The Story

I recently read an article in Fast Company about a 17-year old CEO who has single-handedly grown an internet company from nothing into a million-dollar business. Ashley Qualls’ company, Whateverlife.com, offers free MySpace page layouts to hundreds of thousands of young girls, and she makes her money through ad revenue. What’s impressive about her story is not that she’s worth over a million dollars or that she’s only 17 - although that is pretty impressive. What really impressed me is that she’s figured out how to create a relevant experience for her audience, based on an extremely simple principle - she knows her audience.

Now, granted, it’s easier for her to know her audience because she is her audience. But it’s a simple reminder to put ourselves into the shoes of our customers - either literally, because we are our audience, or figuratively, by finding ways to identify with our audience.

Trying to figure out what Gen Y wants? Is marketing bank products to youngsters proving to be a bit challenging?  You probably don’t have a 17-year old on staff in your bank or credit union’s marketing department, but you might have some on your front line, you might have one living with you, or you might approach someone like Ashley or another Gen Y’er who’s figured out how to communicate to their own audience.

Tap into your resources to identify with your audience, and you have a much better chance at creating a relevant experience for your audience.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 at 7:54 am and is filed under Bank Branding, Credit Union Branding, Bank Marketing, Experiential Marketing, Credit Union Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.