The problem with most charitable gift cards is that the “donation on your behalf” usually goes to a cause important to the giver, not the receiver. But with ATBcares.com, it’s up to the recipient to choose which charity they want to support from among a list of 84,000 different organizations. The recipient of the gift card finds a cause important to them, then makes their donation by redeeming their gift card. Now that’s the right way to do it.

Buyers of ATB gift cards can choose from 10 different stock designs, or they can upload their own custom image — no charge.

The entire gift card process is very straightforward, and you don’t need to be an ATB customer to make it work. Everyone in the U.S. or Canada can purchase ATB charity gift cards, and then give them to anyone who has an email address anywhere in the world.

Buyers can purchase gift cards using either their Visa and Mastercard. The Financial Brand was not able to determine whether ATB has integrated its online banking platform with the ATB Cares service.

Once the gift card is purchased, the buyer gets an instant receipt for their tax records, while at the same time, ATB automatically emails the gift card off to the recipient.

Websites like ATB Cares signal a new era in corporate giving — one where the public controls how donations are allocated, not a handful of corporate officers behind closed doors. Many financial institutions now crowdsource input on which charitable causes they should support. Chase has been running its Community Giving contest on Facebook since 2009. And AmEx has its Members Project. But what makes ATB’s initiative unique is how it works: gift card buyers give up potentially valuable MCIF data, while gift card recipients are exposed to the ATB brand. You could almost think of this as a refer-a-friend program.

Key Question: Will those buying gift cards who aren’t already ATB customers receive marketing messages encouraging them to switch? Is there any reason ATB shouldn’t do this?

To build the ATB Cares website, ATB partnered with Benevity, an agency specializing in online corporate giving campaigns. Benevity says ATB is the first financial institution in North America to introduce a charity gift card where recipients choose which causes receive money.

“ATB wants to move toward a mode of corporate philanthropy that involves their clients and community at large in citizen philanthropy,” explained Bryan de Lottinville, President and Chief Executive Officer.
.
Indeed ATB is no slouch when it comes to corporate giving. Last year, ATB contributed almost 19,000 volunteer staff hours, $4.9 million in sponsorships, $1.19 million in donations, and $1.1 million in corporate fundraising for Alberta causes.

Banks have always been big on corporate philanthropy, but after the financial crisis in 2008, they found themselves subject to scrutiny, with greater expectations to give back and be socially responsible.

“Banks have an amazing opportunity to make a unique social impact based on sheer numbers and trust,” de Lottinville said.

“The challenge is, it’s hard for financial institutions to give back in ways that truly involve their clients and communities,” de Lottinville continued. “But most banks don’t get too far beyond charities like the United Way and the Red Cross.”

If someone just wants to make a straight donation, they don’t have to buy a gift card. They can simply visit the ATB Cares website, pick their charity and hit the “checkout” button.

All online donations are collected by ATB, then transmitted from ATB to the Canadian Online Giving Foundation who distributes funds to over 84,000 registered charities. The COGF, itself a registered charity, serves as escrow ensuring every penny a contributor donates makes it to the causes they selected. If there are any administrative fees associated with a donation, ATB promises to pick up the bill.

ATB says it will match 10% of all donations made to Alberta based charities up to a maximum of $1,000. The exception is religious organizations, however exemptions are made for those representing nondenominational community- and social services. In aggregate, ATB will contribute up to $100,000 in matching funds against the total donations made to Alberta causes through the ATB Cares site.

The bank intends to launch a variety of different donation-matching programs throughout the year. Presumably some of these promotions will be focused exclusively on specific charities selected by ATB.

Presently, ATB has a dedicated Facebook page established specifically for the ATB Cares initiative. Although ATB is active on Twitter with multiple accounts, the bank has been almost silent about ATB Cares in its tweets. Nothing really at ATB’s main corporate Facebook page either. But it’s refreshing to see a financial institution finally resisting the urge to drown every single promotion it runs in thick layers of unnecessary social media sauce.

Nice job, all the way around.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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“In contrast to the cluttered, link-heavy homepage commonly found on banking sites, the new Citi website offers clean pages and simplified menus to make it easier for clients to find exactly what they need,” said Tracey Weber, Citi’s Head of Internet and Mobile for North America Consumer Banking.

In a rather unusual move for the banking industry, Citi teased customers with a sneak peek at the website’s planned changes a few months prior to relaunching citibank.com.

NEW CITIBANK.COM WEBSITE
This conceptual layout Citi leaked back in September looks almost identical to the new version.

OLD CITIBANK.COM WEBSITE
Citi called cluttered layouts like this one “link farms.”

NEW CITI.COM – OVERVIEW SITE
The bank created this fancy subsite to put a glossy spin on the updates.

NEW CITI.COM – VIDEO TOUR
A one-minute video overview of Citi’s new website.

The new site allows users to complete their most frequent financial tasks right from the homepage. With just a click or two, customers can hit their dashboard and view a snapshot of recent transactions from essentially any of their bank or credit card accounts — even those from other financial institutions. The addition of a “Quick Tasks” menu allows users to perform common account management functions, such as paying bills, downloading recent statements, transferring funds and viewing rewards balances, all without leaving the home screen.

Citi completely rewrote all product and services information on the new site, replacing technical, industry-specific terminology with a more relaxed and consumer-friendly tone. Citi describes it as a deliberate transition from an “informational voice” to a “conversational and more human voice,” one designed to put clients at ease.

Citi didn’t just remodel its public-facing website. They also totally revamped their online banking system. Citi has added new personal finance tools, with the budgeting/goal-setting tools and customizable charts typically found on Mint.com-style solutions. Powered by Yodlee, Citi’s PFM platform allows users to analyze multiple accounts, including those from over 10,000 third-party retailers, including utilities and even other financial institutions.

CITI’S NEW ONLINE BANKING SYSTEM

CITI’S NEW PFM PLATFORM

The ability to link to external accounts is a big deal. Previous proprietary PFM tools from big banks shut the door on other financial institutions, preventing users from importing data from any third-party bank brand — a move that was invariably booed by consumers.

For a few days following Citi’s website update, users at Mint.com were unable to link their Citi accounts, causing many to speculate that Citi was cutting off Mint’s access now that the megabank had its own PFM tool. However, peace was restored — along with the Mint-to-Citi connection — by October 3.

On the new website, Citi has also added links to the three social media platforms the bank is active on: Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

“The folks in charge of Citibank’s website are sure brave,” wrote Jim Bruene on his Netbanker blog. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this dramatic of a change overnight in a major banking website.”

Celent analyst Jacob Jegher was more modest in his review. “No doubt it’s a step in the right direction,” he wrote.

Not everyone will see the new website immediately. The bank will roll out the update gradually, starting with customers in randomly selected groups.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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If you like the examples showcased below, you may also want to check out the websites for Kiwibank, Goldman Sachs, Banque Heritage and Zurich. And thanks to comments from readers, also take a look at Standard Chartered, Mango and New Resource.

South Valley Bank – Stunning Scenics

The star of this website is a huge, gorgeous scenic photo from around the rural Oregon area where the bank is based. Every time you refresh the website or visit a new page, one of 5-6 stunning images rotates in the background. Visitors’ attention is force-focused on one of three small banner ads cycling against this scenic backdrop.

Unfortunately, there’s no online banking login on the homepage. Online banking customers are routed to a much less impressive page.

Navigation is handled by a rather large number of tabs (16 in total) resting atop the photos, but the design seems to work. South Valley tucked a link to its Facebook page in the upper right corner. There are seven links with nitty gritty at the bottom of the page. Visit website.

Johnson Bank – Understated Upscale Elegance

Using overexposed photos and varying layers of translucency, this bank achieves a visually appetizing aesthetic appropriate to its upscale audience. Background photos change as you move within the site. Four large, horizontal banner ads deliver dynamic content on the homepage, with three blocks of newsworthy items below. Twitter and Facebook links are incorporated into the site’s footer block. Visit website.

Salem Five – Dashboard with Beautiful Local Backdrops

Site visitors can choose from one of 19 different background images, each a lush visual image celebrating a uniquely New England lifestyle. The bank eschews traditional “boxed” banner ads on the homepage for a series of four simple text ads superimposed over the backdrop. It creates an overall calming effect.

The copy uses New England vernacular: “Wicked good rate and easy access with a Star Home Equity Line.” And with a wry, understated tone, the bank says, “Ask us about Star Checking. Please. We can’t contain ourselves.”

There is a complex dashboard with rates, contact options and an online banking login. There are links to Twitter and Facebook accounts.

Nearly every page on the site can be accessed with one click from the homepage, thanks to four primary drop-down menus each with an exhaustive list of links. Interior pages are more traditional, and skip the beautiful background images. Visit website.

Bankwest – Happy Banking Website

This financial institution in Western Australia has positioned itself as the home of “Happy Banking” for many years. The bank has a team of five stuffed spokescharacters, including a squirrel, sunflower, sun, teddy bear and dog. Now they’ve got a new style of website to match their quirky personality (although the white, omnipresent sidebar is a bit distracting).

One of the site’s main features — besides the giant photo — is the interactive search tool. Much like Google’s real-time search results, Bankwest’s search tool displays suggestions before you hit “enter” on your keyboard. Visit website.

ASB – Yellow

ASB differentiates its online experience with minimalist simplicity and heavy doses of the bank’s signature brand yellow. What makes this website unique is that the online banking login area — something usually relegated off in a corner somewhere — has become the design’s hero. ASB recognizes that the people who visit its website most often are online banking customers. “Hello.”

There are only 14 links in the primary yellow area on the website, including five main tabs, four banner ads and five other miscellaneous links. All the messy navigation (essentially a site map) is buried below the fold. The bank lists its Twitter and Facebook accounts on the homepage and under its contact options. Despite the bank’s conversational tone, live online chat in not publicly available. Visit website.

Lake City Bank

This site went live in 2009. it combines cutting-edge HTML and CSS design techniques, the latest advances in 3D Flash technology and a bandwidth-saving, JavaScript-based navigation system. The site is properly formatted for different situations, including a printable version as well as a handheld version. Both alternate versions of the site work from the primary URL. Visit website.

Darden Employees FCU – Simple Blocks

Darden Employees FCU only has $11 million in assets and 1,800 members, but its website looks more sophisticated than many credit unions 50 times their size. The site’s architecture is structured into simple, colorful blocks and large, photo-driven banner ads. Product-level navigation is placed lower on the page, below the visual content. Twitter and Facebook links are tucked into the upper right corner. Visit website.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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These days, newsmakers work in a 24/7 world, and it takes a lot more than a dry press release to maximize media coverage. You need a fully functioning online newsroom. With an online newsroom (also referred to as virtual pressrooms or media centers), you can deliver the information editors, journalists and writers need even when your PR team isn’t available.

In the course of any given day, The Financial Brand looks at dozens of online newsrooms from banks and credit unions. What works and what doesn’t?

1. Vital Statistics

It’s surprising how few financial institutions incorporate their basic facts, background information, history and milestones into their online press centers. You should consider including asset size, number of customers, number of branches, number of employees and geographic areas served (e.g., which cities, counties, states). At some point in nearly every article every article written about you, a journalist will want at least one of those pieces of information. Publishing this data in your newsroom means one less email or phone call your PR team will have to return.

You might also consider publishing stats that touch on today’s economic hot buttons: number of loans funded, loan volume, small business loans, etc.

FIRSTDIRECT – SOCIAL MEDIA NEWSROOM

This UK online bank has one of the most innovative and robust online media centers in the financial industry. In its “Key Facts & Figures” section, First Direct includes datapoints like 1.16 million customers, 3,200 employees and 2.6 million monthly text messages.

2. Multimedia/Image Library

Editors love images. Give them anything they can use to visually enhance their stories, and you increase your chances of getting more coverage. You should organize an image library into groups, with possible sections for:

• Logos – Provide several versions of your financial institution’s logo in high, medium and low resolution formats. You may also want to include logos for any special products or programs you’ve branded.
• Photos – Branches, people, events
• Video – Any interviews, TV segments, soundbites and b-roll (if you have it)
• Marketing – Showcase ads you’ve run in print and on television
• Presentations – Webinars, podcasts and speeches
• Everything Else – Miscellaneous stuff like charts and graphs

Financial institutions savvy in social media increasingly upload their videos to YouTube, as this platform is compatible with the majority of news sites. It’s easy for editors to paste a YouTube URL into their articles when they want to incorporate video.

When you send out press releases, make sure you give journalists hotlinks where they can find relevant artwork, visuals or support files.

STANDARD CHARTERED – PHOTOS

Photos are broken down by branches, logos and advertisements, sponsorships and events, and the board of directors.

COMMONWEALTH BANK – MEDIA GALLERY

Comprised entirely of video, this media gallery is organized into sections with television ads, community support videos, brand/philosophy and a collection of tips and commentary.

3. Bios for Key Staff

List names, titles and photos of key management, perhaps with email addresses. Consider creating more detailed bios for the top brass. It also helps to provide links to any speeches they may have given, awards won or articles in which they have been featured.

MASTERCARD – KEY PEOPLE
Bios and photos are available for all eight members of Mastercard’s executive committee.

MASTERCARD – BIO

Each bio summarizes the person’s career and accomplishments, and showcases a position paper they’ve recently written for the Mastercard “Heart of Commerce” blog.

4. Showcase Your Online Initiatives

The press is always looking for examples of financial institutions using social media, and they are often some of the most engaged followers. Make is easy for journalists to find you on social networks by providing links to your corporate Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube accounts, along with any microsites and other online marketing initiatives.

MASTERCARD – SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS
You can find Mastercard on YouTube and Twitter. Mastercard lists the five PR people that staff its Twitter team.

5. RSS Feeds

Modern journalists are web-savvy and want their information in real time. Providing an RSS feed gives them the ability to receive your press releases as they are published. (If you don’t personally use RSS feeds yet, ask someone who does to show you how. It’s really easy, and will make your life better.)

If you bang out a large volume of press releases like those big boys in banking, you may want to consider offering more than one RSS feed, each with its own unique stream of information.

BANK OF AMERICA – RSS FEEDS

BofA has 25 different RSS feeds, one for everything from consumer banking and awards to divisions like Merrill Lynch and Countrywide.

6. Sign Me Up!

Some journalists prefer to receive press releases in their inbox, so give people the option to sign up for email updates. Having an opt-in subscription form is an excellent way for your PR group to expand its database of press contacts.

BNP PARIBAS – RECEIVE OUR NEWS
A simple form lets people signup to receive press releases via email.

7. Pour a Spotlight on Your Good Citizenship

Use your online media center to draw attention to your charitable activities, community giving, sponsorships, awards and other good deeds. It seems the media is always out to fry banks in the news, so sharing the more benevolent aspects of your organization may temper a journalist’s slant.

Community banks and credit unions should definitely use their online newsrooms to celebrate the ways in which they are involved locally.

BARCLAYS – SUSTAINABILITY

To counterbalance its big bank image, Barclays carefully created a massive section about its ethical business practices. Included are sections on responsible finance, citizenship and community investment.

8. Contact Information

Make sure you have at least one designated press person available to handle media inquiries, and let reporters know what to do to arrange an interview or whom to contact for a quote. Provide the name, personal email and direct phone number for your primary media people. It’s okay to have a generic PR email address (mediarelations@yoursite.com), just don’t use that address for your PR staff.

If your media relations people are on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, you may want to include that contact information as well, since most journalists these days are heavily wired and socially networked. You can facilitate press coverage by communicating with journalists in their preferred channel.

When a journalist emails or calls, you should be able to respond within 24 hours or less.

TD – MEDIA RELATIONS CONTACTS

There are names, direct phone numbers and personal email addresses for 18 different PR people at TD. A journalist with a deadline has confidence they will reach a real person within 24 hours.

9. Structured & Organized Press Releases

Many financial institutions have press releases on their websites, but there is much room for improvement. On the main newsroom page, you should list your most recent 3-7 press releases, followed by a link to the complete archive. For each release, provide a headline, summary and publish date. You may choose to feature a couple press releases with big headlines and photos, almost like they might appear on a real news site.

Allow people to sort press releases by date, or browse by topic/keyword. Make sure you include a Search function, and separate results from within the press room from those that are on the rest of the site.

Unless you have a very good reason, never delete a press release from your archive.

Don’t post only PDFs of your press releases. PDFs can be very annoying, especially for those who aren’t quite sure what they are looking for. All press releases should be published as straight text, each on its own page with its own, unique URL. You can provide a PDF download as well, just make sure editors can read your full releases online.

STANDARD CHARTERED – PRESS RELEASES

Press releases are presented in reverse-chronological order. Local press releases are available for each region the bank serves. The archive is organized by year.

10. In The News

Journalists want to see how other reporters have covered your financial institution in the past. Your online newsroom should include a list of 3-5 recent media stories about your organization in reverse-chronological order, along with a link to a more exhaustive library.

This press coverage page can include mainstream news stories, trade press, whitepapers and articles written by your employees. Just don’t go crazy and list everyone who republishes your unedited press releases. For each news item, try to limit yourself to one or two stories from the biggest, most reputable media outlets that covered the story.

11. Update Often

There are two reasons you need to update your online newsroom frequently. First, it’s a good habit to get into, as the more PR information you generate, the more press you’ll pick up. Second, journalists want to feel like they are covering a vibrant, thriving organization. Their job is to report on what’s new, exciting and interesting, so don’t make yourself look like an old, stuffy, boring bank where nothing ever happens.

12. Easy Architecture

If you build an online press room, make it easy for journalists and reporters to find. Don’t bury a newsroom link at the bottom of a site map. Put a link to your “Online Press Room” as a section underneath your “About Us” tab, and/or add it to your footer as a text link.

Some publicly traded banks think it makes sense to tuck an online press room into the “Investor Relations” section. While it may make sense to the bank (on their org chart, the same employees who handle investor relations may also deal with the press) but this is very confusing to everyone else, especially journalists who don’t consider themselves “investors” in any way.

A small number of large financial institutions create standalone websites for their online media centers. Their PR teams may like it because they get autonomy and control over their own virtual domain; they don’t have to hit IT up every time the site needs updating, as PR sites do. But a microsite ends up fracturing the experience between two sites, making it more difficult for people in your online press room to explore your products, services and other sections of your website. Furthermore, you’ll yield more SEO value by having such a wealth of financial news and information hosted within your primary site.

Analysis & Conclusion

Public relations used to involve big, bulky press kits loaded with materials that were both expensive to design and costly to produce. Not anymore. The digital landscape makes the distribution and management of public relations items much easier, putting nearly the same level of PR power big banks have into the hands of much smaller financial institutions.

You should save those fancy printed press releases for the big events, and shuffle the bulk of your public relations energy online. The next time your website is slated for a major overhaul, make sure to plan for the addition of an online newsroom.

You can start modestly today, right now, with the essentials. For instance, you might not have any photos or video for a little while, but you can at least create the basic foundation — facts, bios, contacts — knowing what you ultimately want your virtual media center to look like.

Other examples of online newsrooms to evaluate from non-financial companies:

• Exxon Mobil
• Weather Channel
• Microsoft
• Verizon
• Gateway
• Walmart

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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• Clear connection to marketing goals and/or brand strategy
• Likelihood that consumers will visit
• Cross-promotional opportunities
• Relevancy, quality and depth of content
• Functionality, information architecture and interface
• Creativity, design and visual aesthetics
• Linkage to the brand’s look-and-feel and/or application of visual identity standards

Merchants Bank – Vermont Matters

URL: VermontMatters.com

Description: This microsite links the Merchant’s brand with the local communities the bank serves in two ways.

First, there are 14 testimonial stories from retail customers, business clients and community organizations the bank has helped. Each story has a two-minute video overview, plus two other background videos: raw footage with interviews and “lessons learned.” You can also “meet” the Merchants team member who handles the relationship.

Second, there is a reoccurring contest, “What Matters to You?” that allocates money to a worthy cause based on an online public vote.

Pros: The stories are relevant and engaging. The URL isn’t just a clever domain name, it is the bank’s tagline. The videos are excellent, and professionally produced. Each story has depth, and has real potential to engross Vermonters. The entire campaign has an attractive and creative design that aligns with Merchants’ overall brand identity. The bank cross-promotes the “Vermont Matters” initiative on its main website homepage.

Cons: It a long time to pre-load the site because it’s built entirely in Flash.

Bottom Line: Great stories about how the bank has made a real difference for real people in Vermont. Add in the charitable giveaways and community organizations, and it’s a giant warm fuzzy for the brand.
4.1 out of 5 stars

TD – Get Saving

URL: TDGetSaving.com

Description: A young woman named Erica walks people through savings and investment concepts in a series of seven videos. There are additional pages with Savings Tips, a Savings Planner, a Simply Save Calculator, an RSP Savings Calculator, a TFSA Savings Calculator and FAQs for RSPs & TFSAs.

Pros: Videos make financial education more interesting. There is a branch locator and “Talk to Us Now” button to facilitate next steps. The site is also available in French for TD’s French Canadian customers. The site clearly reflects TD’s green brand identity.

Cons: The microsite makes numerous mentions of products like RSPs and tax-free savings accounts, but there are no links to the corresponding pages on the main TD website where much more information is available. The only link back to the TD website points at the generic homepage. The Savings Planner concludes that you need tax-free investments no matter what, which is silly. There are only six Savings Tips, and they are all predictable clichés.

Bottom Line: It’s a little flat. The educational material has depth, but the microsite and Erica do not.
2.2 out of 5 stars

Beehive FCU – Beehive Bug

URL: BeehiveBug.com

Description: A 1972 Volkswagen Beetle stretch limo with the slogan “Catch the Beehive Bug” became the centerpiece of a new campaign celebrating the credit union’s 50th anniversary. The credit union uses the limo to giveaway prizes around town, including free use of the limo itself. The microsite provides links to connect with the Beehive Bug on Twitter (19 followers), Facebook (218 fans) or YouTube (13 videos viewed 776 times).

Pros: You gotta love anyone with the brass to use a stretched retro VW Bug, especially when their name is “Beehive.” It’s fun and creates “buzz” (get it?).

Cons: There isn’t really any reason to visit. The site is somewhere between a placeholder, a social media portal and an afterthought to an otherwise excellent campaign. This interactive press release telling the story of the Beehive Bug is more interesting.

Bottom Line: The limo is cooler — and more useful — than the microsite.
1.75 out of 5 stars

SAFE Federal Credit Union – Unlike A Bank

URL: UnlikeABank.com

Description: The microsite is SAFE’s ambitious first foray in social media. The site warehouses seven TV commercials, a handful of articles in its quasi-blog, a couple of photos and a section for contests. The site incorporates an option for sharing content on Facebook.

Pros: The double entendre in “Unlike a Bank” is superb. There is a product offer for SAFE credit cards. There’s an opt-in email form for the credit union’s newsletter.

Cons: There is a lot of wasted space on a large homepage graphic. A group photo of kids (HeaderImageRight.png) takes a long time to load because its file size almost exceeds 500K when it could be under 38K. There is no connection back to the SAFE brand, not even a logo. There is no RSS feed for the blog, nor a lot of content. You can’t comment on “blog” articles. The “Contests” section of the site is currently empty.

Bottom Line: Probably too ambitious for a financial institution that only wants to dip its pinky toe in social media’s waters.
1 out of 5 stars

Columbia Credit Union – The Better Move

URL: TheBetterMove.com

Description: Columbia created a microsite supporting its advertising slogan, “The Better Move.” It’s part of a three-pronged “move your money” campaign. The credit union is offering $250 cash with checking accounts, $500 on mortgages and $250 on other loans. There are links to Columbia’s business banking page, its Twitter account and a few upcoming community events. There’s also a link to the credit union’s YouTube channel where you can watch three women gripe about banking in a series of 30-second commercials. Social media sharing tools and an email opt-in form are included in the site’s layout.

Pros: The product offers are compelling, driving straight at WIIFM (“what’s in it for me”). The funky, illustrated style gives the credit union a pleasant personality. The copy is fun — “oodles,” “smakaroos,” “greenbacks.” Overall it feels creative and playful.

Cons: There’s no way to find/get to the microsite from the credit union’s main website. The offers are on www.columbiacu.org, but it’s not the same thing — it’s more stiff and corporate.

Bottom Line: This microsite is about the bottom line (product acquisition).
3 out of 5 stars

TIAA-CREF – Become Your Future You

URL: BecomeYourFutureYou.org

Description: TIAA-CREF likes using sloganized URLs. This one points at a microsite with a mix of educational resources and staff interviews — all about investing. The microsite links to many instructional pages hosted on the main tiaa-cref.org website.

Pros: The information and educational content is thorough. The URL has advertising value while also implying a benefit to consumers. The large photography makes for a dramatic, visually stunning experience.

Cons: The interface is hard to figure out, making it difficult to understand what the microsite has to offer. People probably won’t spend the time required to get through all the information.

Bottom Line: It’s nice eye candy, but consumers would probably reap greater benefits from spending their time at the main TIAA-CREF website.
3 out of 5 stars

Entrust FCU – Be a Good Steward

URL: BeAGoodSteward.com

Description: This site serves up a mix of values, philosophy, ads and information about the credit union. There are three reasons to join a credit union. There are four banner ads, including two for products, one for a charitable initiative and another inviting visitors to watch the latest TV commercial. There is a short paragraph of copy about You, the Community, the credit union’s Values and the Future. Visitors can share the site with a friend via email or social media tools. You can also follow the credit union’s fictional representative Gary on Twitter.

Pros: “Be a Good Steward” is both the credit union’s tagline and the microsite’s URL, reflecting the organization’s focus on Baptist ministries. There are product offers for auto loans and Bonus Checking. The “Good Steward Tip” rotates every time you load the site.

Cons: Considering the site is titled “Be a Good Steward,” there could be more about good stewardship (as a member, as a credit union, as a Christian). The site lacks focus, cohesion or a common theme? Although the credit union talks about why people should join a credit union (in general), they don’t talk about why someone should specifically join Entrust. The “Can I Join” process is awkward, involving a PDF and a standard contact form. There isn’t much linkage to the credit union’s brand look-and-feel.

Bottom Line: A missed opportunity. A credit union serving Baptists should be able to create a microsite telling a rich, emotional, multi-media story.
1.25 out of 5 stars

US Bank – Credit Wellness Center

URL: creditwellness.usbank.com

Description: An educational resource about credit that is available free to everyone. The site walks visitors through a linear path with the ins-and-outs of credit scores, how they are calculated and why they are important. There are four videos in the Credit Score Cinema that make humorous points about credit, lol. Oddly, all the videos are tagged with WhatsMyScore.org, a URL for a Visa promotion.

Pros: It’s a visually interactive learning experience. The site loads quickly.

Cons: US Bank should have bought the URL creditwellnesscenter.com.

Bottom Line: Considering the topic, it’s a solid presentation. Not terribly ambitious, but it provides functional content. It got the bank plenty of positive PR.
3.2 out of 5 stars

Connexus Credit Union – Flip My Loan

URL: FlipMyLoan.com

Description: This is a site all about refinancing, specifically auto, mortgage and home equity loans.

Pros: It’s focused on loans, and who doesn’t need more loans right now? The site is creative, attractive and has some nice details (like the chrome Connexus logo with rollover). The site’s design is connected to the main Connexus brand look and feel. Bonus: There is a mobile version of the microsite.

Cons: The microsite doesn’t integrate the credit union’s online applications for auto, home and home equity loans. The microsite is geared almost exclusively towards young people when it would take only a few tweaks to make it appropriate for nearly every demographic.

Bottom Line: It’s selling products, something a lot of microsites don’t do.
3.75 out of 5 stars

Numerica Credit Union – Num Num

URL: numnum.org

Description: A web site for young adults that features an ongoing video contest, a financial Blog, and special events. Video submissions about the topic of money are the prime focus of the site. Each month, the creator of the best “money” video will receive a $50 cash prize. Also, for each video submitted, Numerica will donate $10 to Spokane’s Crosswalk Teen Shelter.

Pros: The illustrated style is fun, distinctive and quirky, making the microsite’s design cool, casual and contemporary. There are little touches that make the experience more engaging. The website incorporates the entire nav bar and footer from the main Numerica website. Clicking on the logo/banner at the main website triggers an ad for the Num Num microsite — a very innovative approach.

Cons: The Num Num blog isn’t integrated into the microsite. Asking people to make videos eliminates a large segment of the potential audience.

Bottom Line: 16 video submissions in four months. The microsite probably triggers a bigger reaction than the overall idea behind the promotion.
3.5 out of 5 stars

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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First, let’s start with the basics. Online personal financial management (or PFM for short) is a set of tools that enables users to aggregate various accounts into one, singular, integrated view. Once a financial institution’s database has been interfaced with a PFM solution, it gives users the power to track expenses, create budgets and set savings and spending goals. Some systems will even show how one user’s habits compare to others.

STANFORD FCU – OVERVIEW OF GEEZEO PFM

This credit union does a nice job illustrating how Geezeo’s basic system works. There are videos and screenshots demonstrating the PFM platform in action from the end user’s perspective. If you aren’t sure how PFM works, take a look. If you already offer PFM tools, take note of how Stanford FCU is using its website to support its initiative.

As you can imagine, there is tremendous marketing potential lurking within the data warehoused by a PFM platform. Wise to this fact, Geezeo decided to integrate a system for targeting ads to users who match certain criteria. With Geezeo’s Integrated Marketing Platform 1.0, you can create segments based on demographic profile, types of financial accounts, and transaction data, so you can present high-propensity offers that are both relevant and timely. For instance, a financial institution might choose to market boat loans to every user who has a savings goal set up for a new boat, along with anyone who may have made a purchase at Bass Pro Shops. Pretty powerful stuff, eh?

“Our sweet spot has been this integrated marketing platform.”
– Peter Glyman, Geezeo
President/Co-Founder

“A one-size-fits-all strategy to banner ads typically results in very low conversions,” says Bryan Clagett, Geezeo’s Chief Marketing Officer.

According to Geezeo’s President and Co-Founder of Geezeo, Peter Glyman, “No more that 10% of financial institutions are doing any sort of marketing behind the firewall.”

“Very few do it right,” he adds. “Most of it is generic and ineffective.”

“You should be creating targeted landing pages for targeted ads,” Clagett notes.

How Geezeo’s Integrated Marketing Platform Works

Step 1 – Define a List
You start at the Geezeo administrative dashboard and select the Marketing tab. This is where you are going to create a targeted profile of users who you want to view your ad. You can specify demographic information like age and gender, geographic information like city, state and zip, or financial information like net worth and account balance.

“A lot of banks and credit unions are not satisfied with the level of control they have today,” notes Glyman.

One of the coolest features of Geezeo’s integrated marketing platform is that you can target users who have shopped at a specific store. For instance, you could target people shopping at Lowe’s or Home Depot with ads for home equity loans. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Step 2 – Create Campaign
Give your campaign a name, specify the date it will expire, then pick a size and upload the corresponding ad file from your desktop. Choose the destination URL you want your ad pointing at, and voila…Your campaign is running.

“The average marketer can get a campaign up and running in three minutes,” promises Geezeo’s Glyman.

EXAMPLE
Here you can see a crude example illustrating the location and context of Geezeo’s targeted ads.

MOBILE & TEXT ADS
Mobile ad functionality and text messaging — both push and pull — are options that can be added.

REPORTS
You can run basic reports to monitor the number of impressions, click-throughs and click-through rate.

Geezeo’s Integrated Marketing Platform 1.0 is included at no additional cost with Geezeo PFM and Community Answers Platform.

Geezeo says the beginning of the year is the ideal time to launch a PFM platform because you can tap into the vibe of New Years resolutions. It can take anywhere from 3-6 months to get the typical system up and fully running, depending on the core data system and level of customization desired. That means now is the perfect time for your financial institution’s senior leadership to be discussing PFM.

Perspective and Analysis

PFM tools like Geezeo’s not only give consumers financial information they want, bundled in a simple, powerful and attractive package, they can help you make money.

Geezeo is quick to remind financial institutions of the risks involved with using a third-party vendor to offer PFM tools. “There’s tremendous value in offering it through your own brand,” notes Geezeo’s Clagett. “You are handing cross-selling opportunities over to your competitors.”

If your financial institution has struggled to foster collaboration between Marketing and IT departments, PFM is the way to go. It’s easy for both camps to get excited and start working together.

Geezeo’s initial version of its integrated marketing platform is only in its infancy, but it’s where the future is headed. And Geezeo has ambitious plans on the horizon. The company says it will soon be adding more merchant-level marketing, with ad alerts at the transaction level. To how that works, just look at the screenshot below:

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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Financial Institution: GTE Federal Credit Union
Microsite: www.GTEFCUMysteryMonkeyTour.com

An escaped Rhesus Macaque monkey in Tampa then evaded capture for over a year, traveling across tree tops and through backyards spanning three counties and over 400 square miles. Along the way, the wily monkey accrued a sizable following, becoming a celebrity of sorts, with around 79,000 Facebook fans.

Capitalizing on the media frenzy fueling the monkey’s fandom, GTE Federal Credit Union launched an online “Mystery Monkey Tour Contest.” The contest gave clues to the monkey’s whereabouts via GTE FCU’s Facebook account. The first person to “find” the monkey at four different locations correctly gets a $1,500 cash prize! Anyone who joined during the promotion got a Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay T-shirt.

MYSTERY MONKEY TOUR CONTEST
Promotional copy states, “Now’s the time to get your game on
in the ultimate contest between man and monkey!”

Pros:

• Tapping the local zeitgeist is a perfect strategy for community-based financial institutions. Nothing says “We’re Local!” like a campaign referencing something the rest of the world isn’t a part of.
• You couldn’t come up with a better name.
• It’s a fun idea.
• It generates a level of name awareness that outweighs the investment.
• The t-shirts are pretty cool.
• The credit union made a donation to the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary.
  

Cons:

• There is no product tie-in or offer (note: the credit union may be sending email marketing messages to participants).
• Any connection to the credit union’s brand strategy or its identity isn’t immediately obvious.
• The contest is structured as a “race.” The contest ends as soon as someone submits the correct answer.
• Only one winner. No drawing for other participants, some of whom may have invested themselves emotionally in the contest.

Best Staycation Ever

Financial Institution: Orange County’s Credit Union
Microsite: www.staycationcontest.org

This very simple and straightforward promotion asked participants to submit a photograph and 50-word description of their best staycation ever. The sole winner of the $1,000 cash prize was determined by a public vote at the staycationcontest.org microsite. The contest was open to anyone 18 or over living in California.

James Flores, the CEO of Subcat Marketing who developed the contest for Orange County’s Credit Union, tells the story well. “This was their first foray with an online contest like this. Prior to the campaign, the credit union had no social media presence. Our recommendation was to use the contest as a way to not only cross-promote their loan products (which was the credit union’s original vision), but as a way to start an online dialog with members, and take a step into the world of social media and word-of-mouth.”

The contest yielded over 5,000 unique visitors and around 300 photo submissions. Participants’ photos represented staycations in some 190 different California communities.

BEST STAYCATION EVER CONTEST
“Just what is a ‘staycation?’ It’s that close-to-home kind of vacation –
a destination within driving distance.”

Pros:

• The concept of staycations supports credit unions’ mission of thrift (albeit a bit indirectly).
• The microsite is both well-designed and maintained.
• The site has embedded banner ads promoting loans and membership. There is one for auto loans and another asking visitors to find out how they can join Orange County’s Credit Union.
• Social networking tools for Flickr and Twitter are incorporated.

Cons:

• Some people don’t like staycations (the word and/or concept).
• There could have been a 2nd and 3rd place prize. Maybe a camera?
• They barely dipped their pinky toe into Twitter. How aggressively have they pushed their Twitter presence in offline channels?

Do Something Good Today

Financial Institution: Legacy Community FCU
Microsite: dosomethinggoodtoday.com

Legacy Community FCU spent six weeks running around the communities it serves buying people things like gas, haircuts and lunches. It’s a popular PR stunt that’s fairly effective at generating positive word-of-mouth buzz (Alta One Credit Union did something similar with its Good Deeds Done Daily promotion back in 2009.)

DO SOMETHING GOOD TODAY
The microsite features a cadre of do-good videos — lots of smiles and thank yous.

Pros:

• The concept is simple and appealing. Being nice to people is a good thing to do. The credit union left an indelible impression on those whom they surprised. Most probably thought it was the highlight of their day, maybe even their whole week.
• This kind of stuff generates the absolute best word-of-mouth buzz you could ever dream of.
• There’s great PR value in a financial institution trying to make the world a better place. News outlets are thirsty for feel-good stories to counter-balance all the negativity. Despite rampant cynicism, people still like hearing feel-good stories.
• Filming good deeds becomes great footage for TV spots.
• There’s a simple form right on the homepage so people can easily nominate a good deed. There’s also an email opt-in form so you can stay abreast of all the good deeds. Burying these forms even one page deep would reduce utilization drastically.
• The “Live Tracker” maps out where good deeds have been done in real time.
• The microsite incorporates Facebook and Twitter social networking tools.

Cons:

• There isn’t any strong call-to-action. What are visitors supposed to do? People should be encouraged to do their own good deeds for others while they are still feeling high on inspiration.
• It’s hard to link this type of initiative with the bottom line.
• You have to dig a little to find the best stuff: the gallery of videos.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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In the fall of 2007, TIAA-CREF rolled out a massive branding campaign celebrating the financial institution’s .org web address, tiaa-cref.org. TIAA-CREF, which stands for “Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association – College Retirement Equities Fund,” felt that playing up its .org URL would draw attention to its status as a nonprofit cooperative (a sensitive discussion credit unions have quite often).

TIAA-CREF ‘POWEROF.ORG’ CAMPAIGN (2007-2009)

Advertising examples from TIAA-CREF’s campaign touting the organization’s nonprofit dot-org-ness, with lines like “O-R-G, three of the most trusted letters found after a dot on the whole World Wide Web.” There’s also a TV spot you can watch. All the ads had the powerof.org web address splattered all over them.

So TIAA-CREF’s ad agency created a microsite to support the campaign, powerof.org, as ad agencies so often do these days, then plastered the URL on every piece. In some ads, “The PowerOf.Org” is even the headline.

You can get a general sense of what the powerof.org microsite looked like in 2008 by clicking here. But when TIAA-CREF’s powerof.org domain was due to expire in 2009, someone must have either ignored the renewal notice or decided it simply wasn’t important to purchase another year.

Peter Basler, an enterprising pornographer, was paying attention, however, and snatched up the URL. Today, the powerof.org website looks quite different. Basler has turned the once-reputable site into a live online sex chat portal.

WHAT THE POWEROF.ORG SITE LOOKS LIKE TODAY

Reality Check: TIAA-CREF is one of the largest financial services companies in the world, managing over $400 billion in assets. They can afford the measly $10 a year it would take to keep their unused microsite URLs within their control.

There are literally thousands of people like Peter Basler waiting to scoop up URLs abandoned by companies who naively believed they only needed their domains for the length of their promotions. But after these companies wrap up their temporary initiatives and their domains expire, they leave behind established web addresses with valuable backlinks that spammers, pornographers and other nefarious types covet.

There is one sliver of good news for TIAA-CREF: Basler’s powerof.org expires again in September, so maybe they can get it back.

Postscript: Some might argue that it doesn’t much matter if a few stragglers stumble into a porn microsite after your promo is over. Who cares? Well, for starters, your customer, Mr. Jones, will have much to explain to Mrs. Jones when she spies a sex chat website on his computer; instead of finding the financial information he wanted, he gets an earful from his now-distrusting spouse. Do you think he’ll hold a grudge against you? You bet. But for $10, you can spare your brand and the Joneses ugly embarrassments.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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Belvoir FCU says over 1,000 people participated in the web hunt. A total of 134,380 users visited the credit union’s website during the contest, representing an increase of almost 40,000 visitors compared with one year earlier. During the 45 days of Web Hunt 2010, a total of 255,284 pages were viewed, nearly double the site’s traffic at the time the redesigned website was launched.

Bottom Line: If you think your website is easy to use and navigate, here’s a great way to put that theory to the test. It’s an excellent example of how financial engaging can be engaging for consumers while achieving important marketing objectives for your financial institution. It’s a game. It’s fun. People will do what you ask of them — in this case, learn about your products and services — if you make it enjoyable and offer something in return.

1. Read through the great prizes to see what you could be entered to win.
2. Click the enter now button and fill out the registration form so we can properly identify our winners when the time comes. By filling out your contact information, you will also be able to sign back into the Web Hunt and pick up where your last session ended. Just in case you don’t want to search for all 9 life stages at the same time.
3. After you complete your registration form, begin your search for “slice of life” icons throughout the Web site. These slices can be found on any page on www.BelvoirCreditUnion.org’s site. Be sure to look high and low for all the icons.
4. When you find each “slice of life,” the piece will illuminate with color. Then, simply click add to place the icon in your main pie chart full of life’s stages. Be sure to scroll over the icon to read valuable information!
5. Once you have found all 9 slices and they are added to your life stage pie chart, you will be entered to win the above prizes. In addition, your pie chart can also link to various products that each life stage represents for more information. Good Luck!

REGISTRATION FORM

GAME BOARD

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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Chuck and Leroy are back. The two First Tech Credit Union spokesquirrels that originally made their debut in the summer of 2009 have returned in a new trio of TV ads.

In the spots, Chuck, a Western Gray Squirrel and First Tech member, explains to his dumber companion Leroy why it’s better to go to his credit union for financial needs like mortgages on burrows and checking accounts for storing nuts.

FIRST TECH – “CHOCK FULL OF NUTS”
Chuck and Leroy discuss storing their nuts at First Tech Credit Union.

The commercials are zany enough that they are likely to accomplish their main purpose — to attract attention and generate name awareness for First Tech — but it’s unclear how the squirrels fit within the credit union’s broader overall brand.

To support this new wave of ads, First Tech has created what it describes as a “engaging and interactive” microsite, NutsForFirstTech.com, where visitors can explore Chuck’s virtual treehouse. “Guests get an interactive tour of his digs and a peek at squirrel life while discovering how First Tech can help move their financial life forward,” the credit union said in a press release.

The site’s main navigation is built around a blueprint of Chuck’s treehouse, creating a virtual reality interface with 24 different nodes. You can click on Chuck’s letterman jacket for information about membership. Clicking on a shelf stacked with buckets of nuts will inform you that First Tech has budgeting tips.

Links for further information direct visitors back to First Tech’s main corporate website.

First Tech, working with ad agency partner R/West, built a real squirrel-sized treehouse for the microsite and panned a motion-controlled camera around the set to create realistic-looking visual sequences.

SETTING THE STAGE

This miniature treehouse — a make-believe squirrel burrow — was used to film sequences for First Tech’s microsite, NutsForFirstTech.com.

EXPLORING THE TREEHOUSE

There are four rooms with 24 different things you can click on in Chuck’s treehouse. Clicking on the bucket of nuts brings up this message.

“We knew First Tech wanted to highlight the benefits of being a member and what sets them apart from other financial institutions, but in a fun and interactive way,” said Sean Blixseth, president and creative director at R/West. “Nutsforfirsttech.com gives you a close-up view of what it’s like to be a part of the First Tech family.”

The NutsForFirstTech.com microsite dives so deep into the squirrel metaphor that — at first glance — it’s hard to tell the site has anything to do with financial services. There is an offer to get $50 when you switch to First Tech checking, but the offer feels overshadowed by everything else that’s going on. Take a look around for yourself and see if you think the concept works.

Key Questions: What’s next? Will First Tech’s squirrels break through to iconic- or viral status? Or will they jump a shark? And will Chuck and Leroy survive First Tech’s planned merger with fellow technology credit union Addison Avenue? Or will they get squashed on the road to a new joint brand?

First Tech Credit Union has $2.2 billion in assets, 165,000 members and 17 branches in Oregon and Washington.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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If you’re going to do a “boring” promotion, there is probably no better typeface you could pick than Courier, which is what Montana 1st uses exclusively on its Boring Is Sexy microsite. The project recently won an award from CUNA for marketing excellence.

“When it comes to your money, too much excitement is the last thing you need,” reads the introduction on the microsite. “Montana 1st Credit Union has been prudently boring the socks off Missoula for more than 78 years. Just ask your Grandpa. Since 1931, we’ve been quietly doing what’s right for our members without any high-roller excitement. No corporate jets, no million-dollar salaries. Just great rates and outstanding member service, year after year after boring year.”

Now that’s great copy. It has personality, style and attitude. There’s a distinct voice with a relevant message and points-of-proof. Even the credit union’s new slogan reflects the plain-vanilla message and tone:

While some financial institutions struggle to find a way to weave even a single product into their online promotions, Montana 1st has managed to successfully feather in a full range of products on the microsite’s homepage — six, to be exact. And they all have been given wonderfully unexciting names:

• Plain Vanilla Auto Loans
• Mild-Mannered Mortgages
• Delightfully Dull Home Equity Loans
• Common Sense Checking
• Workhorse Certificates
• Safe & Stodgy Savings

Clicking on any of the product links takes visitors back to the main corporate website for Montana 1st. The two sites may look a different, but there is continuity of message and tone.

And if plain vanilla is your thing, you can swing by one of two Montana 1st branches for a free scoop of ice cream…every day.

Montana 1st is doing something else a little unusual. They are promoting their microsite with a giant banner ad right on the homepage of their main website.

Banks and credit unions typically use microsites to drive traffic back to their main website, not the other way around. Montana 1st proudly redirects visitors to its corporate site over to BoringIsSexy.com.

Very few financial institutions would be comfortable running a “teaser” billboard like this — nothing but a URL, not even a logo.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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SunTrust describes the website as “an online resource center to help people navigate the intersection of life and money.” Visitors can access tools to budget effectively, teach children about money, learn about retirement planning, or discover ways to balance life and manage stress.

LiveSolid.com is a robust website providing hundreds of tools, calculators, articles, guides, videos, audio recordings and tips to help consumers make smart financial decisions.

LIVESOLID.COM
A financial education website with tips, tools,
calculators, videos, audio recordings and guides.

The menu categories used in LiveSolid.com’s main navigation scheme are matched to people’s interests and lifestages:

• My Well Being – Maintaining a Healthy Lifestyle, Enjoying Down Time
  Finding Life Balance, Managing Stress
• My Money – Setting a Budget, Shopping Smart, Getting Out of Debt, Planning for Life’s Surprises, Managing Work & Benefits, Financial Tools
• My Relationships – Getting Married, Managing Family & Finances, Building Better Relationships
• My Retirement – Planning for Retirement, Entering Retirement
• My Future Plans – Buying a Car, Buying a Home, Planning a Vacation, Building a Career
• My Children – Starting a Family, Parenting Effectively, Teaching Kids About Money, Tackling College & Tuition

CALCULATOR – HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO SAVE FOR COLLEGE?
One of more than 100 calculators, including “How much home can I afford?”
“How can I pay down my debt?” “How can I budget for a vacation
and other unforeseen expenses?”

The website includes an RSS feed and links to SunTrust’s Facebook fan page and Twitter account. There are also a few links in the website’s footer pointing back to SunTrust’s main website.

“The LiveSolid.com enables people to benefit from experts and also connect with and share information with other people experiencing the same life situations,” said Rilla Delorier, CMO/SunTrust. “We urge people to visit LiveSolid.com and join the conversation on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter.”

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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In the summer of 2009, Bank of Utah knew one of its competitors, a community bank with many business customers, was struggling and facing likely action from the FDIC. Bank of Utah saw an opportunity to capture new business from the anticipated fallout, and thus was born their Find Me a Banker microsite.

FindMeABanker.com

A sample profile page shows business and personal information about one of the Bank of Utah’s business banker.

The site includes profiles of Bank of Utah’s business bankers, listing basic experience, areas of specialty and contact information. There are also personal factoids about family life, hobbies and interesting “fun facts.”

“We wanted to be positioned as the community bank for displaced business customers,” explained Greg Willis, Bank of Utah’s marketing specialist. “Our strategy was to communicate the importance of having an expert business banker, and how advantageous a good business banking relationship can be.”

Bank of Utah understands that people pick who they want to work with based on more than just credentials. Even in business, sometimes it’s small, unrelated things like shared hobbies or interests that connect people. This is why the “Request a Banker Match” page asks personal questions about hobbies and individual banking needs, (in addition to requesting information on business banking needs.) The bank states that upon filling out the form, “Matches may take up to one business day to return.”

“The emphasis was on making a personal connection. This person is more than just a banker, he or she is a fellow community member with personal interests just like you,” Willis continued.

While the site has been live since October, Bank of Utah didn’t really start promoting it until the beginning of December. Marketing tactics include:

• Web banners from bankofutah.com
• Banner ads on local websites, geo-targeted for the area where the competing bank is headquartered and has its largest customer base
• Direct mail campaign deployed by the bank’s business bankers

Bank of Utah says its site traffic has been steadily increasing, but it is still too early to evaluate results.

Analysis

Overall, the Find Me a Banker site is a strong concept and solid business development strategy, but there are a few questions the project raises:

Should the microsite look more like Bank of Utah’s website?
Microsites usually differ somewhat in appearance from the brand’s main website, but www.findmeabanker.com looks plain compared to www.bankofutah.com. They don’t need to have the exact same look and feel, but the microsite could definitely use a facelift to make it more creatively engaging. Or, quite simply, just fold the microsite completely into the main website. This project doesn’t need its own website, just a catchy marketing URL that could route you to the Find Me a Banker section of the website. Then, all the cosmetic disconnects would disappear.

Should there be a version for personal bankers?
While the dynamics of business banking relationships are certainly different than personal banking relationships, one could argue that high net worth individuals may choose a banker who handles their personal finances in much the same way as choosing a business banker. When asked about the future of a personal banker microsite, Bank of Utah’s Willis indicated there are not immediate plans for a personal banking counterpart, but that the idea may apply well to their mortgage division.

How about some customer testimonials?
Why not include a quote or comment from a happy and satisfied business banking customer for each of the business bankers? This could help soften the “take-our-word-for-it” impression many consumers get from traditional World 1.0 marketing strategies.

Could it be more intuitively searchable?
There are about 20 business bankers you can browse in the Find Me a Banker microsite. Instead of clicking on all 20+ profiles to find your banker, why not have a system to help people with their search? What if you could find a banker who “specializes in commercial real estate loans,” or “loves dogs,”  or “is active in Boys & Girls Clubs?”

Could the site be made more word-of-mouth oriented?
Advertising and direct mail campaigns will certainly drive clicks to the microsite, but will those visits result in exponentially more visits from other customers? With a few adjustments, the site would have the opportunity to spread with more viral effect. With the inclusion of some engaging value-added content on the site, and a few “tell a friend” links to facilitate the spread of the site, Find Me a Banker could increase its profile in Bank of Utah’s market.

Find Me a Banker is a good idea that has potential to become even better with some creative tweaks. Perhaps the most important thing Bank of Utah’s project points out is that developing strong relationships with customers entails connecting on a personal level. Hopefully the microsite inspires other financial institutions to develop their own customer-centric online tools

———————————————————————————————————————————
About the author: Jeff Stephens is founder and CEO of Creative Brand Communications (CBC), a full-service bank and credit union branding and marketing agency. CBC helps financial institutions find their story, tell it, and most importantly, prove it.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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Someone feels they’ve been mistreated by your financial institution. They’re pissed off, so they launch a hard-hitting online vendetta against you, centering around a new blog or website. They pull no punches, bitterly and ferociously ripping into you. They keep pushing your buttons trying to get a response. If/when thtey do get a rise out of you, they push even harder.

This kind of situation has become an increasingly common phenomenon in recent months. Standard Bank in South Africa has been contending with a former customer taking them to task in blog posts and on Twitter since July 2009. The vendetta was launched with this tweeted declaration: “We’re putting Standard Bank in the hot seat, holding them accountable for abusing customers!”

Priority One Credit Union has been under attack from an obsessive blogger since January 2009. This person (possibly a former employee) has written some 90 blog posts. That’s an average of one every four days. Some are over 2,000 words long.

Then there’s Navy FCU. Someone name “Chris” claiming to be “a happy and loyal member” before “things changed” has been hammering away on the world’s biggest credit union with his blog, navyfcusucks.com, and a Twitter account, @NavyFCUSucks.

NAVY FCU SUCKS
A blog (left) with a number of articles critical of Navy FCU bears the slogan, “Membership Counts (For Squat).” At the NavyFCUSucks Twitter stream (right), you can find almost everything negative that everyone on Twitter has said about the credit union.

And just about every major bank in the world has a “[Brand Name] Bank Sucks” fan page on Facebook. Just take a look for yourself.

Defensive Cybersquatting Doesn’t Work

These kinds of nightmare scenarios make financial institutions wonder what they can do. “Can we prevent this kind of online vendetta by cybersquatting [ourbank]sucks.com?”

No. Here’s why.

For starters, it’s impossible from a practical perspective. A scorned customer/member/former employee will be able to find some available combination of derisive terms for their blog’s URL. There’s yourbanksucks.com, yourbank-sucks.com, your-bank-sucks.com, boycott-your-bank.com, etc. There is an infinite array of options one can come up with that require only a juvenile level of creativity.

Someone can always launch a blog at a free, third-party service like Blogspot or WordPress, using URLs like yourbanksucks.blogspot.com or yourbanksucks.wordpress.com. This is a much more likely threat, because not everyone is willing to pony up the money to pay for a domain name and hosted internet server (around $100 per year).

The problem compounds exponentially when you start looking at all the social media platforms one would have to cover: Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, Twitter, etc. It’s simply too tedious and time-consuming to run around the web cybersquatting all these names that might possibly be used against you in a future attack.

Key Question: What will people think when they perform a search at their favorite social media sites and see all these harsh and negative names?

This is precisely what concerns Jason Kincy, VP/Alternative Delivery Manager for Arvest Bank. “I don’t like squatting and allowing customers to view them in searching for your company,” he says.

Reality Check: You can’t secure all the possible combinations and cybersquat your way out of an online attack. Trying to reserve even the most basic, obvious combinations would be extremely tedious. There are just too many. You can’t cover them all.

As Brent Dixon with Filene, a credit union think tank, puts it, “That feels like an exhausting, neurotic thing for a person to do.”

Indeed, no one bent on revenge is likely to give up simply because their first choice for a URL — [yourbank]sucks.com — isn’t available.

“I would think someone motivated enough to start one of these is motivated enough to find a name you haven’t squatted,” adds Mark McSpadden, an expert in online financial technologies.

The truth is, there is no fool-proof defensive countermeasure that will thwart possible online attacks. You can provide the greatest customer service on earth, and you may still be unfortunate enough to run into someone who has the time and energy to point out your failings (real or perceived).

Reality Check: If someone wants to initiate a vendetta bashing your financial institution, there’s really nothing you can do to stop them. Someone w/a score to settle will find a way to launch their attack.

So What Can We Do?

Most experts on social media agree that you should try to reconcile differences by engaging with the upset blogger.

“Learn to be better at dealing with conflict, rather than earmuffing it and hoping ignorance will work,” advises Filene’s Dixon.

William Azaroff, head of online strategy for VanCity, a large Canadian credit union, has a number of good tips for how to best tackle angry bloggers. Read his excellent blog post about monitoring your online brand health, then check out this companion presentation, “Responding to Bloggers”:

One thing to consider is to simply invite the begrudged person to have a cup of coffee. If they are a rational, reasonable person with a real grievance, you can give it a try. If your only publicly published response on the internet is an invitation to “sit down and talk,” it will at least look like you’re trying to take the high road and make amends, even if your offer is rejected.

Remember, you’re dealing with people’s emotions. These people feel you hurt them. They probably feel unimportant and disrespected, as if they weren’t worth your time. Think about how you can address these feelings, and not just resolving the financial transaction that triggered their ire.

The good news is that if you can resolve the issue, there’s a very good chance that this person will flip from a “brand detractor” and turn into a “brand advocate.” Many times, people judge brands (just like people) by how they perform during their darkest moments. The same person who was once willing to rant about your ills yesterday may also be the same person to extol your virtues tomorrow.

As difficult as it may seem to find anything positive in these situations, just keep in mind that you may be able to turn a sour lemon into some great PR/word-of-mouth lemonade.

Reality Check: Sometimes, there is simply no way you can win.

Some people are bullies, where anything you say can (and will) be used against you. Others are plain old nutjobs, and there is nothing you can do to stop them. Don’t bother engaging with people who are downright nasty or suffer from psychosis. It’s a waste of energy.

Once a blogger has moved past their own complaint and begins adopting/echoing the grievances of others, or looks for new things to bitch about, their vendetta has taken on a life of its own and your opportunity to reach-out has probably vanished. In such cases, it may be best to just wait it out, and hopefully the blogger will someday give up or go away.

Whenever someone launches an online attack against your financial institution, you should always consider talking to your lawyers. Seek their counsel and keep them informed. If the blogger ever crosses the line with libelous comments, don’t be afraid to slap a lawsuit on them. It’s your legal right to defend your reputation when people lie about you.

The Financial Brand has learned of at least one situation where lawyers were called in after months of abuse from the virtual pen of a jilted former employee. The financial institution’s lawyers fired off a letter full of scary legal terms and the website was turned off — immediately. Sometimes, “engagement,” “dialogue” and “joining the conversation” aren’t the best ways to deal with big brand problems on the social web.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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San Antonio-based USAA Savings Bank, which provides financial services to military personnel and their families, recently ended two months of weekly sweepstakes to promote their new Member 2 Member forum. Within USAA’s website, members can use the Member 2 Member forum to ask and answer questions, ask for help, and to share their USAA banking experiences with one another.

MEMBER 2 MEMBER
Questions and answers by members for members. You must be a USAA member with a registered online account in order to write reviews or ask questions. USAA employees (who are also presumably members) frequently step in to answer questions about the bank’s products. (Note the “Compare” tab, which stacks USAA up against key competitors like Navy FCU.)

Those who posted questions or commented during the sweepstakes period (August 29 through October 31) were entered to win a USAA iPod shuffle or $200 Apple Store gift card in a weekly drawing. Members received one contest entry per post, so the more they interacted online, the greater their chances of winning.

While the Member 2 Member forum is only available for certain products and topics — like Personal Finances — almost every product and service offered by USAA now incorporates Member Reviews on the corresponding website page. Each product’s Member Reviews page allows members to rate the product on a five-star scale, and write/read reviews.

Some of website pages for select USAA products — like Checking, Teen Checking, Savings and Certificates of Deposit — include both components, Member Reviews and the Member 2 Member forum.

MEMBER REVIEWS
By default, member reviews are organized by “Rating – High to Low.”

AMERICA FIRST – RATINGS & REVIEWS
Members of this Utah credit union have been able to rate and review products at the americafirst.com website since at least February of 2008. The system is nearly identical to the one USAA recently deployed. The feature has survived for nearly two years — including a major site redesign — so the credit union clearly sees value in continuing with public ratings and reviews.

Members are definitely using the forum. Since the beginning of September, the Checking category alone has amassed over 3,100 reviews and 85 questions. Members rate USAA’s free checking product 4.8 out of five stars.

Reality Check: You’ve got to feel very confident in your products if you’re going to let people rate them publicly online. If you don’t get the ratings you expect, you’ll either get your act together…or kill the ratings/reviews feature — fast.

USAA is allowing negative reviews of its products and services to be posted, which is very important for building honest, two-way communication in today’s online world. Reviews are only useful if they include the full range of opinions. On USAA’s site, you won’t see any bad reviews unless you change the default “Sort Reviews By” setting from “Highest Rated” to “Lowest Rated.”

Most forums are organized by “Date Posted” so that one immediately encounters the most recent opinions shared. This helps present an honest — and less biased — mix of peoples’ experiences, not just the ones you want people to see.

Participation has not dropped since the sweepstakes period ended more than a month ago. Sorting reviews by date reveals that members are still regularly posting new comments, as well as asking and answering questions on the Member 2 Member pages. It proves that USAA members are passionate enough to actively comment whether they get a prize or not.
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About the author: Jeff Stephens is founder and CEO of Creative Brand Communications (CBC), a full-service bank and credit union branding and marketing agency. CBC helps financial institutions find their story, tell it, and most importantly, prove it.

This article © 2012 by The Financial Brand and may not be reproduced.

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