Want to Refresh Your Website? First, Lose the Yachts

A well-known best practice for today’s business leaders is to “walk the talk” — match their own actions with the priorities and values they encourage others to demonstrate. 

Marketing maven April Rudin, founder and CEO of The Rudin Group, just did that recently with the rebranding of her firm’s website. Its marquee motto: “We think differently.” 

“It was a big effort,” Rudin said in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “As a marketing firm, if we can’t demonstrate a very clear value proposition for ourselves with a website that looks visually appealing and communicates our message, then it will impact how our clients and prospects look at us.”

But — as she advises her clients in wealth management and related areas to do — Rudin also wanted to make her firm’s new website stand out. 

“I had a clear vision in my mind that I thought represented our brand, which was ‘smart fun,’ she explained. “I wanted it to be smart, of course, because we’re in financial services, so it’s gotta be smart and demonstrate knowledge, eminence and authority.”

At the same time, Rudin said, the website needed to have a lighter side. 

“I wanted it to be a little bit cheeky, interesting and slightly edgy — so that it demonstrates that marketing doesn’t always have to be really conservative or hew to what others are doing. There’s a lot more latitude in how brands can think of themselves today,” she said.

Here’s the first half of our interview, in which she covers everything from the need to get rid of stock images to the importance of having an FAQ page; the second half of the discussion, which focuses on branding, will be posted separately. 

THINKADVISOR: Before your recent rebrand, what was your website’s focus or objective?

APRIL RUDIN: When I launched my firm in 2008 — a time of turmoil in the markets about 15 years ago — I thought that firms really needed to think differently about their brand and how they were approaching clients.

I have two Gen Z kids of my own and noticed that financial services brands looked old and musty.

I was probably one of the first marketers to use the word millennial, and I came up with this concept of multi-generational marketing about 12 years ago. Since then, times have really changed. It’s an old story and time for something new. Just like we advise our clients, it’s important to refresh and stay relevant.

I had the same sort of feeling now as in 2008 — it’s a transitional time and an opportunity for us to communicate to potential prospects in new ways.

What’s new with your brand and website?

Our theme is how this is a different time, and we are thinking differently. People should think differently about how they go to market with digital media, social media and all the different technologies that are now powering brands. It’s a really interesting time. 

Also, personal brands are becoming more important, if not as important, as firm brands. It’s hard to dig into some of these big brands. But once you know the personal brand and you know the people, you can reach out to some of the people [at a firm]. 

A lot has changed in 15 years, and we want to make sure that we capture all of that.

What was the strategic thinking behind the rebrand? 

It was a big effort, and I’ll tell you why. As a marketing firm, if we can’t demonstrate a very clear value proposition for ourselves with a website that looks visually appealing and communicates our message, then it will impact how our clients and prospects look at us. 

I had a clear vision in my mind that I thought represented our brand, which was “smart fun.” 

I wanted it to be smart, of course, because we’re in financial services, so it’s gotta be smart and demonstrate knowledge, eminence and authority. 

On the other hand, I wanted it to be a little bit cheeky, interesting and slightly edgy — so that it demonstrates that marketing doesn’t always have to be really conservative or hew to what others are doing. There’s a lot more latitude in how brands can think of themselves today.

How did you create and launch the new website?

It was a huge project, but the hardest thing with any project like that is getting the right tone.  Once I had this idea of smart fun, it became really easier to communicate what we wanted to do. 

We hired our own external marketing folks to help us, just as we would encourage our clients to do. It’s difficult to communicate anything about yourself. It’s like writing your own resume. It’s hard to be objective. I would recommend that other firms do this. 

Why else is it beneficial to get outside opinions when rebranding and making related changes?

We’ve produced many many websites ourselves. So we believe that there’s value in getting outside opinions on copy, on design, on client experience — on every aspect of a website.

We hired an outside agency to take a look at our own work, which was a really interesting exercise. It was important to really distance myself from the work.

As a founder of a firm, I know it’s important to take advice. You need to do it. Everybody needs to do this — distance themselves from your own opinion and absorb professional advice. Take it in and understand it as just that: professional advice and not anyone’s opinion.

What are the most important steps for updating a website? 

When it comes to updating your website, it’s important to first think about your message(s) and audience. And tone.