First National Bank of Omaha has unveiled a new retail prototype at its new Shadow Lake Towne Center branch. Features include a “virtual Koi pond” that directs customers to interactive kiosks where they can conduct transactions or get information on products and services. The interactive floor display seems to be based off of technology from […]
Vernon Hill, former CEO of Commerce Bank, recently joined Tom Brown as co-chairman of bankstocks.com. Mr. Hill has wasted no time, and has already contributed content to the site. He recently wrote: BANK BRANCHES OBSOLETE? NONSENSE: My colleague Matt Stichnoth posted a comment about the upcoming death of bank branches — this time due to […]
The Harvard Business Review recently interviewed psychologist John Gottman, the executive director of the Relationship Research Institute in Seattle. Although Gottman’s work focuses mostly on interpersonal relationship (in contrast to business-customer relationships), many of his comments are pertinent to marketers. According to Gottman: “Good relationships aren’t about clear communication — they’re about small moments of […]
Wauwatosa Bank is inviting its customers to visit branches and vote for their favorite name from three options: ‘Granite Bank,’ ‘WaterStone Bank’ or ‘Security First Bank.’ People also can submit other names by writing suggestions on their ballots. Each ballot cast is an entry into a drawing with prizes worth a total of $3,000. Four […]
Ponder the following question: Entity A lends $10,000 to Johnny Jones at a rate of 6%. Entity B lends $10,000 to Johnny Jones at a rate of 6%. Which entity made the socially rewarding loan? Well, if Entity A was Johnny’s neighbor Billy Smith, and Entity B was the bank down the street — let’s […]
Wachovia is making it easier to save money with an automatic savings system similar to Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” program. Way2Save transfers $1 from a customer’s Wachovia checking account into a new, special Way2Save savings account each time he/she makes a purchase with his/her Check Card or makes a payment via an online […]
As financial institutions across the country make announcements about their 2008 scholarship initiatives, Tinker Federal Credit Union is taking a unique approach by having an online video contest. The concept is simple: Think about what money means to you. Show us any way you want in a video you make yourself. Upload your video for […]
If I ran Twitter, the prompt wouldn’t be “What are you doing?” Because, honestly, and with no offense to my Twitter friends, I don’t care what they’re doing. I don’t care that they’re at a Starbucks working, I don’t care that they’re eating oatmeal for breakfast, I don’t care that they’re at an airport, I […]
On a personal note, I’m no longer with Epsilon. What it means: If you’ve been communicating with me using my Epsilon email address, please use the email address listed on the About page. If you know of any companies that could utilize my skills and talents, please let me know. If you have any idea […]
Navy Federal Credit Union is attributing its ‘green’ corporate campus for dropping employee turnover from 60% annually to 17%, a 43% reduction. According to an article on the new space, Navy Federal stumbled onto sustainable architecture in an attempt to improve the work environment for employees. Ebb Ebbesen, SVP of construction and process improvements at […]
In the Credit Union Times, Mary Olson, vice president of marketing of the $2.5 billion credit union said, “With this mark, Delta Community acknowledges the origins of flight but also looks ahead to the possibility and progress that flight represents.”Other rationale for the logo includes: The green represents the communities the credit union serves, and […]
A study by Bigresearch says this is what people do when TV commercials come on: 41.2% of viewers take a peak at what’s on other channels 33.5% talk with others in the room or by phone 30.2% mentally tune out 5.5% pay attention to commercials TV’s influence on consumers to purchase products declined, whereas new […]
I got an email recently from someone who congratulated me for making his list of the top 42 content marketing blogs. (To understand the relevance of the number 42, see the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Universe). I should have been honored and thrilled. But there was one little thing that bugged me — the request […]
In a recent post, marketing guru and prolific blogger Seth Godin wrote: Don’t let the words get in the way. If you’re writing online, forget everything you were tortured by in high school English class. You’re just trying to be real, to make a point, to write something worth reading. So just say it.” My […]
If you haven’t already seen this, please watch. It’s only 1:47 long. Q. What’s wrong with this video? A. It’s brilliant. And that is what makes it so horribly wrong. How is it, that in the 100 or so years that credit unions have existed, no CU executive, no ad agency creative genius, no anybody […]
All the talk about how direct mail has run its course, the superiority of email ROI, and how influential print inserts are (relative to TV ads) is simply not very helpful. What do those who put out these research findings expect us to do? Move our entire marketing investment to the new or better investment […]
My friend Tim McAlpine writes: What if your credit union could acquire new members and sell products by blogging? I’ll bet there would be a lot more credit unions blogging if the leadership and marketing department understood how they could use this new medium to better connect with members and to sell more products and […]
In his own blog, Gene Blishen, CEO of Mount Lehman Credit Union, reveals the process by which he chose ‘Textus’ as the name of a mobile phone banking system his credit union is now offering. The service, known as SMS, allows people to perform certain banking services over their mobile phones by sending text messages. […]
University of Illinois Employees Credit Union, a $157 million financial institution, has a new branch in Urbana. The 6,500 square foot facility cost $2 million to build and will employ 20. Branch features include: A giant photo of UI’s Foellinger Auditorium covering the wall behind tellers A band of orange surrounds the walls, punctuated with […]
Forrester Research found that across a range of eight financial products, at one end, 59% of consumers researched their choice of credit cards online, while at the other end, 34% researched their life insurance decision online. Even at the low end, that’s a pretty healthy percentage of customers. But where are they really going when […]
The latest TV commercial from Charlotte Metro Credit Union stars Charlotte Bobcats head coach Sam Vincent and player Jared Dudley. They share the stage (or “court,” to be more accurate) with a local professional actress. This is the third spot in a series from Charlotte Metro that feature NBA stars (previous coverage here). The $150 […]
The nation’s largest correspondent bank (see definition below) is changing its name to ‘Silverton Bank.’ The bank hopes that the name change will eliminate confusion in the marketplace. Out of 22 correspondent banks in the United States, 20 use “Banker’s Bank” in their names, including: Bankers Bank The Bankers Bank The Independent Bankers Bank Independent […]
The CMO Council always does a good job with their annual survey of marketing execs — this year’s report is no exception. A lot of interesting findings. While reading through them, though, I couldn’t help but wonder if everyone understood what the execs surveyed were really saying. After all, they couch their true feelings in […]
Never mind that the author of this blog post is only 21, this kid nails it: “The best way to draw people in is to show how you are different from a bank; rate and fee changes aren’t going to do that.” His step-by-step advice is elegant in its simplicity: The first step is to […]
Vox issued a report titled “Banking Mind Model Study: A Customer Experience Analysis of Consumer Banking Industry Websites.” According to the report: “We compared the page elements and layouts of a carefully selected group of banking industry websites to create a composite website home page we call the Mind Model Representation.” My take: Although this […]
In 2007, Charlotte Metro Credit Union, rolled out an ad campaign featuring former NBA star and CMCU member Muggsy Bogues. The most recent spot, which is airing on FOX, ABC and NBC affiliates in Charlotte, focuses on the CMCU web site, which got a complete makeover last year. FIRST SPOT SECOND […]
Chase plans to spend $70 million in the next two and half months on the new “Chase What Matters Most” campaign. The ads, in black and white, will promote the bank’s range of services including credit cards, student loans, retail banking, overdraft and fraud alerts. In this NY Times article, Hayes Roth, the chief marketing […]
The Family Bank, a $97 million-asset thrift based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota is changing its name to Voyager Bank. In this article, the bank offered no explanation why it picked ‘Voyager’ as its new name. The Family Bank had previously acquired Voyager Mortgage, another Eden Prairie financial services provider. The bank is also converting to […]
McKenzie Banking Company has announced it will adopt the name of its sister organization, ‘Foundation Bank,’ sometime in January 2008. Apparently, McKenzie and Foundation have been owned by the Wilson family for the last 20 years. The name change appears to be nothing more than a consolidation. Foundation Bank president Keith Priestley says, “The decision […]
Coastal Federal Credit Union in North Carolina gave away 1,300 of these fish coin banks back in February 2007. Unfortunately, they have excessive levels of lead paint. The affected credit union has 163,792 members and assets of $1.7 billion.