Brand Better with Smart Strategic Relationships

Never underestimate the potential of a strong brand.

You are no doubt aware that your institution’s brand is important to creating value for your stakeholders. But do you realize to what extent your brand is driving its success?

According to EPAM Continuum’s 2024 Consumer Banking Report, when consumers were asked why they chose their primary bank, the number one reason (at 37%) was due to recognition of and trust in the brand. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Your brand, and what it stands for, differentiates your services and offerings from the competition. It's also a confidence builder for members and clients and can enable more effective recruitment efforts.

When you couple your brand with another one via a strategic relationship, you’re amplifying this effect. By forming alliances with strong brands, institutions can further position themselves as leaders in the industry, capable of delivering even more comprehensive and cutting-edge financial solutions to more people.

In an increasingly competitive and uncertain wealth management space, good partners make a difference.

Here’s how:

Building Brand Equity for a Competitive Edge

In wealth management, reputation is critical. Clients work with your institution because they have confidence in it, which is why who you partner with matters. When an institution aligns in a strategic relationship with a respected brand, it leverages the partner's reputation to amplify its own.

A strategic relationship bolsters your brand’s image, and it also provides a dual foundation for helping grow stronger client relationships, building new ones, and accessing new opportunities. By associating with an organization that is already recognized for its excellence and reliability, an institution can quickly gain a competitive edge in a crowded market.

Brand Loyalty Through Tailored Services — and More of Them

Clients look to your institution for different needs throughout their lives, and having the right services at the right times can be the difference between retention and attrition. Strategic relationships can help you meet clients and members where they are by growing a broader menu of services, which is exactly why they play such a key role in the wealth space.

With the right partner, you have options to curate better and more diverse offerings than you could on your own, allowing you to enhance the client experience and provide more personalized financial plans that are adaptable to each individual’s needs. The client experience is improved, long-term relationships are established, and brand loyalty becomes a key retention tool.

Tapping Into Brain Share

Collaborating with respected brands can spark innovation and help you expand your wealth offerings, as strategic relationships combine unique expertise, resources and perspectives through brain share. The strengths of both organizations are leveraged to the benefit of advisors and their clients.

For example, when an institution partners with LPL Financial, they are tapping into the years of LPL’s carefully cultivated innovations built and tailored for more than 1,200 institutions. These institutions have access to advanced technological capabilities and seamless platform integration that enhances their value proposition. LPL benefits from the relationship by listening to feedback and continually updating and improving its tools. It’s the best of both worlds.

The Power of a Strong Brand is on LPL’s Mind, Too

In a recent NPS survey of LPL advisors in institutions, 75% said they wanted LPL’s brand to be better known among investors. Currently, more than 7 million people are served by LPL advisors and institutions — with that number continuing to grow. But only 2% of prospective end investors are familiar with us.

That’s where our new brand campaign comes in — we understand the value of strong relationships with well-known brands, and we want to be that for you. Our advertising is meant to credential the strength and stability of LPL in a more public way, helping clients and members feel even more confident when you partner with us.

Because at the end of the day, whether a national bank or single-location credit union, your brand tells advisors and their clients who you are and what you bring to the table. And at the heart of building a robust and trusted brand in the wealth management industry lies the power of strategic relationships.

Together, let’s build on what you’ve already achieved. Find out how LPL can be the strongest partner for your institution.