Here are some key quotes from my latest podcast episode with Kathleen Muir, founder and CEO of the Muir Network, discussing brand creation and content:

“We live in a storytelling world. And these days, the story has many platforms. But ultimately, it’s all about conveying an idea to get people to react.”

“You can’t pick up a phone and cold call a client with hedge funds. You can’t market. So in actual fact, the message communication is really important, because you don’t have those supporting legs to help you.”

“I think anyone who’s listening who has worked in large institutions, most often, there is constant change. If it’s not rebranding, it’s because of regulatory requirements.”

“If you’re an institution who’s seeking to go the long way, then you need to think of scalability and repeatability.”

“I feel every manager should have a conversation with someone like me or another agency. You don’t know your story until someone engages with you. You can’t have a monologue with yourself because there’s no one to challenge that.”

“Most of my conversations [with managers] end up being transcriptions as well. But think of the body of material that you’ve got in there that could be used for a capabilities presentation or a case study, or mission and values. It can be repurposed. Whereas if it’s just performance, I feel that recital is short, and it doesn’t have emotional engagement.”

“Often you’ll hear [managers say] they started their marketing materials too late. They were working with a lawyer to get all the documents in place, but the left the marketing materials to the end, or their websites to the end. But you need documents and it should be in tandem”

“You need to know your pitch. Far too often – and it’s still the case and I do feel like the investment management world is behind it lags behind – but you should know your story.“

“For smaller businesses [a key is] having a holistic approach, that when you create something you’re thinking ‘Will fit on the website, will work in our fact sheet, will it work in PowerPoint, will it work for print?’ That is scalability, and that is consistency.”

“Logos and marks are important, but they’re not the be all and end all. They’re a visual part of your visual representation. But it’s part of a bigger kit.”

“I think the smaller startups have a better advantage, because they’re already comfortable on financial Twitter. They’re already comfortable talking. They’re already comfortable on YouTube and podcasts. And I feel they’re the leaders of the next age to show what is branding.”