最后一任首席执行官花费了百万美元去装修自己的办公室，并且在收购交易完成前批准向公司高管发放36亿美元的奖金。如今，美林证券的品牌价值已经丧失殆尽。并且，它还伤及了美国银行的品牌价值。如今，美林证券已经很难再恢复自己的品牌价值，并且美国银行对此也无能为力。

在2008年 BrandZ的100大有价值品牌榜单上，总计有25家金融服务机构上榜，其中就有美林证券。而另一家名为Interbrand机构评定的100大全球品牌榜单中，涉及13家金融机构，而花旗集团同时在两个榜单中出现。今天，花期的品牌价值几近丧失，其股价跌入低谷，银行基本陷入了破产的困境。有人认为，花旗集团过于庞大了，不会陷入危机之中。而实际上，真正的问题是许多零售存款客户不再信任花旗，而是转而支持联邦存款保险公司。

今天，联邦存款保险公司已经成为了全球最大的几个品牌之一，其重要性甚至超过了英特尔。出于对联邦存款保险公司以及美国政府的信任，人们不会担心将钱存入有担保的银行中，存款额甚至会高达25万美元。在任何不稳定的时刻，只有联邦存款保险公司的担保会令消费者感到放心。如今，金融品牌必须解决消费者最关心的问题：将钱放在这些公司中是否安全？在面对这个问题时，像摩根大通和富国银行这样的大型银行总是会有相对的优势。但是，完全重建起消费者的信心也是一件难事。摩根大通首席执行官吉米-达蒙曾这样说：“我们的失败程度比别人小而已。”

在任何衰退时期，人们都会更加关注本地的事务，眼光不再那么全球化。对于那些从未涉及复杂金融工具的社区银行来说，如今是个机会。这些银行在面对寻求贷款的客户时，会认真对风险进行评价。PNC银行在广告中称：“如今更多负责任的贷款才是一切问题。”当消费者对市场感到不确定时，他们需要找到方向，被人引导。他们需要感到所支持的品牌对自己的困境有认同感。面对危机时，人们会更多去咨询朋友和邻居。能够把握这种变化的广告才会更加有效。在堪萨斯州的露天广告牌中，人们会看到“我相信信托”这样的口号。查尔斯-施瓦布的广告则抓住了零售投资者的痛处。在一则广告中，一位消费者坦言：“我薪水减少了，而问题却更多了。”随后，配音中便出现这样一句话：“咨询查克吧！”在下最后决定之前，投资者总会四处搜寻。针对这样的状况，TD Ameritrade公司想出了一个点子，在广告中这样表述：“为什么不与TD Ameritrade谈谈呢？咨询第二家公司不会得到一个更好的答案。”

按年度计算的话，如今美国金融服务公司在广告上的开支减少了40%。毫无疑问，各大媒体在频繁报道金融公司的奢侈与渎职行为。那么，金融公司是否还需要投放广告？对于消费者来说，在几个账户之内转换资产并不是件困难的事情。如果一家公司不去投放广告，那就会给客户不好的暗示??这家公司有可能做了亏心事，或者是公司对客户不再关注。金融公司应当继续投放广告，并且在广告中传达帮助消费者摆脱困境的信息。在英国，NatWest银行在全国性报纸上刊登了整版广告。在广告上，银行掌门人签上了自己的名字，提出了四种帮助房屋业主、抵押贷款持有人以及所有消费者的方法。NatWest呼吁人们“同我们联系”，并且保证延长零售机构的营业时间。十年前，苏格兰皇家银行收购了NatWest银行。受金融危机的冲击，苏格兰皇家银行遭到了各方的强烈批评，被指为差银行的典型代表。如今苏格兰皇家银行的广告收效甚微。而没有沾染上丑闻的NatWest银行则在广告上斩获影响力。我们或许可以这样认为：苏格兰皇家银行重新定位了 NatWest的品牌，而NatWest也成为了苏格兰皇家银行集团内幸存的零售品牌。

金融服务领域出现的混乱与不安造成了“品牌真空”的状况。这样一来，其他非金融公司便有机会趁虚而入。例如，英国主要的零售商特易购如今开始进军金融业。而美国享有盛名的沃尔玛和谷歌也开始涉足金融。毕竟，金融业急切期待一家“不做坏事”的公司。(编译/汉新）

How Financial Brands Should Market In a Recession

Recent news coverage of the cosmetic name change from AIG to AIU at the failed company's New York headquarters reminds us that a brand is a precious asset. The value of any brand asset depends upon whether it has delivered on its past promises and is believed likely to do so in the future. It takes years of effort to build brand trust but only a few months--or minutes--to squander it. A brand that has lost consumer trust is no longer a brand; it is merely a name.

Merrill Lynch is no longer a brand. Both before and after the collapse of the Internet bubble, Merrill and its commission-based executives were challenged by investors and government regulators for hyping stocks and other questionable practices. The last CEO spent over one million dollars to redecorate his office and pushed through $3.6 billion in executive bonuses the day before he agreed to a takeover by Bank of America. The Merrill Lynch brand is now close to worthless. It drags down Bank of America's brand every time it is mentioned in the same breath. The Merrill Lynch brand is unlikely to ever recover and Bank of America should drop it.

Merrill Lynch was one of 25 financial services brands that appeared on BrandZ's 2008 top 100 most valuable brands list. The rival 2008 Interbrand ranking of the top 100 global brands included 13 financial services brands. Citi appeared on both lists. Today, with its brand reputation seriously damaged, Citi's stock price is in the doldrums and the bank is all but insolvent (depending on how much credibility you place in the bank's valuation of its assets). Why then has there not been a run on the bank? Being too big to fail is hardly a solid basis on which to build brand equity. The true answer to the question is that retail depositors who do not trust Citibank do trust the Federal Deposit Insurance Corpopration. Today, the FDIC is the most important ingredient brand in the world, way more important than Intel. Trust in the FDIC and the United States Government enables consumers to confidently deposit up to $250,000 in any insured bank in the USA. In these uncertain times, only FDIC insurance persuades consumers across the nation to deposit funds in higher interest CDs in Puerto Rico banks and in non bricks-and-mortar low cost Internet banks such as ING.

Financial brands today must address the most basic of consumer concerns: will my money be safe with this company? So long as they are not triumphalist, large banks like JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo that were less involved in chasing too-good-to-be-true sub-prime returns have a differentiating advantage. But it's hard to rebuild consumer trust based on the fact that as Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan's CEO, has stated: "We suck less." Especially since the reward these banks and their consumers and shareholders earned for being prudent was being forced by the United States Treasury to absorb the failed banks, Washington Mutual and Wachovia, respectively.

In any recession, consumers focus closer to home. They become more local and less global in outlook. So these are times of opportunity for the thousands of conservatively run community banks that have never held any exotic financial instruments and continue to assess accurately the risk profile of each local customer seeking a loan. As advertising for PNC Bank states: "Now more than ever responsible lending is everything."

When consumers are uncertain, they need to have their hands held. They need to feel that the brands they use identify with their predicament. They consult their friends and neighbors more than ever. Advertising that captures these mood shifts is more effective. Thus, in Kansas, billboards use the first person to proclaim "I trust Intrust." Charles Schwab's two year old advertising campaign focusing on retail investor pain points is perfect for the recession. In one recent ad, a consumer says: "I've got a lot less cash and a lot more questions." The voiceover then invites the consumer to "Talk to Chuck." Investors are also searching around longer before making a purchase decision. That leads a niche player like TD Ameritrade to extend a similar invitation: "Why not talk to TD Ameritrade? There's never been a better time for a second opinion."

Advertising by financial services firms in the USA is down around 40% year-on-year. Should financial firms continue to advertise when media stories of trips and bonuses remind consumers of their extravagance and malfeasance? For consumers to change banks is burdensome but they can easily move assets among their accounts at different firms. No advertising by a brand might be interpreted by consumers as indicating guilt, lack of customer care or financial weakness. Financial brands should continue to advertise but with messages that help customers now with recession-relevant product and service offerings.

Useful, full-page ads in national newspapers were placed recently by NatWest Bank in the United Kingdom. Signed by the head of retail banking, the ad itemized four ways in which NatWest aims to help property owners, mortgage holders and all customers, with an invitation to "talk to us" and a practical promise of "extended opening hours" at retail branches. NatWest was acquired about ten years ago by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS has been fiercely criticized and is perhaps the worst UK example of bad bank behavior surfaced by the current crisis. RBS advertising these days is minimal; advertising is being placed behind the acquired NatWest brand, uncontaminated by the scandal and previously on a slow glide path to oblivion. The RBS brand, like the Merrill Lynch brand, is dead. We may well see RBS branches rebranded NatWest and NatWest become the dominant surviving retail brand within what was the RBS group.

The turmoil and distrust in the financial services sector is an open invitation to other non-financial companies to exploit the brand vacuum created by the demise of the likes of Merrill Lynch and RBS. Look to Tesco, the leading retailer in the United Kingdom, to extend further its reach into financial services. Look to trusted brands like Wal Mart and even Google in the United States to do the same. After all, the financial services industry is crying out for a brand that promises to "do no evil."