Comments on: Community Banks are Coming Up http://blog.stackpolepartners.com/2009/03/18/community-banks-are-coming-up/ Just another WordPress weblog Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:20:26 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Peter Stackpole http://blog.stackpolepartners.com/2009/03/18/community-banks-are-coming-up/comment-page-1/#comment-196 Peter Stackpole Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:20:26 +0000 http://blog.stackpolepartners.com/2009/03/18/community-banks-are-coming-up/#comment-196 While I am in absolute and total agreement with all the points you make after your opening paragraph, our own proprietary research (www.stackpolereport.com) conducted in Jan/Feb 09 would vigorously challenge the notion that consumers are thinking about all banks and credit unions as a collective group. Most notably on the issues of "responsibility", "stability", and "connected with my community" where community banks scored significantly higher. On the issue of "stability" only 27% of respondents viewed all banks as the same. While I am in absolute and total agreement with all the points you make after your opening paragraph, our own proprietary research (www.stackpolereport.com) conducted in Jan/Feb 09 would vigorously challenge the notion that consumers are thinking about all banks and credit unions as a collective group. Most notably on the issues of “responsibility”, “stability”, and “connected with my community” where community banks scored significantly higher. On the issue of “stability” only 27% of respondents viewed all banks as the same.

]]> By: Brady Walen http://blog.stackpolepartners.com/2009/03/18/community-banks-are-coming-up/comment-page-1/#comment-194 Brady Walen Thu, 19 Mar 2009 17:11:33 +0000 http://blog.stackpolepartners.com/2009/03/18/community-banks-are-coming-up/#comment-194 While there is certainly opportunity for Community Banks to 'go after corporate behemoths', bankers and marketers need to remember that consumers are essentially thinking about all banks (community, regional, and national) and credit unions as a collective group. This comes as no surprise when we consider the ways in which financial institutions are presented by the media. And while the messages about safety and soundness are certainly important - bankers need to go beyond simply telling their customers and their communities that they are safe and secure. With so much uncertainty towards financial institutions, do we really expect consumers to accept marketing messages as fact? Perhaps the most important issue here however, is the fact that we're seeing so much of the same - institutions in communities across the country are promoting the same messages, using the same media, and relying heavily on the 'insert bank name here' kind of advertising. At the same time, many of these institutions continue to conduct business the same as in years past. If community banks are going to take advantage of today's market opportunities, they need to work to strategically differentiate themselves from their competitors - in a way that means something to their customers or target customers. This simply isn't going to happen with unsupported, generic, 'insert bank name here' advertising. While there is certainly opportunity for Community Banks to ‘go after corporate behemoths’, bankers and marketers need to remember that consumers are essentially thinking about all banks (community, regional, and national) and credit unions as a collective group. This comes as no surprise when we consider the ways in which financial institutions are presented by the media.

And while the messages about safety and soundness are certainly important – bankers need to go beyond simply telling their customers and their communities that they are safe and secure. With so much uncertainty towards financial institutions, do we really expect consumers to accept marketing messages as fact?

Perhaps the most important issue here however, is the fact that we’re seeing so much of the same – institutions in communities across the country are promoting the same messages, using the same media, and relying heavily on the ‘insert bank name here’ kind of advertising. At the same time, many of these institutions continue to conduct business the same as in years past.

If community banks are going to take advantage of today’s market opportunities, they need to work to strategically differentiate themselves from their competitors – in a way that means something to their customers or target customers. This simply isn’t going to happen with unsupported, generic, ‘insert bank name here’ advertising.

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