Disruptor marketing is used effectively by companies outside of banking and I have an example that shows the strategy can be so effective that the targeted company will backtrack on the decisions that generated customer anger and the competitors’ disruptor campaigns.

One of the hottest topics in the financial services industry, a topic that’s reached mainstream awareness, is the market disruptions caused by big banks’ addition of debit card fees.

Angry customers are actively looking for other places to do their banking and smart bank and credit union marketers are launching disruptor marketing campaigns to scoop up as many of those customers as they can.

You’re probably following this scenario in the industry news. Financial institutions report double-figure percentages of increased new account openings from new faces. These new customers and members are telling the account managers they’re coming from big banks like Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank.

Now here’s an example of disruptor marketing success outside of banking. Recently, Netflix divided its DVD rental and streaming video into separate services with separate monthly fees for each. In essence, a customer who wanted to keep the same service had to enroll in two programs with two accounts and pay a separate, higher fee for each.

Customer revolted. The competition jumped at the opportunity to grab as many Netflix customers as possible. Blockbuster, which was itself the target of Netflix disruptor campaigns only a few years ago, offered disgruntled Netflix customers a Total Access Plan with a free one month trial.

Redbox, which runs rental kiosks, also jumped on the opportunity by announcing it would begin to rent video games at many locations. It botched its own disruptor campaign by also raising the price of DVD rentals.

Other companies, including Hulu, Walmart and Amazon, joined the frenzy by publicizing their streaming video services.

Now, Netflix is backtracking. It’s allowing customers who want both lines of service to have one account and one payment instead of two. Without admitting much, Netflix’s CEO has said his company made a mistake.

The pressures of angry customers and competitors’ marketing campaigns targeted to attract those customers have had an effect.

If one of your banking competitors, whether mega bank or any other, has disrupted your marketplace in some way, you should be planning ways to take advantage of the situation. Those angry customers are looking for alternatives. They are moving their accounts. If you reach them with the right message that counters the situation that made them angry, you have a good chance of converting them to become your new bank customer or credit union member.

Someone will get those new customers. Why not your financial institution?

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You can use a disruptor marketing campaign strategy, too. It’s ready to go.

Here’s one article about the Netflix PR fiasco: “Entertainment companies exploit Netflix customer-relations flop to gain ground,” which appears in DMNews magazine and on its website.

Read “Netflix Retreats From 3-Week-Old Plan to Separate DVD, Streaming Services,” from Bloomberg News.

Senator Dick Durban, whose namesake amendment cause the debit card fee initiative, ranted against Bank of America for instituting a $5 fee. You can see him express his opinions on YouTube.