The Story

6 Responses to “It’s all about experience”

1. tortilla_chef Says:
   January 22nd, 2007 at 10:16 pm

   I love your ideas–do you think that financial institutions are ready to take such drastic measures to promote their services?

2. jeff Says:
   January 23rd, 2007 at 9:46 am

   Good question, Tortilla Chef. I think that as a whole, the industry is making progress toward this, but the reality is that only the boldest ones will do what it takes. The challenge is that when it comes right down to it, experiential branding takes some serious effort, because it has to involve all aspects of the business. So unfortunately you get a lot of banks and credit unions who say they want to build an amazing brand, but in reality they aren’t willing to withstand the short-term discomfort that’s often required to change the way you do business.

3. mick.irish Says:
   February 27th, 2007 at 4:14 pm

   Jeff,

   As a fellow Oregon J-school grad, I can say “I get it” with complete confidence. And since my days in Eugene I’ve made a career on both sides of the conference table - agency and client - in the stuffiest boardrooms on both coasts. So I’ve seen a thousand bankers who DON’T get it for every one that does.

   The whole Umpqua Bank - Washington Mutual - ING Financial, dear GOD! “Would You Like A Mortgage With Your Mocha” strategy has really shaken up the banking industry - an industry that probably hasn’t been this dazed and confused by anything this big since the top to bottom deregulation of the early 1980s. But, banking is a business segment, just like packaged goods, specialty retail, cars and trucks, oil and water, whatever. And the business of banking is to make money, just like every other business out there…just so happens that bankers are pretty good at making money - it’s really their only reason for being. So when you say Prove the Story…can you actually do that? Prove the Story, I mean. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m on your side in this thing – I’m a believer in the brand as the Holy Grail – the one true reason for OUR being. But…can you point to any valid and reliable, qualitative and quantifiable, This-Is-The-Real-Deal market research that proves beyond a shadow of doubt the one most important thing about your theories behind experience creation: is it PROFITABLE? Does it MAKE A LOT OF MONEY for the client? In other words, can you do build a predictive model supporting the reason to create memorable, authentic, brand-extending experiences for banking customers that will affect customer buying behaviors in positive ways? Do these experiential strategies actually induce customers to buy more product? Do they convince customers to change banks, bring their investment portfolios, retirement savings plans, tax planning, insurance and charitable giving strategies, primary and secondary mortgages, home equity lines and loans…C’mon, do they really optimize the “Share of Wallet” of your client’s new and existing customers?!

   Or, is it just a really cool thing to add to the agency’s book?

   Bankers. They are very good at what they do. But it’s damn near impossible to convince left-brained, quant-oriented clients…like all good bankers are, have to be, even CMOs…that something as intangible as experiential marketing can have a positive impact on their bottom line. Prove the Story on the front end with true, unbiased research and predictive modeling – hey, MBA geeks are there for a reason! Put the metrics in place and Prove the Story on the back end with numbers that actually mean something in terms of profitability. Then, and only then, will experiential marketing have any real value.

   I’m happy to take the discussion off-line any time.

4. Jeff Stephens Says:
   February 27th, 2007 at 10:16 pm

   Excellent thoughts, and you hit on a critical topic of ROI. And I’ll be the first to confess that numbers-obsessed ROI freaks are not the ones that tend to come calling us…and I respect that. The ones we hear from are those who want us to help them “de-commoditize,” and the means for that is creating a distinct experience they can hang their hats on.

   But I have a simple answer regarding ROI.

   The experience creation mentality we’re talking about doesn’t really have to cost much of anything. Sure, if you want our ideas, you’re going to have to pay for them, so there’s cost in that. But aside from that, these experience creation ideas tend to involve much less overhead, materials and cost to execute than any traditional (not experientially focused) marketing campaign. Even the worst, ugliest, simplest of print ads is going to cost a good chunk of money to develop and especially to run. On the other hand, determining a new way to way to greet a customer or rethinking the music you use in branches does not. As far as I know, it’s pretty much free to have your tellers say “what’s up” or “howdy” instead of “hello,” if that proves your particular story. Rethinking those small items to better prove your story can be very powerful.

   While there are certainly big, elaborate experience-creation ideas we can and do develop for appropriate client needs, many experience-creation ideas are about turning the tiniest seemingly mundane touchpoints into opportunities to prove the story.

   In short, in most cases, we’re not asking banks to spend additional money on experience creation, but instead to spend their existing money (and time) more smartly than banks have in the past.

5. Gen Drebery Says:
   January 25th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
   
6. Bill470087781 Says:
   March 8th, 2008 at 9:38 am
   

Leave a Reply