It seems like every day someone comes out with a survey that shows that the most trusted source of opinions are our friends and family. My reaction: Duh. This has always been true. Web 2.0 didn’t cause this — it only enabled the sharing of opinions. One recent source of this data point is Forrester […]
Allurent recently released results of a survey which found that 41% of consumers — up from 28% in 2005 — said that a frustrating online experience would make them less likely to shop that retailer’s physical store. Nearly six in ten said that a frustrating online experience negatively impacts their opinion of the retailer. According […]
I see a lot of RFPs for database marketing assistance. While most go into lots of detail about the requirements the firm has, I’m often struck by what’s not included. Here are 10 questions that should be asked: 1. Operational efficiency. “Can you provide us with specific examples of how you’ve helped firms achieve ongoing […]
I realize that I’m a little late in commenting on Wesabe, the money management community (?), which launched this past November, but… It’s a shame that most banks will ignore this site. A former colleague of mine said “…interesting concept, but I don’t see how they make it into anything real.” Reading about Wesabe reminded […]
If I’m the first person to point you to Pat LaPointe’s MarketingNPV site, go there and spend a few hours perusing the great content on that site. On his blog, Pat posted his predictions for the “Path of Predictive Analytics.” I wanted to share some of those predictions, along with my thoughts on them. Pat […]
An article in Chief Marketer called How to Win (More) Marketing Awards: Practical Help from a Real-Life Judge offers some advice on how to win an award, even if you’re not the “best marketer on the planet.” Here’s reason #1: Most entries are riddled with mistakes and slapdash efforts. [S]ponsoring organizations…get 1% of entries in […]
There are some common complaints I hear senior execs voice about marketing: Marketing is too insular — they’re not out there with customer service and sales trying the better understand the customer”, and “Marketing doesn’t tell us where we should be investing to deepen our customer relationships.” If this frustrates you, I can understand why. […]
Nationwide is previewing their Super Bowl ads with Kevin Federline on its site. When millions of viewers see it during the Super Bowl, here’s how they’ll react: “That was cool, but what the hell is an annuity? Hey, any more beer in the fridge?” Financial professionals are fond of saying that insurance products are sold, […]
News of the personalized billboards that Mini Cooper is testing got me thinking of some other firms that might use this new medium: Ron Shevlin, your current bank balance is $1.17. Get a payday loan at Sonic Cash. Ron Shevlin, your STD tests are in, contact us immediately. Lahey Clinic Thank you for your continued […]
Interesting study from Cogent Research on affluent baby boomers was featured in today’s Investment News. Key data points: More than one-third of the 4,000 investors who were born between 1956 and 1964 with investible assets of more than $100,000 surveyed in the study said they don’t work with an investment adviser. 57% of the respondents’ […]
Google’s general manager of enterprise business, Dave Girouard recently told the Mass Technology Leadership Council that: “the insane complexity of technology is leading companies to spend 75% to 80% of IT budgets simply maintaining the systems they have already.” And what should they do instead, Mr. Girouard? Simply ignore — or better yet, throw away […]
The Aite Group recently published an excellent report on reward/loyalty programs in financial services. I can’t share their analysis and forecasts here, but they did give me permission to share the following chart, which shows the impact that Banco Popular’s loyalty program, Premia, had on the depth of their customer relationships. [Note: The point of […]
That’s her on the right. Satisfied with the firms she does business with — but not loyal to them.
Forrester recently published a report on the ROI of blogging and a follow-up case study focusing on the ROI of General Motors’ FastLane blog. According to Forrester’s calculations, GM’s first-year ROI on the blog was 99%. The primary contributors to the top line: 1) $180,000 in customer insight, which was estimated by assuming a cost […]
AdAge reported that Miller Brewing is shelving its Man Law ads. Apparently, Man Law #1 is “advertising must boost sales.” If that’s so — and who am I to challenge Man Law — then some banks may have to re-think their ad spend. Using data compiled by TNS and published in American Banker (pw req’d), […]
Following my post on sense-and-respond marketing, I exchanged emails with Steve Haeckel, who coined the term “sense-and-respond” as a business concept in the mid-80s. One comment from Steve sheds light on why many innovation initiatives (which includes building a sense-and-respond marketing capability) are doomed to under-deliver, if not fail outright: The legacy managerial framework systematically […]
You didn’t think I was joking when I suggested that the Crankys were a new emerging consumer segment, did you? I wasn’t. There are millions of relatively well-to-do, highly-educated Boomers (and some Seniors and Gen Xers) who are dissatisfied with many of the firms they interact with. Why? Because few firms understand what the Crankys […]
In a 2005 Harvard Business Review article, Tom Davenport described the emergence of a: New form of competition based on the extensive use of analytics, data, and fact-based decision making. Instead of serving all customers, [companies] serve optimal customers. Instead of throwing money at business problems, they optimize their use of capital. Companies that strive […]
Then get ready to pony up some serious online advertising dollars. According to data compiled by TNS and published in American Banker (pw req’d), financial services firms competing for deposits by offering high-yield savings accounts are spending big bucks online. Granted, online spending from the big firms doesn’t support just their high-yield savings accounts. But […]
Want to break in to this new field? Here’s the formula: Write a book, create a blog (or vice versa), then get hired to speak at conferences and company events. You know who today’s consultainers are. They’re not strictly consultants (they don’t do “projects” — their call to action on their blog is usually “hire […]
I’ve been accused of being cranky. Turns out, I might not be alone. I could be part of a whole segment of cranky consumers. Some evidence: Cranky.com. Eon’s new search engine designed specifically for aging baby boomers. (#1 search term: “sex”, #9: “arthritis”). MrCranky.com. Movie reviews with a rating scale that starts with “almost tolerable” […]
Recent research from professors at Nanyang Technological University and the University of British Columbia about word-of-mouth recommendations should be of interest to bank marketers. According to the study: Consumers are more likely to provide WOM for products that are relevant to self-concept than for more utilitarian products. There was some indication that…consumers exaggerated the benefits […]
Not “about” IT… but “from” IT. It’s not news that marketers are under the gun to demonstrate ROI. CIOs are laughing under their breaths — they’ve been dealing with this for 25 years. And they’ve learned a few things about how to deal with the issue. (But they’re not going to tell you, because, hey […]
A series of ads on BankerSpank.com parodies the PC/Mac ads, this time with Bank and Credit Union. They’re cute ads…but they won’t drive any business a credit union’s way. One reason why Apple fanatics are devoted to the brand is that they see themselves as different from the stuff-shirted, boring business types who use PCs. […]
Relevance is the mantra for today’s email marketers. But it shouldn’t be the only consideration. The emotional level of the interaction or transaction that an email message pertains to is an important factor in understanding how an email message will impact a customer’s relationship with a product, brand, or company. Irrelevant email about things a […]
According to an article on uwnews.org, researchers from three [state of] Washington universities found that: Consumers who are skeptical about the truth of advertising claims are more responsive to emotionally appealing ads than ones peppered with information.” Emotional ads were characterized as “providing an emotional experience that is relevant to the use of the brand; […]
Here’s how [I imagine] this came about. Overheard at the Management Committee meeting: CEO: We need to increase deposits. Any ideas? Marketing guy: We could give away iPods. Finance guy: Too expensive. Retail banking guy: My brother-in-law has a chicken farm. We could give those away. IT guy [mumbling about an email he read on […]
A brilliant idea. Here’s who should advertise there (and their message): Handi Wipes. “Cuz’ God knows what’s been put in these bins.” Banks. “Bank with us. Our lines are shorter than this one.” Amtrak. “If you rode the train you wouldn’t need this bin [well, not yet].” Cialis. “By the time you get through this […]
I spoke recently to a senior finance exec in a large organization about measuring marketing’s return on investment. He said: We know it’s hard to calculate the ROI on all expenditures, and we’re not looking for Marketing to do that. We know that they have to invest in brand equity and market research — and […]