The Story

Amusing, Yet Disturbing, Issue 2

I recently intercepted yet another amusing, yet disturbing e-mail request on a popular discussion group for bank marketers. The request read:

“Would you please share ideas and pictures if possible, of July 4th events you’ve held at your bank offices and branches. I’m looking for smart decorating ideas, promotions, great websites to purchase items, etc. All ideas welcome!”

Now I understand that if you’re a one-person marketing department, you’ve got a ridiculous volume and breadth of work on your plate. I appreciate that it’s not easy. But the irony is that asking questions like this one may make your life easier in the short run, it will ultimately make it harder in the long run…and will make your bank worse off. Here’s how:

When you do what other banks do (because that feels safe and easy), all you’re doing is making your bank more the same as the others. And in the long run, you will have actually lost ground in differentiation. And that makes your job harder…and possibly less secure.

You may be thinking, “the banks giving me these ideas are out of my market, so they don’t count.” Oh, but they do indeed count. Because it’s traditional bank marketing thinking. It’s the standard approach. And it’s oh-so-average. And even though the idea came from 2,000 miles away, the competition 2 blocks away is probably planning something just as generic and standard.

Here’s the question I’d love to see: “What does your bank do for 4th of July events? Because I plan to do the exact opposite.”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 8:59 am and is filed under Bank Branding, Branding, Credit Union Branding, Bank Marketing, Credit Union Marketing, Corporate branding. 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.

7 Responses to “Amusing, Yet Disturbing, Issue 2”

Jeffry Pilcher Says:
July 30th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Along with newsletters, Holiday-themed branch decorations are one of the biggest distractions for marketing directors, and a terrific way to misspend marketing energy.
Ron Shevlin Says:
July 30th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
The reality is you can’t (or necessarily shouldn’t) be different in EVERY aspect. And since holiday decorations IS such a time-suck, then why shouldn’t a bank find out what others did and copy it? Should a bank differentiate itself by it’s holiday decorations? Geez, I hope not.
Jeff Stephens Says:
July 31st, 2008 at 12:44 pm
The more you copy other banks, the more “the same” you become…which dilutes the differentiation you’re trying to build through other means. I’d argue it might be better to skip the decorations entirely rather than dilute your other efforts.

Above all, I just advocate for a “question everything” mentality. Even though at the end of the day, you may still choose to do traditional decorations (and that’s OK), I believe the thought process of questioning it is a healthy one that will make a bank or CU stronger.
Mike Bartoo Says:
August 1st, 2008 at 7:09 am
Jeff - I know exactly the discussion you’re referring to and my initial thought was “wow, that seems like an awful lot of effort for holiday decorating”. I don’t see it as a matter of differentiation as much as aren’t there better things to spend resources on? How about spending effort on researching your customers, prospects, competitors, etc. so that you can really differentiate yourself - I know it’s not as much fun but, my goodness, it’s liable to be quite a bit more productive.

Jeff S - I’m absolutely ok with the “question everything” approach. I just think that most marketers could make much more productive use of their time by questioning the more important things. The phrase “pick your battles” comes to mind - when everything else is going so well that you can really worry about holiday decorations and your newsletter then have at it!
Ron Shevlin Says:
August 1st, 2008 at 8:14 am
Note to Creative Brand Communications employees: Next time Jeff suggests something (or dictates or mandates it), question him on it. Then remind him of his last comment on this blog post.

:)
Jeff Stephens Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 6:32 am
@Ron Touche, my friend–touche!

@Mike I definitely see your points, and I agree that most companies (especially those with a marketing staff of 1) have to pick their battles–there’s just too much to do for one person, so they have to be selective. While we probably won’t be able to change that reality, what I hope to do is to change the mentality around this approach to bank marketing. In other words, I would consider it progress if that original question were stated: “I know I should use this holiday promo as a chance to reflect my specific brand, but I’m out of time and resources–can anyone suggest great ideas you’ve found successful?”

In other words, I hope we can together teach them to first think strategically about their brand, even if in the end they have to do something generic. My experience, though, is that they’re not thinking strategically about their brand first–they’re just going directly to copy-cat mode.
Mike Bartoo Says:
August 12th, 2008 at 5:22 am
Jeff - I’m with you on that - and slowly, but surely, I see it happening.

Amusing, Yet Disturbing, Issue 2

7 Responses to “Amusing, Yet Disturbing, Issue 2”

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