For the grand opening of three new in-store branches, OnPoint Community Credit Union held a supermarket sweepstakes. One person at each location won a 3-minute free-for-all, grabbing everything they could fit into a shopping cart.

One of the three sweepstakes winners filled his cart with $2,359, the biggest haul of the day. OnPoint matched the total in grocery giveaways, $5,769, with a donation to a local food bank.

“On your mark…set…go!”

A mostly-meat strategy landed this guy $2,359 in free groceries.

The promo was the brainchild of the folks over at Weber Marketing Group.

Mazuma Credit Union in Kansas wants to know, “What Are You About?”

From September 1 through November 30, people are invited to submit a 25-second video answering the question “What Are You About?”

At a microsite the credit union created for the promo, the credit union says, “Tell us what you care about, but do it in your own way. Your essence, your style, your sense of originality. Infuse your video with these qualities and you can’t go wrong.”

Presumably, the design of the promotional website is an intentional deviation from the more conservative look of the credit union’s primary website, in order to appeal to a younger audience:

The main Mazuma website (shown left) and the “What Are You About” microsite (shown right).

The design of the microsite is nice, the interface is fairly intuitive, and the prizes aren’t shabby at all:

• Grand Prize - Premium A/V Studio Package Valued at $9000
  Mac Pro,  Canon MiniDV Camcorder, Samsung 24″ Monitor, condenser mic, Sennheiser headphones and studio speakers.
• First Runner Up - Prosumer A/V Studio Package Valued at $4000
  Apple 24″ iMac, JVC Camcorder, condenser mic, Sennheiser headphones and studio speakers.
• Second Runner Up - Basic A/V Studio Package Valued at $2000
  Apple 20″ iMac, Samsung Camcorder, condenser mic and Sennheiser headphones.
• All three prize winners may have their video aired on TV as an official Mazuma commercial.

In a press release, Rob Givens, President/Mazuma, said, “The site is meant to open up discussion within Kansas City. We want to get in touch with today’s younger people in our community, to hear their stories and see how we can help.”

Currently, there are 48 registered users and seven video entries.

The most-watched video, “Mashed Potatoes,” has been seen 445 times. It’s like clay-mation, only it’s “mashed-mation.” A talking pile of mashed potatoes says, “I’m all about my masher.” The video’s creator also bought the URL mashyourownpotatoes.com which redirects to Mazuma’s microsite.

“Mashed Potatoes” (0:29) has been viewed 445 times.
How would you react if you saw this spot on TV for a credit union in your area?

Not all the entries are quite so cheeky. Another video titled “Serve” is all about one person’s commitment to Jesus. It has been viewed 88 times.

Oddly, the videos are only available at the microsite and not on YouTube. Only Mr. Mashed Potatoes has uploaded his video there, where (at the time of this writing) it had only been viewed once.

A panel of Mazuma judges will determine the top 10 videos, which will be announced on the site on November 3, 2008. The 10 videos will then be featured on the site where registered users can vote for and determine the top three videos.

Tip: Requiring registration to vote for videos is a good way to prevent entrants from “gaming the system” and voting for their own videos over and over. This also presents additional marketing opportunities.

To be eligible for the video contest, the contestants have to maintain a valid residential address in the Kansas City metro area and be 14 years of age or older at the time of submission. Official contest rules can be found at the promotion’s website.

Mazuma Credit Union has over 51,300 members and around $350 million in assets.

Beyond Marketing assisted with the promotion.

Source: Callahan & Associates “Peer 2.0 Software” – June 30, 2008

Key Insights:

• The country’s largest credit unions spend, on average, the least per member, but they may also be gaining media efficiencies with their marketing budgets.
• A marketing budget of $350,000 is not enough to support and sustain a billion-dollar credit union. That represents only .035% of total assets.
• Similarly, a $150,000 marketing budget is inadequate for a $500 million credit union. That’s only .03% of total assets.
• A $40,000 marketing budget is dismally low for a $250 million credit union. That’s about .015% of assets.
• A marketing budget of $2.8 million seems excessive for a $500 million credit union, as does $1.2 million for a credit union with $250 million in assets. That’s around .05% of assets.

Key Questions:

• How can any credit union at any size have a marketing budget of $0?
• What is the average cost of marketing per new member?
• What is the average growth in assets per marketing dollar spent?

Bottom Line:

• The average marketing budget for most financial institutions (bank or credit union) at any asset size should be at least 0.1% of total assets. (Case in point: BofA, whose $2.0 billion marketing budget is almost exactly 0.1% of its $1.9 trillion in deposits.) Many factors affect this guideline — up or down — including, but not limited to, growth goals and media costs in specific markets.
• Now is not the time to cut your marketing budget (as tempting as that may sound to some among your senior management team). First of all, as market conditions get tougher, you need to ramp up your spending — just to stay where you’re at. Second, it’s easier to “cut through the clutter” when there’s less clutter.

Everyone’s hearing about how “money is tight” and we’re in the middle of a severe credit crunch. So if you’ve got money to lend, tell the world. It’s a much more effective way to reassure people that you’re safe and sound than simply saying “we’re safe and sound.”

It doesn’t matter if you’ve tightened your lending requirements. So what if you require a minimum 700 credit score now? People will think“You’ve got money to lend, so you’re okay.”

“I actually had people stop me on the street and say, ‘Great ad!’”
– Kevin Jones, President/MidFlorida FCU

MidFlorida FCU bought a full-page ad saying it is still lending money, it is financially sound, and doesn’t need a bailout. They say they’ve gotten more reaction to the ad than any other they’ve ever ran.

You can get tons of good, free press by simply calling the local news media (newspapers, radio, TV stations) and letting them know you’ve got money to lend. They’re eager to run some good, reassuring news:

• Coast banks: ‘We are lending’
• Regional banks say they have money to loan
• Credit unions ready to lend as banks tighten credit
• Credit union says, “We’re still lending!”

This worked back in July (when The Financial Brand first reported about it), and it’s a strategy that’s still working today.

You don’t even have to run an ad. Community Financial Credit Union put the message on their phone system: “Welcome to Community Financial, where we have millions to lend.”

SharePlus Bank in Plano, Texas just celebrated its 50th anniversary with a $50,000 promotion that netted 500 new customers and generated over $5 million in new deposits.

Note: The grand prize cost the bank an average of $100 per new customer.

The 1950s-themed promotion which ran during August, included a promotional direct mail piece with a unique prize code. Recipients were invited to play for the $50,000 prize at a special website, shareplus50thanniversary.com.

Both the website and the grand prize giveaway were hosted by SCA, a third-party promotional management company. One of the firm’s specialties is a turn-key “prize code” promotion that can be easily “re-skinned” with your brand.

SharePlus invited the community to visit their local branch and register for FREE gas cards and vacation packages.

The promotional campaign included direct mail, web ads, newspaper print ads, and in-branch activities. A decorating contest had team members outfitting their branches in a 1950s theme.

To launch its new cash-based rewards program, Zions Bank created an offbeat microsite, Cash Back Boulevard, built around a challenging online game.

Putting the total cash rewards on a live meter on the site is brilliant.
It adds credibility to the abstract and indirect concept of a rewards program.
As of this writing, the meter read $2.14 million.

The game is original and fairly complex as compared to other games developed by financial institutions. They give you a “shopping list” of items you’ve got to locate in a specified amount of time. You must find the items by exploring stores within a virtual world.

You can choose from 6 different characters (avatars). If you’re any good, you can beat all three levels. (Warning: You only get 40 seconds. And it’s hard.)

This is the screen you see when the game starts.
You click on the various stores around the virtual town and
look inside to find items on your “shopping list.”

Screen shots from inside the virtual stores.
When you spot an item on your “shopping list,” you click on it and move on.

It looks like those who finished the game were eligible for a lot of pretty good prizes, but there doesn’t seem to be any information available on that component of the promotion (perhaps because the promo has ended).

Reality Check: No matter how cool you think your online game is, most people won’t care. But when you give people actual prizes, you’re giving them a real reason to go to your microsite and play your online game. It also makes marketing the site (that, in turn, should be promoting your product or service) easier and more effective.

The game requires you enter a ZIP code to play, but Zions pre-populates the game with a valid ZIP code, so you don’t have to go Google a ZIP code in their service area just to play. It’s a little detail, but it shows how thorough they were with their UI and design.

Branding the rewards program with Zions’ own, unique name, Cash Back Boulevard, is smart. As a financial marketer, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by trying to differentiate with a rewards program that looks and sounds like everyone else’s: RewardsPlus, Choice Rewards, etc. Plus, using an original name makes it easier to find a URL you’ll like. In this case, www.cashbackboulevard.com works well.

Bottom Line
In ABA’s Bank Marketing magazine, Zions Bank claims the campaign generated the following results:

• 9,000 registrants*
• 248,000 contest entries*
• 70% increase in website logins
• 27% increase in new accounts
• 25% increase in existing card usage

* Presumably people who finished the game.

Here’s an example of how one credit union, Sharonview FCU, is utilizing all the good press credit unions have been getting lately.

They took snippets from articles shared here at The Financial Brand and created this simple – yet highly instructive – piece about the Five S story (safe, sound, secure, strong, stable) that credit unions have to tell.

Sharonview’s Business Development team has printed and PDF versions of the flyer.
The PDF is hyperlinked to the original stories.

Heck, why not email it to members too?

Sharonview also has a “safe and sound” PDF
linked off a banner ad on its homepage.

This creative idea comes to us from Prospera Credit Union in B.C., Canada. The credit union mailed out branded gel packs bearing the message, “Paying taxes is a big headache. That’s why we’re freezing them for 10 years. Introducing the Equity Share Offering from Prospera. Freeze and apply for immediate tax relief.”

Print materials explaining the investment opportunity along with a customized letter were sent in Mylar envelopes with each gel pack. The transparent Mylar envelopes allowed recipients to see the gel pack inside.

Prospera mailed nearly 4,500 packages to a pre-qualified list culled from the credit union’s 60,000 members. Each recipient received a follow-up phone call from Prospera.

Bottom Line: The total cost for the promotion was $42,475, with an ROI that bettered returns on two previous, more-conventional campaigns by 143%.

Tip of the Hat: Thanks to JP Jones for the find, and to Deliver Magazine for their article about it.

With economic upheaval on Wall Street, many Americans are looking for answers on a wide range of financial matters. O Bee Credit Union is telling people to “Get lost!” Literally. In a maze.

O Bee Credit Union has partnered with a local newspaper and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions to create one of the most original, most creative and most engaging financial-education promotions ever attempted.

The credit union’s name, “O BEE,” is the centerpiece of a massive, 6-acre maze made from corn. They call it “The Amazing Money Maze.”

The “Amazing Money Maze” from O Bee Credit Union. Look closely. There are two bridges.

There are two separate corn mazes, a 1.2-mile maze and a 1.8-mile maze. In each maze there are six checkpoints. As participants work their way through one of two mazes, they try to answer questions at different checkpoints about savings, budgeting, investing, debt, credit, identity theft, retirement, college, insurance, credit score, checking/debit and housing. Each checkpoint has a question for adults, teens and children.

After reviewing the questions and answers, participants get their checkpoint card punched to enter to win a weekly drawing for movie tickets, iPods, savings bonds, piggybanks, bags of shredded money, museum prizes, martial arts lessons, dance lessons and other stuff kids dig.

The maze is created by the hyper-imaginative folks at the Rutledge Corn Maze. In previous years, the farm’s mazes have been more conventional in their design, but still cool nonetheless.

Admission is $7. The maze is currently “haunted” for the Halloween season. Oooooh spooky!

This multi-way co-promotion is also a fund-raiser for programs that help promote financial education throughout the credit union’s communities.

If you want to see more, check out the website they’ve got set-up at amazingmoneymaze.com.

O Bee: One A Mazing Brand

An incredibly engaging financial education promo isn’t the only thing the O Bee brand has to be proud of. For instance, the “O Bee” name name is great.

For starters, it’s highly unusual, which not only helps the credit union get noticed and stand out, it allows them to have the ultra-simple web address obee.com. But the name makes sense too. You see, it’s the phonetic spelling of “O.B.,” short for “Olympia Brewing.” The credit union, the 99th ever started in the country, was originally founded in 1955 to serve the employees of Olympia Brewing.

The ‘O Bee’ name, logo and slogan all work together
to help create a rich and interesting brand story.

The credit union’s slogan, “Refreshingly Familiar,” is refreshingly unique for the financial industry. The slogan says the credit union is a comfortable place to do business, while simultaneously suggesting they have a personality and approach unlike “those other guys.”

For cutting through the clutter by carving their unique name into a cornfield, O Bee is getting a Breakthrough Brand Award from The Financial Brand.

A big, inflatable NFL jersey…that is.

BofA used an old standby — the stamina contest — in its promo for this year’s NFL kickoff. No fancy Web 2.0-style microsite. No online social media component. Nope. Their Now Prove It Challenge tested fans’ limits as they attempted to outlast one another by continuously touching a giant 20-foot inflatable team jersey. The last fan standing won a pair of tickets to every 2008 regular season home game of their favorite team.

The Now Prove It challenge took place in the hometowns of the Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots and Washington Redskins. All four teams are sponsored by BofA.

The contest in Washington, D.C., started at noon on a Wednesday and ended 19 hours later.

As the Official Bank of the NFL since 2007, Bank of America provides NFL-themed personal banking products nationwide, including credit cards with the logos of each of the 32 NFL teams.

Key Takeaway: This kind of promotion can be deployed by any sized financial institution anytime. The thing people keep their hands on doesn’t need to be a jersey (how about a Prius?). And you don’t have to give away season tickets (how about a Prius?).

A coalition of Indiana CUs have developed a new automatic savings product tied to auto loans called DriveUp Savings. With the account, you can contribute up to 10% of the amount of your loan payment to a savings account every time you pay your loan. (The amount you contribute is in addition to your loan payment, not deducted from it.) Your savings rate is equal to your loan rate.

Some people have complained that savings programs tied to loans is a band-aid solution to promoting thrift. Others have suggested that the only way you can get Americans to save is to make it automatic, and link it to spending behaviors.

Six Indiana credit unions are piloting the program:

• Members United FCU - July 2008
• Purdue Employees FCU - July 2008
• Three Rivers FCU - August 2008
• Kemba Federal Credit Union - Q4 2008 (ETA)
• Eli Lilly Federal Credit Union - Q4 2008 (ETA)
• VIA Credit Union - 2009 (ETA)

For other financial institutions considering the product, the coalition of credit unions beind DriveUp Savings offers a simple implementation plan and low-cost marketing materials. You can check it all you at their website:

If you want some more information, check out this brief presentation (PDF).

Apparently, uptake was 30% of all new auto loans for one of the pilot CUs. The participating credit unions also predict an increase in- and added stability to deposit portfolios.

Ten thousand people took Wells Fargo up on its latest promotion, Someday Stories. The promotion had people submit a 250-word story about how they’d use $100,000 to fulfill a dream. Five finalists have already won $10,000. One of them will win an additional $100,000:

• Danny from Provo, Utah wants to become a physical therapist
• Erin from Prescott Valley, Arizona wants to open a used bookstore
• Evelyn from Sharon, Massachusetts wants to help her daughter expand her magazine
• Mary from Rye, Colorado wants to help her mom open a hospice home
• Tiffany from Reno, Nevada wants to become a doctor

You can read each of the five finalists’ stories here.

Local news outlets covered the ceremony as each of these finalists were presented their $10,000 check from Wells Fargo — delivered by stagecoach, of course.

At the Someday Stories microsite, you can vote for your favorite person+cause, but registration is required. You can also invite a friend to vote, and there’s a link to the company’s Facebook page — two small features that, nonetheless, illustrate Wells Fargo online prowess.

Wells Fargo has a YouTube channel, including the video overview of the five finalists (also embedded in the microsite):

This is the second online contest Wells Fargo has done with its partners at Meme Labs. Last fall, the bank had a Center Stage in the Rose Parade video contest. Contestants were required to download a song provided by Wells Fargo, then sing along in their own homemade music video. People voted on their favorite videos, and the winning video aired during the 2008 Rose Bowl.

A bit surprisingly, Wells Fargo is comfortable having its custom URLs reroute to Meme Labs servers. In this latest promotion, wellsfargo.com/somedaystory redirects you to memelabs.com/somedaystories. It’s interesting, especially considering the bank can definitely afford its own servers.

Wells Fargo — that venerable financial institution that uses a 150-year old stagecoach for its logo — has become one of the world’s most savvy online marketers. As Visible Banking noted, Wells Fargo is the…

• First U.S. bank with a blog
• First bank with a student loan blog
• First bank with a business banking blog
• First bank in the world with a Second Life presence
• First bank on MySpace
• First bank with 2, 3, and 4 blogs
• First bank with an avatar persona on MySpace
• First bank with a VP Social Media

The funny thing is, you seldom hear about Wells Fargo’s online successes. For some strange reason, Wells Fargo isn’t often used as a shimmery example in presentations from Web 2.0 koolaid juicers. Maybe it’s because Wells Fargo does just about everything in-house, so there aren’t a dozen vendors trying to claim the fame? Maybe Wells Fargo has no real incentive to toot their own horn on the public speaking circuit? Or maybe this stuff works so well that they’d rather keep it to themselves? Who knows.

Key Question: When will an online social media campaign from Wells Fargo have a direct product-promotion tie-in? Or will they continue to use online social media primarily as a tool for goodwill and educational purposes?

You probably didn’t know this, but this week is National Customer Service Week. In honor of this über-obscure calendar event, Wachovia is throwing a Who Would You Thank promotion.

Here’s how it works. In 250 words or less, you tell Wachovia a unique and compelling story: who would you like to thank and why. If your entry is selected, Wachovia will “help bring your special thank you to life.”

What does that mean? Really, what can you win? Good question… Wachovia doesn’t make it easy to find out. In fact, you have to dig through their rules and regs to figure it out:

• Grand Prize – Wachovia will attempt to create a “thank you” for the individual that the entrant named in their entry, up to a $10,000 limit. (Note: It’s really tough buying gifts for people — especially people you don’t know.)
• 2nd Place Prize - Two winners will get a check for $5,000, ostensibly to create a gift for the person they want to thank.
• 3rd Place Prize – Three winners will each receive a check for $2,500, again, intended for their special someone.
• 4th Place Prize - Ten people get $1,000.

Total value of all prizes: $37,500.00.

Wachovia’s “panel of judges” will select the winners at the end of the month based on (1) uniqueness, (2) the good deeds of the person being thanked, and (3) the overall quality of the essay.

This promo is similar in structure to Wells Fargo’s Someday Stories.

Key Question: Why can’t people read the entries and vote on them?

The unbranded and totally ugly online entry form is hosted by third-party partner, Insight Express. If phishing scammers can make something look branded, anyone can.

Sidebar: If Wachovia entered its own contest, everyone knows who they would thank. Both Wells Fargo and Citi will be on their Christmas list for sure this year.

There’s much talk about Web 2.0 and social media in the financial space these days. Often, you get the impression that you’re failing if you don’t have a MySpace page, a Facebook account, a blog, a Twitter account, etc.

Reality Check:

• Most people don’t want to hang out at a website created by a bank or credit union. There are very, very few examples to the contrary.
• Financial institutions grossly underestimate the immense amounts of time, energy and money it takes to create even a semi-successful Web 2.0 presence.
• Web 2.0 is all about creating content and engagement. What can you offer (and to whom?) that isn’t already available somewhere else in a better, bigger, or more well-known online venue?
• Don’t listen to anyone who mandates a specific Web 2.0 tool for your financial institution. Web 2.0 tools are simply a means to an end. They are not the only way to reach Gen-Y. There are other ways to reach the same audience.

The Make/Buy Decision

Building your own Web 2.0 presence from scratch isn’t the only option. You can successfully “draft” off someone who already has an established online reputation.

For example, take KeyBank. They teamed up with Etch-a-Sketch sensation and YouTube celebrity George Vlosich. This viral, time-lapse video shows the Etch-A-Sketch portrait of NBA star Carmelo Anthony as it was being drawn.

More than a million viewers have seen the KeyBank video on sites across the internet. The campaign won top honors at this year’s ABA awards ceremony.

If KeyBank set out to produce its own viral video, what would they have made? And how many people would have watched it?

Here’s another example: Citibank’s recent sponsorship of the popular Aussie entertainment website, ninemsn.

And then there’s Forum Credit Union, based in Indianapolis, who sponsors the Colts Fan Forum, an interactive subsection of the official NFL Colts.com website. The forum boasts 1,673 topics with 42,147 comments from its 9,395 members.

The site says there are over 1,500 active members. There were over 150 registered users online at the time this article was written. That’s 150 opportunities in one day to expose users to a Forum Credit Union marketing message as each one signs in. Not to mention the opportunities presented as each new user signs-up.

Reality Check: The NFL’s Colts might be able to get 10,000 fans at a website to a talk about something they are deeply passionate about. If you build your own Web 2.0 presence, how many people do you think you can draw? You don’t have Peyton Manning, so what do you have to offer?

Tips & Advice

If you’re going to partner with an existing, established online success, here are some tips:

1. Think locally.
   Whether you’re a huge regional bank or a small town credit union, you want an online community that covers your geographic area and not much more. You want to minimize “waste” just like you would with any media. You don’t buy TV channels in markets you’re not in, so why would you do something similar online? Pick the right partner and you’ll make sure you’re reaching the right audience.
2. Negotiate an exclusive.
   If you can’t be the only marketer tied to the website, event, etc., at least ensure you’re the only financial institution.
3. Someone needs to own it.
   There are no easy solutions. You can’t just write a check and expect big results. To maximize your opportunities, someone needs to be answering questions, representing your financial institution and interacting with the online community you’re sponsoring. Your logo gets you halfway to first base. Your people, your presence and your participation are what make you a well-respected member of an online community.  (Note: It will probably require at least 20 hours a week.)
4. Be creative.
   In what ways can you participate? A special profile in the community? What freebies can you offer? Where does your logo go? Banner ads? Email marketing? Can you sponsor a special section of the community? What can you do offline? How can you promote your relationship with the community to a broader audience?
5. Understand your motives.
   If you’re looking to build business, you’ll have to make sure your partner gives you opportunities to do more than slap a logo in a few places. You might be creating tons of “engagement,” but if it doesn’t help drive new business with your organization, you seriously need to ask yourself: “Why are we doing this?” You could certainly partner with an online community for purely altruistic motives. If that’s the case, just be clear with everyone on your team that it’s a CSR initiative. People in your organization need to know what to expect. Otherwise, someone will throw it back in your face someday and your partnership will get the axe.

Bottom Line: Establishing a significant, respected and credible online presence by teaming-up with a website, forum, venue or personality that already has a community of followers can take a lot less time and energy than trying to create something from scratch. Of course it will cost more, but it’s about as close to a shortcut as you’ll find. And it still takes a lot of energy (read: “manpower”) to successfully support it.

This weekend at BarCampBank B.C., Gene Blishen, the CEO of Mount Lehman Credit Union, asked an excellent question:

How do you build relationships with people
who never come into a branch anymore?

Seriously, be honest: If you didn’t work in the financial services industry, how often would you step foot in a branch?

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So how do financial institutions build relationships with those who prefer avoiding branches as much as possible? The participants in the session offered a number of great ideas:

Pick up the phone

Many financial institutions use MCIF and other data to trigger automatic direct mail pieces, but Gene suggested that there is no perfect algorithm that can substitute for a human analysis of someone’s financial situation. Gene wondered would happen if you had someone who looked at a person’s financial relationship with the institution, including their last 20-30 transactions. What would you learn? He suggested you’d learn enough in just a few minutes to make it worth picking up the phone for a quick phone call.

Think about it. What impact would it have on you if your bank or credit union called you up and said, “We noticed your average daily balance has exceeded $5,000 for the last six months and we just wanted to let you know that you could be earning X.X% on your money. I could set this up for you today. The change in your account would be automatic and seamless. All your checks and debit cards would be unaffected. Best of all, it’s free. Would you like me to go ahead and take care of that for you?”

For most people, this kind of interaction would have a long-lasting impact on their feelings and loyalty to their financial institution. And it would also be a huge differentiator between you and your competitors. No one does this, probably because they think it’s too expensive to throw real, live human beings at a problem (ironic, considering the problem is one centered around personal relationships). But aided by technology (and maybe a good algorithm or two to get you started) this kind of program could definitely be profitable.

Write a note

Just like the telephone, here’s another World 1.0 technology that can help solve our Web 2.0 problems. It’s called a “pen” (you remember, those quaint writing instruments that preceded texting, IMs and email?).

The power of a handwritten note these days is phenomenal. When was the last time you got one? It may have been months ago, but you probably remember it. If you can’t remember, it’s a good indicator of how big a differentiator this could be for your financial institution.

Just because more people don’t have the time or don’t like going to a branch doesn’t mean they don’t appreciate personal attention. If someone signs-up for a new product through your non-branch channels, you should send them a hand-written thank-you note. In fact, it’s probably even more important to do this with these customers because you don’t have as many chances to showcase your personal touch. Embrace every opportunity to build those relationships with your remote audience. They are rare. Take advantage of them.

Pick the right new media tools

You might assume that people who don’t like going to branches are online omnivores — that they prefer… nay, that they crave all their interactions to occur through sites like Facebook or MySpace. But you’d be wrong. They may like to consolidate their personal relationships at online social media sites, but that does not mean they want to be friends with your financial institution. And blogs will only reach a small fraction of your total audience.

There are other new media tools your branchless patrons might use though. Those are going to be the ones that help them when they have questions, needs or problems. Wachovia’s use of Twitter is an excellent example. There’s also realtime online chat, available 24/7 from fulltime employees at Airforce FCU. If you’ve never seen it in action, go check it out.

Maximize your points of contact

There are only have a handful of ways you can communicate with your branchless users. So how can you best utilize those touchpoints to build relationships with them? What opportunities exist within your online banking experience, your statements and your email marketing? Do these exist merely to fulfill a functional purpose? Are you only using these channels to sell people more stuff? Or are you looking for ways to use these to create a deeper level of engagement and dialogue?

What do you think?

What are some of the ways financial marketers can deepen relationships with people who seldom — if ever — step foot in a branch?

Earlier this year, The Financial Brand reported on Citi’s record-setting $400 million sponsorship of the New York Mets stadium.

Now, not to be outdone, Bank of America is after an even bigger deal to sponsor the New York Yankees stadium. Any sponsorship of the highly-venerated New York Yankees stadium is expected to eclipse the Citi/Mets deal, worth $20 million a year for 20 years. That will likely place the B of A sponsorship at around half a billion dollars.

Such astronomical sponsorships are increasingly becoming the norm among financial institutions. Recently, Barclay’s also climbed into the stadium sponsorship stratosphere with its $400 million, 20-year deal for the New Jersey Nets stadium.

Key Fact: Citi and Barclay’s have lost billions of dollars in the last year. B of A, on the other hand, has continued posting positive net income into the billions over the last three consecutive quarters — arguably one of the toughest periods ever for financial institutions.

Even if you view such sponsorships as an unnecessary extravagance, at least B of A’s sponsorship of the Yankees would be on-brand for the bank. After years of floundering around with an implausible service promise, “Higher Standards,” Bank of America is now embracing its patriotic name and building a brand around all things American. Among the bank’s other sponsorships:

• The U.S. Olympic Team
• NASCAR
• Official sponsor of Major League Baseball
• MLB team sponsorships of the Yankees, Boston Red Sox and eight other teams
• Official sponsor of the National Football League
• NFL team sponsorships of the New England Patriots, Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers (including the Panthers’ stadium).

The Panthers don’t really fit B of A’s portfolio, but the bank is “buying love” in its own backyard, Charolette, North Carolina, where the bank is based.

Reality Check: These sponsorships aren’t just about the branding and marketing opportunities they create. There’s also the personal motivations of executives who want luxury boxes at America’s prestige sports venues. Often, the rationalization goes something like this: “We can use those skyboxes to close big, important deals.”

At least in B of A’s case, they are maximizing their sponsorships through affinity products and services, such as debit cards featuring people’s favorite sport’s icons.

United Community FCU just gave brand new 2009 Chevrolet HHRs to 17 employees. The cars, wrapped from bumper to bumper with credit union graphics, cost $380,000. To pay for the campaign, the credit union is slashing its marketing budget in half.

Each employee is required to drive their new car at least 10,000 miles a year for the next three years.

Key Question: How were employees picked? Which ones got cars? Which ones didn’t?

Employees are given incentives to win gas cards by providing contact information of prospective members who ask about the credit union.

After hearing about the free cars for employees. one potential member said she was planning to switch her account to the credit union from another institution because she wanted to “deal with someone who treats their employees so well.”

On the back of each car is a number that cell phone users can text to receive the credit union’s phone number and address. “We’ve had 13 messages since Thursday,” Pastirik said.

The credit union leased the cars for three years. Sixteen of the cars are white, and one is silver.

In an interview with CUNA News, Pastirik said United Community’s board was 100 percent behind the concept.

United Community’s CFO was the brainchild behind the credit union’s car giveaway, which goes to show you that marketing ideas don’t always come from just the marketing department.

United Community Federal, in Pittsburgh, PA, has 8,000 members and $36 million in assets.

On Thursday, September 4, an ad from Silver State Bank asked, “Why do so many of Nevada’s strongest businesses trust Silver State Bank?”

The answer? “Security” and “protection.”

The next day, the bank was seized by federal and state regulators.

Apparently people weren’t buying the bank’s “you can trust us” sales pitch. When you lose people’s trust, you lose their deposits. In the two months prior to the bank’s seizure, customers pulled $264 million of the $1.7 billion on deposit at Silver State.

“A run on deposits
is what kills banks.”
— Tim Coffey
VP/Research, FIG Partners

“A run on deposits is what kills banks,” said Tim Coffey, VP/Research for FIG Partners, in an interview in the Las Vegas Review Journal. “It happened that way in the Great Depression, and it’s happening again.”

Reality Check:

• People already don’t trust banks. Most financial institutions are seen as greedy and self-serving.
• Situations like this, where Silver State advertised blatant lies, don’t help financial institutions shake this image or build any credibility
• People’s B.S. detectors trigger alerts whenever they hear someone say “Trust Me.” Images of used-car salesmen go through their minds.

Key Takeaway: It takes more than just words to earn people’s trust. Reminding people that your financial institution is “safe, sound, secure and stable” is an important communications strategy these days. Just remember: Marketing can’t ever create a sense of trust. As with all our relationships, trust is something earned — usually over time.

When Currency Marketing started planning the rollout of TDECU’s Young & Free Texas campaign, the agency’s media team was looking for non-traditional options to reach the 19 to 25 crowd. That’s when they found GoMobile Advertising based in Kent Washington.

The two firms hatched the idea pitting Guitar Hero players against one another in a truck that’s one-part cage-fighting arena, one part human fishtank.

GoMobile, which owns the truck, needed only 10 days to build and wrap the truck with artwork once the concept was approved.

Currency’s Tim McAlpine says the Texas truck from GoMobile is an 8 week campaign. The deal includes production, media, parking licenses, gas and a “brand ambassador” who works events and drives the truck around.

The truck’s features include seven flat panel TVs, an eight speaker surround sound system which blasts a hip playlist, a Guitar Hero competition setup and wireless microphones. GoMobile calls it “a festival on wheels.”

(click to enlarge photos)

When on the road, the truck is a mobile billboard.

Such coolness doesn’t come cheap. When asked what
the GoMobile truck deal cost, Currency would only say
it was “tens of thousands.”

Because GoMobile owns the truck, the license plate is from Washington — unfortunate for a Texas-themed campaign.

The truck will be hitting hot spots in Houston until voting for the spokesperson is over in mid October.

Next week, another vehicle will become active in Alberta for the new Y&F Alberta spokester search.

Key Question: How seriously do you take your event marketing?

Key Takeaways: You need to be making “marketing events” to maximize your event marketing opportunities. Free pens and water bottles don’t cut it. While you don’t need something as expensive as a custom truck, what you do need is an idea of a similar magnitude. “Cutting through the clutter” is just as tough in real life as it is in advertising.

Fifth Third’s “Unlock Your Dreams” campaign, which started yesterday, centers on a scratchcard and a $250,000 sweepstakes. Anyone can enter by stopping at a branch to pick up their game piece, or you also can request game pieces by mail (as is legally required, but who does that?).

In addition to the $250,000 grand prize, the bank is giving away 22 first prizes of $10,000 — one in each of the bank’s regions.

The scratch-off the game pieces reveal one of the following “instant prizes,” most of them contingent on acquiring a new Fifth Third product:

+ One of 42,500 MasterCard gift cards worth $10
+ $50 in a new “Goal Setter” savings account
+ $50 off loan closing costs
+ $50 off mortgage loan app fee
+ 5,000 Bonus Rewards Points with a new Visa credit card
+ 5,300 Bonus Rewards Points with a new home equity line

The value of the campaign’s prizes, including cash and discounts, totals $895,000.

The scratchcards also include a special “code.” To win either of the cash prizes, you have to go to a special microsite for the campaign at www.53unlockyourdreams.com and type in your “code.” But that’s not all you have to type in.

In order to complete your entry at the microsite, you have to give up a lot of personal information — including your name, email, phone number, mailing address and DOB — so the campaign will definitely be a success from an MCIF perspective. Entrants even tell the bank what kind of financial products they might be interested in by checking a lifestyle option like “getting married” or “retiring.”

The magic of the “code”

From a marketing perspective, the “code” is just a ruse to make the scratchcard more exciting. It gives people the impression that their “code” may “be the one” and they “may already be a winner,” giving them more incentive to visit the microsite and surrender their MCIF profile. In reality, the cash prizes will be given away in a conventional drawing, so the “code’s” only real purpose is to validate entries, thereby preventing contestaholics from repeatedly entering. (Fifth Third is limiting the number of entries each person can have at 20.)

Key Takeaway: Scratchcards tickle people’s gambling nerve center — a juicy marketing tactic.

Bottom Line: This well thought-out and fairly straightforward promo should yield an immediate return in the form of new accounts and new relationships. If they maximize their MCIF opportunities, there should be additional ROI streaming in for months to come.

The contest complements Fifth Third’s slogan, “The things we do for dreams,” which the bank launched back in February.

“This year, our ads have touched on dreams of all shapes and sizes, and have celebrated the steps and sacrifices individuals make today to realize their dreams for tomorrow,” said Terry Zink, EVP/Retail for Fifth Third in a press release.

With $115 billion in assets and 1,300 branch locations, Fifth Third is one of the top 20 banks in the U.S. based on assets.

Last week, Bank of America launched Morris on Campus,™ Life According to an Upperclassman™. According to the bank, the promotion is designed to “educate and empower students to take control of their finances and bank with confidence in this new academic year.”

Unlike other Gen-Y online promotions, “Morris” is not the product of a “spokester contest,” but is instead a 23-year old actor from Teaneck, New Jersey, the bank hired for the promotion. You can view his MySpace profile here, where he goes by the pseudonym “Lo Profile.”

The campaign includes a microsite embedded within the B of A mastersite. The microsite includes a series of 7-8 video webisodes, some tips, tools and a glossary. Here are the highlights:

College Tips

13 financial tips (although #2 and #13 are the same)
7 dorm room tips (although #1 and #7 are the same)
9 food tips
7 class tips
5 random tips
======================================

“Be Money on Campus” Contest

There’s a contest to submit your own tips too, but you have to be 18-25 years of age and going to college. Five finalists will be selected by B of A late next month. Each finalist will receive $5,000, then compete for an additional $25,000.

The finalists will have 14 days to use social media tools — including video, PowerPoint, third-party endorsements and a mandatory essay of 500 words (or less) — to argue why their tip is the most helpful and relevant their peers.
======================================

Student Financial Handbook

A 65-page guide to basic financial services. Chapters include budgeting, checking, savings, investing, online banking, bank fees, credit cards, identity theft, a quiz and a glossary that’s 10 times better than the one at the On Campus website.
======================================

Student Package

Includes CampusEdge Checking, with a check card, online banking and a Stuff Happens card that gives you a one-time bank fee refund, no matter what.
======================================

B of A will also be taking its On Campus promotion on tour, with stops at colleges and universities across the country in coming weeks.

This is at least the third high-profile social media initiative from Bank of America this year. In April, B of A launched an online competition to support its Olympics’ sponsorship called America’s Cheer. And in June, B of A introduced Mo Rocca on Banking. (Note: there are blimps in both the Mo Rocca promotion and the Morris campaign. What’s up with that?)

You can read B of A’s press release about Morris on Campus here.

WSECU is taking the fight to banks in a small but brave online initiative targeting college students called “What the B.” The campaign includes a microsite, blog and visits at college campus events.

The campaign’s central creative hook centers on a playful-yet-derogatory portrayal of banks. For starters, the credit union has shortened the word “B-A-N-K-S” down to “B—S.” Ouch.

WSECU substitutes a bleep everywhere the word “bank” occurs in the campaign’s copy and videos. You’ll get the idea after you watch this YouTube video:

In addition to Nicole’s testimonial, there are three other videos to help kickoff the campaign, including