The Banktastic Marketing Feed

Environments Matter [The Story]

Maija Klarin — Fri Sep 12 19:17:45 UTC 2008

I may be preaching to the choir here a bit. But I recently came across this good colloquial example of why bank and credit union branch environments matter so much, and I thought I’d share quickly. It’s nice and simple, and makes a powerful point. Have you ever gone into a restaurant for the [...]

Who Benefits From Blogging? [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Thu Sep 11 21:03:21 -0400 2008

Most of my blog posts are expressions of my opinion about something. Not this one. Instead, I’d like to get your opinions (well, it’s not that I don’t want your opinions on other posts, that’s not what I meant).

After seeing the list of credit union employees who blog on the Currency Marketing site, I got to wondering: Does the credit union itself generate any good will from its members and prospects as a result of the employee’s blog?

Closer to home (well, this is my blog), I can’t help but wonder if my employer benefits in any way as a result of my blog.

I’m hoping that whoever comes across this post won’t mind taking a minute and letting me know (honestly):

Do you know who I work for? (Do you care?)

If you knew of the firm I work for before you read this blog, has your opinion of the firm changed as a result?

In your opinion, does this blog contribute to my employer’s brand, even though I make no explicit mention of the firm in the blog’s title or header?

Thanks in advance for answering, and please: Be brutally honest.

Technorati Tags: blogging

HSBC brand recognizes people’s differing values [The Story]

Maija Klarin — Wed Sep 10 17:39:45 UTC 2008

Monolithic HSBC is trying to appear more customer-centric with their newest commercial, created by JWT London and production company Gorgeous. The tagline reads, “We recognize how people value things differently. So what we learn from one customer helps us better serve another.” While this statement feels a little empty, the commercial itself is [...]

Banks, Social Media, And Seinfeld [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Tue Sep 09 20:45:31 -0400 2008

William Azaroff recently blogged about Vancity’s new Wilki. According to William:

I am pleased to announce the new wiki Vancity has launched. It is for the Microfinance community in Canada, and lives at microfinance.ca. Why did we launch a wiki? Well, in short, we are a longtime Microfinance practitioner wanting to expand knowledge amongst those who are involved with Microfinance in Canada. [W]e are deeply involved with the Microfinance model in Canada, and wanted to create a place where we could take the open source concept a little further. So we created and are hosting a wiki where anyone can add information as a practitioner, researcher or follower of Microfinance in Canada, with the aim of growing and evolving a central knowledge repository about the subject.”

To know Vancity is to know a financial institution that is deeply committed to improving its community and to what it purports to stand for. As a result, I can’t think of another financial institution that is more…..authentic…..in its use of social media to support its goals.

Which makes me wonder about all the other financial institutions’ jumping on the social marketing bandwagon.

In an effort to connect with customers and prospects — especially younger ones, like Gen Yers — many banks and credit unions are starting blogs, putting up Facebook pages, running user-generated content campaigns, and launching other social media-related efforts. Will they succeed? Or better yet:

Will social media make them cool (or at least cooler), or do they have to be cool (like Vancity) before they launch social media efforts?

I suspect that many firms think it’s the former — that jumping into the social media and social marketing pool will make them — ipso facto — more attractive to the younger crowd. I also suspect that they’ll be proven wrong (at least to a certain extent). The lack of authenticity of their efforts will be so apparent to their intended audience.

Large, established banks getting into the social media games conjures up the image of Elaine Benes (from Seinfeld) dancing. I guess you’d call it dancing, but it’s certainly not good dancing.

�

And so it is with some financial institutions’ forays into social media. It seems so forced and unnatural. The critical question, though is this: Will it become more natural through trial and error over time, or should they stop what they’re doing and first establish a stronger commitment to serving younger consumers?

I don’t know the answer to that, but I suspect that the right answer is neither — that what they need to do is not let their social meda efforts be the only thing they do in order to reach and serve a new audience.

p.s. Congrats to Vancity and to Currency Marketing (who helped develop the Wiki) on the launch of the Wiki. Great work.

Technorati Tags: Social Media, Banking, Marketing, William Azaroff, Vancity, Seinfeld

The corporate brand and “they” vs. “we” [The Story]

Jesse Villanueva — Tue Sep 09 22:58:06 UTC 2008

Bank marketing managers now have one more thing to pay attention to - language. Do your tellers see themselves as somehow separate or divided from the bank’s management? If so, this will cause cracks in what might otherwise be a seamless brand image. Corporate branding is a discipline of the small and of the [...]

Getting Started With Social Media [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Mon Sep 08 09:03:42 -0400 2008

Emily Riley of Jupiter Research recently wrote a blog post titled Getting Started With Social Marketing. Among her suggestions: Start listening, tap your own databases to understand what customers think of you, integrate social media with existing marketing campaigns, align goals with measurement, and start small on your own site.

My take: This is good advice (although I would quibble with the last point) — advice that I don’t believe a lot of marketers are currently following.

As “innovation mania” sweeps through the halls of marketing, many marketers are looking to experiment with social media, lest they get “left behind.” While�I’ve got nothing against experimenting, I am against experimenting for the sake of experimenting.

But this exactly what many firms seem to be doing. For example, one large bank put up a page in Facebook. Sure, after 48 hours it had about 125 “fans”. But by my count, about 80% of those fans were affiliated with the ad agency that works with the bank. Another bank implemented a capability on its site to allow site visitors to post reviews of the bank. The bank rigged it so the default view lists the reviews it wants site visitors to see (instead of chronologically).

Here’s my issue with these “experiments”: I’m not convinced that they were the right places for these firms to get started with social media or social marketing techniques.

Emily’s suggestions, though, got it right: The place to start is by looking within, not without.

Before putting up a Facebook page, and especially before monkeying around with your own site, the first thing you need to do to get started with social media is to answer some questions:

How are we doing in the marketplace? No — how are we really doing in the market?�
Which customers do we do a good job of attracting and keeping?�
Which customers don’t we do a good job of attracting and keeping?�
Which customers should we be attracting and keeping? No — which customers do we really�need to be attracting and keeping?

And then after you answer these questions, then — and only then — should you ask: How could social media help us?

Not only do too few firms start off by asking these questions, but many often get started by hiring a consultant. Sorry to say this, but that’s a big mistake.

Social media gurus may know social media, and know what other firms are doing with social media, but that doesn’t mean they can answer the questions I’ve raised. That’s why Emily astutelypoints out that getting started needs to involve looking within at existing databases to ferret out customers’ opinions. Social media consultants probably can’t help you do that.

Nor can they really tell you which customers you really do well with today, and which ones you don’t do well with. For a brutally honest discussion of that, it has to be done from within.

I can already hear the objection: “But Ron, we really don’t have anybody internally with any experience with social media, so how can we truly understand how social media can or can’t help?”

And therein lies the next step in your social meda journey: Get some personal experience.

Social media is a highly interpersonal affair. It’s about people connecting with other people. When it’s people connecting with firms, there’s the strong potential for the firm’s communication to come off sounding like advertising. Advertising is great for building awareness, and maybe even preference — and if this is what your firm needs, then great, maybe you’re ready to jump in.

But the largely untapped potential of social media is how it can help firms develop and extend relationships with customers. And if the people who work for a company aren’t personally involved with social media — and building relationships with other people and firms themselves — then it’s going to be hard for them to understand how their own firm can use social media to further relationships.

Another reason why personal involvement at the employee level is so important: To break the own-site-centricity of so many firms (this is why I’m quibbling with Emily’s point about “starting small on your own site”).

This mentality — that you have to get customers/prospects to come to your site — has been around for a long time. The irony about Facebook is that the new mentality –”we need to be where our customers are, so let’s put up on our own page on Facebook” — only furthers the old mentality.

Smart bloggers know that the way to make a name for themselves — and ultimately drive traffic to their sites — is by leaving smart comments on other bloggers’ sites. A firm won’t really understand how unimportant your own site is unless its own employees are involved in social media.

Bottom line: The irony about social media — a tool that can help a firm connect with the outside world — is that it starts with a critical look within, before looking out.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Social Media, Emily Riley

Making the Microsoft brand cool again [The Story]

Maija Klarin — Fri Sep 05 21:38:24 UTC 2008

Back in June, Fast Company asked the question many of us have been pondering, “Can Hotshot Ad Guy Alex Bogusky Make Microsoft Cool?” In short, the cover story discussed how Apple has single-handedly rebranded Microsoft as ‘uncool’ over the years, and how Microsoft is looking to change that by awarding its $300 million consumer-branding [...]

Expobank’s saucy self-promotion [The Story]

Maija Klarin — Fri Sep 05 00:34:20 UTC 2008

Bank marketing is usually boring and forgettable - but not Expobank’s. Looks like even the financial industry is learning that sex sells. Rather than promoting its excellent customer service, Expobank is differentiating itself as having the sexiest employees. That’s right - hot tellers - it’s like the Hooters of banks. The [...]

Not all benefits actually benefit all customers [The Story]

Jessica Sanders — Wed Sep 03 00:50:56 UTC 2008

I just learned about a new tool for credit unions on the Co-Op ATM Network where users can find their nearest ATM by sending a text message. You just text your location (address, intersection, or zip code) to MYCOOP (692667) and they’ll send you a text with the address of the nearest Co-Op Network [...]

Re-Rethinking The User Experience [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Tue Sep 02 20:12:44 -0400 2008

If I ran a bank that had a Customer Experience department, the first thing I would do is fire everybody in the department (I would, however, keep all the Web site designers).

Here’s what spurred that comment: Adweek recently ran an article title Rethinking The User Experience, in which the author writes:

In the interactive world, we have a discipline called User Experience, or UX for short. We’ve got a whole department of people that thinks about it. It’s the first phase of many online projects and it’s a part of every interactive RFP that any company receives. The first thing to understand when getting your head around UX is that it’s an umbrella term for different disciplines that have been converging and co-evolving for the past couple of decades. Less important than intimately understanding each subdiscipline is the idea that at the center of all of this is the user. Ultimately, UX is about fostering a deep understanding of the people who use your Web site, how it fits into their lives, and the empathy necessary to create design solutions that lead to great experiences.

My take: From what I’ve observed, much of what is passed off as UX is nothing but Web site design. There is little to no integration of the graphic design, information architecture, and human-computer interaction disciplines. Persona design is — this won’t win me a lot of fans — often just an effort to create yet another customer segmentation approach that comes no where near producing a return close to the level of investment needed to create it.

The author of the Adweek article wants us to rethink UX by recognizing that “UX and marketing a brand on the Web are inextricably related” and that we must “account for it in a methodical way.”

Honestly, I don’t even know what that means. If that’s “rethinking” UX, then I think we need to re-rethink it.

Specifically, what UX needs is not more graphic design, interface design, or information design. It needs some good, old-fashioned business process design.

Business process design — or business reengineering — is the missing piece to successful user experience. Too often — and this might sound heretical — site designers (oops, I mean user experience engineers) focus too narrowly on the customer or site user. What they fail to recognize is that what they’re “designing” isn’t just a Web site, but a business process. A business process that often exists in the offline world. And a business process that, even though much of it occurs online, still interacts with the offline world and the people (often known as “employees”) who execute that business process offline.

Reengineering came into vogue in the early 90s and went out of vogue by the mid 90s after it became synonymous with downsizing. That certainly didn’t do it any favors, but it still didn’t disqualify it as a legitiimate business tool. Beyond the connection with downsizing, though, the big drawback to the way reengineering was done in the 90s was that it was too internally-focused and often failed to account for what the customer wanted out of that process.

Today’s UX approaches are often just the flip side of the coin: Too externally focused, without the explicit recognition — and (re)design — of the underlying business process supported by the Web site.

Interestingly, despite the focus of the Adweek article on the integration of UX and marketing, the author does rhetorically pose the question “Shouldn’t the UX people be considering this possible impact on the company’s operations?”

The non-rhetorical answer is yes, they absolutely should.

Technorati Tags: Marketing , User Exerience, Adweek

It's Time to Own Your Market [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Tue Sep 02 08:45:00 -0400 2008

It isn't easy being a bank or credit union today. Institutions are faced with a series of increasingly pressing challenges - from aggressive competition and shifting demographic characteristics, to changing consumer behaviors and the impact of commoditization within the industry. These challenges are complex; and they require that banks and credit unions think differently about their markets, their brands, and how each impacts their strategies for growth.

Recognizing these challenges, and the impact they have on today’s financial institutions, has prompted us to partner with Creative Brand Communications to offer banks and credit unions a new service called Own Your Market. Over the past few months, we’ve worked together to help a group of institutions take the first steps towards owning their markets. And today, we’re pleased to announce the formal launch of the new service for banks and credit unions.

Own Your Market is an innovative service to help forward-thinking financial institutions align market opportunities with brand strengths to develop market dominance. It is designed to help institutions:

� Understand their markets and their opportunities in those markets
� Create a brand that is relevant to their markets
� Position themselves for competitive advantage
� Convey value added through the customer experience

For more information about Own Your Market, please visit www.ownyourmarket.net

Top 10 Bank Slogans You’ll Never Hear [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Sun Aug 31 10:28:29 -0400 2008

Hearing about how one Missouri bank changed it’s name to Tightwad Bank (named after the town of Tightwad, MO), got me thinking about other banks that should change their name to reflect the towns they’re located in.

Below are the top 10 bank names and slogans that — I’m afraid to say — you’ll probably not hear about:

10. Ding Dong Bank (TX): “Be a ding dong and bank with Ding Dong.”
9. Bank of Little Hope (TX): “If you want to get rich, there’s Little Hope for you.”
8. Uneedus (LA): “Uneedus. More than we need you.”
7. Whynot Bank (NC): “Why bank with us? Whynot.”
6. Stalker Bank (PA): “We watch your money like a hawk.”
5. Difficult Bank (TN): “The easiest bank to do business with.”
4. No Name Bank (CO): “We’re so good, we don’t need a name.”
3. Athol’s Bank (MA): “The bank for jerks with speech impediments.”
2. Bad Axe Bank (MI): “We’re one Bad Axe bank.”

And the number bank name and slogan that you’ll never hear about:

1. Bank of Mianus (CT): “[censored].”

Technorati Tags: Banking, Branding, American Banker, Marketing

You Suck at Photoshop [The Story]

Andrea Arbuckle — Fri Aug 29 00:02:05 UTC 2008

As you may or may not know, Donnie Hoyle, the tutorial voice of “You Suck at Photoshop,” is not a “real” person. And if you haven’t seen the crude but useful Photoshop videos you can find them here. They were the brain child of Creative Director Troy Hitch (and team?) and were in fact not [...]

Wheel of Misfortune [The Story]

Jeff Stephens — Wed Aug 27 01:39:49 UTC 2008

I’m a big fan of metaphors and analogies—probably to the point where some of my team members, clients and partners get tired of hearing me talk about “building the foundation before you can put up the wallpaper in the bathroom,” and other of my little gems. On his blog The Financial Brand, Jeffry Pilcher threw out [...]

What Would You Name Your Bank? [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Tue Aug 26 14:00:59 -0400 2008

American Banker ran an excellent editorial (subscription req.) yesterday written by Steve Johnson and Joe Depa, claiming that it’s a good time to time to start a bank. The authors argue that now is a good time because:

1. Banks are pushing out customers because of liquidity issues.
2. Displace bankers are on the street.
3. Opportunities to bring in deposits at a low cost.
4. Capital availability.

My take: Couldn’t agree more.

In addition to the authors arguments, though, I think there are at least two additional factors that make it a good time to start a bank:

1) Broken business model. When a primary source of revenue for your business is levying fees for situations (transactions or interactions) that add little or no value to your customers, you know you have a problem.

2) Tenuous customer relationships. Few banks have systematically strong (i.e., loyal, long-lasting) relationships with a significant percentage of their customer base (USAA comes to mind). Sure, every bank can find a handful of customers who love the bank to death, but these customers tend to be unrepresentative of the broader customer base.

But, for me, the question isn’t whether or not this is a good time to start a bank, but who should start one? Someone with 30 years experience in the industry, who’s caught the entrepreneurial bug? No offense to those people, but when you grow up in an industry — and succeed within it for 30 years — it’s awfully tough to see a completely different way of doing business?

So it got me thinking: If an executive from another industry started a bank, what kind of bank would it be, and what would they name it?

Fast food: This bank would be the model of operational efficiency — it would get people in and out the door efficiently. Product quality wouldn’t be that good (of course, that would be no different from today’s banks). And it would be great at trying to up-sell you something at the point of transaction (of course, that would be no different from today’s banks). Bank names: Savings King, In-and-out Bank, and Whatabank.

Internet: Every product offered by this bank would be in perpetual beta release (Checking Account ver 1.3.4b). Customer service would be non-existent (of course, that would be no different from today’s banks), and the bank’s Web site would be very colorful, with lots of cool graphics. Bank names: Knab, Yemon.

Automotive: This bank would publish a list of exhorbitant fees that it would discount based on each customer’s ability to negotiate (of course, that would be no different from today’s banks). Bank names: LeBank, Bankeville.

Come to think of it, maybe it would be better if some ex-banker started a new bank.

Technorati Tags: Banking, American Banker, Marketing

Dear Jeff Bezos [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Mon Aug 25 16:13:30 -0400 2008

Dear Mr. Bezos:

You know how Gillette gives away the razor to get you to buy their blades? You should do that with the Kindle. If you gave me a Kindle, I’d buy more books than you could imagine. And I bet I’m not alone.

Thanks for listening,

Ron Shevlin

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Kindle

A Return To Mass Marketing? [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Mon Aug 25 13:38:40 -0400 2008

The title of this article in DM News caught my attention. A study conducted by Meredith Corp. found that:

Gamma women [are] everyday women with a large circle of friends who enjoy freely sharing information within their social networks using multiple media. Though many marketers have yet to tailor their messaging to Gamma women, this segment — estimated at 55 million — has inspired a small crop of new companies over the past few years. The Gamma woman is at the center of her friends, and wants to be in the know, share infor�mation and be an educated consumer,” says Aliza Freud, founder and CEO of SheSpeaks. “When brands engage these consumers, it builds goodwill and helps companies gain tremendous insight.”

My take: This sets 1:1 marketing back by ten years.

Raise your hands, ladies, if you don’t want “to be in the know, share information, and be an educated consumer.” Exactly, I didn’t think any of you were raising your hands. According to the US Census Bureau, there are approximately 89 million women between the ages of 18 and 65 in the US. Therefore, Gamma women account for 62% of all women between 18 and 65!

What’s bothering me — in addition to this apparent blow to the concepts of micro-segmenting and one-to-one marketing — is that I, too would like to be “at the center of my friends (if I had any), to be in the know, share information, and be an educated consumer.” I guess that makes me a Gamma woman. I think I’m going to need therapy.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, 1:1 Marketing; DM News, Meredith Corporation

Niche marketing in the banking sector [The Story]

Maija Klarin — Fri Aug 22 16:01:10 UTC 2008

This article in the Puget Sound Business Journal got me thinking about the lack of niche marketing of financial services. Sure, there are banks (like Plaza Bank) targeting larger minority populations, especially Hispanics and Asian Americans, but what about other demographic niches? Where is the bank that exclusively focuses on attracting a clientele [...]

“Make” your statements [The Story]

Jesse Villanueva — Wed Aug 20 18:22:22 UTC 2008

Does it shock you to know that there are only an estimated 1,600 pandas left in the world? Maybe it does. But chances are, you’re like many, who naturally can’t comprehend how dire the situation really is. To engage people in the hopes of compelling them to take action, check out what the French did [...]

Emotional Is Not The Opposite Of Rational [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Wed Aug 20 10:30:49 -0400 2008

Over the past few years marketers — financial services marketers, in particular — have increasingly recognized the importance of emotional factors in how consumers make decisions. Especially when it comes to products that they believe should be evaluated on rational factors, like the interest rate on a checking or savings account, or on a loan.

The light shone brightly on this topic this week as Roger Dooley, Tony Mannor, Jeffry Pilcher, and I all blogged about a marketing test conducted by a South African bank which found that replacing the photo of a male with a photo of a female in an offer letter significantly increased take-up; equal to dropping the interest rate about 4.5 points.

This recognition has impacted Web site design approaches, as illustrated by the four-quadrant system for categorizing a person’s purchasing style developed by Roy Williams and the Eisenburg brothers (and cited by Jeff Larche in his blog, which is where I read about it). The quadrants are formed by two dimensions — the speed with which a decision is made (fast versus slow), and the style with which a decision is made (logical versus emotional).

My take: Studies like the one from the bank, and the decision quadrants from the Eisenburgs, can lead marketers to think that emotional decisions are not necessarily rational decisions. This is not niecessarily true. Emotional is not the opposite of rational.

Example: You’re watching Bambi, and Bambi’s mother is kiiled. You begin to cry. That’s an emotional response. But it’s a rationally emotional repsonse. After all, crying in response to something that’s sad is not an inappropriate response. If you were to laugh at that, that would be an irrationally emotional response.

Marketers don’t sufficiently understand the degree to which consumers’ decisions are emotional or rational. But one thing is for certain: It’s not an either/or situation. The challenge marketers face is determining (preferably through testing) what combination of rational and emotional factors should be included in their marketing efforts. And for site designers, categorizing someone as making either an emotional or logical decision is probably wrong, and could lead to poor site design decisions.

What’s disturbing, though, are studies like the one from the South African bank. The decision that many of the bank’s customers made were neither rational or emotional — they were irrational (at least as far as I can tell, or will allow myself to believe).

What could have been going through the minds of these guys (and as the study found, it was mostly guys who were influenced by the pictures) to let a picture of a pretty woman influence their decision to accept a loan offer? I could guess — but not publicly.

As marketers, we can better understand emotions, the role emotions play in consumer decisions, and the interaction of emotional and rational factors in decision making. But if consumer decisions are irrational, then we’re all in trouble.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Roger Dooley, Tony Mannor, Jeffry Pilcher

Mark The Date For Finovate 2008 [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Tue Aug 19 12:34:43 -0400 2008

Truth be told, I hate going to most conferences. I hate traveling, I hate listening to people who can’t present worth a dime (regardless of whether or not they’re using Powerpoint or Keynote), and I especially hate listening to vendors blow smoke up my…

But I loved the Finovate Startup conference that took place in SF this past April. Forty vendors were given 7 minutes to pitch their value to the financial services world — 20 in the morning, 20 in the afternoon, with plenty of time in between to chat with both the vendors and other attendees. And no Powerpoint.

So that’s why I’ve registered to attend Finovate 2008 in New York on October 14. Hope to see you there. If you’re thinking about going, but need some incentive, Jim Bruene has given me a discount code to pass on to five people that will get them $250 off the registration price. If you’re interested, email me.

p.s. If any of the cool people want to go hear a great band with me, Umphrey’s McGee is playing in NY that night (the old folks can go to Crosby & Nash out on Long Island).

Technorati Tags: Finovate, NetBanker

Sexy Nude Chicks [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Mon Aug 18 16:11:54 -0400 2008

This is a really difficult blog post for me to write.

First of all, because I have to admit that I might have been wrong about something. And second, because with a blog title like this one, I risk offending some people, and losing some readers. Especially female readers. Which is not as sexist a comment as it may seem, and, in fact, might be a key point of the whole post.

Confused? Sorry. I’ll explain.

I recently published a blog post in which I claimed that despite banks’ branding efforts, that “rates matter (a lot).” While I might have been right about the relative ineffectiveness of branding efforts, I might have overstated the impact of rates.

The Neuromarketing blog points us to a research report based on a marketing test conducted by a South African bank. According to the study:

A South African lender sent letters offering incumbent clients large, short� term loans at randomly chosen interest rates (which ranged from 3.25% to 11.75% per month). The letters also contained independently randomized psychological “features” that were motivated by specific types of frames and cues shown to be powerful in the lab, but which, from a normative perspective, ought to have no impact.”

What were those “psychological features”? They included the description of the offer, promotional giveaways, comparisons to competitor rates, and the presence (or absence) of a photo of a person. These photos varied between various combinations of race and gender.

What did the bank find? According to the report:

For the male customers, replacing the photo of a male with a photo of a female on the offer letter statistically significantly increases take-up; the effect is about as much as dropping the interest 4.5 percentage points. For female customers, we find no statistically significant patterns.”

So maybe I was wrong — maybe rate doesn’t matter. If you’re marketing to men, and use pictures of women in your marketing material, that is.

Anyway, I figure if the quality of the offering doesn’t matter as much as having photos of women, then I don’t have to worry about writing high quality blog posts as long as I include pictures of sexy nude chicks.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Banking, Neuromarketing

Delusions Of Brandeur [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Fri Aug 15 10:59:54 -0400 2008

Bank branding efforts are in full force these days. Frost Bank of Texas launched a brand building campaign in April designed at improving awareness of its full range of services, including banking, investments, and insurance (wow, isn’t that a surprise!). Flagstar claims to be the “new wave in banking” (interesting choice of terms when you consider that “new wave” music went out of style more than 20 years ago). And WaMu launched its effort to be an iconic brand, by eliciting a whoo-hoo from its customers.

My take: First off, these banks are failing to support these branding efforts with their Web sites. And second, that might not matter, anyway.

For all the efforts that banks make to tell their customers and prospects that the bank is different (or better), their Web sites just scream “we’re really the same.”

Sorry, Flagstar, but your site — with its top nav-bar menu tabs, large banner ad mid-center page, and product links below the banner ad — is not the “new wave in banking.” Sorry, WaMu, but a link on your home page that promises help with mortgage payments, but only goes to a page that provides your phone number does not elicit a “whoo hoo” from this bank customer. Sorry, Frost, but while I like the notion of asking your site visitors “how can we help you today?”, simply providing a list of products is often not what a customer needs help with.

Close your eyes for a moment and picture your bank’s Web site. See the login boxes on the left? The product-focused banner ads in the middle? The links to every product the bank offers below that? And the major line of business links along the top-nav bar? Of course you do.

The dilemma that bank site designers face is deciding between familiarity and uniqueness.

On one hand, when a bank Web site follows certain conventions about navigation and design, it make it easier for a site visitor to know what to do and where to go.

On the other hand, though, when you spend millions of dollars in advertising telling the public that you’re “different,” a site that conveys “sameness” creates brand discord.

Should banks overhaul their site design conventions to support their branding efforts? If they do, they should look at the site for Marriott’s St. Kitts property as an example of how to be different. Granted, the loading time isn’t desirable, but the design as a whole is in line with the kind of image the hotel is looking to portray.

My take: Instead of changing their Web sites, banks should rethink their branding efforts.

NetBanker reported recently on the success of BancVue’s Rewards Checking product. According to information that BancVue supplied to NetBanker, 381 FIs are live with BancVue’s checking account. Overall, there are 610.000 accounts open with $5.5 billion in those accounts — or about $9k per account. In addition, BancVue reports that more than 13,000 accounts are opened each week.

Put that in context with the success that ING Direct has had in the US market over the past few years with a simple savings account that pays above average market rates.

What does this tell you?

That rate matters (a lot). That having a branch on every corner might not be the “cornerstone of a customer relationship” (Vernon Hill, ex-CEO of Commerce Bank, said that). That some (many? those with money?) consumers might not want a range of products from their bank, but simply be looking for the best particular financial product that meets a need that they don’t want or need advice on, or other products to go with. That some consumers might not care about going whoo-hoo after visiting their bank, and simply want the bank to get things right in the first place, so they wouldn’t need service in the first place.

And that spending millions of dollars to create a brand image that isn’t supported by the online experience (and in many cases, the offline experience) or a solid understanding of the kinds of relationships that consumers want with their banks may be a poor use of scarce resources.

Technorati Tags: Banking, Marketing, Branding, Advertising

Actionable Insights [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Perry) — Fri Aug 15 09:27:00 -0400 2008

Tommy Thompson, president of iNSPIRE!, has posted a great article this morning on Advertising Age's blog regarding the mistakes often made in marketing to the Hispanic community...its worth a read!

Young & Free targets Gen Y in Texas, but they're not alone [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Wed Aug 13 15:47:00 -0400 2008

After reading so much about the successes of Young & Free Alberta in targeting Generation Y, we knew it was only a matter of time before a similar concept would be introduced in the United States. And this week it was; Young & Free Texas was launched by Texas Dow Employees Credit Union.

In reading the news and visiting the site, I initially thought the Texas initiative would generate the same kind of buzz and success, if not more, that it did for Commonwealth Credit Union in Alberta. This is especially true as we havn't seen other institutions going to equal lengths to target Gen Y.

But it looks like Texas-based Resource One Credit Union is launching an extremely similar initiative this week: my life, my money. Not only are these initiatives both targeting members of Generation Y in Texas - but also use social media in their marketing, are offering a similar checking/savings account, and are intending to hire a spokesperson - with nearly identical perks.

It will be interesting to see how both are received and talked about during their respective searches for spokespeople - and in the months that follow.

Update: there are a couple great discussions discussing both of these accounts/initiatives in depth, one on Everything CU and another on The Financial Brand.

The Perfect Marketing Test? [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Tue Aug 12 22:51:45 -0400 2008

Good marketers understand the importance of testing. Really good marketers design and execute tests that enable them to improve and optimize results.

But marketers can only test things they can control. And competitors’ actions don’t typically fall into the category of things a marketer can control.

Recent events in Texas, however, point to an opportunity to conduct an interesting marketing test.

Resource One Credit Union of Dallas recently launched a campaign it calls MyLifeMyMoney. According to The Financial Brand blog:

Contestants will submit a 500-word blog and video online during the first phase of the competition. Resource One will then select the top finalists who will have to solicit votes from their community of peers. The candidate with the most votes will then be selected as the MyLifeMyMoney “spokester” on October 31, 2008. The winner gets use of a Scion, a phone, laptop, video camera and part-time salary for a year. The campaign is almost identical to Common Wealth Credit Union’s Young & Free Alberta initiative that was launched up in Canada a little less than a year ago.”

Interesting. Especially because a few days later and about 240 miles to the southeast, Texas Dow Employees’ Credit Union in Houston launched Young & Free Texas, which is also almost identical to the Young & Free Alberta initiative. But that’s because Currency Marketing, the marketing agency behind the Alberta initiative, is also working with TDECU to launch the Texas initiative.

Currency’s game plan is to exclusively license the Young & Free to one credit union per state in the US and one per province in Canada.

Why go with Currency when, like Resource One, you can go it alone?

Because Currency is betting (knows?) that there’s a lot more to a successful Gen Y marketing campaign than just launching a contest, picking a spokesperson, and setting him/her loose. Accelerating the learning curve, understanding the budget implications, integrating the program with other marketing initiatives, and identifying the product needs are all part of Currency’s value proposition.

With the two credit unions launching similar types of initiatives, at roughly the same time, and in similar markets (? I have no idea if that’s true. I’m sure Trey will set me straight on this), it’s a great opportunity to determine if an in-house approach is superior to an outsourced approach.

Will Resource One suffer from learning curve issues? Fail to integrate the program with other initiatives? Will TDECU benefit from Currency’s expertise and accelerate its learning curve, budget appropriately, and effectively integrate?

We might not find out. But this could be one great marketing test.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Credit Unions, Resource One, TDECU, Currency Marketing, Young & Free

Off-Topic: Societus Interruptus [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Sun Aug 10 23:06:30 -0400 2008

My wife hadn’t seen the first season of Mad Men, so we went to On Demand and loaded up Season 1, Episode 1. I saw something in that episode that you would never see in today’s business world.

No, it wasn’t the incessant cigarette smoking. Nor was it the blatant sexual harassment.

Instead, it was Don Draper closing the door to his office, laying down on his couch, and taking a nap. With nobody interrupting him.

That’s downright mind-boggling in today’s business world.

In the course of an email exchange with a friend recently, we bemoaned the seeming fact that so few managers think their way out of problems. As I thought about that some more, I realized that (for many) it’s not because they’re not able — it’s because they don’t have time.

Today’s managers face a never ending series of interruptions during the course of a day that just don’t allow them the time to sit and think. And worse, even if they did have time to do that, then either: 1) someone is bound to think they’re goofing off, or 2) they’ll feel uncomfortable because they’re not used to just sitting and thinking.

Personally, I’m very fortunate. I have a job that gives me time to think (in fact, it kinds of requires me to think). I couldn’t have it any other way — I left a higher paying job where I didn’t have time to think for this one.

It’s not that I’m not interrupted by things. I’m interrupted by plenty of things. But I’m very conscious about what I let interrupt me. Perhaps oddly, one of the things I let interrupt me are Twitter tweets. When a tweet pops up I take a look. And that’s why I’m picky about who I follow and agree to let follow me.

Generally, I’m more than happy to interrupt my train of thought to read what a Twitter buddy is thinking about, dealing with, enjoying, or frustrated about at that given moment. I don’t mind those interruptions at all.

But tweets that tell me what someone is eating, or that they’ve just arrived at their hotel/flight/work, or that they’ve just posted a new blog post (which I’ll find out about any way), are simply not interruptions worth my attention. They’re annoying, but I’ve endured them.

Until now.

Something has come along to shake me from my silent suffering. That something is called 12 Seconds.

So let me get this straight. When you tweet, you want me to stop what I’m doing to read your tweet. But when your tweet is nothing but a link to a 12 Second video, you’re asking me to read the tweet, click on the link, and then watch a video.

These videos may be nothing more than you telling me what you ate for breakfast. I don’t know. I’ve only watched one of them so far (it was McAlpine’s “I know who the CU Skeptic is” and I only watched it because I suspected that he would let time run out without mentioning the Skeptic’s name — and I was right).

You might dismiss all of this as just the grumbling of Mr. Cranky. Fair enough.

But I’m really trying to subtly and gently (which is really hard for me) make a bigger point.

In today’s business world, we all face one interruption after another. If you want your interruption to be noticed, then it has to have some value for its intended audience. Whether it’s a tweet, email, phone call, or a 12 Seconds video. This is especially true of the emerging social networking avenues. As new communication channels, there’s a sense of novelty to being able to “write on someone’s wall.” But the novelty will wear off real quick if these communiques are mindless expressions.

If, however, you still feel the need to tweet your breakfast, fine, I can live with that. Just as long as I don’t have to spend 12 seconds watching you eat it.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, 12 Seconds

Financial Services Firms’ Missed Opportunity [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Fri Aug 08 14:05:33 -0400 2008

Here’s the problem I have with all the hype about social media in the financial services industry: For all the talk about “joining the conversation,” few social media evangelists really get specific about helping financial services firms understand what to say in those conversations.

I think this is an issue, and here’s why: Based on research I’ve recently published, I don’t think that financial services firms are having effective conversations with their customers in any of the channels they interact with them in.

Aite Group surveyed 500 consumers — half of whom plan to retire in five years, the other half who retired in the past five years — and asked them what financial products were in their portfolio, and if they thought that those products are playing the appropriate role in their retirement portfolio.

Among mass affluent and high-net-worth investors, 99.5% identified at least one financial product that they believed should play either a larger or smaller role in their portfolio. Roughly four out of 10 investors who hold mutual funds, CDs or stocks believe each of these instruments should play a larger role in their portfolios.

And just because a product isn’t in an investor’s portfolio, it doesn’t mean that he or she thinks that it shouldn’t be. One in five investors without mutual funds think that they should have them, and one in four without CDs think that they should have CDs.

What this tells me is that although financial services marketers are adept at understanding the impact of life changes on the financial product needs of consumers, they don’t really know what’s on their customers’ minds.

Instead of asking what we asked — what do you have, what do you think should play a larger or smaller role in your portfolio, etc. — financial firms are asking about risk tolerance and desired (or expected) retirement lifestyles.

As a result, they’re missing opportunities to make product sales. Simply because they don’t ask the right questions in the conversations that they already have. I don’t see how engaging customers in online social networks is going to make those conversations any different.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Banking, Financial Services, Aite Group

Should You Really be on YouTube? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Wed Aug 06 15:39:00 -0400 2008

According to a feature in the latest ABA Bank Marketing Magazine you should be. The title of the article You Should be on YouTube raises huge concerns, as it implies that all readers should have a presence on the website. While I was a bit surprised to read such a definite statement, I was more alarmed by the statement that followed:

“If you are not, your competition might beat you to it.”

Who cares if your competition beats you to it? If a YouTube video doesn’t support your marketing efforts and overall strategy, you shouldn’t waste resources developing, posting and managing content – especially for the sake of having a video online before your competition does.

Overall, the article does make good points about blogs and podcasts, but sends the wrong message in being so definitive about being on YouTube. We can all think of institutions who have no business posting videos online; and there are plenty of wildly successful institutions who aren’t on YouTube and aren't worried that their competition is – for many institutions it just doesn’t make sense.

Small Sucks [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Mon Aug 04 20:05:01 -0400 2008

I’ve seen some blog posts/presentations recently, touting the benefits of being small. Not small as in short (i.e., height), but small, as in organizational size.

My take: Hogwash. Being small sucks. And even if it doesn’t suck for your firm, the reality is that being small — or, more accurately, staying small — isn’t sustainable.

Regardless of the legal structure of your entity (for-profit or not-for-profit), every firm needs to bring in more money than it spends, if it wants to stay in business. Duh.

But even if your firm generates a healthy profit today, standing still isn’t a feasible option. Even if nothing changes in the number of your customers and the scope of their relationship, the reality is that Sally in Accounting and Bill in the call center are going to want to raises at some point in time. And your suppliers are going to raise their prices at some point. Which means there’s always upwards pressure on expenses.

In addition, if you’re going to innovate, that might take some capital investment over and above today’s level of investment. And where is that going to come from? Growth.

So while it may chic to say that small is beautiful, and though staying small may be seductive, it simply isn’t feasible. You have to grow.

One alternative is to grow the top line faster than you grow the expense line.

If you’re a credit union, you have some options here. Option #1 is to increase your penetration of your existing field of membership. If the universe of potential members is decreasing, this isn’t particularly easy. And if you haven’t been particularly successful at acquiring new members from the existing field of membership in the past, then you’re going to have to make some investments in marketing, service, product delivery, etc. to improve on past performance. And that takes additional money. Which cuts into profits. Which aren’t there if you aren’t growing.

Option #2 is to increase your share of wallet among existing members. If you’re a US credit union, good luck. US consumers don’t like to put all their financial products with a single institution. With the average age of CU members generally higher than the national average, this is a risky strategy, since many older consumers don’t need a lot of new deposit accounts or home/car loans.

The new crop of financial services customers — Gen Yers — might be different. Who knows. Good luck waiting it out until they need mortgages, home equity loans, investment accounts, and retirement planning services. Something tells me that CUs are going to have to make new investments (if they haven’t already) to attract them.

A second alternative is to continually decrease the cost structure of your organization.Good luck. A lot of what are commonly referred to as variable expenses act a whole lot more like fixed expenses in real life.

So you have to grow. And growing organically is tough — real tough. So you merge. But here’s the problem with many mergers — they’re really mergers predicated on cost structure reduction. They’re not geared towards improving market penetration or share of wallet. They’re based on achieving economies of scale. Assuming you’re even able to capitalize on these promised efficiencies, what happens after that?

You either have to grow the top line faster than you grow the expense line, or continually decrease the cost structure of your organization. Which, as we’ve seen, is really hard to do. So you merge again.

So you see, being small sucks. Unfortunately, so does being big. This leads us to the Goldilocks theory of optimal organizational size: The right size of a firm is not too small, not too large. The right size is just right.

My friend the CU Warrior writes:

Small, not-for-profit financial institutions have what most large financial institutions do not: the genuine ability to craft solutions to their field of membership’s unique needs…”

This is a dangerous belief to cling to. Their ability to craft solutions is not inherently better. The advantage that smaller organizations have is their ability to act faster (generally speaking). But with an ongoing pressure to get bigger, that ability to act faster diminishes all the time.

Now I’m sure that the “small is beautiful” crowd will find examples of firms that “disprove” my argument. Here’s my rebuttal: Anybody can find examples of successful, small CUs — at a particular point in time.

The history of management books is littered with the examples of firm who were “in search of excellence” or “built to last” when some author came along and wrote about them. How many of those firms sustained their level of success? Few. Very few.

There will be some firms that truly run counter to my argument. These examples are few and far between. And more importantly, it’s my guess that there’s something different in the way these CUs are managed that account for their success. That is, they’re not successful because they’re small. Instead, their unique success enables them to stay small.

I suspect that Mt. Lehman Credit Union is one of these CUs. First of all, my guess is that MLCU’s investments in technology enable it to continually hold down the average cost of transactions and interactions. When it launched mobile banking, for example, it didn’t simply add one more customer contact channel to develop and maintain. It migrated transactions and interactions from other channels to the new channel.

Second, I would imagine that the typical MLCU member has more products/member than most other CUs, especially those in the US.

And third, I’m pretty sure that the management team and board are well aligned on a strategic path that enables the CU to stay sustainably small.

So being small might not suck for MLCU. But it’s likely that it will for your credit union.

Technorati Tags: Credit Unions, CU Warrior , Mt. Lehman Credit Union

Another Thought on Relevance [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Perry) — Sun Aug 03 11:43:00 -0400 2008

The issue of relevance is on my mind again this week as the world prepares for the summer Olympic Games in Beijing. If you scan through the list of corporate sponsors of the Olympics you’ll see the venerable name of Kodak. What you may not know is that last October the company whose name was once synonymous with film and cameras announced that it was ending its role as a top corporate sponsor of the Olympics after this summer's games – an ongoing sponsor relationship that began over 100 years ago with the first modern games in 1896.

At the time of the announcement, Elizabeth Noonan, Kodak's director of brand management, stated "As we complete the transformation of Kodak, it makes sense for us to take a new direction." What she didn’t say was that Kodak hasn’t transformed its business model as fast as the changes in related technology or consumer expectation. They simply didn’t adjust to the transition from film photography to digital photography as it was happening. When was the last time you dropped off a roll of film for developing? Professional and amateur photographers alike have numerous options today including digital cameras, digital printing and online photo management applications like Flickr. As Kodak scrambles to compete, they have experienced massive net losses and its workforce has dropped to half what it was in 2003.

What can the financial services industry learn from this example? A great deal! Look at how new technology within this industry has already changed consumer behaviors across the demographic spectrum. By paying close attention to the shifts in your industry and your market, and proactively adapting to those changes, you have a greater likelihood of remaining relevant to your customer and avoiding the same fate as Kodak.

Two Types Of Bloggers [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Sat Aug 02 11:26:05 -0400 2008

There are two types of bloggers: Those who think there are two types of bloggers, and those of us who know better.

No, really, there are two types of bloggers: Those who don’t post nearly enough, and the rest of us.

Among the former are:

Marketing Geek. I don’t know much about Michael Fassnacht other than what it says on his Blogger profile. What I do know is that when he posts, I read. A recent post on attribution modeling is one of those posts that makes me think “damn! I wish I had said that.” He pretty much hadn’t posted anything on his site between April and the end of July. I hope he doesn’t go on hiatus like that again.

Tinfoiling. This blog is like a window into the thoughts of someone I respect personally and professionally. There’s something about Gene Blishen’s blog posts that just put me in the right state of mind. It must be the association I make between Gene and what I imagine to be the picturesque little area of Burnaby Mountain, with Thoreau and Walden Pond. For some reason, though, I imagine Mt. Lehman Credit Union to be the perfect setting for a sitcom. I don’t why I said that.

p.s. There are really three types of bloggers: Those who don’t post enough, those who post just enough, and attention-starved bloggers who feel the need to post three times a day. Buy me a drink — no, make that a few — and I’ll tell you who they are.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Blogging, Marketing Geek, Tinfoiling

Two Dot Oh No [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Fri Aug 01 11:44:34 -0400 2008

Thought I’d share with you the recipe for geniusosity (the act of being perceived as a thought leader in your field):

State the field (function, area, etc.) in which you work.
Proclaim that things in your field are changing. If possible, use phrases like “fundamental changes” and “changes that go to the core.”
Herald the emergence of [Insert-your-field-here] 2.0.

It’s really getting to be too much. Pretty soon we’ll be reading about Receptionist 2.0, where office receptionists will be creating social networks to engage the people sitting around in their waiting rooms.

The thing that surprises me about the whole 2.0 naming convention is that in flies in the face of the principles laid out in Made To Stick about what makes ideas grab hold.

The 2.0 naming convention stems from the IT world, where technology people slap on an incremental number to name the next generation of their creations (sometimes called applications).

But adopting technology-driven naming conventions could have negative ramifications.

Remember back in the late 90s when we had to deal with the Y2K crisis? (I realize that for some of you, the answer is no, you were just pimply-faced teens back then. Bear with me, then).

What happened was that IT people, in an attempt to save storage space, and simplify programming efforts, routinely left off the first two digits of the year when dealing with date fields in programs. Of course, when the turn of the century rolled around, programs had to be recoded to avoid serious miscalculations.

But that’s not the problem I’m alluding to. The problem was in the naming convention. Did they call it the “Year 2000″ crisis (9 characters with the space)? Oh no. They had to cut it down to the “Y2K” crisis, which, of course, was the same kind of thinking that led to the problem in the first place.

Bottom line: We can’t let the technophiles dictate our naming conventions.

So when describing the next generation of your field, please come up with some decriptive name for the changes you envision, and that help us understand what those changes are. Simply slapping a 2.0 label on it isn’t helpful. And, who knows, it could cause a crisis down the road.

Technorati Tags: Web 2.0

The Future Of Bank Branding [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Thu Jul 31 12:51:49 -0400 2008

Financial services branding is a hot topic these days, from releases of (methodologically suspect) brand rankings, to a number of blog posts. Stealing Share published a study recently, and had this to say about bank brands:

The major banks remain undifferentiated and deliver little to no brand meaning. What banks need is a new brand promise, one that is a reflection of who the target audience is.”

The Open Source CU blog echoed this sentiment:

The vast majority of financial institutions will continue their pursuit of “better sameness” in lieu of real differentiation. They will continue to apply imaginary rules about what FIs should and shouldn’t look like.”

My take: Both Stealing Share and OSCU are right on regarding the lack of differentiation in bank brands.

I was disappointed, though that Stealing Share (a “strategic brand development’ firm) didn’t offer any ideas for what a new “brand promise” in banking that “reflects the target audience” would look like. And I while I agree with the author of the OSCU blog post that the majority of FIs will “continue their pursuit of better sameness,” I believe that is only in the short-term.

For the longer-term horizon (3+ years out), I envision a very different scenario for the future of bank branding efforts. A scenario that reflects not “who the target audience is”, but “who the target audiences are.”

In the future, banks will go down one of the following three branding paths:

1) Specialist. The brand message for firms going down this path will be “We do [fill-in-the-blank] — and only [fill-in-the-blank].” Fill-in-the-bank might be a specific product or service, or perhaps “serve” a specific segment of the market.

I can see the TV commercial for this brand: A prospect walks into a bank branch (a competitor), and meets with a rep to talk about a specific product. The prospect then says “great, I’d also to talk to someone about product #2.” The rep says “sure, one moment, I’ll go get someone” and gets up and walks out. The same rep returns a moment later wearing a different jacket, perhaps a wig, perhaps a fake nose and glasses, and says “hi, how can I help you?” Voice over: At XYZ Bank, we do one thing, and one thing only. And we do it better than anyone else.

Rationale: The financial supermarket concept has never worked, and never will. Consumers have never wanted a one-stop shop, and many never will. Self-directed consumers who know what they want, are willing to put in the effort to manage their finances — and multiple financial providers — will place a value on firms that specialize in narrow product areas, services, or their particular segment.

2) Trusted, objective advisor. The brand message for banks on this path is: “We do right’s for you — not us.” Think Miracle On 34th Street with Santa sending customers to other stores because it’s right for them. Sound crazy? Sure it does. But this is true differentiation — and will plenty of traffic in the door and on the site. It’s working for Progressive Insurance.

Rationale: There’s a segment of consumers — they tend to be younger, less affluent, less highly educated — that need advice and guidance on how to manage their financial lives and how to make smart decisions. Trusted advice is easy to get when you have $10 million in the bank (which is funny to say, because the people who have $10 million usually don’t keep it with a bank). Trusted, objective advice — regarding both sides of the balance sheet (assets and liabilities) — is an unment need among many consumers.

3) Operational excellence. The brand tagline for firms on this track is “We don’t screw up — ever. And if we do, we’ll fix it so fast you won’t even know it happened.” (I’m sure the copywriters will come up with more appropriate language)

In the ads for a firm on this path, an error will occur when somebody enters erroneous information on a computer screen. This will set off an “alarm” within the bank’s information system (because they’re able to flag the error as such in a nanosecond), and bots will go screaming through the ethernet to grab the error out of the dataflow, fix it immediately, and ensure that the right information goes through to the customer at the other end.

Rationale: Relatively affluent, highly educated consumers value this more than anything else. When my bank screws up a $50 charge, it can only make me wonder: “If you can’t keep track of $50, how can you expect me to invest $500k with you?”

———————————————

What about today’s predominant branding themes — convenience and superior service? They’re subordinated under the three tracks I’ve laid out. In other words, convenience and superior service are givens, or the cost of entry to compete in the first place.

I may be completely off-base with these branding approaches, so feel free to dispute them and suggest others.

Side note to the branding gurus out there: Don’t just critique and bash the banks for their current branding efforts — offer some constructive alternatives. If you’ve got any, that is. I’m not sure you do — if you did, there might not be so much sameness across today’s bank branding efforts.

Technorati Tags: Banking, Marketing, Branding, Open Source CU, Stealing Share

The Problem With The US Economy And The Financial Services Industry Role In Fixing It [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Tue Jul 29 21:32:51 -0400 2008

Jeffry Pilcher and I have an offline conversation (i.e., email) going on about what’s really wrong with the country.

Our take: Too many people living beyond their means. Or, as JP puts it: “Spending money we don’t have on sh*t we don’t need.”

We’re not alone in this view. In an article posted on Harvard Business Publishing’s Discussion Leaders site, Umair Hague writes:

“We’re not just addicted to cheap oil. There’s a deeper economic truth at work here. We’re addicted to consumption. [O]ur economy is built on firms whose very purpose is to sell; to relentlessly push people into endlessly consuming, without ever considering the long-run consequences.”

As a lot of attention is paid to financial services firms’ role in causing, or facilitating, the credit crisis, the industry’s role in the consumption crisis tends to be downplayed.

Financial firms aren’t the cause of the consumption crisis. The root cause is an entitlement mentality that permeates our society, a mindset that puts the purchase and consumption of “nice to have” things over longer-term investment and savings. In other words, we’re to blame: We simply refuse to be personally accountability for the future.

Where do the financial firms come into play? They’re our financiers. It isn’t just easy access to mortgages and home equity loans. It’s easy access to credit cards. It’s the ability to pay for things with check or debit card when there’s no money in the bank to cover the payment (oh sure, there’s a fee to pay, but what a small price to pay for immediate gratification).

The role of financial services firms in fixing this problem is simple (to describe): They must become personal financial advisors, not just personal financiers.

This isn’t simply a matter of financial education. It’s more proactive hands-on involvement with their customers’ financial lives. It’s providing advice (on both sides of the balance sheet) and guidance (not just self-service tools) on how to manage one’s money. It’s saying NO.

This is why I like what Wells Fargo is doing with some of its credit cardholders, setting them up with automatic payments, designing repayment plans, or connecting them to a consumer credit counseling service.

In the future, though, financial firms need to do this from the start of the relationship — and before problems occur, not after.

I realize that there are plenty of business model issues with what I’m suggesting. I know that. But today’s predominant financial services business model is rife with conflicts of interest: On one hand, firms want to be customer-centric, doing what’s right for their customers. But on the other hand, they make more money when their customers live beyond their means.

No industry can deal with a fundamentally flawed prevailing business model forever.

So when we talk about the changes that need to come to the financial services industry, this is the kind I see coming down the road — particularly among credit unions, who I think are well-suited to play this new role.

In his book The Number, Lee Eisenberg talks about a growing movement among a minority of financial planners toward providing “life planning” to their clients, not simply financial advice. What these forward-thinking advisors recognize is that you can’t separate how you manage your money from how you manage your life.

The challenge, of course, is how to bring these kinds of services (and thinking) to the masses of consumers who can’t afford to pay (a lot) for it — but need it just as badly.

For more on this topic see this Bankwatch post.

Technorati Tags: Banking, Credit Unions, Wells Fargo, Umair Hague

Offensive Use Of The Word Offensive [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Tue Jul 29 13:41:31 -0400 2008

The Phoenix Business Journal reported that Wells Fargo has gone “on the offensive with at-risk credit cardholders.” According to the article:

Wells Fargo & Co. is sending letters to credit card customers it believes may be in the danger zone, offering to set up automatic payments, design a repayment plan or connect them to a consumer credit counseling service. At least one customer receiving the letter took offense…[b]ut Wells may be willing to offend a few customers if it can head off problems long before they trigger losses.”

My take: With its negative connotation, the use of the word “offensive” in the title of the article is offensive (repulsive) in and of itself. If a credit union or consumer advocacy group were doing what Wells is doing, I seriously doubt they would be characterized as “going on the offensive.”

It’s certainly not surprising that the writer of the article was able to find one customer who was “offended.” Ever hear the saying “you can’t please everyone”?

What Wells is doing is smart and proactive. Identifying at-risk customers is always going to produce some errors. Wells should be lauded for their efforts, and other banks and card issuers should follow suit.

Technorati Tags: Banking, Wells Fargo

Email Blunder Or Opportunity? [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Fri Jul 25 20:16:28 -0400 2008

The following is a true story. The names have been changed so I don’t get in trouble.

Pat, the Director of Marketing at a “just right” sized financial institution (i.e., not too big, not too small) inadvertently sent out emails to a small — but not insignificant — number of customers under her (or his) own email address instead of the financial institution’s. Pat didn’t send out another email explaining what happened, deciding instead to see what percentage of emails would be reported as spam. Considering the situation, Pat also wanted to see what the open and response rates on the inadvertent emails were, compared to the correct emails sent under the FI’s name.

My take: I thought Pat should have immediately sent out a follow up email explaining to the group what had happened.

My rationale: Whether or not people think it’s spam, they might not realize it was a mistake. Hiding your mistakes is never a good strategy. In fact, one of the key elements of being perceived as a customer advocate (doing what’s right for the customer and not just bottom line at the expense of your customers) is being transparent and proactive about fixing mistakes.

To me, this was an opportunity to differentiate the firm. Granted, I’m just a data point of one, but if I got an email from the marketing director of my bank, apologizing for sending an email from his/her own email address, I would be impressed. Not only would it put a little more of a human face on the bank, but I would appreciate the fact the s/he acknowledged the mistake and took a proactive step.

What would you have done?

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Banking, Email

The Problem With Marketing Measurement [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Thu Jul 24 20:58:35 -0400 2008

There seems to be two prevailing lines of thought in marketing-land these days.

One camp claims that “ROI is the ultimate measure of success — without it you can’t call an initiative a success.”

The other camp says “we need to invest in [enter-your-favorite-social media/technology] because it represents the future and it’s too early to measure the ROI of these investments.” And so this camp turns to metrics — often called “key performance indicators” — like page visits, time spent on site, and number of registered users, to track the progress of their initiatives.

Or they use “publicity” measures like the number of online references or TV air time devoted to PR campaigns like sponsoring a $1 discount on a gallon of gas for a few hours one morning at one gas station (that just happens to have a huge sign for the competitor, but now I’m getting petty).

My take: The problem is that neither camp is right. Nor is either camp 100% wrong.

OK, ROI might be the “ultimate” measure of success, but not every investment has a direct ROI. Some investments that marketing makes are for things that need to be thought of as infrastructure — an asset that enables other capabilities. There is no ROI on the infrastructure investment unless something else happens — that is, unless another investment is made in a marketing campaign or initiative that leverages the infrastructure investment.

Marketing infrastructure investments span a wide variety of things. Marketing execution technologies like lead management, campaign planning and execution, and analytics are all infrastructure (although they may produce a cost savings when compared to previous expense levels, which would produce an ROI — but this generally requires a reduction in staffing levels that just never seems to be realized). Market research is an infrastructure investment — it’s an investment in the firm’s ability to understand customers, prospects, competitors, and the market in general.

Branding efforts are infrastructure. And social media capabilities should be considered infrastructure, as well. They enable firms to have contact with customers and prospects in ways that the firms weren’t able to previously have.

Message to Camp #1: Trying to measure the ROI on all these investments is fruitless.

But the second camp isn’t off the hook, here.

Their favorite KPIs — site visits, time spent, online community enrollment figures — are insufficient for one or both of the following reasons: 1) They don’t capture incremental performance, and 2) They don’t cover a sufficient portion of the marketing funnel.

The first fault refers to the fact that when you consider the marketing funnel — awareness, consideration, preference, purchase — too many of the first camp’s metrics are skewed toward the beginning of the funnel, especially awareness.

This is the issue I have with the publicity and WOM stunts that firms pull. Great, you got 30-second coverage on the local TV station. But how many people heard about you as a result of the promotion that hadn’t heard about you before the promotion?

You don’t know, do you?

Even more problematic is that few (if any) marketers think proactively about whether they’re sufficiently investing in each part of the funnel. The ROI-focused folks are too narrowly concerned with the point of purchase, while too many other efforts are focused on generating awareness.

But what’s being done to improve how you firm moves prospects from awareness to preference, and from preference to consideration?� Are the conversion rates getting better? Getting done in a more timely fashion? Are you investing in those capabilities?

You don’t know, do you?

But you still pat yourself on the back for “only” spending $14K to get 30 seconds of air time on some local TV stations, a bunch of articles in newspapers, and a picture in Yahoo! News (which clearly shows your competitor’s name on the gas station sign).

This is why the finance people have a problem with the marketing department. The problem isn’t the absence of an ROI on marketing’s expenditures, it’s the absence of any semblance of coherence and rationale for why the investment was made.

Even more importantly, finance is frustrated that marketers don’t seem to understand the concept of opportunity cost — i.e., what else could we have done with that investment?

The solution isn’t hard to conceptualize, just hard to operationalize.

You have an investment portfolio, don’t you? You’ve got cash, stocks, bonds, and some of those investments represent different levels of risk and expected return.

Why, then, don’t you have a marketing investment portfolio to ensure that you invest across the marketing funnel, and that your marketing investments represent various levels of risk and expected return?

The answer is: 1) it’s hard to categorize and track those investments with a portfolio approach, and 2) to do this, it takes time and money, which isn’t available because marketing isn’t investing in infrastructure (the chicken and egg problem).

There’s another contributing factor. Many marketers are stuck in various belief systems — e.g., branding, customer experience, “customer service is the new marketing” — that prevent them from seeing that they have to invest in a range of capabilities, technologies, and media (new and old).

It’s going to a slow transition from cumbaya marketing to quantitative marketing.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Marketing Measurement, Key Performance Indicators, WOM

If Only Twitter Worked (Better) [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Wed Jul 23 20:29:38 -0400 2008

In October, I’ll be at Forum CU’s Partnership Symposium — not as a speaker, but as host. My role will be to conduct and facilitate Q&A with the speakers (each speaker gets 40 min. max presentation time, with 20 min. Q&A). Truth be told, I’m more nervous about pulling this off than if I had to do a speech or presentation myself.

Part of the reason for my fear is that facilitating group Q&A with 100+ people is tough. In too many conferences, someone is trying to run around with a microphone. Not only does s/he never get there in time, but — to be blunt, here — some people just can’t seem to get to the point when asking their question (I’m not saying that they ask a question just to hear themselves talk, but…).

Forrester pulls it off nicely at their conferences by having attendees write their questions on 3×5 cards and passing them to analysts who (select and) read the questions from the back of the room. This isn’t a viable option for the Forum Symposium.

So here’s the brilliant idea I came up with. I’d create a twitter ID that attendees could send tweets to during the speaker’s presentation (nearly everyone there will either be familiar with Twitter or sitting next to someone who is).

After I opened with a few questions, we’d project the questions that attendees tweeted onto the screen, and I’d pick the best ones (and I’m sure some attendees won’t be shy about suggesting which ones I choose). We’d not only avoid the awkwardness of someone running around with a mike, but avoid excluding that really great question that could get excluded when Q&A is done the old-fashioned way.

After taking a few minutes to pat myself on the back for coming up with such a great idea, reality set in. Is Twitter reliable enough to pull this off? No. In fact, NFW (and to think that Twitter’s CEO has the gall to talk about monetization — get your product working first, bud, then you can worry about monetization).

Oh well, for me it’s back to the drawing board.

Technorati Tags: Credit Unions, Forum CU, Partnership Symposium, Twitter

Mobile Banking Myopia [Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims]

Wed Jul 23 10:58:48 -0400 2008

The following is from an article in Bank Director about mobile banking:

“The early adopters are not charging for their mobile services and have not placed much emphasis on achieving a specific return on investment. Rather the business plans are built around the theory that mobile banking will become commonplace, and it makes sense to prepare for it. “How do you get payback on an ATM?” says Lockwood of United Bank, suggesting that mobile devices are just another channel through which to distribute information. Payback will happen over time, as younger customers in particular become attached to the service and develop deeper relationships with the bank because of it, he says.”

My take: What’s that saying about those who don’t understand history are destined to repeat it?

The line of thinking that “payback will happen over time as [fill-in-the-blank-customer-segment] become attached and develop deeper relationships” has been used over and over, with ATM, home banking, online banking, online bill payment, eBills, etc. And never has the “attach and deepen” promise ever been realized.

But I’m not critiquing this line of thought as a way to argue against the implementation of mobile banking capabilities. The bigger issue is the myopic thinking surrounding the industry’s discussion of mobile banking.

Seven years ago I wrote a research brief exhorting banks to kill their mobile banking development efforts. I didn’t believe then that consumer demand was strong enough to warrant it, and, more importantly, I believed that there were more important priorities for banks to focus on.

Surprisingly, seven years down the road, consumer research continues to show negligible demand for mobile banking. Aite Group’s research has found that just 5% of consumers say they use mobile banking capabilities today, with 70% saying that they’re flat out not interested.

But this time around I’m not convinced that mobile banking should be ignored. It has nothing to do with consumer demand or “attach and deepen”, however.

Many industry observers views are too myopic. The naysayers point to anemic consumer interest and say “see, nobody wants it.” The supporters say “it’s the way of the future, and people will want it down the road, especially younger consumers.” The latter group then proceed on figuring out how to take online banking features and port them to cell phones.

What we have are two views of mobile banking: The marketing view and the technology view. What’s missing is the strategic view. What I don’t hear anyone asking is:

What would banking look like if the cell phone was customers’ primary form of interface and contact?

How would we reengineer business processes if the phone was the only way customers interacted?

I don’t mean to insult the technologists, but too many are wrapped up trying to dream up new features for mobile banking. Many marketers, on the other hand, either have their heads in the weeds, bogged down by market research numbers, or in the clouds, deluded by dreams of attachment and deepened relationships. And then there are the strategy folks who seem to be focused on which bank they should acquire next.

If banks want to succeed with mobile banking, it’s time for some more strategic thinking on the topic.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Banking, Mobile Banking

Site Selection: “The devil is in the details” [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Mon Jul 21 16:11:00 -0400 2008

In a recent Retail Delivery Insights newsletter from BAI, Gary D. Stein stressed the importance of attention to details in selecting sites for new branch locations. Not a surprise, but important nonetheless.

“Stein recommended that banks conduct a thorough analysis of the specific site and surrounding trade area. He advised banks to consider market potential, population demographics, financial product usage and demand, population density and the competitive landscape.”

And while these elements certainly go above and beyond simply relying on intuition, I’d also add the importance of psychographic data and an in-person assessment of the proposed site location to the list. Drilling down to this level of detail is necessary in today’s increasingly competitive landscape – especially as institutions adopt more specific target markets and the average new branch is likely to require a multi-million dollar investment.

An article from July 5th’s Chicago Tribune discusses the approach that allowed Starbucks to identify successful locations: “In evaluating locations, Starbucks looked past commonly used community demographic information to analyze nitty-gritty specifics, like the education level in various neighborhoods. It also studied traffic flow on both sides of the street, to make sure drives could make an easy right turn for their java fix on their way to the office.”

The commonly used community demographic information is a good starting point, but doesn’t provide the specifics relative to consumer behaviors, access or local draw which could dramatically impact the success of a new branch location. Starbucks strayed from the more scientific and detail-focused approach in recent years - which resulted in its recently announced decision to close underperforming locations.

Stein echos a point we've heard before: "branch placement may accounting for as much as 65% of its success." With so much hinging on location, you'd think the same attention to detail would be a part of any institution’s expansion efforts.

Economic Challenge and Great Opportunity! [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (joe sullivan) — Thu Jul 17 16:47:00 -0400 2008

An Amazing Dichotomy

Recently we saw evidence of two starkly different approaches to business in our changing economy, how it creates opportunities for some businesses and can negatively affect other businesses. Almost at the same time, you saw images of people standing in line to withdraw their deposits at Indy Mac Bank, while also seeing long lines snaked around just about every Apple store in the country, in anticipation of the release of the latest and greatest iPhone.

There was, and still is a huge emotional component in both of these situations. I believe that emotional connection is the key ingredient in keeping customers happy and wanting to do business with you. Apple knows this. Of course, they are positioned as the provider of technology which is easy to use and fun. But, they have also created almost what I would call a “movement” where customers simply “must have” the latest and greatest version of their products. So while we could say that Apple targets only upscale techies, we would be wrong, because they appear to target people who respond to easy and fun, words which speak to emotion.

Indy Mac Bank, on the other hand, also has some emotional content occurring with its customers at the present time. People are concerned about their money, and, more importantly, the emotions that are tied to their deposit account. Emotions surrounding retirement security, resources to take that dream vacation or having the piece of mind of financial security. All of these are emotional situations and bankers have proven expertise in addressing them with customers. Now is not the time to be shy.

So what does all of this mean from my perspective? Bankers should be using this time of perceived uncertainty to make a deeper connection with their customers through education, discussion and outreach. For bankers, using their knowledge and expertise to help quell customer’s fears right now may be the very best thing they can do to create an even more loyal customer base. Fear is a powerful emotion, one that is running far too rampant right now, and bankers have the opportunity to use their expertise to help customers face these fears.

The time is now.

Are You Relevant? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (joe sullivan) — Mon Jul 14 16:11:00 -0400 2008

Last Friday I had the pleasure of speaking at the 14^th Annual Senior Management Summit sponsored by the Texas Bankers Association in Austin and that is the very question I posed to my audience.

I spoke on what I believe to be the single most important topic facing the financial services industry: Relevance. I must say that I am truly jazzed up by this topic and at the same time a bit concerned that more bankers nationwide don’t see it as important, or even believe that it will affect them. That is just plain scary.

This is not just about the banking industry. Any business that serves the public, directly or indirectly, must see that change is the only constant; that we cannot rely on the traditional play book of the past for solutions in a changing world and that now is definitely not the time to be fearful.

Richard Tedlow, in his article published in this summer’s Harvard Business Review entitled “Leaders in Denial” states that you may be riding the express train to oblivion if you are not asking yourself if you are on the right path. I could not agree more!

At Market Insights we are all about helping clients to remain relevant and to grow their businesses. We are constantly seeking creative, innovative businesses and leaders, including financial institutions that are doing great things. I would like to hear your thoughts on Relevance, what you are doing at your business to move ahead, and any other feedback or ideas you care to share.

Love / Hate Revisited [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Tue Jul 08 11:21:00 -0400 2008

Over the last year, we’ve talked a lot about love, hate and indifference relative to how consumers feel about the companies with which they do business – and specifically how consumers feel about their financial institutions, and how that impacts brand loyalty.

With so many institutions trying to be “all things to all people”, the industry has become commoditized; and in many cases, it’s become difficult for consumers to easily tell the differences between one institution and the next. As a result, many consumers are motivated by price or convenience factors, and lack the kind of strong emotional connection with their financial institutions that we see with other companies outside the industry like an Apple, Starbucks or Whole Foods for example.

As many financial institutions continue to take the safe approach marketing to the mass-middle-ground - or the indifferent, opportunities present themselves for others who are willing to take steps to truly differentiate their institution from the competition. But this requires a clearly defined target market and taking steps that will align your institution with their needs, values and preferences – you want to make it easy for your target to choose you over the competition, to feel that connection with your institution, and love doing business with your institution as a result. On the flip side of this, and the reason why many institutions don’t take these steps, is that you have to be willing to allow other consumers - those that aren't part of your target, to make the choice not to do business with you. In most cases, this means thinking differently about your pool of prospective customers - focusing your efforts on those that will love what you're doing while allowing others to hate what you're doing.

During the past week, I’ve seen two examples in television campaigns of companies embracing this love / hate concept: Crocs (the ugly slip-on plastic-looking shoes…as you can tell, I’m on the hate side of the spectrum) and Scion (the Toyota spin-off for those looking to express their individuality through their cars).

First, during the AVP Pro Volleyball Tournament sponsored by Crocs, I was introduced to the company’s “love ‘em or hate ‘em” campaign. Crocs shoes are very popular in my neighborhood, as I’m sure they are across the country; but the company’s marketing team understands that there are plenty of people like me who don’t like the shoes – and, it's embracing and promoting the love / hate feelings with a new crocslovehate.com website. The site is working to build buzz around the fact that people either love or hate the shoes, and draw people from the indifferent middle-ground to one side or the other.

Second, I was intrigued by commercial with a similar concept for Scion. Once again, Scion understands that some people love its cars and others hate them – and this is by design. The commercial includes the obvious message “love it or loathe it” to drive home the point.

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

What does the love / hate concept look like with banks and credit unions? Sure, we’ve seen our share of hate websites, blog posts and other commentary about bad experiences with financial institutions, but we don’t hear the kind of rants and raves from both sides of the spectrum like we do with these and other examples outside of the industry.

While we hear executives and marketers talk about their ideal customers and target market, we never hear them talk about the customers or members they don't want - or those that they're willing to lose in an effort to build a stronger connection with their target segments. So, if you know of an institution making strategic choices with “love us or hate us” attitude, I’d like to hear about it.

Perspective [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Perry) — Mon Jul 07 08:58:00 -0400 2008

On Thursday afternoon, just about the time when many of us were wrapping up business to break away for a well-deserved holiday weekend, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman was posting a web exclusive story from the Aspen Institute Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado. In case you missed this article entitled “In Search of Optimism”, it recounted comments by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon to PBS’s Charlie Rose:

"The economy is virtually unfathomable," he began. "I hope we have hit bottom, but I can't really say." On the upside, he said, we all need to maintain some historical perspective. In 1987, he reminded the crowd, the stock market had dropped 25 percent in one day. The current depressing run was months in the making. Nor is the situation like 1982, when we faced a recession driven by sky-high interest rates. By historical standards, unemployment is relatively low at 5.5 percent. But as a country we face rising economies elsewhere around the world—trading partners increasingly turned competitors—energy costs and above all a lack of political will to use government well.

These cautionary comments from a man who many call “America’s top banker”, should remind us about the importance of perspective in times of great uncertainty. While most community bankers and credit union executives don’t have the advantage of Mr. Dimon’s unique situation, they can certainly benefit from his point of view.

Too often, current events and market news prompt us to make hasty choices. But perspective and context can counteract fear and help guide choices that will shape the future of the financial services industry.

How will Starbucks closures impact shared-space bank branches? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Wed Jul 02 17:39:00 -0400 2008

It seemed like a no-brainer for some institutions’ expansion strategies: build branches near or adjacent to a Starbucks store; or better yet, take full advantage of the foot traffic generated by the coffee chain and share a retail space. Given the rapid growth and much-discussed success of Starbucks in recent years, it certainly seemed like a viable strategy.

But as news comes today of Starbucks’ plans to close more than 600 stores over the next year, how will financial institutions sharing space with Starbucks stores be impacted?

While most of the planned Starbucks closures will be those stores opened since 2005, it doesn't sound like the institutions referenced in this Wall Street Journal article from 2005 will be impacted. But what about those institutions that may have followed their lead and teamed up with Starbucks with a shared-space since then? Or, what about those that were influenced in some respect by a Starbucks location when selecting a site for a new branch during the past few years? We've talked to quite a few institutions, especially those with branches near college campuses, who have aggressively pursued such partnerships with Starbucks.

It's easy to see how the shifts in traffic patterns can certainly benefit many businesses, especially those that follow retail magnets like Starbucks or Wal-Mart, but what happens when they close their doors? I suppose we’ll find out which institutions, if any, will be impacted when Starbucks makes its announcement to its employees later this month about which locations will be closed.

Harris Bank Touts Stability in its Musical Chairs Campaign [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Tue Jul 01 16:42:00 -0400 2008

I suppose it was only a matter of time before the musical greeting cards concept was adopted by marketers for a direct mail piece; we received one yesterday at the office from Harris Bank.

The mailer leads with the message: “business banking in Chicago has become a game of musical chairs”, and plays “pop goes the weasel” when opened. While the music was unexpected and grabbed my attention, I had to read the content a couple times before I fully understood the purpose of the mailer.

Inside, the piece talks about how “While the rest of the Chicago banking community plays musical chairs – old familiar names disappearing, bankers moving on- Harris remains rock solid. We have had the same name for more than 125 years. We’re here to stay.”

Granted, we did just see the major acquisition of LaSalle Bank in Chicago by Bank of America - which is certainly an example of an “old familiar name” disappearing, but is that enough to make customer think about switching institutions? Bank of America did an excellent job handling the transition for LaSalle Bank customers in the months leading up to the acquisition – sending personalized letters, providing answers to FAQ’s, setting expectations, and welcoming them as B of A customers. These efforts undoubtedly put many of LaSalle’s customers at ease about the acquisition – and it’s these kinds of efforts that we’re seeing the major national and regional players deploying during acquisitions in markets across the country.

And if having the same name for 125 years isn’t compelling enough to switch to Harris, the mailer also carries a $250 promotional offer for opening a new business account; but even then, I doubt it’s enough to move a significant number of accounts.

With a lot of uncertainties around the success rates of direct mail initiatives by financial institutions, I have to question how much Harris paid for each of these pieces – and what it expects as far as a return. And with the amount of money the campaign must have cost for production and postage, I’d like to think that the marketing team would have taken the time to ensure that the pieces were addressed to a specific person at our office - but the piece was simply addressed to “Market Insights”.

Over the last couple years, we’ve seen quite a few institutions promote stability and longevity in markets where acquisitions and mergers are happening – and in most cases, the expected customer run-off from the acquired institutions just doesn’t follow. I expect that the same will hold true in the Chicago market, especially with the well-managed transition of LaSalle Bank to Bank of America. The Harris piece just falls short.

And I thought ATMs were an expectation [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Mon Jun 30 16:49:00 -0400 2008

So I went to the bank today and found that the ATMs had been upgraded - they now have check imaging capabilities. And while I’ve heard about the technology that allows checks to be deposited at an ATM without an envelope, I hadn’t yet used one until this afternoon. It’s a pretty slick process: tell the ATM that you want to make a deposit and insert the check directly into the machine. An image of the check appeared instantly on the screen; the computer displayed the deposit amount and asked me if it was correct – I was surprised that the computer read the hand-written amount on the check. After approval, you can select to have a receipt printed with or without the check image, or chose no receipt at all. All of this in a matter of a few quick prompts on the screen.

This was in sharp contrast to an experience we had last week with a community bank in a small town in North Carolina – where a teller told us that the bank was “old fashioned”. Old fashioned is an understatement. Here’s an institution with a large geographic footprint, promoting free checking at its branches, and it doesn’t offer an ATM or ATM card. And, after looking online after our visit, the bank doesn’t have a website either.

While I realize that today’s financial institutions don’t necessarily need to have the same products, services or delivery channels as their competitors, I had considered ATMs to be an expectation rather than an option – especially with institutions like mine upgrading machines that are already fully functional and feature more bells and whistles than most ATMs out there.

So, how long can an "old fashioned" bank continue to conduct business successfully (without ATMs, a website, or online banking) in an environment where consumer expectations are rapidly changing?

Is your institution committing a “deadly marketing sin”? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Wed Jun 11 10:51:00 -0400 2008

The latest issue of BAI’s Banking Strategies magazine features the article Six Deadly Marketing Sins – Financial marketers need to get out of their rut to break through the market’s clutter.

Many of today’s marketers definitely do need to get out of their rut; they need to break through the clutter. And while I agree with the six sins outlined in the article, it doesn’t discuss what I would consider to be an underlying factor of each: the overall lack of meaningful and strategic points of differentiation.

When you have clarity about what distinguishes your institution from the competition, and those points are both meaningful to your target and are leveragable against your competition, you should be able to avoid each of these six sins. As an example, sin #2 is “an avoidance of marketing messages with some personality and attitude.” True points of differentiation convey the unique personality and attitude of your institution. At the end of the day, your marketing messages should all link back directly to your points of differentiation. This linkage allows people to easily see the value added by your institution; and should make it easy for your target market to chose your institution over the competition.

The other sin from the article that I really like is #6: “The illogical view that one print ad, one e-mail or one piece of direct mail is capable of gaining quick attention. The fact is, you need repeated, high-impact communication to build awareness.” While we know that some ads are capable of capturing quick attention – a single print ad isn’t likely to generate the results that many institutions hope for; this is especially true when we’re talking about sustainable results. When we talk about “meaningful” points of differentiation, we’re talking about the kind of points that can be used to develop “high-impact” communications – the kind that build awareness and lets people know exactly what your institution stands for. Another point to be made about this sin is the fact that “repeated” communication shouldn’t translate into simply placing more ads or sending more emails and direct mailers. Rather, your points of differentiation should be reflected in everything from your marketing collateral to your customer experience; from your products & services to your community involvement - giving your customers and the community repeated exposure to your message through multiple venues.

Think about how your institution is different from the competition. Are those points meaningful to your target market? Could they be leveraged as an advantage over your competition?

Name Your Own Account [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Wed May 21 10:17:00 -0400 2008

In an effort to give its customers a "fun and easy" way to save money, Americana Community Bank (Sleepy Eye, MN) announced the introduction of its Name Your Own Account this week. The account encourages customers to set a specific purchase goal - like a new TV, boat or vacation - and use the account to save specifically for that purchase.

After opening the account, the Bank also plans to send account holders email updates as their savings grow - and they get closer to having enough money to make their big purchase.

The account is the latest in efforts we've seen relative to institutions allowing customers to customize an account - or features of that account. And, while this will certainly allow ACB to engage its customers, I'd like to see how the value of the account will be communicated to both customers and non-customers.

I was disappointed in not being able to find any information about the account on the Bank's website - I read about the account in a press release, but found no additional information online. Nonetheless, I wonder what kind of long-term success the name your own account will have for ACB. Will customers begin saving again for something else (and re-name their account) after their initial purchase is made?

Unlike initiatives like ING's Your Number - where long-term retirement savings goals are the focus, Americana Community Bank's account focuses on relatively short-term goals. And while these short-term goals are certainly important for the customer, especially given the focus on saving the money before purchasing - rather than using credit, the account structure puts those deposits at risk once the savings goals are reached. What will the Bank's follow-up efforts look like with those customers to continue saving?

The account looks to be part of a series of changes at Americana Community Bank - as noted on the Bank's website, it looks like a new site, new products and new look are in the works.

What kind of financial guidance are you offering Gen Y? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Tue May 20 18:00:00 -0400 2008

Yesterday’s Marketing Daily featured the article “Gen Y is Going to Need Financial Guidance More Than Most.” Citing outstanding student loans, credit card debt and lack of savings, it’s easy to see why Generation Y may need some guidance to navigate these challenges.

So, what kind of financial guidance are you offering Gen Y?

The article makes a good point about life-stage goals – with Susan Menke, senior financial services analyst at Mintel giving the example that “Many Gen Y consumers have a picture of where they’d like to be financially by the time they’re 35. Often, that picture includes owning a house, having children and being free of student loan debt.” She goes on to say “They key is to build your model so that you’re targeting both short-term profit and log-term profit potential.”

Looking at Generation Y’s current life-stage (many are high school or college students, or recent graduates starting careers), and the challenges many are currently facing – like the student loans, credit card debt and lack of savings, as mentioned in the article – gives us some direction as to what kind of financial guidance Gen Y needs now, in the short-term. Gen Y needs a plan to pay off their debts; and many need a reason to start saving their money. This is where life-stage goals like buying a car or home, or saving for a vacation or retirement can become part of the financial guidance your institution offers.

And, depending on your market, offering financial guidance to Gen Y may also require that you think beyond the traditional in-branch meeting with a personal banker. As an example, how will your institution offer financial guidance to Gen Y through your website or other venues?

If you aren’t currently offering any overt financial guidance, education or planning tools for Generation Y, it may be time to start thinking about doing so. With Gen Y expected to become more lucrative in the coming years, the relationships established with them now – especially during important life-stage events, like buying a first home, should be looked at relative to both short-term and long-term opportunities.

The Impact of Mobile Banking on Your Brand [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Perry) — Tue May 13 07:55:00 -0400 2008

Jeff Stephens at Creative Brand Communications recently posted a question on Banktastic about the impact of mobile banking on branding for banks and credit unions. With projections of 100 million US consumers using mobile banking by 2012 (cited by Javelin Research in a Business Week article last month) it is no wonder that the industry is scrambling to take advantage of the latest technology. Today mobile banking is an emerging technology…tomorrow, can we say “me-too”?! What do you think? Will the offer of (or failure to offer) mobile banking impact your brand in the mind's of your customer?

Online Banking On Its Way Out? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Mon Apr 14 23:09:00 -0400 2008

In a conversation with a banker last week, I asked about his intentions to add online account opening capabilities for his customers. And, this sparked an interesting conversation about the limitations placed on his institution's online banking platform by its core processor (the company also hosts his online banking service).

You see, this banker had been considering adding this feature to his online banking for some time – and he really saw the value in making online account opening available to his customers. But he told us he couldn't add it because his core processing company had no plans to offer online account opening as part of its services to its bank customers. I understand that it takes time to develop these technologies, but it was the rationale behind this specific company’s choice not to offer online account opening capabilities to its bank clients that was pretty shocking.

They told the bank's management that online banking was on its way out. That’s right, they told them that the regulators would certainly kill online banking in the near future, and as a result, there was no reason to make the investment in developing the technology which would allow online account opening.

Online banking on its way out? Seriously? I don't think so.

Consumer behaviors are changing rapidly - especially relative to the Internet. And, today's successful institutions are those that embrace the changes and partner with outside companies who do so as well.

BarCampBank San Francisco [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Mark Brandt) — Thu Apr 03 18:01:00 -0400 2008

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to attend the BarCampBank San Francisco conference. I had never attended a BarCampBank conference, so I was excited – and didn’t know what to expect. I must say, I was not disappointed. The conversations and group discussions were very intriguing, and the relaxed atmosphere of the whole event had everyone participating without hesitation. It was a lot of fun to join such a diverse group of people to talk trends that are taking place right now in the financial service industry.

Now when I say the group was diverse, here is what I mean. The list of attendees ran the gamut from credit union CEO’s, to college students (a total of around 60 people overall). There were people representing startup ventures, corporate marketing departments, consulting firms, and there were also some programmers in attendance. This is why there is a buzz around these BarCamp events, I think. People contribute to discussions and bring a very wide range of background and perspectives with them. I learned as much in one day (if not more) at this conference than in attending an entire weekend at a traditional conference.

If you don’t know the scoop on BarCamps, here it is right from the source:”BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos and interaction from participants.”

The beauty is that anyone can organize a BarCamp, and as long as some interest is generated and there are people who want to attend. There are no rules and no pre-decided outline of content - the topics of discussion are decided upon by the attendees the day of the conference.

Anyway, enough about what they are. The BarCampBank San Francisco was very successful overall, and we should all definitely thank Matt Iverson for organizing the event (and all others that helped make it success). There is already talk about BarCampBankSF2 happening in another six months or so, and is generating discussion by attendees.

One of the biggest points made during the day was made during various discussions - if you are going to create a successful online service for customers in today’s Web 2.0 world, it must have three components: community, trust/transparency and stickiness. In today’s generation of internet users, these are the things they are looking for in any site or service they use online.

This is important for banks and credit unions because it translates into knowing what your customers are looking for in service offerings. An institution can’t just throw a website together for the sake of having a website; it must connect with, and be meaningful to the user. An example that came about during the conference centered on providing financial advice or financial planning tools online, and why there are so many that aren’t successful. The reasons included the fact that people don’t just want a tool to spit numbers at them, they want to feel connected and have a more meaningful overall experience. They want a community of users to interact with, they want real world advice about what the tool is telling them, and they want feedback from the community about whether that advice is good or not.

A lot of what was discussed at BarCampBank San Francisco dealt with technology and trends that are happening in the financial world right now. While not all of it was presented as having a direct relationship with banks and credit unions, it is certainly reshaping the industry in some way. If you want to learn more about all of the various topics discussed at this BarCampBankSF you can visit the wiki site and check out discussion notes from participants. Also, here are some photos from the event taken by participants and posted on the flickr.

If you haven’t had a chance to participate in a BarCampBank conference, think about doing it - it is a very engaging and rewarding experience.

Direct Marketing [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Jim Perry) — Thu Apr 03 08:32:00 -0400 2008

According to a recent Direct Marketing Association report, American financial services institutions are increasing their use of direct marketing. The $13.4 billion that U.S. banks and credit institutions spent last year on direct marketing advertising generated $178.8 billion in sales. How's that for ROI? These sales are forecast to hit $286.2 billion in 2012, according to the report.

Have an idea for us? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Tue Mar 25 07:16:00 -0400 2008

After reading about the latest Starbucks training sessions where each of its stores were closed for a three hour training session a few weeks back, and hearing about some of the initiatives it will be launching to get back in touch with its customers, I've been looking for examples of these initiatives coming to life in my trips since to Starbucks stores.

The one idea I particularly like, called My Starbucks Idea (Netbanker has a great write-up of how this can tie into banking) is a website that allows customers to submit ideas and feedback about all things Starbucks. And while the initiative is web-based, I was interested to see an in-store display this morning on the table with the coffee creamers.

The display is a small (8.5X11) table top with a stack of tear-off, business-card sized pieces of paper attached to it. These pieces of paper simply read "Have an idea for us?" - and, I have to admit, it intrigued me. I tore it off, and turned it over, the back simply directs you to mystarbucksidea.com.

It's not a survey. There are no questions. It simply directs you to submit your ideas to the bank's microsite.

I can definitely see the opportunity for financial institutions to offer this kind of feedback loop to their customers - and could easily be placed at teller stations or on check-write tables. In Starbucks' case, because it's such a large company, having the comments directed to one central point is a great way to keep them organized.

It's such a simple way to keep the feedback loop open for customer dialogue.

Will This Year Be the Tipping Point for Mobile Banking? [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Mon Mar 24 22:08:00 -0400 2008

I guess that depends on who you ask, and how you define “tipping point”.

I read a report today suggesting that 2008 May Be the Tipping Point for Mobile Banking. The article focuses on research conducted by the Tower Group and brings up some interesting points about mobile banking, those likely to use it, and the technology that supports it.

But I’m not convinced that mobile banking will “move into the mainstream” this year as the article suggests. And even if it does enter the mainstream spotlight and increase awareness, I doubt that will translate into mainstream adoption by both institutions and customers.

Sure, I agree with Virginia Garcia, Research Director at Tower Group when she says “the downloads are faster, and the devices are better”, referring to cell phone technology that supports mobile banking. But what about preparation on the bank side? I’d be willing to bet that, while some institutions are planning to introduce mobile banking this year (these being the national and regional players that don’t currently offer it), many more haven’t taken that first step.

The article also quotes Garcia as saying "It's not necessarily for the mainstream customer base, but its going to grow as a factor in retaining and attracting new customers.” And, “As these bigger banks move into the regional markets, the smaller banks will have to develop technological platforms, such as mobile banking, to maintain parity and keep their customers…the competition is on a level playing field, forcing the smaller institutions to respond.”

I agree that mobile banking isn’t for the mainstream customer base. And, I also agree that smaller banks will need to take steps to stay competitive in terms of technology. But, I have a hard time thinking that mobile banking will play a significant factor in today’s institutions’ customer retention and acquisition strategies – or that banks and credit unions need to be worried about adding mobile banking to “keep their customers.”

And, even if the regional and national competition is on a level playing field offering mobile banking, the response by smaller institutions shouldn’t automatically be the addition of mobile banking just because the guy up the street is offering it.

Will mobile banking be offered by more institutions and used by more customers by the end of the year? Without a doubt.

Will 2008 be the tipping point for mobile banking? What do you think?

TD Commerce Bank Stakes its Claim: America’s Most Convenient Bank [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Wed Mar 19 11:05:00 -0400 2008

TD Commerce Bank, the result of the TD Banknorth and Commerce Bank merger, will adopt Commerce Bank’s tagline and position itself as America’s Most Convenient Bank after the two banks come together.

TD Banknorth’s President and CEO, Bharat Masrani was quoted in a press release today about the bank’s position:

"TD Commerce Bank will own the convenience and Customer service space from Maine to Florida and will live the promise of being America's Most Convenient Bank…We will be relentlessly focused on building a better bank for Customers by staying open longer than our competitors and providing Customers with the WOW! experience they have come to expect."

This begs the question: What does it mean to be America’s Most Convenient Bank?

As far as I can tell, TD Commerce Bank’s idea of convenience focuses on the number of branches and ATMs in its delivery network; it also means staying open seven days a week and having extended hours at its branches on a daily basis. And, I can certainly see how this offers customers that live in the markets served by the bank added convenience – but what about those who don’t?

Would TD Commerce Bank be considered America’s most convenient bank to a bank customer in Savannah, GA? - Or any of the other markets along the East Coast where the bank does not currently have a presence?

The bank has made its intention clear to “own the convenience and Customer service space from Maine to Florida.” And, with convenience at TD Commerce Bank focusing so heavily on its branch and ATM presence, it will be interesting to see how it lives up to this promise.

Will we see TD Commerce Bank embark on an expansion/acquisition effort along the East Coast in the coming months?

And what about the rest of America? I don’t think many people here in Chicago have ever heard of America’s Most Convenient Bank.

ING: On Message Once Again [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Mon Mar 17 10:35:00 -0400 2008

If you're an ING Direct customer, you recently received an email thanking you for being a customer of the bank. Not something we typically see from financial institutions. Have you ever received an email like this?

But, more important than the fact that ING is using email to stay in touch with its customers, is the fact that the bank recognized the email as an opportunity to reinforce its "save your money" message. Check out the closing of the email:

Much like my experience with the banker/baristas at the ING Cafe in Chicago, this is a great example of how ING is constantly looking for ways to remind us, both directly and indirectly, that the bank is here to help you save your money.

What message are you putting out there?

Person-to-Person Lending Sites Gain Traction with Small Businesses [Grow Your Bank]

noreply@blogger.com (Brady Walen) — Thu Mar 13 10:08:00 -0400 2008

In recent presentations and conversations with bankers, we've been talking quite a bit about the impact that person-to-person lending sites like Prosper.com are having on the industry. And, it's concerning that many in these audiences - usually bank executives, senior managers and marketing officers havn't heard of P2P lenders, or they have heard about them but don't consider them to part of the competitive landscape.

Yesterday's issue of the Wall Street Journal featured an article about the impact these P2P sites are having on small business lending; the article also provides a good introduction to how the person-to-person sites work. For more, check out Jim Bruene's perspective - I completely agree with him - now is the time to address the threat that P2P lending may pose to your institution.