Читать книгу The Private Equity Toolkit - Tamara Sakovska - Страница 47

We see brands everywhere. Does a private equity fund need active brand management? If the goal is to be top of mind, then most definitely yes. If your fund has a superb investment track record, your firm will be top of mind without any marketing efforts on your part. LPs will be lining up to make an investment in your latest fund, sellers of businesses will approach your fund directly, and there will be no shortage of qualified job applicants. People want to associate themselves with top firms in order to maximize the likelihood of their own success.

What if your fund's track record is broadly comparable to that of many other firms? Or, what if you work for a new fund? Then, a serious marketing endeavor might be in order. After all, your brand needs to be recognized and respected by those people most likely to help you with opportunistic deal search. Brand sets expectations, and it is important to differentiate and strengthen your company's external image. How do you do that? My guess is that it will be hard to execute in-house without hiring a brand agency with experience in financial services.

It's difficult to find research on trends in private equity branding. The only brand study I could find that is specifically related to the private equity industry is a survey published in 2017 by a financial marketing firm, BackBay Communications. It has useful insights about brand management, rebranding activities and effective marketing communication in the private equity industry. This study inspired me to look around and think about how the private equity firms that I know well stay top of mind in their markets. Here is a list of my observations:

 Corporate website. Private equity funds use every opportunity to communicate their history, investment approach and differentiated value-add on their website. It becomes increasingly more common to include fairly rich and highly specific content with insights about particular sectors, interviews with investment professionals and investment case studies about closed transactions.

 Social media. Even the most conservative funds with a global footprint, such as KKR and Carlyle, use social media to promote their brand through news updates, podcasts, blogs and video recordings.⁴ It is easy to keep up to date with the latest investments, exits and fund closings.

 Thought leadership. Many private equity firms seek to showcase their expertise by distributing internally generated research, such as specialist whitepapers, in-depth commentary on financing trends, or deal flow analyses. This is an additional outlet for raising awareness, staying top of mind and connecting with the professional community.