Momentum Consult rebrands to Consult with new identity

We chat with Marjorie Van den Heever, Head of Marketing, Brand & Communications at Consult, to find out more about the rebrand...

Can you tell why the need for a rebrand, when the brand was already performing well?

Consult (formerly Momentum Consult) has been in existence since 2014 and although considered as an “established brand”, we have evolved and grown into a significant advisory firm during this time. Not only did our business and its objectives evolve over the past eight years, so did our environment, our financial advisers and their practices, as well as our clients.

A brand evolution strategy presents us with a great opportunity to reposition ourselves in the advice market while it also allows us to better engage with our existing clients and to connect and attract new audiences.

Rebranding when things are performing well is nothing new; just look at Coca-Cola, Levi’s, Starbucks and Apple.

Our new brand presents us with a significant opportunity to reposition ourselves in the financial advice space as advisory business that truly partners with our clients on their financial journey, thereby giving them certainty and peace of mind to embrace the future with confidence.

Can you elaborate on the new look and feel?

Before we discuss our new corporate identity, I would like us to pause at our name and logo.

To consult means to seek information of advice from someone, especially an expert or professional.

When it comes to managing their hard-earned money and seeking financial advice, clients want to consult with the best in the business - a professional and trusted financial adviser who is willing to partner with them on their financial journey. And our new name encapsulates exactly this, to the tee. Consult is also a verb and creates a strong call-to-action

Previously known as Momentum Consult, our business was pretty much perceived as a distribution arm of the Momentum business. In a world where clients demand objective advice and solutions from multiple product providers to solve their bespoke and complex financial needs, our previous name didn’t suit our growth objectives and positioning in the advice industry anymore.

To this effect, we morphed into an endorsed brand of Momentum – Consult by Momentum - allowing us the opportunity to carve our own space in advice market, to provide our clients with truly objective advice while still being proudly anchored in our heritage.

When it comes to our exciting new corporate identity, we really wanted to emotionally connect with our clients. Our strong travel or journey theme is universal; it reinforces our philosophy of partnering with clients on their financial journey and it supports our slogan of “Let’s journey together”.

Our primary colour palette of grey, white and a dash of red is quite basic, but when integrated into our new logo it sends a very clear, strong and simplistic message to the market - and differentiates us from our competitors. Less in our case is definitely more!

Our marketing material, digital platforms and promotional material also display our strong secondary colour template to ensure that clients experience some of our personality and vibrant culture.

What sort of research did you do when redesigning the brand?

Changing a brand is not an overnight project and a lot of thought and research went into it. As the first brand endorsed by Momentum, we first had to consider Consult within the broader brand architecture. Once the principles and parameters were in place, we moved on to the logo design phase of the project, which was done by Superunion.

Other considerations were our name and current positioning in the market, a review of our competitors from a strategic brand positioning and creative side, the look and feel of our logo and corporate identity, and whether we deemed Consult as universal enough to span across the whole business, so that there wouldn’t be a need for a sub-brand at a future date.

Our brand project officially kicked off in Q3 2020 when we commenced with a strategic review of our brand, followed by the review of the brand architecture. Shortly thereafter, we were presented with some options in the creative proposal – after some deliberation, a lot of thinking and more discussion, we reached consensus and presented our plans to the Board in May 2021.

We then spent a few months planning, designing and fine tuning – and the rest as they say is history! We officially introduced our brand to the market in October 2021.

What is the ultimate objective with the new rebrand?

Our vision is to become the preferred provider of comprehensive financial planning and advice solutions to clients and their businesses across South Africa. The ultimate objective is to entrench Consult in the minds of clients and to ensure that we are top of mind when it comes to trustworthy and objective financial planning and advice.

Yes, competition is rife, but I believe that by consistently telling the story, emotionally connecting with our clients and reinforcing our new identity at every given opportunity, we will be able to lay a solid foundation. Our aim is that eventually, our brand will become synonymous with ‘quality financial advice’.

What important considerations should other brands take when in the process of rebranding?

Never underestimate the importance of change management – always remember to take everyone in the business with you on the journey. Although most rebranding projects are done in a phased approach, one has to move swiftly and implement quickly in order to keep the momentum (excuse the pun!)

A new brand is more than a logo or a flashy new corporate identity – it’s what you breathe when you enter a business and it's what you feel when you interact with people in the business. Your culture has to be aligned to your brand message to ensure that you deliver on your promise to a client.

Fancy fonts and bright colours are not a replacement for bad company culture or ineffective processes. Delivering on a promise to a client is what drives corporate culture, which in turn leads to a successful brand.

We are very fortunate at Consult – as a client-inspired business our brand, our culture and our business processes have all been aligned to ensure the long-term financial success of our clients.

Were there any other companies involved in the branding? How were they involved?

Superunion assisted us with the design of our new logo. Our new corporate identity was developed by a team of designers that we consider part of the Consult marketing team.