Conversing with customers makes all the difference

During the financial downturn in 2008, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) conducted a study of about 6,000 people in six countries to explore recent and planned financial behavior, perceptions of financial services providers, and recent experiences. The study revealed that 30% of the consumers were contacted by their financial institutions about the crisis. According to the study, “In the United States, for example, only 53 percent of consumers who received no contact from their primary bank about the crisis said they were satisfied with the bank's overall service level, whereas 83 percent of those who were contacted reported satisfaction. Check out a summary of the study here.

Although not many bank names were mentioned in the study, it was noted that three financial institutions had updated their print advertising messages to reflect the times. On the other hand, most of the ads lacked relevance to the financial crisis or basic concerns of many consumers. From a recent article in Adweek, Kilian Berz, a partner in BCG’s Toronto office and head of its retail banking practice in the Americas offers this piece of advice for the major financial players out there: "In 2009, financial institutions should adapt their marketing and sales strategies to reflect the current situation much more directly than many have to date. If you're not appropriately responsive, then you're at risk here of losing market share. The banks that are more nimble and more able to use those more interactive channels of advertising . . . and can fill that and update it with current content are going to be advantaged."

Berz explains that JP Morgan Chase is one firm that stands out above the din. JPMorgan Chase has created a Web-based series of opinion papers about topics such as lending and mortgage management called "The Way Forward." JP Morgan Chase launched “The Way Forward” to highlight the things that the firm is doing to harness its resources to help their customers and communities.

In times like these, it is crucial that companies and brands reach out to their customers and nurture the relationships. A print ad that speaks to the financial concerns does not do enough. Personal contact like a phone call or a personalized email from a financial advisor goes a long way. After reading this study, it is obvious that consumers want honest and open communications during the good times and the bad times. As a member of Citibank, I can tell you that the bank has done nothing to communicate with me about any financial concerns. I have lost trust in many financial institutions and I know that I am not alone. How hard is it to reach out to your customers and reassure them that their money is safe or offer sage advice about next steps? Unfortunately, it seems like silence and irrelevant marketing messages are the route that many financial firms are taking.

Curious to see what various banks were doing with their print campaign, I did some investigating. Here are a few examples of print ads that I found from 2008 that addressed the financial downturn. The Bank of America ad appeared in Time magazine in December 2008. The Wells Fargo ad appeared in Fortune magazine and The Economist in December 2008.

Do these ads make you feel like these banks understand your financial needs and concerns?