Thoughts On Branding For Family Offices

When you bring up the concept of family office brands there are two opposing archetypes that seem to dominate. The first is one where family offices wish to remain anonymous and private, that the families deliberately use the establishing of a company as a buffer to keep any attention away from them.

The second is where family offices actively seek to build a brand in order to grow visibility, predominately for marketing purposes. This traditionally applied more to multi-family offices though not always, since there are many single family offices looking to position themselves in order to attract investment opportunities, top talent and partners amongst other reasons.

But the problem with these two views is that they both underestimate the value and meaning of a brand development process and simultaneously ignore the other variations of family office archetypes.

In a recent panel discussion on the topic of branding for family offices, there was much to discuss and a few opposing viewpoints, but the one thing everyone could agree on is that developing a strong brand backed by core values is an extremely useful process, even if it’s purely for internal alignment purposes.

Here are a few key outtakes for those navigating the intricate world of family offices that may be of use.

Foundational Values

Patrick Hanlon, a renowned branding expert and author of Primal Branding, emphasizes that an organization’s values act as its cornerstone. “Your brand is a belief system. If you don’t clearly define your values, you run the risk of others defining them for you,” Patrick shared in our discussion, and it’s a point that is particularly poignant to the growing family office industry where there is increased potential for mismanagement.

A family office that goes through the process to identify its values and purpose will have a foundation to guide internal decision-making, align both family and operational team members and create a baseline when considering changes in requirements as a new generation takes over. When the values set the framework, decision-making is easier and makes for clearer internal and external communication.

The Privacy Paradox

In today’s digital age, many single family offices face a significant question: to be public or to remain private? Nicholas Pardon, the entrepreneur and founder of Pardon Inc., a modern family office with a creative focus, reverses the question and suggests that, “It’s riskier to not have a narrative. The world will shape it for you if you don’t.”

Similarly to the concept of setting values so others don’t, taking a strategic approach to developing a public brand allows a family office to control the narrative and project the true essence of the family office rather than let this be defined by others.

While privacy was historically far more easily achieved, the current age of transparency and easy access to information doesn’t support this and ultimately, a family office that chooses privacy over a clearly defined positioning risks ending up without either

Rethinking Measures of Success

For family offices involved in numerous initiatives, from investment partnerships and venture to philanthropy and impact investing, the measure of success goes beyond how well a team is safeguarding capital. Those with an inherent interest in delivering value to society can benefit from communicating these endeavors to build their awareness and connect with other likeminded individuals and companies.

Understanding who is interested in your narrative and for what reasons can yield much more meaningful engagement. If a family office is truly founded on impactful work beyond financial returns, then promoting this work so the story isn’t lost benefits both the family and the positive initiatives.

Proactive Beats Reactive

A question that arises is the concern for public scrutiny and potential vulnerability to attacks in the media, which is definitely something that prominent family offices, like any company, may have to deal with. Having a proactive approach to establish a brand early however allows one to address this sort of challenge head on.

“If someone attacks our values or our purpose, we already have answers,” says Patrick Hanlon, “Instead of being reactive and having restless 2AM conversations.” A well constructed brand means a well-prepared narrative that can be maintained, regardless of external judgements. It also helps create support since there is a clear positioning for both family and employees to unite behind.

The Right Partner

For family offices wondering where to start with the process of developing a brand, or those that feel they need to refresh theirs, they need to start with a simple question.

“What is it that we want to communicate externally,” says Denis Shafranik, founder of Ermak family office, adding, “And is it going to be helpful actually to our counterparts, to our partners that we are aiming to attract and work with?”

This refers to both the task of recruiting employees as well as connecting with potential business partners, something a strong brand enables. Answering that first question will then lead to a process of laying down the foundational values that can be the cornerstone of a coherent brand narrative.

This is something achieved with the right partner, either consultant or agency, who will likely stand out for their shared understanding of personal values as much as their creative ability.

As family offices evolve to increase their influence in the global financial world, the attention given to them in the media increasingly gathers momentum. We’re in a significant moment in time for the industry where the story of the modern family office is just starting to be written – doesn’t it make sense to control this narrative and make sure the message accurately reflects the characters involved, and helps them achieve their long term objectives?