I love to connect the dots. And, for all that is wrong with business air travel, there is also something right about it. In an always connected world, it is great to have a respite from everything digital.
My personal hope is that the offer of internet access during commercial air travel fails miserabley. As humans, we need space in our lives. We need to have down time and to rest in our thoughts without the compulsion to activity that drives most of our days.
So it is that, on a flight to Toronto, I connected the dots between “Social Banking” and “Financial Literacy”, a topic made popular by banks rebuilding their brands as they emerge from this tough recession.
I recently read an insert in US Banker (link?) about the “growing trend of Social Banking”. With due respect, the two page advertorial said little specific about how banks might use social media tools to promote their brands and enhance profitability. The article cited only one meager example of a bank having started a blog and twitter account to pitch product bundles and low interest rate offers to potential clients.
Reading the WSJ on the flight, I noticed a full page ad from Bank of America, promoting “Clear, easy-to-understand products. Just what you asked for.”
Before I turned the page, dismissing the bold print as another empty marketing promise, I read further and understood that BofA was highlighting changes to its Overdraft Coverage policy and was introducing a new card product, “BankAmericard Basic Visa Card” as well as a mortgage-related service “Home Loans Clarity Commitment”.
Despite the throw back name of the card product (I thought BankAmericard went away with the Brooklyn Dodgers) the idea was right. “Some customers just want a basic card, that’s it”, read the copy….. “And this is it. One rate, however you use your card and no over-the-limit fees.”
To successfully execute a social media strategy, business needs to have something to say. Manufacturing a message or “soliciting your opinion” can be perceived as phony in the Blogoshpere and among “tweeps” in the Twitter world.
If I were the person responsible for BofA’s social media strategy (do they have one?), I would lead with my understanding of consumer needs in these tough times and promote financial literacy, not in a philosophical way, but through demonstration of the new products and services being developed to help consumers manage their financial lives.
That’s the future of “social banking”.I love to connect the dots. And, for all that is wrong with business air travel, there is also something right about it. In an always connected world, it is great to have a respite from everything digital.
I love to connect the dots. And, for all that is wrong with business air travel, there is also something right about it. In an always connected world, it is great to have a respite from everything digital.
My personal hope is that the offer of Internet access during commercial air travel fails miserably. As humans, we need space in our lives. We need to have down time and to rest in our thoughts without the compulsion to activity that drives most of our days.
So it is that, on a flight to Toronto, I connected the dots between “Social Banking” and “Financial Literacy“, a topic made popular by banks rebuilding their brands as they emerge from this tough recession.
I recently read an insert in US Banker about the “growing trend of Social Banking”. With due respect, the two page advertorial said little specific about how banks might use social media tools to promote their brands and enhance profitability. The article cited only one meager example of a bank having started a blog and twitter account to pitch product bundles and low interest rate offers to potential clients.
Reading the WSJ on the flight, I noticed a full page ad from Bank of America, promoting “Clear, easy-to-understand products. Just what you asked for.”
Before I turned the page, dismissing the bold print as another empty marketing promise, I read further and understood that BofA was highlighting changes to its Overdraft Coverage policy and was introducing a new card product, “BankAmericard Basic Visa Card” as well as a mortgage-related service “Home Loans Clarity Commitment“.
Despite the throw back name of the card product (I thought BankAmericard went away with the Brooklyn Dodgers) the idea was right. “Some customers just want a basic card, that’s it“, read the copy….. “And this is it. One rate, however you use your card and no over-the-limit fees.”
To successfully execute a social media strategy, business needs to have something to say. Manufacturing a message or “soliciting your opinion” can be perceived as phony in the Blogosphere and among “tweeps” in the Twitter world.
If I were the person responsible for BofA’s social media strategy (do they have one?), I would lead with my understanding of consumer needs in these tough times and promote financial literacy, not in a philosophical way, but through demonstration of the new products and services being developed to help consumers manage their financial lives.
That’s the future of “social banking”.
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Bill Hanifin
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