SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
NEW ENGLAND
THE RESOURCE FOR NEW ENGLAND’S FINANCIAL LEADERS
BE A 3M BANK: Marketing Makes Money
PHONE IT IN!
The Banking Gospel According To Siri
L SPECIA
BANK T I NG MARKE S C FO U
ARE YOU RUNNING
AN INVISIBLE INSTITUTION?
AMAZING:
Nearly 40% Of Consumers Have Never Switched A Bank!
A P UBLICAT I O N O F A M E R I C AN B U S IN ES S M ED IA
CSI KNOWS TALK IS CHEAP. When someone tells you they’re going to do something, they should do it. Your customers expect that of you, and you expect that of your technology partners. When you work with CSI, you don’t get a technology provider that talks a big game—you get a partner that truly listens and always acts.
www.csiweb.com/actionsspeaklouder
A P U B L I C AT I O N O F AM ER I C AN B U SI N ESS M E D I A
CONTENTS
PAGE
8
Benefitting from Mobile Sites
NEW ENGLAND
THE RESOURCE FOR NEW ENGLAND’S FINANCIAL LEADERS
SPECIAL CONFERENCE COVERAGE
The New England Financial Marketing Association’s fall conference kicks off Oct. 22-23 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This issue includes what things financial marketers are talking about in the industry and some solutions to help bring your bank to the next level.
22
NEFMA: Where Should Your Deposit Marketing Efforts Be Focused in 2018
24 Winners & Losers
High Percentage Of Customers Will Change Banks/Credit Unions This Year
8
Why Your Website Matters And How To Make The Most From It
12
Physical Space Can Further Your Brand
18
28
NEFMA: How To Build A Great Brand ... Your Own!
NEFMA President’s Message: What Keeps You Up At Night?
30
BRANDED: Country Bank’s Shelley Regin Describes Their Brand Overhaul
28
PAGE
4
NEFMA: Are Your Marketing Channel’s Working?
26
NEFMA: Don’t Let Your Website Keep You Up At Night
Building A Brand You Can Call Your Own
STAFF
www.ambizmedia.com ©2018 American Business Media LLC All rights reserved. Banking New England magazine is a trademark of American Business Media LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any
PUBLISHER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Vincent M. Valvo MANAGING EDITOR Kaitlyn Keegan ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Barb Dimauro CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Patrick Sanders OPERATIONS MANAGER Kurt Schenher ONLINE CONTENT DIRECTOR Navindra Persaud GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGER Stacy Murray GRAPHIC DESIGNER Scott Ellison
information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Advertising, editorial and production inquiries should be directed to: American Business Media LLC, 345 North Main St., Suite 313 West Hartford, CT 06117
Interested in receiving additional copies of Banking New England Call (860) 719-1991 or email kschenher@ambizmedia.com
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 3
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Winners & Losers By Bruce Paul, CEO of Customer Experience Solutions
High Percentage of Customers Will Change Banks/Credit Unions This Year
A
There are 2.28 million households and businesses in the Northeast actively looking for a new banking relationship or can be easily enticed to switch.
4 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
s interest rates rise, mergers increase, and competition heats up, so does bank switching. Consumers and businesses across New England are looking to see if there is a better option than what they currently have. The latest Banking Benchmarks have revealed that there are 2.28 million households and businesses in the Northeast actively looking for a new banking relationship or can be easily enticed to switch. The banks and credit unions that will win have strong awareness and a strong brand image that lines up with the needs of those defecting. According to the Benchmarks, 13% of banks and credit unions fall in this category. They can expect far more than their fair share of new customers, and greater growth than their peers. This is not good news for some banks and credit unions that don’t stand out from the crowd. They have a mediocre brand image or stand out in areas that just don’t matter to potential new Bruce Paul customers. They can expect no better than average growth of new customers.
Some banks and credit unions will be disproportionately losing their customers to competitors. According to the latest CT, MA, and RI Banking Benchmarks results, there are 74 banks in the Northeast that could lose more than 20% of their customers to defection if they don’t make some serious changes. (This revelation comes directly from their own customers telling us during our interviews.) How do you make sure you are in the first group: the group that will be winning in your trade area? The first step in attracting new customers is to make sure they know you exist. This is not as easy as it seems. Across the Northeast, the average institution has about 35% awareness in its own trade area. This means that, again on average, 65% of the people closest to your branches do not know you exist. A bank has to drive up awareness through marketing, advertising, branch placement, word-of-mouth, social media, etc. All that takes effort and money. As the saying goes “You have to spend money to make money.” Banks have to spend the marketing dollars wisely to develop the correct brand image that will convince potential customers that they are worth trying. This includes making sure to build key brand elements like
community contribution, reputation as a strong institution, overall quality, customer service, technology and convenient locations. How does your bank look to potential new customers on these elements? According to the latest Benchmarks, 63% of banks across New England do not stand out on a single element. Are you one of them? Below are the institutions that stick out from the crowd on one of these important elements: reputation as a strong institution. The rankings are based upon over 300,000 reviews by non-customer prospects. A strong reputation is key because prospects will not even consider switching to you if they don’t think your bank is a safe place for their money. From the leaders in each county, you can see it is not always the largest or the oldest bank or credit union
that best conveys trustworthiness. In many cases, it is a smaller community bank or credit union that outshines the very large banks’ reputations. The institutions that convey a reputation of strength can expect more than their fair share of prospects to try them out. Establishing good awareness and a solid brand image are key to attracting new customers. According to the Benchmarks, in the next year, 11% of American households and 13% of American businesses will switch their primary bank. Does your brand image set you up to win? ■ Bruce Paul is president and CEO of Customer Experience Solutions.
Reputation as a Strong Banking Institution
3rd
CONNECTICUT
2nd
Fairfield Hartford New Haven New London Litchfield Middlesex Tolland Windham
Chase TD Sikorsky FCU Charter Oak CU TD Essex Webster Charter Oak CU
Sikorsky FCU Webster TD Chelsea Groton Litchfield Liberty Stafford Savings CorePlus CU
Citi Farmington Chase CorePlus CU Torrington TD People’s United People’s United
MASSACHUSETTS
1st
Barnstable Berkshire Bristol Dukes Essex Franklin Hampden Hampshire Middlesex Nantucket Norfolk Plymouth Suffolk Worcester
Cape Cod Five TD Citizens Cape Cod Five TD Greenfield Cooperative Polish National CU UMassFive College CU TD BofA TD TD TD DCU
TD MountainOne St Anne's CU Citizens Citizens Greenfield Savings TD Florence DCU Cape Cod Five Citizens Rockland Trust Boston Private TD
Coop Bank of Cape Cod Berkshire Mansfield Martha’s Vineyard Eastern Freedom CU Freedom CU Bank ESB Citizens Blue Hills Rockland Trust Citizens Santander Citizens
RHODE IS
COUNTY
Bristol Kent Newport Providence Washington
BankNewport Washington Trust Citizens TD Washington Trust
Santander Centreville Peoples CU Washington Trust Citizens
Rhode Island CU Navigant CU BankNewport Citizens Webster
Customer Experience Solutions produces the MA Banking Benchmarks, the CT Banking Benchmarks, the RI banking Benchmarks, the NY Banking Benchmarks, the NJ Banking Benchmarks. These are the largest syndicated Customer Experience studies in the US and are comprised of almost 300,000 full banking reviews by individuals and businesses. The results cited herein are from interviews conducted through August 2018. For more detail on the results or the customer feedback on your institution, email info@cescx.com.
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 5
A Banking New England POLL
Is The Traditional Teller Gone?
Has your financial institution done away with the traditional teller? “Teller is now a function, not a title. All employees can assist members with member service, lending and teller functions from the teller line.”
“We haven’t seen a change as of yet due to the fact that some of our branches are very transactional and, due to older membership, still enjoy visiting the teller line.”
“We use both universal bankers and traditional tellers. They both have a place at our institution. Different branches, depending upon volume and types of transactions do better with different models.”
No (68%)
Yes (19%)
Results are from a poll conducted by Banking New England magazine 6 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
No, but plans are in the works (13%)
Customer loyalty is your bank’s number one asset. To improve it, you need to measure it.
Over 1 million independent, unbiased reviews by your own customers and your competitors’ customers that can help you discover where you have a competitive advantage, and where you are vulnerable. To learn more about our subscriptions or to get your Customer Experience Benchmark Report, visit cescx.com/benchmarks or email info@cescx.com.
TECH IDENTITY
CAN YOU HEAR YOUR CUSTOMERS NOW?
G
There Are Next Gen Phones Annually. Why Aren’t Banks Keeping Pace? By Patrick Sanders, Banking New England Contributing Editor
one are the days where routine banking meant climbing into the family Buick and heading into town to visit a nearby branch of a community bank. Today’s consumers demand more from their banks – or they’re going to find it elsewhere. And while there are still plenty of brick-and-mortar branches from which to choose, customers are more often opting for the convenience of mobile banking, using apps on their smartphones to do everything from opening accounts, paying bills, depositing checks and applying for a mortgage. Financial institutions not only have to meet the demands of today’s customers, but they need to anticipate what innovation will be offered in weeks and months to come so their mobile sites can help them continue to grow. “I think one of the things that we see more and more is that customers want choice,” says Nic Parmaksizian, a partner and global head of digital practice at Capco, a New York-based management and technology consulting company. “They want to be able to bank
8 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
however they want, wherever they want. Convenience is the key in choosing a banking relationship.”
WHY MOBILE BANKING IS SO IMPORTANT It all comes down to the expectations of today’s customers, says Keith Brannan, chief marketing officer of Kasasa, a Texas-based company that works with about 450 U.S. banks and credit unions. “Anything that’s not mobile, specifically, is going to struggle long-term with consumer interaction,” he says. “Mobile devices are what everyone’s using, even when there’s a wired option. Even when I’m here at my home, family and children running around, they’re all on mobile devices, they’re watching TV on mobile devices. They’re not for the most part gathering around the family TV in the living room like we did when I was a kid. Everyone’s off doing their own thing. “And so that experience is super compelling for consumers who are consequently (seeking) more and more individualized attention,” Brannan says. “The individual nature of a mobile device and the experi-
“Anything that’s not mobile, specifically, is going to struggle long-term with consumer interaction. Mobile devices are what everyone’s using, even when there’s a wired option.” – KEITH BRANNAN
ence you can have starts all the way from the ads that get delivered to the multiple ways that users respond to it. Mobile devices are so interesting because if you click on an ad, the native capabilities of the phone allow you to choose multiple ways to interact. You can go to the website and go to a landing page right there, you can send an email if you decide to, and go through the company contact us, and in many cases you can send a text message. A user can simply click on the ad and learn more on the website, make a phone call all without leaving their chair or even looking up from the device. The combination of those human interactions into one simple device says that there will not be a wired solution that competes with it.” Robb Gaynor, chief product officer at Malauzai Software, which provides mobile and internet banking support for community banks, says mobile sites are a sign that a bank has “transformed” into a modern institution that is focused on customer service. More customers have access to mobile devices than they do internet on
desktop or laptop computers, Gaynor says. And that’s an important signal, particularly for the growing audience of millennial customers that are flexing their collective muscle to dominate the U.S. economy. “There is a generational factor,” Parmaksizian says, “where in some markets you have a large population that are millennials, and they expect you to have a mobile banking proposition that is more than just a transactional relationship. It is also an enriched experience for them as well.”
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO HAVE A GREAT MOBILE APP? NerdWallet, an online personal finance portal, recently rated the major banks, online banks, mobile-focused banks and credit unions based on their mobile sites. The banks that were highlighted – including Capital One, Chase, Discover and Charles Schwab – were recognized for having features that are readily achievable for most banks and credit unions today – check deposit, ATM locators and bill pay options, plus easy-to-use features.
“I think what’s interesting is that smaller regional banks have an opportunity to learn from some of the mistakes that some of the bigger banks made. Not having as much resources as the larger banks means that you’re going to have to be smarter in allocating your investment.” BANKING NEW ENGLAND 9
SO WHAT MAKES A MOBILE APP REALLY STAND OUT? “One thing is consistency,” Gaynor says. “(Customers) hate going to their mobile site when the internet site looks wildly different. So one of the things you hear about in this world is channel consistency. Make it look all the same. I just want it to be easy, and part of being easy is being the same.” The other major thing that the best mobile banking sites have is an overthe-top customer-friendly interface. The best apps today, for instance, give customers a chance to open an account online – that means letting a customer take a photo of their driver’s license and submitting it with their phone, as well as using the phone to auto-populate easy-to-complete forms to open accounts. This is what’s called the “Amazon experience” in mobile banking – having a website that is as easy and customer-focused as Amazon.com, the disruptive online retailer that is dipping its fingers into all sorts of industries, including banking. “I want it (mobile banking site) to be as cool so when we compete, we want these to be better than Amazon,” Gaynor says.
10 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
Regional and community banks, of course, don’t have the same resources as the Big Four banks in developing great mobile sites and fintech to power them. But they can partner with fintech providers, who can help them roll out features that can hold their own to anything that Chase or Bank of America can offer. Parmaksizian says his company is working with regional banks that are using their mobile sites to engage and grow their businesses. “I think what’s interesting is that smaller regional banks have an opportunity to learn from some of the mistakes that some of the bigger banks made. Not having as much resources as the larger banks means that you’re going to have to be smarter in allocating your investment.”
overcome,” Brannan says. “In most cases it’s the legacy of the organization” that holds banks back. Many of the first websites created by financial institutions were informative, but didn’t do a great job of spelling out the goods and services offered. Brannan calls those early websites “brochure-like” in that they represented the bank the way executives wanted to be seen in the community.
LET GO OF THE PAST – AND LOOK TO THE FUTURE Banks that want to develop – or improve – their mobile sites need to first decide what it is they want to accomplish. And sometimes that’s not the easiest thing to do, particularly if a bank lets itself be stuck in the past. “I actually think the legacy issues are probably the toughest ones to
BEST MOBILE-FOCUSED BANK (tie) Simple | Chime
BEST
MOBILE BANKING APPS BEST BIG BANK (tie) Capital One | Chase BEST ONLINE BANK (tie) Discover | Charles Schwab
BEST CREDIT UNION Alliant Source: NerdWallet, 9/14/18 https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/ banking/mobile-banking/
How can smaller banks and credit unions compete with Wells Fargo, Bank of America and other big banks when they don’t have the resources to pump into research and development to create cutting-edge mobile sites?
T
hat’s where partnering with a fintech comes into play. Smaller banks need to worry less about respect and development and more about how to best manage their vendor relationships. “If you look across the broad spectrum of services that smaller institutions need, they are always going to lack the full resource capability to build,” Brannan says. “Having good vendors that you can work with that serve multiple needs are good, too, because then you get a vendor who gets to know a lot of about your business strategy, not just one element of it.”
But today’s best mobile sites are much more focused on customers, Brannan says. They take their cues from whatever web-based marketing campaigns the bank is running and highlight those campaigns on landing pages that are easily identified by customers, making it easy for customers to access services or, in the best case, buy a new product. “Here’s marketing that led to this webpage, and you better find on the webpage what you had in your marketing,” he says. “Serve the need as quickly as possible, and if the consumer wants to find out more about the organization, they’ll click on the button that says, ‘learn about us.’ And that’s a very ecommerce type of experience that’s all about consumer shopping.” Having a great mobile site also means consistently updating and upgrading your offerings. ■
Gaynor says it’s important for a bank to find a vendor that has a track record of working with other banks and credit unions. “Find someone who is forward thinking in changing the industry, but not just in their words but in their deeds,” he says. “We call it say-do ratio, and that can be proven. Give me a list of customers to call, show me the ones that you’ve transformed, let me talk to them, let me talk to the underlining consumers. Vendors a lot of times talk but they don’t do, so you’ve got to validate that, and the best way is what have you done for real financial institutions.”
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BANKING NEW ENGLAND 11
BRAND IDENTITY
SPACE: FORCE
Integrating Architecture And The Brand Experience By Todd Carson, Special to Banking New England | Photo By Dan Cutrona
BankNewport in Rhode Island recently redesigned its branches to better fit its brand.
A
statement I occasionally hear when discussing a new branch bank design with a client is “I want the space to look like an Apple store!” Most of these clients don’t actually want a branch that looks like an Apple store. What they are asking Todd Carson for is a brand experience. Apple’s slick and highly curated spaces capture the innovative spirit of Apple’s products. They are able to subtly communicate the quality of their 12 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
product and their level of service through a retail environment that epitomizes the brand experience.
DEFINING BRAND EXPERIENCE Technology allows companies to constantly bombard us with information and messages. As a result of this information overload, we are inclined to block out all of the noise and visual clutter. Brand experience allows you to cut through the constant clamor for your attention by providing your customer with a lasting real-world experience that can build relationships and trust in your brand. The ex-
Proactively considering the brand experience allows the design team to elevate the process, establish goals and set out to create a brand experience from inception. oped design to accommodate late decisions. Early collaboration between the owner, architect, interior designer and branding consultant is key to a successful outcome. Think of brand experience in terms of the physical space that you are about to create. A space can tell your customers a lot about your organization and your values. Spatial volume, light, colors, materials and textures define the feel of your space and can create a warm and homey feel or a cool, sleek urban feel. Should your customers feel like you are welcoming them into your living room or that you are ready to get their business done? These decisions should be based on the culture of your organization and reflect the values of the people you serve. Most importantly, these issues should be identified and considered early in the design process.
perience reinforces that your organization lives up to the promise of your message through technology, architectural experience and positive human interaction. All projects require a complex and often confusing process to design the architecture of the space, select finishes, furniture, environmental graphics, and incorporate technology and marketing. Proactively considering the brand experience allows the design team to elevate the process, establish goals and set out to create a brand experience from inception. It can be remarkably obvious when branding and marketing elements are incorporated into the architecture as an afterthought or require deviation from a highly devel
ESTABLISHING BRAND IDENTITY Larger banking institutions tend to benefit from an established corporate identity and strategies for branding and marketing. They are well positioned to move into new markets with established brand recognition. Smaller community banking institutions have the benefit of home-grown recognition with local bankers serving local customers. When community banking institutions expand into new markets they usually encounter an identity crisis; they become a community institution with a regional presence. Establishing a brand identity can help a small emerging institution communicate their values to a wider audience and attract new customers. Smaller institutions tend to handle their marketing on a micro level, creating messaging and marketing collateral on a smaller scale with fewer consistent guiding principles. This can be advantageous and cost effective when dealing with shifting technologies and banking trends, but it can be a disadvantage when all of the stakeholders are brought to the table to envision a new branch without a common vision. This is where a strategic partnership between architects, interior designers and branding consultants benefit your organization the most. An integrated design team can guide the bank’s decision makers through a collaborative process BANKING NEW ENGLAND 13
graphics and print media. Others specialize in process oriented development of a complete brand identity‌your name, colors, messaging, and strategic goals. Some specialized firms provide turnkey services with in-house design and marketing but don’t necessarily provide comprehensive development of brand experience.
Be consistent and create a unified brand experience.
that embraces all aspects of design, considering space, material, technology, messaging, culture and human interaction. This collaboration allows the consultants on the design team to create a unified brand experience rather than one where each consultant works independently, resulting in a disjointed product. Creating a brand experience takes far more effort than placing posters on a wall or signage on a soffit. Select a branding partner that is the right fit for your institution or consult your architect and interior designer. They may already have an established strategic partnership with a branding firm. Evaluate the status of your brand identity and determine the level of service that you require. Some branding firms specialize in marketing materials,
INCORPORATING BRAND IDENTITY Once you have established a brand identity, be prepared to provide the design team with PMS colors, fonts, high resolution logos and other digital graphics. The designers should know what defines your approach to customer service and the people who serve them. How do staff members connect with customers? How do they embrace the brand image? Through words, actions, engagement? A thoughtful design will consider how each potential customer enters the space, their first experience, how and when they are approached by a staff member and where each interaction will take place. Technology, marketing imagery and messaging should be integrated into the flow of the space, carefully considering how customers will experience each element. Artificial lighting and daylighting elements can be used to create a particular feeling within a space or draw attention to a marketing element. A collaborative design team will consider all of these fundamental issues collectively when laying out the floor plan and create a space to support your business lines and communicate your brand identity. Brand experience is an invaluable tool in the competition for attention among the deluge of messages that we are exposed to daily. Establishing a strong brand identity and communicating it through your retail architecture requires a collaborative partnership between the client, architect, interior designer and branding consultant. Early attention to the concepts and details that define a brand experience will help guarantee that your retail environment reinforces the value of your brand. â– ___________________________________________________
Todd Carson is a Architect/Project Manager for Brown Lindquist Fenuccio & Raber Architects, Inc. in Yarmouth Port, MA
Establishing a strong brand identity and communicating it through your retail architecture requires a collaborative partnership between the client, architect, interior designer and branding consultant. 14 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
Have you ever changed the primary financial institution you use?
YES 53% % NO 38% % 9%
No, but considering it
Of those that have switched, 47% only switched once, 25% switched twice, 15% have changed three times and 13% are frequent bank switchers having changed four or more times. Only 30% of bank consumers use a single source for all of their financial needs. 56% use two to three finance-related businesses at once while 14% use four or more. 58% of total respondents used a non-brick-and-mortar financial product or service such as PayPal, SoFi or CreditKarma. The top three reasons consumers say they have switched are convenience of services, quality of service, and cost of rates and fees. Security and privacy was also listed as a key catalyst for leaving. Data was reported by EVERFI.
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 15
NEW ENGLAND
THE RESOURCE FOR NEW ENGLAND’S FINANCIAL LEADERS
Start Building Stronger Business Relationships Today.
Bankers across the region turn to our bimonthly magazine, Banking New England, for essential news, information, and analysis in an evolving marketplace. As a source for thought leadership
in the banking industry throughout New England, banking executives and managers rely on the magazine for vital information on how to better serve their customers, efficiently run their institutions, and adapt in a transforming industry.
Advertising in Banking New England will give your brand a significant advantage within a competitive market and increase your exposure among thousands of companies that serve the banking industry in New England. Position your message in front of 400+ financial institutions and over 8,000 industry professionals – 90% of whom are executives, vice presidents, and department managers.
16 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
To learn more about BANKING NEW ENGLAND or to customize a marketing program unique to your business needs, call 860-719-1991 or email bdimauro@ambizmedia.
SPONSORED CONTENT
Meeting The Challenges Of The Millennial Market
M
illennials (ages 18-34) will make up an estimated 50 percent of the global workforce by 2020 and are expected to control between $19 trillion and $24 trillion in buying power. Because of the era in which they were raised, millennials have different consumer needs and expectations than previous generations.
Financial institutions have an opportunity to increase customer growth among millennials as long as they remain aware of their particular needs, especially in the payments space.
Challenges To Attracting And Retaining Millennial Cardholders
Financial institutions need to adjust strategic decisions around marketing and product offerings to reach and engage millennials. Key preferences for millennials are: • High-touch and digital services • Maximum reward offerings and lower fees • Socially responsible behavior from organizations • Robust mobile capabilities
High-Touch And Digital Services
Millennials seek the convenient, integrated, real-time experience provided by modern technology. The greatest investment financial institutions can make to attract millennials is creating and maintaining robust digital platforms.
Maximum Rewards and Lower Fees
Tight budgets, resulting from student loan debt and the cost of living, draw millennials to high-value reward offerings. Approximately 8 out of 10 millennials say they would switch financial institutions if one offered more or better rewards on their credit card. While cash back is the most popular reward among millennials, they also desire points and travel rewards. Points and travel rewards cards have increased in popularity, particularly among older, higher value millennials (ages 25-34), with travel card portfolios seeing the highest level of spend. Ninety-three percent of millennials say no or lowfee banking is important when choosing a financial institution for their credit card needs.
Social Responsibility And Ethical Branding
Millennials are attracted to authentic brands with a cause and are willing to pay a higher price for products if there is a clear social or community benefit. Financial institutions are uniquely positioned in the community to attract millennials through corporate social responsibility initiatives, such as financial literacy programs and volunteering. In a recent survey, 87 percent of Americans will purchase a product because a company advocated for an issue they care about, and millennials are more likely than other generations to research the issues that a company supports and the extent to which the company contributes.
The Mobile First Generation
Mobile capabilities are especially important to a generation that prefers to manage all aspects of their lives, including finances, through mobile devices. To effectively capture market share, financial institutions must offer technological conveniences that attract and retain millennial cardholders, while deal-
ing with the high cost and time investment needed to develop and deploy them.
Partnering with Elan Financial Services
Choosing a credit card partner that offers digital services, best-in-class rewards, and mobile capabilities allows financial institutions to provide attractive products to millennials without significant upfront investment.
Elan offers partners a credit card product suite with robust rewards to meet customer needs—including the millennial segment. By partnering with Elan, financial institutions can offer valuable mobile payment options such as Apple Pay™, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay as well as access to digital servicing and acquisition channels. Partner financial institutions can also offer customers tools to help them learn how to manage credit. In addition, Elan invests in digital innovations, including text alert capabilities, a Geolocation Service App, and fingerprint authentication for mobile applications. Elan Mobile Services delivers real-time, interactive alerts that allow the cardholder to identify unauthorized or suspected fraudulent activity as it occurs. A variety of activity alerts provide transparency and allow cardholders to effectively manage card accounts. Cardholders may enroll and set alert preferences for dependent cards and turn a registered card on and off between purchases (with no disruption to recurring bill payments).
For more information, visit ElanFinancialServices.com/Credit-Card/Resource-Library BANKING NEW ENGLAND 17
NEFMA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
NOT YESTERDAY’S MARKETING
NEFMA Can Guide You In A Changing Landscape
W
elcome to the October edition of Banking New England magazine. We at the New England Financial Marketing Association (NEFMA) are pleased to be partnering with BNE for this special issue devoted to bank marketing. If there is one thing that has characterized banking over the past few years it is change. We find ourselves dealing with enhanced regulatory scrutiny, rapidly expanding information security needs, a shifting competitive landscape and continued evolution of the retail bank storefront. Marketing is no exception to that rule. That’s why the theme of NEFMA’s fall conference is “What keeps financial marketers up at night?” The media landscape is virtually unrecognizable from 15 years ago, yet the
18 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
jury remains out on many new channels, making the marketer’s job challenging. Banking as a product continues to suffer from commoditization in the minds of many customers, making it hard for bankers to break out from the pack, while online banks and others continue to nibble away at bank share. Before I share some thoughts on how we can address those challenges, I’d like to take a few words to introduce NEFMA. For those of you who don’t know, NEFMA is an organization devoted solely to financial institution marketing. The roots of NEFMA goes back to the Bank Marketing Association, later absorbed by ABA, which operated regional bank marketing associations until the mid2000s. When ABA left the scene, most regional marketing associations
Jim Briand
ceased to operate. Yet here in New England, an enterprising group of community bank marketers took up the cause and built a robust educational and networking group for bank and credit union marketers focused on the needs of local members. Since that time NEFMA has delivered two major conferences per year, outside networking opportunities and, in recent years, marketing awards to recognize excellence in marketing and advertising among New England financial institutions. At each conference, we bring in the very best in national speakers on financial marketing topics and complement those perspectives with workshops featuring the best work of our local community financial institution members. At our fall conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, we’ll be tackling some of the tough issues noted above. As I touched on earlier, commoditization is an ongoing challenge for bankers. Let’s face it, money is the ultimate commodity. And yet, as marketers we must give people a meaningful reason for why we are different. One point of differentiation offered by many banks is a customer-first orientation that outpaces larger banks. Yet, while many executive teams speak of being customer-driven, they in fact have a risk or operationsfirst mentality that results in an indifferent customer experience. Our keynote speaker, noted bank strategist Lance Kessler, will ask the hard questions on what it takes to truly inculcate a customer-first mentality across the organization. Another major challenge for marketers today is the changing media landscape. In recent years digital marketing became the darling of media planners. Money and staff resources were stripped away from traditional media and devoted to a full array of digital, digital video, social media and mobile promotions. Much of it worked, yet some did not. Now as we move beyond the initial phase of new media, marketers are assessing where the right balance and ROI are to be found. Our speakers will address the role of new media such as “native con-
tent” articles that live alongside traditional ads in the digital landscape. A third area of focus for community bank marketers today is the role of experiential marketing. That’s a textbook term for something community bankers have been doing all along—being present in the community at celebrations, key stakeholder events and supporting the organizations that make our communities strong. Yet today, just showing up and giving out tchotchkes isn’t enough. Community outreach needs to be treated as another marketing channel that is distinctive, visually appealing to today’s sophisticated customer and measurable. Our speakers will demonstrate how leading community banks have
Today, just showing up and giving out tchotchkes isn’t enough.
used innovative techniques to break through at the fair, the school and on Main Street —and how it pays. I hope you enjoy this marketing issue of Banking New England, and I welcome marketers and executives to join us at the New England Financial Marketing Association’s fall conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire on October 20th. ■ ___________________________________________
Jim Briand is President of the New England Financial Marketing Association. He is a research associate of Next Tier Analytics of Warwick, RI, a provider strategic analysis and quantitative and qualitative research solutions.
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 19
2018 New England Financial Marketing Association
FALL CONFERENCE AGENDA
MONDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2018
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2018
8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Registration for CFMP Workshop Grand Ballroom Foyer
7:15 - 8:15 a.m. Registration, Breakfast and Exhibits Grand Ballroom / Grand Ballroom Foyer
9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. (separate registration required) CFMP Workshop: Effective Marketing Leadership Lance Kessler, President, Lance Kessler & Associates Amphitheatre Room
General Session Grand Ballroom
12:00 - 6:30 p.m. Registration for Fall Conference Grand Ballroom Foyer 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. and Repeated 3:00 - 4:00 p.m.; (Break 2:30 - 3:00 p.m.) Afternoon Breakout Sessions: • How to Optimize Your Brand’s Media Investment (Woodbury Room) JoEllen Zmolek Nyquist, Product Marketing Strategist at Veridian Credit Union Marilois Snowman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Mediastruction
• The Power of Experiential Marketing: More than
Just an Event (Gardner Room) Nicole Almeida, CMO, BayCoast Bank Heather Moon Lovett, Account Director/ Experiential Event Specialist, Sean Tracey Associates Adam Anghilante, Account Director/Experiential Event Specialist, Sean Tracey Associates
• Website “Must-Haves” for Community Banks
and Credit Unions: The cost of entry to succeed in today’s digital world (Ampitheater Room) Mitch Rosenbaum, President, BankDot & Founding Partner of VOXmarketing Amy Paxson, Chief Operating Officer, BankDot & Managing Partner of VOXmarketing Tim Draper, Vice President Marketing, Navigant Credit Union
• Marketing Filters: How Microtargeting and
Fair Lending Don’t Mix (Warner Room) Pamela C. Buckley, CRCM, Managing Principal, Regional Delivery, Capco Finance, Risk and Compliance (FRC) Jamie Belmore, AVP Marketing, Main Street Bank
4:00 - 5:00 p.m. Idea Room/NEFMA Survey Harbor’s Edge Room 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Networking Reception - Exhibits Open Grand Ballroom Foyer
8:15 – 8:30 a.m. Welcome and Introduction Jim Briand, NEFMA President 8:30 - 9:15 a.m. In-House and Homegrown Video: Creating native content that starts with you Moderator: Sean Tracey, President, CEO and Chief Creative Strategist, Sean Tracey AssociateSpeakers: Monica Curhan, CFMP, Senior Vice President, Director of Marketing for Florence Bank and Loris Eminente, Vice President, Marketing, Savings Bank of Danbury 9:20 - 10:05 a.m. Attribution Conundrum: Discovering the optimal media mix JoEllen Zmolek Nyquist, Product Marketing Strategist at Veridian Credit Union Marilois Snowman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Mediastruction 10:05 - 10:35 a.m. Break and Exhibits Grand Ballroom Foyer 10:35 - 11:20 a.m. Finding Deposit Growth in a Rising Rate Environment Andrew Vahrenkamp, Raddon Research 11:25 a.m. - 12:25 p.m. Defining, Developing, and Delivering a Highly Differentiated, Consistent Customer Experience Lance Kessler, President, Lance Kessler & Associates 12:25 - 1:25 p.m. Lunch and Exhibits Grand Ballroom / Grand Ballroom Foyer 1:25 - 2:10 p.m. Developing Business Leads Through Education: A joint venture between Machias Savings Bank and Flyte New Media Rich Brooks, President, flyte new media Yury Nabokov, Omnichannel Experience Manager and Marketing Strategist, Machias Savings Bank 2:15 - 3:00 p.m. What’s My Move? How to Thrive in Your Career Through Networking Joyce Sullivan, Career Reinventionist, Founder and CEO, SocMediaFin, Inc. 3:00 - 3:15 p.m. Closing Remarks Jim Briand, NEFMA President
20 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
ARE MARKETING CONCERNS KEEPING YOU UP AT NIGHT? We’ve got the solution.
Marketing is moving so fast. New Media. Old Media. New Competitors. New Products. Here’s the good news. At NEFMA, we’ll keep on top of trends so you don’t have to. We’ve gathered the best minds in bank marketing to sift through the noise. So put down the Ambien and register for the “What’s Keeping You Up” Conference today.
2018 NEFMA FALL CONFERENCE | October 22–23, 2018 Sheraton Portsmouth Harborside Hotel, Postsmouth, NH
Get more information at www.nefma.org
REGISTER EARLY AND SAVE! 2019 NEFMA Spring Conference April 25-26, 2019 | Providence, Rhode Island
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 21
PROTECTING NEFMA CONFERENCE VULNERABLE HIGHLIGHT CLIENTS
Where Should Your Deposit Marketing Efforts Be Focused In 2018? A preview of a Report on Deposit Marketing Trends to be presented by the noted research firm Raddon at the Fall New England Financial Marketing Association Conference.
W
orking in the banking industry it seems obvious that rates have been going up. That insight is not nearly so obvious to consumers and the absence of that perception needs to figure into your marketing. In a study conducted by Raddon, only 10% of consumers perceived that rates had already gone up. That’s a kick in the teeth to bankers who have been feeling the pain of increased cost of funds, but an important insight to marketers charged with finding deposits. Here’s the problem. The public is so far unimpressed by the magnitude of our rate offers. Raddon’s research shows that while customers will shift their dollars around accounts in your insti-
tution for a small increase, it takes 3% extra to make them pack up and move their dollars elsewhere. The story is a little better among high balance customers—they’ll change shops for 2.5%. Most promotions today don’t approach that level of change. That’s where the marketing rub lies. Even if you are successful in bringing in dollars to your latest CD campaign, there’s a good possibility that you’re just shifting current customer dollars around without making a big dent on new to bank money. What’s worse, in doing so, you may be producing increases in cost of funds that are significant to you without impressing the new customer.
22 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
So, pending larger changes in interest rates, what are we to do? Raddon suggests looking at the way you are positioning your marketing and sales promotions. Too often they see one size fits all advertising for savings products that ignores the target—financial institutions are defining themselves by rate alone. Baby Boomers and Millennials have very different uses for their savings and they need to be addressed that way. And while they aren’t a substitute for rates, special access features that enhance the flexibility of a savings product can help
FIs compete in a flat to low rate market. Here’s another reason to sharpen your savings messaging pencil. Those pesky online-only banks that have operated at the periphery for years now are starting to come center stage. Fully 21% of high balance customers currently use an online bank, while the percentage of high balance customers that would never consider an online bank is down to 51% - half the market. Every retail deposit manager needs to start putting heavier focus on the products, tactics and promotions of online competitors. ■
PROTECTING NEFMA CONFERENCE VULNERABLE HIGHLIGHT CLIENTS
The Key To Figuring Out YOUR
Marketing Channels
The oldest dilemma in marketing is “Which of my channels is working?” Yet with the rise of technology that question has only become more difficult to answer. Why?
W
hile the technology for tracking results has increased, the sheer number of promotional options has exploded, and so has the quantity of data a marketer must sort through to find the answer. What’s a marketer to do? For answers, the New England Financial Marketing Association turned to media expert Marilois Snowman of Boston’s Mediastruction, and JoEllen Zmolek-Nyquist from Veridian Credit Union in Waterloo, Iowa, an experienced practitioner in media cost attribution.
24 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
When approaching the riddle of media attribution— sorts of approaches can be expensive, however, so the comwhich channel works—Snowman relies on a series of dismunity bank marketer must use them strategically. tinct tools, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Zmolek-Nyquist put these sorts of approaches to the test In the world of digital advertising, at Veridian Credit Union on equity direct tracking of user behavior loan and auto loan campaigns. With using bits of identifying code can these methods Veridian was able to produce impressive connections determine that just 22% of product Veridian was able to between the “upper funnel” of digisales during the period could be didetermine that just 22% tal video, banners, and social media rectly attributed to the influence of promotions and the “lower funnel” media after filtering out the impact of product sales during of those who demonstrate initial inof external factors such as sales and the period could be terest, purchase behavior and ultilong-term brand awareness. mately, ROI. Further investigation allowed the directly attributed to the Yet this methodology is not withVeridian marketing team to profile influence of media after out limits. It cannot fully account the relationship between tonnage for the impact of offline activities and efficiency in competing media. filtering out the impact such as sales intervention, the inWhile certain media such as print fluence of non-digital advertising delivered a very low cost per increof external factors such and the impact of long-term brand mental sale, such channels simply as sales and long-term awareness. Failing to address such could not deliver the required tonexogenous factors can artificially nage of balances required to meet brand awareness. boost the efficiency of a single digicorporate objectives. Thus, a baltal effort. anced approach was required. A second approach uses statistiFinally, they took campaign recal tools such as regression modelsults and translated them to a lifeing and correlation to precisely account for the influence of time value impact of the campaign on the bottom line of the each distinct channel on patterns of sales response. Prodcredit union. In doing so, they determined that there was ucts offered by firms such as Neustar, Google, and Nielsen not a simple answer to the value of new media versus trapermit the marketer to measure the synergistic impact of ditional. Old fashioned broadcast TV delivered the greatest each additional channel and help root out the waste inherlifetime value, while social media, digital and search gave ent in broadly-targeted, multi-channel campaigns. These it a run for its money. ■
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 25
NEFMA CONFERENCE HIGHTLIGHT
Don’t Let Your Website Keep You Up At Night
26 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
T
here was a time not so long ago when a bank closed for the day. As every bank marketer knows, maintaining a bank website is now a 24-hour proposition. When customers bank at every hour of the day and feel empowered to express themselves as easily at 2 a.m. as 2 p.m., the doors never close. What’s more, while we as community bankers tend to identify ourselves by our people, it is a non-person, our website, which has become the defining element of our bank personality. The prospect seeking a “flavor” of our bank is not stopping by the nearest branch. Before they get in that car they are on the phone exploring your perceived sophistication, ease of use, products and personality. So how do we ensure website success? The New England Financial MarWhat good are brilliant keting Association asked web design experts Mitch Rosenbaum and campaigns if that experience Amy Paxson from Bank Dot, a leadis undermined every time ing digital solutions firm, and Tim Draper of Navigant Credit Union, a the prospect or customer current client of Bank Dot, to weigh in on the elements required for sucvisits your site? cess in financial websites. They offered some important do’s and don’ts. Their first tip for success? Have absolutely outstanding responsive design. A beautifully designed desktop experience is meaningless if it doesn’t flawlessly convert to an equally powerful mobile and tablet experience every time. That’s no easy challenge given the variety of shapes and formats out there, but it’s job one. When choosing a website developer, make sure to see their work in every environment used by your customers and understand the developer’s quality control protocol for testing by device. Tip two: Don’t settle for anything less than an absolutely easy-touse content management system including intuitive rate administration and promotional area control. Without these things the bank marketing manager will pay repeatedly in the form of slow response and challenges in meeting audit control needs that are absolutely essential given the focus of today’s regulators on the web and mobile environment. A third key area of focus should be brand consistency across online platforms. Your online brand expression is not just one expression of your brand, it is the most important brand statement you will make. After all, what good are brilliant campaigns if that experience is undermined every time the prospect or customer visits your site? The website should shine as a simple, elegant and effective expression of the key values of your institution. And that experience should be powerful in each online channel using the best attributes of that platform. ■
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 27
NEFMA CONFERENCE HIGHIGHT
How To
BUILD
A Great
BRAND ...
YOUR OWN!
A
s financial marketers we spend a lot of time thinking about brands. We fret about the cohesiveness of our corporate brand, our social media voice and our crisis management position. Yet there is one brand we sometimes overlook, a brand that needs to be nurtured and developed by every banking professional—our personal brand. A lot of statistics get thrown around about how today’s younger workers will experience more job shifts in their lifetime than their predecessors. While there is debate about that number, what is certain is that reinvention is a way of life, whether through internal corporate changes or changing firms. To prosper in such an environment demands a clear understanding of what you stand for and the message you are trying to deliver. In other words, your brand.
28 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
“Start with defining who you are and what you have to say that is powerful and uniquely you, that is, your unique selling proposition.” To address this topic, the New England Financial Marketing Association asked brand specialist and “Career Reinventionist” Joyce Sullivan to develop a set of principles that bankers may use to develop and promote their unique brand voice. The principles Sullivan applies will be familiar to any marketer, as they reflect the strategy process that goes into any well-conceived brand effort. It starts with defining who you are and what you have to say that is powerful and uniquely you, that is, your unique selling proposition. It continues with a thorough consideration of your target audience— who are you trying to reach? It concludes, as does every good marketing effort, with defining an action plan for after a connection is made. That is, how will the experience of the interaction line up with the promise of the “campaign” outreach and how will success be defined? For Sullivan, the means of approach has changed over time, as “social media is the new telephone,” yet the objective of personal brand outreach re-
mains unchanged—it is a personal one-to-one experience with a potential employer. That personal interaction is not the one-off interview of the past, however. It is a long-term series of interactions that allows an individual to define and develop their personal brand profile using a range of strategic tools. Sullivan stresses using personal networks and industry group connections to build a unique brand. This is achieved through three key principles, what Sullivan calls the “Three Be’s:” Be Visible, Be Listening and Be Generous. Of particular note is her philosophy of being generous with time and empathy. We all know that a small minority of the people do the majority of work in any volunteer setting. By giving unstintingly, without worrying about “when is it my turn?” the banking professional can build a powerful brand as a doer and force for change. While job opportunities may not be immediate, with patience, career opportunities are sure to follow. ■
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 29
A BANKING NEW ENGLAND FEATURE SPONSORED BY
MARKETING INSIGHTS FOR FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
SHELLEY REGIN COUNTRY BANK, WARE, MA
S
helley Regin, Vice President of Marketing at Country Bank, sat down with Banking New England recently to chat about the bank’s new marketing campaign and how has it changed the way Country Bank does business. Banking New England: What problems did your bank face concerning its marketing? Shelley Ragin: The brand wasn’t resonating. We needed to be different and recognizable. We found an agency out of Boston to help us. BNE: What did the agency find? Shelley: We needed to know, “who is Country Bank?” At the end of the day it was that we’re nice people, we always do the right thing and we are neighborly.
Some of the original examples of Country Bank’s marketing after the 2016 campaign.
BNE: How did that translate to your campaign? Shelley: All of our messages are in line with morals, investing in our community and caring about the people who are living their lives with us. We know they are customers and they’re our neighbors. We started a whole new headline marketing campaign to establish the brand. We started using barnboard in advertisements and later evolved that into photography. Last year we did a business banking campaign based on three local businesses. This year we shot a TV commercial that just aired which was all local places, local faces and our business customers within the community. We continue to evolve the brand. BNE: How has the community received the campaign? Shelley: Everyone likes the message of us being neighborly and polite. We are that neighborly partner to customers. The commercial is all about the customers and is very emotional. It’s been so well received out in the marketplace that our competitors have been commenting about how it’s a beautiful commercial. BNE: What advice do you have for other financial marketers? Shelley: You need to know who you are. You need to know what you represent and what your customers feel about that. Market studies and man on the street interviews help tell you what you’re doing really well or what needs improvement. You also need to continually look at the brand and can’t let it sit. Look at it every year and see how you can improve on it. Is there something we’re missing? How are the customers engaging? We’re most proud of finally finding a brand that we can put our arms around and live by. You look at the brand and know it’s Country Bank.
Regin and the team at Country Bank began to evolve the original marketing campaign to bring it to the next level.
30 BANKING NEW ENGLAND
Returning For Another Spectacular Year! PRESENTED BY
Friday
Oct
26
CAMBRIA HOTEL NEWPORT MIDDLETOWN, RI
It’s a new day for women leaders at banks, mortgage companies & credit unions. Come share this one-day conference where women take the lead on Friday, Oct. 26, 2018.
Maysoon Zayid
Susan Monti
Dr. Temple Grandin
I’VE GOT 99 PROBLEMS… PALSY IS JUST ONE Comedian, Actress, Disability Advocate & Tap Dancer The Most Watched TED Talk of 2014
CHARTING THE FUTURE: PERFORMANCE TRENDS FOR NEW ENGLAND BANKS & CREDIT UNIONS Managing Director, Ostrowski & Co.
THE WORLD NEEDS ALL KINDS OF MINDS Autistic expert on seeing the world differently Subject of Golden Globe-Winning Movie, Temple Grandin
PLUS … DON’T MISS OUR KEYNOTE ON “BANKING 2025”
Located at the Hotel Viking in Newport, R.I., see a stellar array of accomplished women leaders from throughout the region, as well as special keynote presenters. This is the only event specifically designed for all women in the banking, credit union and mortgage professions throughout New England, and you don't want to miss this amazing opportunity.
REGISTER NOW at www.nebankwomen.com
PRODUCED BY
BANKING NEW ENGLAND 31
®
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