Every week, The Financial Brand shares articles, websites and other links relevant to financial marketers. This week, there were 18 stories from around the web that caught The Financial Brand’s attention. Click on the hotlinked summary to read the full story.

Fee, Free or Wait and See? What to do about checking accounts

Credit Cards 101: Marketers must now tread lightly on college campus

Dump the Mumbo Jumbo: How a bank can speak like real people

Social Media How-To: A stellar presentation from the creators of Young & Free

Facebook Marketing: BBVA’s campaign had 750 people competiting for $5,000

Resurrected Design: BNZ dumps pig tail on type, brings stars back to its logo

I’m Alive! Woman’s life nearly destroyed by banks who tell her she’s dead

Q&A: SunTrust’s CMO discusses social media, branding

iPad app: Utah credit union rolls out one of the first

PFM: Another reason consumers prefer white label solutions

Gen-X vs. Gen-Y: Do workplace expectations create generational friction?

Remote Deposits: Fiserv sees trend, now offering tech for smart phone deposits

Tables Turned: Banks usually get- not give branding advice

CUs helping CUs: Mega credit union funds marketing campaign for its tiny cousin

For Sale: Citi looks to sell CitiFinancial

“On the Money” That’s the name of Mission FCU’s freshly minted blog

Magic Marketing: Orlando Magic extends partnership with Fairwinds Credit Union

Ouch… Credit union sheds $440 million in assets in first half of 2010

Every week, The Financial Brand shares articles, websites and other links relevant to financial marketers. This week, there were 10 stories from around the web that caught The Financial Brand’s attention. Click on the hotlinked summary to read the full story.

Hijacked: How Bankwest piggybacked off rival NAB’s search promotion

Dirty Laundry: Woman complains about SunTrust to her 4,400 Twitter followers

Accounting Hypocrisy? NCUA cuts $2 million from budget…but hires Suze Orman

Facebook: How Nedbank is doing it right

Unfriendly: ANZ collections staff disciplined over phony Facebook account

Insights & Advice: 5 pitfalls of bank branding

Banks Hard Sell: Opt in for more overdraft fees

Mobile RDC: In touch and out of the branch

Grand Opening in Pictures: The first new bank on High Street in over 100 years

Oz Shrinking? Australia has 2 big banks, not 4

Every week, The Financial Brand shares articles, websites and other links relevant to financial marketers. This week, there were 14 stories from around the web that caught The Financial Brand’s attention. Click on the hotlinked summary to read the full story.

Slideshow: Citi’s Innovation Lab

Up Close Q&A: SunTrust’s CMO talks about branding, marketing and social media

Opportunity: Lure customers from the big banks phasing out free checking

Echoing Banker Propaganda: Opting out means you risk your debit card being declined

Opt-In: Increase overdraft adoption rates through the online channel

Captive Eyeballs: More on marketing behind the online banking login

E-Banking Myopia: Extending service beyond just the web translates to more revenue

‘Indinero’ The Mint.com for small businesses

Bling Mobile: Tap, pay and go

Startup Wrap Up: Looks and sounds like a bank, but isn’t, quite…

Green Tellers: State Bank of India rolls out paperless teller counters at 51 branches

Golden Going Mobile: Large California credit union debuts iPhone, iPad app

‘Choose Change’ Donate $1 in ATM fees to charity with the push of a button

Getting Jazzy: TD Bank can hear music of festival fans warming up to its brand

As part of SunTrust’s ongoing “Live Solid, Bank Solid” branding campaign, the bank has launched LiveSolid.com, a large-scale financial education website. LiveSolid.com takes “a holistic approach” to people’s “overall well being,” offering advice on personal interests and managing one’s finances.

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.”

Union Bank – “Rock Solid”

A blogger snapped this photo of a “rock” on the teller counters at Union Bank. It turns out the “rock” was made of soft foam. “About as solid as a marshmallow,” the blogger wryly notes.

Allianz – Elevator

An elevator wrapped in graphics that look like a bank vault. The sign inside the elevator reads (translaätion): “Keep your money in a safe place.” Clever out-of-home advertising.

Visa – “Anthem”

Every two years, TV viewers around the world are treated to some of the most spectacular, inspiring ads ever created. The cinematography, the story lines, the editing are all extraordinary. Unfortunately, most of these ads don’t promote the companies who paid millions to produce and air them. They only seem to build the Olympic brand, such this beautiful mintue-long spot for the 2010 Winter Olympics from Visa.

Narrated by Morgan Freeman, the ad that talks about themes like “imagination,” “spirit,” “precision,” “speed,” “grace” and “magic,” concepts that seem markedly unrelated to either Visa or banking. It’s almost like a PSA for the Olympics: “This feel-good moment of unity and celebration is brought to you by…Visa! More People Go With Visa.”

You may prefer watching this kind of spot versus an ad for something like “Head On, apply directly to the forehead,” but you’ll quickly forget it was Visa who made it once you see a dozen other advertisers trot out their similarly commercialized celebrations of Olympic spirit and pride. You can see another gorgeous Visa spot for the Winter Olympics here.

SunTrust – “Swap a Solid” Facebook Application

SunTrust Bank recently launched Swap a Solid, a Facebook application that provides users with a forum for exchanging goods and services with their Facebook friends. At the Facebook app, you can “Request a Solid,” or view “Solid Requests.” The Swap a Solid name harkens back to the bank’s current ad slogan, “Live Solid,” although some people might think it’s disgusting to “swap a solid” with anyone other than their spouse.

Standard Bank – “Mr. HIV”

Standard Chartered, a bank serving Asia, Africa and the Middle East, made a pledge to the Clinton Global Initiative to educate one million people about the prevention and spread of HIV & AIDS by 2010. To achieve this, they commissioned an animated short film that chronicles a “Mr. HIV,” a personified virus looking for a job so he can destroy the human body. The script is entertaining. The CG is comparable to a Pixar production. As far as public health PSAs go, you can’t get much better. You can watch the whole series here.

Deutsche Bank – Greenhouse Gases Widget

Deutsche Bank recently launched a free widgetized version of its “Carbon Counter,” a landmark digital billboard in New York City which displays the running total of long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The widget comes as part of the bank’s broader campaign to raise public awareness of climate change and encourage investment. (A widget is a downloadable, stand-alone application that can be embedded into an end-user’s web page or desktop.) It’s very interesting to see a bank commit itself so strongly to one side of a political hot potato.

Innovations FCU – “Jingle Bells Lip Dub”

You’re probably burned out on the holidays, but this video is too good to pass up. It’s a singing, dancing lip-synch of a techno version of “Jingle Bells.” The choreography involves the credit union’s entire staff — some 35+ people — in one, single 3-minute take. It is toe-tapping fun, festive and well-produced, yet not so slick that it feels expensive or pretentious. Hat tip to Christopher Stevenson at CUES who was the first to spot the video, and kudos to agency Raoust+Partners, who reportedly produced it.

Belvoir Credit Union – Brand Image & Identity

When Fort Belvoir Credit Union decided it was time to drop the “Fort” from its name, they turned to Third Degree Advertising for a new brand image and identity that is decidedly unmilitaristic.

Capitec – Simplicity

This minute-long TV spot features CG animation with a narrator in a virtual world who describes a bank that is unbelievably perfect. Quite frankly, it sounds too good to be true. The spot ends with the tagline, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

Earlier this week, SunTrust Bank unveiled a new brand tagline and marketing campaign focused on savings. The “Live Solid, Bank Solid” campaign speaks to what the bank describes as “a new era of thrift, security and financial responsibility.”

The new campaign is rooted in the notion that consumers are moving away from conspicuous consumption towards a more mature, solid approach to their finances.

The script for the TV spot reads, “Remember the Joneses? And all their stuff? And how people were always trying to keep up? Well, some of us woke up instead. We no longer want big and flashy. We want real, true and honest. We want to stand on solid ground, and we want a bank that does the same. A bank that’s here to help us prosper, whatever our definitions of ‘prosper’ may be. Live solid. Bank solid.”

Copy writing throughout the campaign is creative, direct and crisp. The messages reflect the new economic reality many Americans are facing. And it’s all delivered in a casual, confident manner.

SunTrust says it conducted months of consumer research prior to developing creative components. Among the findings:

• Nearly 80% of those surveyed would rather be envied for spending wisely than for spending freely.
• 83% believe it’s not about how much money you have, it’s about what you do with the money that you already have.
• Eight in 10 believe that while having more money won’t necessarily make you happier, feeling in control of the money you have will increase happiness.

Key Question: How many financial institutions do any research before they launch an ad campaign? For that matter, how many do any research afterward either?

“Consumers are thinking more about how they are handling their money than they were.”
– John Fitzgerald,
President/Mullen

“It’s apparent that consumers are thinking more about how they are handling their money than they were even six months ago,” said John Fitzgerald, president of Mullen, SunTrust’s ad agency. “They are moving to lives of more substance, reason, and long-term thinking, and feel a stronger sense of personal responsibility for the direction of their lives.”

SunTrust says the campaign was underway months before the economy took a nosedive.

The campaign debuted during NBC’s Sunday Night Football, and includes TV, print, radio and internet advertising.

SunTrust’s previous tagline was “Seeing beyond money.”

SunTrust spent $26 million on advertising last year (excluding online), and $21 million through September of this year.

The ad’s body copy reads, “Something has been missing. But more and more people are choosing to find it again. Solid ground. It’s a great place to be. A life built around balance. More substance. Less flash. Priorities straight. Ready for a return to solid? There’s a bank ready to help with that. SunTrust. A bank that’s here to get the fundamentals right. Uncomplicate the complicated. Champion convenience. And find ways to help you prosper, whatever your definition of prosper might be.”

Smart marketers will vulture the corpses of their peers

There are stories all over the place about banks and credit unions seeing huge upticks in business as customers flee failed banks like Wachovia and WaMu. BB&T says it has picked up $1.2 billion from Wachovia customers alone. What drives this consumer behavior? Fear? Resentment?

Who cares? Instead of waiting for those funds to simply walk through the door, why not aggressively market to attract those deposits? Like SunTrust, whose latest ad softly reminds people that “When you’re ready to switch accounts, we’re here to help.”

One bank has run out of Visa Check Cards, another credit union has run out of switch kits. It’s a feast. Pull up your seat at the table and dig in.

Bank of America’s “Financial Crisis ‘War Room’”

BofA has organized a “war room” so that when a headline in the news raises flags with consumers, the bank can figure out how to respond. They also say they have no plans to cut their $2 billion marketing budget in 2009, but haven’t ruled it out either. One more interesting thing: They say they’re trying to work in the word “guaranteed” more often to reassure anxious consumers. For instance, BofA’s CDs now feature a “guaranteed rate of return.”

Fortis to change names

The chairman of Fortis says the name has acquired a negative connotation due to the global financial crisis. (Fortis really took a big hit in Europe.) They don’t yet know what the new name will be. They just think the old one is baggage that needs to be dumped.

National City shares real customers stories

But only two stories at a time? At the bank’s website, www.nationalcity.com/realstories, there are only two testimonials to choose from. They say more testimonials are coming, but right now, it looks pretty paltry. Will they grow the library as videos are added? Or will there always only be two at a time?

UPDATE: They just added a third video.

The stories came out of company research with more than 5,000 current National City customers. The bank will be running ads in 160 regional publications throughout its nine-state footprint to promote the site.

AdAge says ING Direct’s brand love will help it weather the crisis

ING’s singular focus on helping people save money is behind the love, and the bank is staying on-message with its meltdown marketing. The article ends with a quote from The Financial Brand.

Canadian credit unions contribute $35.8 million to charities

Yeah, but if the numbers coming from Vancity Credit Union are right, it looks like this one single credit union gave away $3.67 million in 2007. That’s about 10% of all donations by all Canadian credit unions combined. Of course, their brand is built around “doing good” and “giving back.”

Kudos to Vancity. Double kudos, actually.

Burning Bridges: The Ultimate Dear-John-Goodbye-&-Eff-You

Andrew Lahde, the boss of a successful US hedge fund, made a mint last year by betting against subprime mortgages. Last week, he quit the industry — forever, you can be sure — with an extraordinary farewell letter dismissing his rivals as over-privileged “idiots” and thanking “stupid” traders for making him rich.

The 37-year-old told his clients that he had hated the business and had only been in it for the money. He declared he would no longer manage money for other people, because he had enough of his own. [Editor: Who else wants to know where Mr. Lahde is putting his money today?] He concludes with a plea to legalize weed.

You can’t make this stuff up… Read the whole letter here.

Accounts on the move

Compass Bank awarded creative duties on its $10 million advertising account to GSD&M Idea City. Crispin Porter + Bogusky previously handled the account, the agency that came up with The Subservient Chicken for Burger King.

Also, USAA has parted ways with Deutsch New York and placed its $15 million account in review.

Netbanker: Only 263 daily users of Facebook for financial purposes

It’s Just Business: Credit unions chisel away at bank’s dominance of business lending

Dig This: Gonzobanker tells you why your financial brand needs ‘diggers’

Chuck Talks: Schwab’s “It’s People’s Money” campaign addresses dour economy

He’s With Me: Wachovia reassures customers as it phases out ‘A.G. Edwards’ name

Hoopty Love: An unusual auto loan promotion grows bigger

Getting Hits: Why you need a Wikipedia entry and how to go about it

Hi, My Name Is: ‘RidgeWorth Capital’ becomes new name of SunTrust unit

Third Time for Charms: Bellco CU sponsors huge St. Paddy’s Day parade for 3rd year

Book ‘Em: A Canadian CU writes a book for members on maximizing charitable donations

Bad Sign: City council vetoes one CU’s plans for a really big sign with its new logo

Chasing ATMs: Gas station franchise sells ATM branding rights to Chase

SignING Off: ING email to customers signed by ‘The CEO of Saving’