MARKETING BANKS:The challenge to stand apart

MARKETING BANKS:
The challenge to stand apart
by: David Beerley

The banking industry faces some exceptional challenges when it comes to marketing. The public tends to view banks and other financial institutions with suspicion, or they take them for granted. In either case the ability to positively impact the public's perceptions of banks requires creative and forthright marketing.

Show me a successful business and I'll show you a marketing success story. Those companies who had the foresight to dominate their industries from the start enjoy the greatest perk afforded to any marketing campaign, said perk being "Name-branding". To this day we make "Xerox" copies, not "photo" copies. We reach for a "Kleenex" as opposed to a tissue. Regardless of what brand of pop we have in our refrigerator we offer up a "Coke". When our drains are clogged we discuss "Roto-rooting" them. Once your product or service becomes synonymous with a concept you are on your way to guaranteed growth! It is worth noting that the companies I've mentioned continue to market, but they are in the luxury position of only having to purchase "maintenance" marketing. While costing considerably less than their previous dominant posture, it keeps them in the public mind. Does anyone with young children not have McDonald's menu committed to memory? Yet McDonald's continues to run periodic campaigns for one reason - the competition is aggressively inviting you into their driveway. McDonald's is also a great example of specific target marketing. Whenever they attempted to reach a more mature demographic through the introduction of "adult" fare, the campaigns fell flat. So they continue to market to their proven demographic, namely kids.

Hold on. We're talking about marketing banks. To be certain we are not selling hamburgers. Banks must focus on several things when marketing. They need to instill confidence. They need to image themselves in a memorable way. They need to provide specific reasons for the public to move from their present provider to their institution. This can only be accomplished when you reach beyond the obvious and focus on the criteria that distinguish you from the competition. We all know that banks provide checking accounts, make loans, provide safety deposit boxes, etc. But at some point in time there was a banking group who decided to open on Saturdays. Someone initiated the concept of free checking, 24 hour banking, and adding services such as financial planning. And these trends were eventually mirrored by the competition out of necessity.

What are your strengths? What sets you apart from the competition? Your people? Your services? Your location(s)? All the above? I worked with a pharmacy several years ago that was located in a town saturated with pharmacies. My advice to them was to ignore the obvious, prescription filling, and focus their marketing on their unique features. They were the only pharmacy in town with a certain brand of vitamins and herbals, with a 5 minute cholesterol/blood sugar test, and with prescription flagging to notify their clients of renewal dates. By focusing their marketing on these unique services they gave the public specific reasons to shop with them. Prescription refills followed naturally. Take the time to determine what your unique features are. Brainstorm with ALL of your employees. Who knows? There might be an innovative marketing mind sitting behind one of your drive-thru windows. Once you have complied a list of reasons to choose you over your competition, get the word out!

The challenge now becomes how best to communicate your strengths to the public. To accomplish this in the most cost effective way you need to determine what demographic will most benefit from the service(s), then purchase those mediums that are more inclined to reach them. While marketing is not an exact science, there are general rules of thumb that are time tested. For example, the 50 + demographic have habitually read a newspaper over a morning cup of coffee, while the younger demographics tend to rely on electronic mediums for their news. Radio and television formats appeal to specific groups of consumers, and proper selection is very important. Billboards provide a conscious and subconscious imprint of your name. My advice it to pick as many appropriate target mediums as you can afford and stick with them for no less than a year. Success is not instantaneous, but it can be lasting.

David Beerley has 22 years marketing experience and has recently joined the Strategic Advantage Team. He can be reached at: (405) 826-1175.

First published on BankersOnline.com 1/14/02