Ask five stakeholders at a financial firm what their brand stands for, and you may get five different answers.
That doesn’t mean the firm lacks identity—it likely means the identity hasn’t been consciously articulated.
In financial services, brand is sometimes treated as something that emerges organically through products, performance, and reputation.
But in practice, the firms that stand apart have taken the time to name, test, and refine what they stand for.
That’s the purpose of a brand discovery workshop.
These sessions are not about picking colors or logos. They’re about getting to the root of why your firm exists, how it creates value, and what makes it meaningful in a sea of financial sameness.
Whether you’re managing a rebrand, launching a new offering, or building from scratch, a brand workshop can be a powerful mechanism for strategic clarity.
Why do brand discovery workshops at all?
Financial brands compete on credibility, and for good reason. But credibility without clarity quickly turns to vagueness. “Trusted advisors,” “innovative platforms,” “client-centric solutions” — these are phrases that sound safe and reliable, but rarely leave a lasting impression.
A well-run brand discovery process can:
- Align leadership around a shared vision
- Surface and resolve internal disconnects
- Reveal overlooked strengths or blind spots
- Distill complex offerings into cohesive narratives
- Provide a clear foundation for creative and communications work
It creates a structured space to ask: What do we want to be known for? And does that match how people currently see us?
Internal vs external facilitation
Yes, you can absolutely run a brand workshop internally. In fact, many firms start that way—a few sessions with leadership, a couple of whiteboards, a review of mission statements. It can be a valuable exercise.
But bringing in a third party shifts the dynamic. External facilitators don’t bring internal politics or departmental bias.
They can ask the obvious questions no one inside wants to ask. They can challenge assumptions, synthesize input without attachment, and spot patterns that are otherwise hard to see.
This is especially useful when a firm is preparing to engage an agency for a rebrand, or launching a brand that hasn’t yet been tested by the market.
The kinds of questions that matter
A discovery workshop is only as good as the questions it prompts. It’s not about checking boxes; it’s about revealing the underlying architecture of your brand.
Some of the foundational questions typically explored include:
- What are our primary business and sales goals in the next 1-3 years?
- Who are we trying to reach, and what matters to them?
- What are the top challenges our clients face, and how do we help?
- How do internal teams describe our firm’s personality? How do our clients?
- What would our competitors say sets us apart? Are they right?
- What adjectives do we want people to use when they describe us?
- What has changed in our market? In our firm? In our clients?
- What story about us needs to be told, but hasn’t yet?
These are not one-word-answer questions. They are exploratory prompts that often lead to healthy disagreement. The point is not consensus for its own sake, but to expose the true shape of the brand through real conversation.
When and how to do it
The right time for a brand discovery workshop is usually at an inflection point:
- When preparing for a rebrand or visual identity refresh
- When launching a new firm or product
- After a merger or change in leadership
- During rapid growth or market repositioning
- When the current brand no longer reflects the business
Workshops can take many forms. A quick session might be 90 minutes with a single team. A more involved process might include interviews, surveys, persona development, competitive reviews, and collaborative exercises over several weeks. Regardless of length, the goal is always the same: to create a shared foundation that informs what comes next.
Exercises that unlock insight
Effective workshops use structured exercises to draw out clarity. A few common formats include:
Persona Mapping: Stakeholders build detailed profiles of key audiences: who they are, what they need, what keeps them up at night, and how the brand can help. This humanizes abstract “client segments” and helps tailor messaging with empathy.
Current vs Desired Perception: What do we think people believe about us now? What do we want them to believe? The gap between these perceptions often points to the most urgent branding opportunities.
Golden Circle (Why / How / What): Popularized by Simon Sinek, this framework focuses on purpose first. Why does the firm exist? How does it live out that purpose? What does it offer? The clarity that emerges from this sequence often becomes the heart of the brand narrative.
Competitive Differentiation Grid: Side-by-side comparisons of brand attributes, messages, and tone among peers help clarify what space is already taken and where there is white space to own.
Outcomes worth working toward
The workshop itself is not the end goal. What matters is what you do with what it reveals. Outputs might include:
- A shared brand narrative or messaging framework
- Clear articulation of mission, vision, and values
- A map of target audiences and what they need to hear
- Alignment on what differentiates the firm
- Drafts of potential taglines or campaign ideas
But even beyond the tangible outputs, the benefits are cultural. Teams that go through this process tend to:
- Gain sharper focus on shared goals
- Speak more consistently in external communications
- Feel more ownership over the brand and its expression
- Make faster, more confident marketing decisions
The emotional undercurrent
Brands, even in B2B finance, are emotional. Buyers are still people. So are employees. A brand that speaks with clarity and conviction not only attracts clients but also galvanizes internal teams.
Taking time to uncover your brand truth isn’t just a marketing exercise—it’s an act of leadership. It gives your people language to express what they already feel, and a framework to build something stronger together.
You can run a brand discovery workshop tomorrow. You can download a list of questions, gather your team, and start mapping.
But if you’re ready to take the process further, and want expert facilitation rooted in financial services experience, we’ve refined the process over dozens of engagements. You can read more about our overarching brand philosophy here.
