"big bank" text on grey background

Global Bank Taps Distility to Name New Innovations in 1 Day

UPDATE: DISTILITY HAS SINCE BEEN RE-ENGAGED BY THIS CLIENT

The Organization

A global financial institution on the cusp of launching an important new service.

The Challenge

The Internet has transformed banking. First, by liberating customers from having to visit their branch, and now by forcing banks to deliver better service – and self-service – anytime, anywhere, on any device. The best banks are no longer stodgy, slow moving behemoths. They are innovating. Under conditions like these, our client had no patience for the lag of the typical branding process. They wanted their branding experience to accelerate rather than delay their time to market. For this, they engaged Distility to deliver a one-day Brand Messaging + Naming Workshop.

Step 1: Gain Insights and Customize the Workshop

In advance of the workshop, we studied the new service, its audiences and the competitive landscape. With a clear understanding of all the moving parts, we customized our workshop workflow to meet sponsor goals and project requirements.

Step 2: Dive in, Define Success and Commit to the Story

Next, we led the product development team through the workshop itself. The day began with corporate brand education, naming best practices and messaging work. For the latter, our brand strategists facilitated the exploration of features, benefits and emotions that could be associated with the new service. Creating a brand ladder chart, live on the room’s big screen, we were able to guide the messaging discussion through healthy debate, with undeniable focus. The outcome: a clean, simple hierarchy of messaging points, with the group’s opinions aligned.

Step 3: Generate Names, Building off of the Morning’s Brain Work

After a healthy lunch, we dove into brainstorming viable names for the services. Since it was critical to brand quickly, with the group’s collective opinion driving the result, we put them at the helm. Enforcing our criteria for good naming along with the corporate brand guidelines, we divided them into “namestorming” sub-groups (we like to focus the client’s creativity, not  stifle it). Then, we had each sub-group churn out a high volume of potential names in timed sprints. After each cycle, we took the team through all the name candidates and enabled them to vote for the best ideas. After several sessions, some clear winners began to emerge.

Step 4: Shortlist the Best Names and Bring It All Home – That’s 1 Day’s Work

Reviewing the work from the day, we took the results of the namestorm and evaluated them more closely on the big screen. This time, we used our Decision Matrix tool, another live document that allows us to quickly judge a name for customer appeal and corporate voice. After a final round of anonymous voting, the cream rose to the top. Based on the results, we produced a recommendations report, which our client sponsor used to ensure agreement at the highest levels. Together, we accomplished in a single day what could have otherwise taken months.

A Viable Name Shortlist +  Multiple Service Messages in a Day

Our client sponsor at the bank was excited to get messaging and name shortlists so soon, with the support of the team. After the workshop, Distility CEO Axle Davids made an observation about the new speed of large enterprises. “When we started Distility, we learned that large enterprises were okay with branding slowly. They were uncomfortable with the idea of getting branding done in a day” he said. “Now they’re becoming agile, and they love the idea of getting branding done in days, not months or years.”