An increasing number of frustrated financial consumer are finding out that Twitter can work as a service “express lane.” As the following stories show, more and more people are expressing their displeasure with various companies — including financial institutions (or rather, particularly financial institutions). Banks and credit unions alike seem to be listening. Those financial institutions responding to consumers’ concerns on Twitter have enjoyed heaping servings of praise.

Some financial institutions are providing more than reactive customer service though. Some are actually being proactive, as story #2 illustrates. Can you imagine that…

But all this gushing over the caliber of customer service available through Twitter raises some tough questions about the quality of service in other channels. As one analyst in the financial industry recently wondered, “Why can’t people get this level of service through traditional channels? What makes them feel like they need to turn to Twitter as a last resort?”

For that matter, when will consumers learn to turn to Twitter first? If stories keep circulating about how awesome customer service is on Twitter, regular people — not just chronic complainers and the techno-elite, but everyone — may start using Twitter accounts to get their service issues resolved.

#1 – Mortgage app goes from “months” to “minutes”

After months of offline frustration, a reporter in Australia turned to Twitter to vent about delays in her mortgage application with Commonwealth Bank in Australia. One of the bank’s employees, Derek Jenkins, is on Twitter (@ozdj) and caught the tweet. Within minutes, he contacted her to let her know that the message made him “feel like crap,” and the bank was only just beginning to understand how crucial social media sites were in maintaining the corporate giant’s image. By 3:00 p.m. the next day, her loan was formally approved. And the twist is that Derek isn’t even part of some official Twitter effort from Commonwealth Bank. He was just helping out.

#2 – Bank anticipates customer need, sends DM

A “DM” in Twitter is a direct message sent privately from one individual to another. And that’s what Matt Sparks, an employee of 1st Mariner Bank, sent to Aaron Brazell, the editor of a technology blog after Aaron posted this on Twitter:

See how Matt at 1st Mariner (@FMBCustServ) was able to turn things around and create a positive service experience. After all was said and done, Aaron published a glowing article about the experience on his website. It would seem Aaron’s relationship with 1st Mariner is not dead, and is indeed alive and well.

#3 – Bank of America on Twitter = WIN!

BofA was the first financial institution to provide dedicated customer service on Twitter (@BofA_help). Months after launching the experiment, the bank is still seeing a steady stream of positive feedback — on Twitter, in the media and in blog posts.

This is yet one more example. It includes words like “impressed,” “refreshing,” “courteous” and “quick.” In this case, the guy actually went and sought out a customer service rep on Twitter rather than just bitching publicly (and hoping someone might be listening).

Note: This is now the third example in a row where a customer was frustrated by a lingering issue that required reactive customer service (i.e., “damage control”) on Twitter.

#4 (Bonus) – Credit union uses Twitter to foster dialogue

Churches Co-operative Credit Union in Jamaica (@Churches_CCCU) uses a cocktail of Web 2.0 tools that includes Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, MySpace and blogging. The credit union says it’s using online social media to foster dialogue and feedback.

“The digital age consumer doesn’t want to be dictated to, they want to have dialogue,” said the credit union’s marketing and public relations manager.

“Digital communication is a win-win solution,” said a representative. “We recognize the power of the digital revolution, and we adapted early in the game to be able to take full advantage of it.”

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To learn more about how financial institutions are using Twitter, pick up your copy of “Connecting to Customers with Twitter: The Comprehensive Guide to Twitter for Financial Institutions,” by Jeffry Pilcher, Publisher of The Financial Brand. It’s 80 pages of strategies, analysis, examples and how-to advice.

Earlier this year, Commonwealth Bank in Australia was harshly criticized for hiring a U.S. ad agency. It didn’t matter that the agency was world-famous Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, people down under were skeptical that they wouldn’t grasp the nuances of Aussie culture.

The hell with Aussie culture, they said. Instead of even attempting a spot that might try to honor the land of Oz, the bank and agency decided to take a huge gamble and made one of the weirdest spots you’ll ever see in the financial industry.

Here’s the concept: A bigtime American movie director, hired by a fictitious U.S. ad agency, makes an  unintentional parody of Australian culture in a new commercial for Commonwealth Bank. The makebelieve spot piles one Aussie stereotype on top of another: Mad Max koalas from Beyond the Thunderdome tangle with a didgeridoo-playing, boomerang-chucking Crocodile Dundee lookalike. The bank’s executives are not amused.

It’s a spot-within-a-spot, where art imitates life imitating art.

When the commercial first debuted, only the first 30 seconds were shown.
To many, it looked like the bank had gone completely insane.
A little while later, the whole spot aired, revealing the bank’s displeasure with the “ad” within its ad.

People hated it. It was lampooned around the world. But both the agency and the bank staunchly defended their strategy.

30% of Australia’s 16 million people don’t like the campaign or the strategy. That’s only 4.8 million people, or about 1-out-of-3.

Now, they’ve got some results.

Mark Buckman, the bank’s marketing director, says that brand awareness has grown from 70% to 95% while simultaneously cutting the media budget 30%.

But Mr. Buckman also acknowledged that 30% of Australia’s 16 million people don’t like the campaign or the strategy. That’s only 4.8 million people, or about 1-out-of-3, but Buckman says’ he’s okay with it because “16 million Australians are a big enough pond for us to fish in.”

Buckman defended the bank’s decision to ship it’s highly coveted $100 million account overseas: “We couldn’t find an advertising agency in Australia that was prepared to think differently about us.”

“We were sick to death of being told what we couldn’t do.”

That’s fine, but is that why they took such a huge gamble with the bank’s brand?

Buckman said there was a fundamental belief that perceptions of 100-year-old institution could not be changed. “In order to get people to think differently about us, we had to get them to notice us and then get them to talk about us — and talk they did,” he said. “We set out to achieve three things — impact, comprehension and likeability.”

Two out of three ain’t bad. But doesn’t “likeability” seem like an important brand association?

About CEO Ralph Norris’s feelings towards the risky strategy, Buckman said, “He didn’t shy away, but he did say ‘this is either going to be a blaze of glory or just a blaze. Either way there are going to be flames.’”

True that.

Key Questions:

• Would you prefer to be well-known by many, but unliked? Or would you rather be liked, but only known by a few?
• Is brand awareness more important that positive feelings about a brand?

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