Comments on: Banks Should Stop TV Advertising and Use Social Media

By: Fred H Schlegel

Fred H Schlegel — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 14:11:02 +0000

Figuring out the right balance to strike between all the tools available to create relationships between prospect, customer, employee, and company is the critical marketing challenge. It is easy to allow the momentum of established tools prevent the adoption of new tools. Add the challenges of familiarity ("I like postcards because I understand postcards"), measurement difficulties (Nielson vs Clicks), popularity contests, messaging fear, and simple technological concerns, and it's easy to see why early adoption is the realm of the few. Fred H Schlegels last blog post..Physics and Ideation: When Does A Breakthrough Idea Become An Acceptable Idea?

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:34:25 +0000

social media is a wing of marketing, not it's own building. When they work together, it gets better. Matts last blog post..Internet Mass Media Bubble?

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:13:12 +0000

Hi Matt, You make a fair point, and thank you for jumping into the conversation. The idea of interweaving media - driving people to blogs from TV spots and vice versa, is a very cool concept, and much better than dropping TV from the marketing mix. In any event, it wasn't really my intent to trash TV advertising in general, although I can see now it definitely comes across that way. But it seems to me that banks, as a group, consistently put out TV ads that are worse than having no ads at all. But now that you mention it, financial institutions have used TV quite effectively in years gone by. E.F. Hutton's "When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen" campaign and Smith Barney, "We make money the old fashioned way, we earn it," resonated, in my opinion, in a very positive way. The theme of Smith Barney's campaign is quite appropriate these days. Brad Shorrs last blog post..Book Review - World Wide Rave, by David Meerman Scott

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:56:39 +0000

First off, thanks for the link. Second, lets slow down. Even though the ad you describe is awful for many reasons, an awful ad doesn't mean the medium is awful. Social media still needs something to tell people about it. IE, a blog can't get people to it, it can only get people back. TV could be used to tell a bigger story about how the bank wants to educate people through social media. Thus, the TV isn't about silly things like getting husbands, it's about informing people about how this bank, with a blog, Twitter feed, etc, is different. The TV then drives someone to social media, the social media drives them back and down the road to purchase decision. People don't think it's easy to flip banks. Social media can explain the benefits and ease. So, while i like the tone of your post, and your ideas, i don't like the wholesale dismissal of a medium. It can be used better, and the bank can use social media better to change behavior. Matts last blog post..Internet Mass Media Bubble?

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:28:45 +0000

Hi Bill, Telling stories, being indirect, etc., is fine, but there has to be some connection between the story and the actual benefits offered by the advertiser. Otherwise, it’s ineffective. As David Ogilvy said, “If it doesn’t sell, it isn’t creative.” The USAA bank site has a nice clean design and is very straightforward – no hype here. They have to do something about their URLs, tho -

https://www.usaa.com/inet/ent_utils/McStaticPages?key=become_member_benefits

Brad Shorrs last blog post..Banks Should Stop TV Advertising and Use Social Media

By: Bill

Bill — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 22:26:20 +0000

While I don’t get as cranked as you over bank ads, do agree that some connection between services offered and the customer would be refreshing. As others have commented, the commodity nature of the product – money and the servicing thereof – makes it a close contender for being the “oldest profession”. And we all know the other service normally awarded that title!

There has been a trend over the past 10-15 years to avoid anything resembling a direct approach in media advertising; as a read it, has a good deal to do with the increasingly young average age of the consumer marketplace and how it is perceived. Gee, I can remember the good old days when an advertiser might just tell you in an interesting and informative way why you should buy its product. Attempting to cleverly entertain so that the audience talks about the ad seen the previous day while forgetting the company/product involved is getting a bit tiresome. Perhaps the current messy economic situation will influence some to spend their ad dollars in a wiser and more effective manner. We can only hope…

Check out usaa.com and tell me/us what you think of their site and the way they come across. A very successful firm over the years in the banking and insurance business with few offices outside of San Antonio and little or no traditional advertising.

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 01:26:08 +0000

Hi Andrew, Banks certainly would need a great deal of preparation before diving into social media - all the more reason they should start now. Brad Shorrs last blog post..Banks Should Stop TV Advertising and Use Social Media

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 00:45:36 +0000

Brad, Based on your description of the advertisement, it seems to me that all that they could hope to achieve by this is to offend those who are associated with the automobile industry. True, used car dealers are commonly viewed as the scum of the earth, but as you say, bankers themselves do not enjoy an overly positive reputation at the moment, and taking cheap shots at the automobile industry makes little sense in the context of a nation which is rallying behind an industry which is battling for its survival. Whatever their medium, they should stick to their core message of how they can serve the needs of their target audience. I agree that banks should place more emphasis on trying to harness the power of social media as a tool of communicating with their target audience. However, I would caution that before banks (or any organization) tries to take advantage of the opportunities offered by various social media platforms, they need to first take time to understand the dynamics of the social media environment and how to interact in a manner which resonates with those who they are attempting to reach. I highly doubt, for example, that the type of one way communication which financial institutions are used to in traditional advertising environments would be an effective model in a social media environment in which interactivity and approachability is seen as a virtue. Andrews last blog post..How 35 workplace deaths were exposed in an internet chat room

By: Christopher Morace

Christopher Morace — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 16:04:46 +0000

Fred, great article and perspective. Have you seen what Bank of America has done to engage their small business customers using the Jive SBS platform: http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/index.jspa. You are exactly right that when it comes to banking everyone needs to get back to the where the industry started, which is relationships. Banks that actually connect and build strong relationships with their customers can expect to benefit in a space that is currently becoming abstracted and commoditized–and their customers will, too!

Christopher Moraces last blog post..Can single-tenant work for enterprise SaaS?

By: Brad Shorr

Brad Shorr — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:46:02 +0000

Hi Fred, Sounds like you understand the industry rather well. Everything you say screams opportunity to me. The first bank that figures out the public wants everything that banks aren’t giving them stands to win big. “Happiness through Plastic”. Now there’s a tagline!

Brad Shorrs last blog post..Banks Should Stop TV Advertising and Use Social Media