The first Mango Money Center recently opened in Austin, Texas. At first glance, it appears to be the arrival of a new banking center, complete with external ATM poking through the wall to the right of the front door.
With our Independence Day celebration only a few days away, this seems like an appropriate time to describe a certain marketing piece that gives you an excellent example for your idea file.
Last Friday, I found an eye-catching door hanger on my front door. I saw the bright green color of the 17 x 5.5-inch cardstock hanger from the street, but what really grabbed my attention was the American flag inserted into it.
I don’t know about you but I’m growing tired of reading articles and hearing radio news reports about how banks are going to have to raise current fees and implement a variety of new ones as a result of recent federal government legislation. And for their exclamation point to all this new fee talk, they close by continually reminding us that we are going to be punished by these banks by taking away our free checking.
As I was reading a marketing article the other day, I thought, “Well, that’s not a problem the bank and credit union advertisers have during the recession.”
The consensus is, consumers are spending less and saving more these days. That hurts retailers who have merchandise to sell. How does the situation affect financial institutions and their advertising?
Imagine the Average family: Mr. and Mrs. Average and the two Average children. Mr. Average has been eyeing a new set of golf clubs he first saw in a magazine ad. He’s sure it would improve his game. Mrs. Average wants a new dishwasher because the old one is acting up and sometimes doesn’t get the dishes spotless.
Over the past two months I’ve received over 50 pieces of direct mail promoting one product. And it’s not a bunch of credit card offers. Nor were they sent by one, very persistent marketer.
You hear the term SAS 70 tossed around. You know it’s a good thing to have, but what does it mean?
Recently, an independent CPA audit team completed a SAS 70 examination of ACTON Marketing and gave our company a SAS 70 Type II certification.
Up until I was involved with the process, I think my greatest exposure to SAS 70 was from the Dilbert cartoon strip. But obviously, it’s more important than that. I always caution marketers against using jargon in their communications, so I did some digging to find out more about SAS 70 and what it measures.
I’m beginning to believe the end is near for the traditional brick and mortar bank and credit union branches. Thanks to the Internet, they’re slowly becoming obsolete.
In October 2008, ACTON Marketing sent out a mail piece with this headline on the address panel: “What’s The Worst Thing You Can Do During a Recession?”
The answer inside said the marketing professional shouldn’t follow the herd and pull money out of advertising budgets. Instead, a recession is the time to gain market share by continuing to advertise while your competitors stop.
The argument was backed up with data and quotes from authorities.
I just spent over 20 minutes searching Union Bank’s website for the reason why I would have to link my new checking account to my new CDs should I agree to accept Union Bank’s offer.
Sharing. It’s not just for kids’ playtime or talks with your best friend. What you share may make the difference between a successful marketing campaign and a flop.
In the 1990s, when ACTON had many clients in Japan, I wrote marketing copy for a hotel chain with locations in major Japanese cities and other Pacific locales. One hotel project I’ll never forget.
I wrote an English language newsletter that was mailed to U.S. business travelers who patronized the Japanese hotel. For one issue, the client wanted a lead story about the opening of its latest property. I asked the client rep in our Tokyo office to get me some information from the client so I could describe the event. Nothing came after repeated requests, so to meet the deadline I decided to write “filler copy” that could be replaced once the layout was approved. That way, the client would get an idea of what I wanted for the story, and then give me the details I needed.
If a front-page article in American Banker is correct, then small and medium-size banks and credit unions can profit from a niche market that’s been abandoned by the big banks.
And, there’s an efficient way you can take advantage of this opportunity.
The future of free checking remains bright but you wouldn’t know it by reading the dubious headline “End Is Seen to Free Checking” perched atop the article appearing in Wednesday’s edition of The Wall Street Journal.
Listening to the radio early Tuesday morning, I heard some startling – no, shocking — statistics that had me grabbing for my pen and notepad.
As we know, every business has outstanding customer service…they tell us so. But how does your staff react when a customer has a problem?
The first step, of course, is to correct the problem. There’s one side of the problem, however, that might leave a lasting impression long after you’ve fixed the dilemma.
Here’s an example of how a large corporation handled a huge customer, image, and confidence problem. McDonald’s Corp., the world’s biggest restaurant chain, discovered the collectible “Shrek” movie character glassware it was selling were tainted with the potentially dangerous chemical cadmium.
Some banks have become way too aggressive with cross-selling.
On Saturday, I was visiting my elderly neighbor in her new apartment in a local senior’s facility. As we talked about her selling her home, she mentioned her concern over having to deal with her local bank when it came time to deposit the proceeds.
As with anything, the longer you work in marketing the more often ideas you’ve learned along the way seem commonplace. You expect everyone knows about them. But some ideas are still new and fresh to other people.
ACTON Marketing began researching Marketing to Women strategies in 2002. We first incorporated the techniques into our clients’ marketing materials in 2003. We prepared magalogs for our sales staff so they could explain this new marketing movement. The ideas were not only relatively new to marketing, they were unheard of in the financial industry.
Until now, I wasn’t aware that a growing number of credit union websites have become discount shopping destinations.
In “Consistency Messaging,” Tuesday’s post, I explained how a rationale I wrote for a client’s executives five years ago focused on reasons why a financial institution’s marketing message must be consistent across all contacts with customers and prospects — and my reasoning is still valid today.
Today’s follow-up post is less about consistent messaging, but gives you key elements you can compare to your own corporate identity and see if your messaging is as effective as it can be. You might see ways you can improve what you’re already using.
Generally, when consumers focus primarily on price, it’s bad news. It means they aren’t really interested in your product’s features and benefits – as they believe all competitive products are the same.
