Brands can incite the deepest passions in people. Harley Davidson riders have their bikes tattooed on their arms, while for some people the only adornment they will wear on their arm is a Rolex watch. There are women who are prepared to wait 10 years for the signature Birkin bag by haute couture designer Hermes and in some families loyalty to V8 Holdens or Fords is fed down from generation to generation. Yet you may be hard-pressed to find the same level of fervour attached to the super industry.

"Can you imagine anyone with a tattoo of a fund manager or super fund? Yet how do you get that loyalty and trust recognition? The concept that a brand is part of your identity? Financial services as a whole has failed in that regard," Brand Matters director Paul Nelson says. Branding is of course different for financial services.

"The fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) market is brand led, there is an immediacy attached to it. There is, however, a deeper engagement when it comes to your own money and with that a sense of trust," Nelson says. The irony, however, is that while money remains the single most important aspect of people's day-to-day lives, they know practically nothing about the institutions that actually manage their financial futures.

"I can tell you I eat Weet-Bix for breakfast but I can't tell you, and probably don't know, how much money I have in my super fund or where my money actually is," Nelson says. Super funds face the extra challenge of approaching branding in an industry where the concept is not as entrenched as it is in the FMCG market.

"Branding in super is tremendously dangerous because of the lack of experience in the industry with the concept. It is important to get good branding. The big challenge is to be careful," Melbourne Business School associate professor Mark Ritson says.

"There is no second chance in branding. If you stuff it up you're gone." John Livanas, a presenter for educational provider Finsia's master of applied finance program, says the issue of branding also carries with it an emotive dimension.

Livanas, who is also general manager of client services industry fund FuturePlus, says marketeers have known for generations that powerful emotions can be precipitated and nurtured through symbols and words. These symbols and words then become the shorthand method of delivering an image or promise, which ultimately becomes a brand. He adds that although symbols can have positive connotations, if they are mismanaged they can easily become sinister.

"Take the word Nazi. To us it conjures an image of terror and, along with the swastika, is a symbol of oppression. Yet this combination was historically just a contraction of the benign National Socialist Party and a (mis)use of the Hindu symbol of peace," he says. A new super brand is born

Devising a brand that would communicate to members the identity of a new and bigger organisation was one of the key issues that faced industry super funds the Australian Retirement Fund and Superannuation Trust of Australia when they merged in May 2006 to create the $20 billion AustralianSuper.

"We wanted a name that was short, simple, and memorable and clearly said what we did. We also wanted one we could not grow out of, that gave us room to expand into the future," AustralianSuper general manager of marketing and communications Alison McIvor says. For McIvor, the concept behind the brand was developed from in-depth research with staff, members and employers. The fund's research showed there was a positive connotation with the notion of Australia and Australian.

"It signified honesty, diversity and real strength. Australia was also a word that both the merging funds had in their names so it worked out well all round," she says. For an established player like AMP - which was founded in 1849 - branding is a continuous process.

"It is important that we keep up with the times. Six years ago our corporate super business needed reinvigoration. The business was moving towards master trusts and that covered all parts of the marketing including the small and big companies," AMP Corporate Superannuation director Greg Healy says.

To ensure the branding for its corporate super business remains strong, Healy says the company remains in close contact with clients, especially when things go wrong.

"In the good times your brand can be extremely positive but when something gets skewed the whole branding process gets pulled into question. That's why we have relationship managers so if there is concern from our clients we have the ability to be on the ground to address such concerns. You can put out any message you like but face to face adds the most impact,'' he says.

For McIvor, the issue of branding also relates to the nature of the industry itself. "We operate in a competitive, cluttered marketplace where brand can be the difference between someone buying or staying with your product and someone not. They need to know your brand and trust your brand. The fact that superannuation is such a low involvement product means brand becomes an important way of standing out," she says. More than just a name

Getting the name right is only half the story. Following the Federal Government's budget reforms to superannuation as well as the choice of- fund legislation, the responsibility to save for retirement has shifted to the individual. Nevertheless, BT Financial Group head of marketing Melanie Evans says the industry still has a responsibility to engage its clients.

"As an industry we have the responsibility to ensure that our customers take control of their retirement savings," Evans says.

Livanas says research shows time and again that the majority of customers have little knowledge of, or desire to learn about, the way a financial product works. Those termed 'avoiders' find financial matters anxiety producing. To encourage these 'avoiders' to become proactive with their super savings, corporate superannuation provider Plum Financial Services launched its Escalator Program in September 2006 (see box).

To ensure its clients think more about their super, Plum uses the web, workplace seminars and brochures to communicate. The company is also considering other, more creative, mediums to get its message of super saving across.

"At the moment we offer after-work seminars that talk about super saving. To make it exciting we offer nibbles and funky drinks, but we want to reach people who may not be able to attend these seminars. We would even consider something like YouTube," Plum managing director Mike Fitzsimons says.

To engage its members, AustralianSuper segments along a number of variables. In particular the age of a member, their stage in life and the industry they work in. The fund also considers the level of super savings that each member has in their account.

"This most oft en correlates very closely with their level of interest and the types of products, services and offers which will be most relevant to them," McIvor says.

The fund also communicates to its members by phone, online and in person. To ensure its website encourages its members to engage with their super, AMP Corporate Super continually tests client response to its website.

"We do a lot of research with our member base. This includes group testing where we put eye goggles on each member and sit them down in front of our online member education site. These eye goggles monitor where the eyes go, giving us an idea about what our members think are the most useful things on the web," Healy says. Cut through the clutter

Evans says member engagement is also about education. He says the best way to engage with people is to cut through the clutter and talk to them as human beings. BT has embarked on a campaign designed to reflect the life experiences of its clients in a way that also entertains them and teases out their interest.

They chose boxer 'Aussie' Joe Bugner and supermodel 'The Body' Elle McPherson to represent the growth of wealth on the back of hard work and achievement. The campaign also includes a reference to the Ashes series to inform people that the performance of the Australian share market will not continue its dream run of double-digit returns.

The campaign is continually monitored to ensure people understand the company's messages, and Evans says to date it has been successful. "The Investment and Superannuation Truths campaign resulted in significant lift s in brand awareness and consideration. There were big improvements in brand perception, as measured by the brand attributes we track," he says.

For Livanas there is still a long way to go before the industry understands the true nature of how people operate as a group, let alone how they approach the purchase of financial products.

"We are at the crossroads of understanding the way people act as a group. Understanding the way people purchase financial products poses an additional challenge. Our task is to provide shorthand messages to communicate effectively these product promises in a way that will enable people to make appropriate decisions," he says.