Before taking the job, I wonder if it occurred to Mr. Johnson that saving JCPenny from itself might be an impossible task. After all, the grand old retailer had attempted several unsuccessful makeovers in the past.
Experimenting and testing your advertising is laudable and practical, but whatever you try you’ll find the best success if you focus on your product and offer. Here’s an example where a change in focus hasn’t connected with consumers.
When new CEO Ron Johnson came to JCPenny, he changed the way the retailer priced its merchandise and the ways it promoted that merchandise. The changes haven’t helped. JCPenny lost $163 million the first quarter of 2012.
Your postal carrier isn’t going away anytime soon – if ever!
36% of responding U.S. consumers in a recent marketing study said they prefer receiving financial information in their traditional mail box.
As a young bank marketer during the 1970s one of the memorable bits of information I was given concerned the use of teaser copy on the outside of direct mail envelopes.
In a nutshell, this sage advice consisted of the following:
Put teaser copy on the envelopes going to prospects.
You probably try to cross-sell your financial products and services to your customers or members. (If not, why not?) Simply making them aware of what you offer can significantly boost your business.
Typically, a cross-sell message arrives in a #10 envelope. Not unusual. I’ve written plenty myself for ACTON Marketing clients. But after you’ve used the same format for a while, you might want to introduce something new to generate more attention. Today, I’ll give you some ideas and show you an example.
This Ally Bank ad jumped off the page last week as I was scanning the recent issue of Fast Company magazine. It grabbed my attention because of its totally new look and feel. It’s unlike all previous Ally Bank magazine ads.
It’s the visual that makes it so different. Looking at it reminds me of a print-out from a lie detector, an EKG machine, and a seismograph for recording earthquake frequency and intensity. Read more…
A teaser or teaser copy is typically the headline you see on direct mail envelopes, postcard fronts, or self-mailer outer panels. The teaser has a vitally important role. It convinces the prospect to read the information in the mail package.
A few of my colleagues had a conversation with some marketers who wanted to eliminate the teaser on an envelope package project. So today, I’ll give you the rationale those people believe and then tell you why you should run in the opposite direction.
Needless to say I was shocked to learn that America’s third-largest advertiser is dropping all of its paid advertising being done on Facebook.
First reported on Tuesday by the folks at The Wall Street Journal, we’re told that the company’s executives determined their paid ads had little impact on consumers’ purchases of the company’s products.
I expect this post will see more than the usual number of hits. Read the headline again and see if you agree. Of course, many of the visitors won’t be financial services marketers and won’t stay to read the entire post.
Joking aside, let’s look at this important marketing topic. The incentive system your financial institution uses can mean the difference between success and failure for your customer acquisition efforts.
Let’s say you’re finally fed up with your local mega-bank and have decided to move your checking account to another nearby bank or credit union. One of the reasons for making this move is the loss of free checking because your mega-bank added a $12 monthly fee and a $1,200 minimum balance requirement.
In other words, your mega-bank friends threw you under the bus.
“We deeply care about you, Mr. Resident. That’s why we sent you this important message. About nothing.”
No, that’s not what the postcard says. It’s my interpretation of the “personalized” message one of my colleagues found in his mailbox, sent by a local bank.
Front and back of this 5x7 postcard.
When does donated money become less about helping others and more about trying to burnish your own image?
In Tuesday’s blog I mentioned that during 2011 Bank of America donated $24.6 million dollars to nonprofit organizations in California.
How do I know this?
A few days ago, one of the ACTON Marketing sales guys asked me if I had a summary sheet that compared the practice of giving premiums to new accountholders when they open the account versus a system of multiple steps that earns a premium at the end.
Usually, I ignore anything sales guys say to me. (Just kidding.) When I looked through my files, I didn’t find anything written on the topic. But what a great idea for a blog post.
Last Thursday the following Advertising Age News Alerts message landed in my email inbox. The headline reads: “Bank of America Moves Brand Advertising From BBDO to WPP. Holding Company Team Will Roll Out New Strategic Positioning.”
The brief two-sentence alert reads: “Bank of America has shifted brand advertising duties to a WPP team from Omnicom Group’s BBDO, according to two executives familiar with the matter. WPP will be responsible for the rollout of what the company [BofA] was internally calling the development of a ‘North Star’ to help repair its tarnished image.
One aim of this blog is to share ideas with the readers. For today’s treat, here’s an example of a small self-mailer that gives you two different ideas you can use for your own marketing campaigns.
Slumberland Furniture sends these petite, cardstock self-mailers to prospects at the beginning of their birthday months. On the outer panel, it says, “Happy Birthday.” The mailer measures 6.25 x 4-inches when folded.
I’ve never understood why bank marketers and senior management believe it is necessary to offer more than one type of personal checking account.
After all, a personal checking account serves a very specific, very limited need.
The purpose of a personal checking account is to hold a customer’s money until it is needed. As these needs arise, the bank or credit union transfers some portion of this money to another party or to the account holder if it’s a withdrawal request.
If you’ve been a financial services marketer for some time, you probably know about Tell A Friend programs. Here’s an example of what a marketing-savvy company does to generate new business through its Tell A Friend (TAF) program.
If you’re unfamiliar with TAFs, or even if you’re using a TAF program, you can pick up some ideas from this marketer.
As a 42-year member of USAA, I was thrilled to see USAA Bank ranked #1 on TheFinancialBrand.com’s list of the ten best banking brands to watch. The list and accompanying article was posted to the site on April 16, 2012.
