On June 10, I will be addressing a group of New Jersey bank marketing folks on how to advertise in these difficult economic times. The problems that all banks are faced with are:
- The recession created huge negativity and mistrust of all financial institutions.
- Banks and other financial-related service providers suffered, both locally and nationally.
- People are scared and suspicious of all new offers.
- Bank advertising budgets in many cases were "frozen."
We were (and still are to some effect) in a situation where Big Business had to convince people that it could fix the problem. Government, too, has to convince people that it could fix the problem. What one observer said was worse had to do with his feeling the "the marketing and advertising economic model of free enterprise, differentiation, creative advertising and marketing" was beginning to be looked at as broken beyond repair. One thing that happened immediately was the race to social media as a alternative. But the real issue was not a new means of delivering positive messages as much as it was one of just going back to basics.
What really is at issue here is a case of going back to the brand to see how and if it has been tarnished...and in what ways. A bank's brand is everything. Unless it conveys trust and solidarity at the minimum, all the advertising cleverness in the world cannot make it stronger. First, bank marketers have to find out what's broken and figure out ways to promote the brand to mend it. It's really a case of doing some research among key audiences to get an "update" on the brand. It's not rocket science. But it does involve some in-depth research even to the point of revisiting the bank's mission statement.
I could go on, but I think you have an idea of how to start the process. Look to the brand first, and then things will start to fall into place.
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