Blow Up Your Marketing at the ABA Marketing Conference

Earlier this week at the ABA Marketing Conference, I had the opportunity to join Jeff Stephens from Creative Brand Communications in an episode of his bi-weekly Banktastic podcast Blow Up Your Marketing. Take a look at what conference attendees had to say about the conference.



Blow Up Your Marketing episodes can be seen on the Banktastic blog. Check them out, and watch for future episodes.

It's Time to Own Your Market

It isn't easy being a bank or credit union today. Institutions are faced with a series of increasingly pressing challenges - from aggressive competition and shifting demographic characteristics, to changing consumer behaviors and the impact of commoditization within the industry. These challenges are complex; and they require that banks and credit unions think differently about their markets, their brands, and how each impacts their strategies for growth.

Recognizing these challenges, and the impact they have on today’s financial institutions, has prompted us to partner with Creative Brand Communications to offer banks and credit unions a new service called Own Your Market. Over the past few months, we’ve worked together to help a group of institutions take the first steps towards owning their markets. And today, we’re pleased to announce the formal launch of the new service for banks and credit unions.

Own Your Market is an innovative service to help forward-thinking financial institutions align market opportunities with brand strengths to develop market dominance. It is designed to help institutions:

· Understand their markets and their opportunities in those markets
· Create a brand that is relevant to their markets
· Position themselves for competitive advantage
· Convey value added through the customer experience

For more information about Own Your Market, please visit www.ownyourmarket.net

The Impact of Mobile Banking on Your Brand

Jeff Stephens at Creative Brand Communications recently posted a question on Banktastic about the impact of mobile banking on branding for banks and credit unions. With projections of 100 million US consumers using mobile banking by 2012 (cited by Javelin Research in a Business Week article last month) it is no wonder that the industry is scrambling to take advantage of the latest technology. Today mobile banking is an emerging technology…tomorrow, can we say “me-too”?! What do you think? Will the offer of (or failure to offer) mobile banking impact your brand in the mind's of your customer?

Targeting Small Businesses with Lemonade

Jeff Stephens points us to the latest from Umpqua Bank – a campaign centered on perhaps the smallest and most basic of small business, the lemonade stand. “The Lemonaire” campaign, as the bank calls it, uses a variety of media to expose small business owners to the bank’s latest small business initiative - giving entrepreneurial youngsters the opportunity to start their own lemonade stand with the basic supplies and $10 business loan to get their business started.



Like Jeff, I find the campaign website interesting in that there is no overt attempt to sell and it’s minimally branded. You’ll notice that the only real message communicated in text at the bottom of the screen is not an attempt to sell product, but one of the bank’s philosophy – “We believe in encouraging entrepreneurs.” This, in combination with the fun and different presentation reflects Umpqua’s messages and overall brand, and will likely drive many small business owners to consider the bank for their needs.

Visit the lemoniare website and read what the New York Times has to say about this campaign.