While focus groups are a widely-used research tool in the retail sector, they are not as readily appropriate for financial marketing research for a number of reasons. Most importantly, perhaps, financial services organizations are not selling a product or service, but rather asking people to entrust them with an important piece of their future. Increasingly, financial services marketers understand the need to build their campaigns on a platform of knowledge, concern for the client and a long-term focus on responsible stewardship. As a result marketers who want to get to the psychology that motivates financial decisions are seeking a more sensitive, personalized approach. Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Incremental change may not be enough to keep pace in today's highly competitive financial services environment. Visionary leaders understand that in select situations they must abandon the status quo and undertake an aggressive corporate transformation in order to increase profitability and market share. By assertively challenging conventional wisdom a corporation can make a bold intervention into the marketplace and capture a unique approach that assures immediate and relevant competitive advantage. We have identified three differentiating factors that are essential for effective transformation.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

No one would argue that an online presence has become an increasingly important marketing component for any financial services company. At the same time, most companies are still struggling to determine what online method will cost-effectively promote their site to those target market segments that are most likely to become loyal and profitable customers. Banner ads, pay-per-click programs and search engine optimization are among the many tools that can play an important role in the development of an effective online marketing program.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

We believe that the next major communications advancement for the financial services industry will be applications that create a convergence between the Internet and the telephone. Voice Portals can deliver real-time information in response to user commands and also allow users to enter data and requests on their computers and instantaneously receive real-time updates or responses from any phone. There is no need for special equipment, and there are no time or place restrictions for user access. Our experience tells us that the effectiveness and adaptability of the Voice Portal will...Request a Copy of the Entire Article

The most common misperception about advertising is that its purpose is to sell products or services. The fact is that advertising doesn't sell—people do. Advertising's main role is to connect with prospects, shape their perceptions of a company, product or service, and motivate them to take the next step toward becoming a client. Creativity and adherence to a well-crafted marketing strategy is needed to craft advertising that sends the right messages and actively contributes to a brand's welfare.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

For years, up cycles have seen dramatic increases in marketing budgets and down cycles have seen dramatic decreases. Smart marketers know, however, that spending the resources need to send promotional messages to their target markets during the difficult times can win loyalty, incremental market share and marketplace respect. At the same time, the onus remains on financial marketers to do everything in their power to measure the effectiveness of marketing efforts —during good times and bad.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Selecting and empowering an Outstanding Marketing Director is critical to achieving the heights of corporate success. The marketing challenges of financial services firms have significantly increased with the proliferation of messages and mediums, parity products, overburdened distribution channels, and customers who have more knowledge and the ability to exercise more choice. The challenge for every financial services firm is to distinguish itself and its value proposition.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Naming a new venture, product or service can be one of an organization's most important marketing decisions. The naming process is the important first step in building perceptions that will be continually reinforced by cohesive and consistent messages. The right name serves as the springboard for the implementation of an effective branding strategy. The better the name, the more potential it offers for effective, lower-cost branding that can help achieve marketplace success.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Many organizations discount the contribution a mission statement can make and have never crafted one. A good mission statement can, however, contribute to organizational success by providing a clear focus for an organization's activities and creating understanding of its objectives and capabilities. Creating an effective mission statement requires a lot of hard work, but a proven process can help structure the next steps of this task and make it less daunting.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

A properly implemented benchmarking program can provide significant benefits to financial services organizations, including constant improvement and the adaptation of desirable practices. Benchmarking has two basic elements: 1) the evaluation of a company's own processes and procedures to identify strengths and weaknesses; and 2) the identification, analysis and adaptation of the processes and procedures of successful companies.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Information has played a crucial role in the shift to more focused customer-needs-oriented marketing strategies. In an effort to achieve industry leadership, forward-thinking financial services providers have incorporated more focused marketing strategies into their marketing mix by employing powerful new database technology. We have been impressed by the rate at which database marketing has progressed over the past few years —and somewhat puzzled by the limited evidence of its strategic application in the marketplace.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

The financial services landscape —and the tools needed to successfully navigate it —have changed dramatically. Realizing that traditional organizational structures often lack the resources to support expanded business models, many companies are seeking new solutions. Many firms are trying new collaborative arrangements to achieve a faster, less capital intensive approach to responding to the marketplace and staying competitive. Whether collaboration is created internally or externally, it can be an effective way to develop new capabilities, enter new markets and gain competitive advantage.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

A powerful third-party endorsement can be found by turning a company's cadre of satisfied clients into a latent and powerful "salesforce" through a focused referral program. Properly schooled and incented, satisfied clients can provide the impetus to accelerate prospect adoption time and produce significant incremental business. However, implementing a truly effective referral program can be a complex and rather involved process.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

The focus and essence of pragmatic research is to inform and support management decision-making and provide insights to develop new, relevant and differentiated marketing solutions. The primary goal of research is to help ensure that the right distribution channels deliver the right product to the right markets using the right messaging. But, if properly conceived and executed, it can do a whole lot more.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Many in the industry use the terms "marketing" and "sales" interchangeably. In fact, in most financial services firms the sales function is commonly referred to as marketing and internal wholesalers are called marketers. Many financial services executives also fail to distinguish between specialized marketing implementation activities and strategically oriented, fully integrated marketing programs. The word "marketing" has become so corrupted that we feel compelled to make a case to salvage the proper associations for the 'M' word before it is too late.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

An effective corporate Competitive Marketing Intelligence (CMI) system can help an organization avoid unpleasant surprises by providing timely information concerning possible threats and opportunities. Companies who are tuned in to the competition can improve their decision making and overall marketing planning, and react more quickly to competitive actions.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Strategic planning provides management with the opportunity to favorably position their organization in the marketplace and focus resources where they will achieve the greatest returns. Marketing plans provide a detailed roadmap for the design and implementation of marketing activities that support the company's long-range goals. An effective marketing plan not only shows how the organization will achieve its immediate goals, but also informs and persuades specific, often disparate, audiences.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

The Boy Scouts motto provides an important message for financial services organizations. Since the primary product of our industry is trust, it is critical that each firm be prepared to effectively respond to a crisis in a way that will preserve creditability. In the event of a crisis, prior preparation will provide substantial corporate rewards since, in most cases, the real issue becomes not the incident itself but the way it is managed.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

A leadership position can help a company withstand competitive assaults and maximize its marketplace opportunities. Aggressive financial services firms should, therefore, develop a strategy that will create market leadership. However, it can not be over-emphasized that securing a market leadership position is a critical strategic planning issue. It won't be realized merely as the result of a clever advertising campaign or corporate promotions.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

An internal "Best Practices Program" that consciously dismantles organizational barriers to share corporate knowledge can be one of the fastest and most effective ways to achieve organizational improvements. Unlike corporate reengineering and other change efforts, its success is not based on an imposed program, but rather created from the real experiences, knowledge and intelligence of those who have won their stripes dealing with the organization's culture and challenges.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Is your organization an extraordinarily effective marketing organization? Converting a financial services organization into an extraordinarily effective marketing organization requires, in most cases, paradigm shifts within the organization. The challenge is to ensure that every individual, regardless of their position, realizes that every interaction is a "marketing" act that could help or hinder corporate success and equip them to assume psychological ownership of their marketing support role.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Trade shows can be a meaningful part of a company's marketing efforts or a significant waste of time and money. The difference lies in careful planning and judicious resource management. Successful trade show participation means much more than simply showing up. To leverage the unique potential that each trade show offers, an exhibitor should launch an intensive marketing campaign that encompasses three distinct phases: pre-show preparation, at-show performance and post-show follow-up.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Direct marketing is an Internet marketing tool that can deliver results more quickly deliver than traditional approaches. While it is true that direct marketing begins with tried and true direct mail principals, it is more than direct mail with free stamps. Successful direct marketing requires new techniques that enable marketers to interrelate with an electronically connected world —a world that represents the new marketing frontier.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Post-merger integration focuses on making sure that newly formed companies are not only bigger, but better, than before. Successfully integrating merged companies is not an easy feat. In fact, there is research suggesting that, following the merger, approximately one-half of merged entities under-perform their industry rivals. Our experience proves, however, that the key elements of a successful post merger integration are a combination of advance planning, strong, responsive leadership and frequent communications.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

History shows that the consumer goods sector has been much more adept at using comparative advertising than the financial services sector. To successfully implement this potentially effective approach to gaining favorable marketplace visibility, financial marketers must ensure, first, that all the required factors are in place and, then, that the idea is effectively and appropriately executed. Success follows truth, and on-target comparative advertising can provide a powerful centerpiece for a financial services organization's marketing campaign.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

While most financial services organizations acknowledge the importance of marketing segmentation, very few use this powerful tool to its full potential. Too many firms base their segmentation strategies on cursory or intuitive analysis of their markets, rather than deliberate research. With all the potential benefits, we strongly believe that every financial services organization should take a hard look at how to maximize the benefits that segmentation can offer.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Many financial services companies have found acquisition and consolidation an effective approach to achieve increased growth and better competitive positioning. A well-crafted Acquisition Strategy can provide the strategic framework to set priorities and allocate resources to acquisition possibilities that offer the greatest potential return. The proof of an effective Acquisition Strategy will be its ability to focus a company's efforts on identifying and effectively dealing with potential acquisition candidates, and concentrating resources into those areas where opportunities exist to gain the greatest strategic advantage.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Celebrity corporate spokespeople, while sometimes very effective, can be expensive and sometimes generate negative publicity. Celebrities, however, are not the only viable spokespersons. In fact, there are a variety of different approaches that can achieve the same —or even better —results without the attendant costs and perils. We believe that this powerful marketing vehicle should be more extensively employed in financial services marketing.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Public Relations can be a valuable marketing tool that requires only modest expenditures and provides significant rewards. A well planned and effectively orchestrated Public Relations program can produce a sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between a financial services organization and its constituencies.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Corporate identity is expressed through a myriad of elements —e.g., name, symbols, colors —that the organization uses to distinguish itself, its brands and its affiliated companies. Astute marketers place a great importance on color and understand that it plays an important role in the visual style of an organization, the expression of its positioning and corporate purpose. The marketer's challenge is to provide a consistent standard of quality that will create recognition and visibility with prospects and encourage customer loyalty.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Focused market research can help marketers deliver the right products and services to the right target markets using the right messaging. A basic marketing tenet states that, "If you give people what they need, you can make a living; if you give people what they want, you can make a fortune!" If you believe that, then your initial marketing research objective will be to find out what excites customers. It's a matter of looking at products and services from a customer point of view and then finding ways to successfully guide them through the purchase decision process.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

While Yellow Pages maintain their long-standing importance as a reference source, they remain an underestimated initial touchpoint for marketing financial service products and services. It is hard for marketers to get enthused about Yellow Page advertising since it lacks the excitement and panache of other media advertising. Consequently, it seldom receives the attention it deserves in the financial services marketing arena.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Cause Marketing, provides an excellent opportunity for organizations of any size to generate goodwill while enhancing corporate image and promoting a sense of corporate integrity. Furthermore, in a time when corporate practices and policies are being scrutinized more closely than ever before, it is simply good business to demonstrate that the organization has a social conscience through Cause Marketing. In addition, working on behalf of a cause can generate support and approval for the corporation from a wide range of constituencies.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

With the financial services industry currently going through a transformation, management's challenge is to provide the leadership to displace the status quo and create a culture of opportunity. Early adaptors who apply the concept of "integrated marketing" on an organization-wide basis will not only develop a customer-orientated culture, but also create opportunities for innovation, improved performance and incremental profitability.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

As marketing projects become more encompassing, an organization's success is increasingly dependent upon the ability of key representatives from different disciplines across the organization to work together as an effective team. Many organizations have found that effective utilization of the sophisticated tools and techniques of successful group facilitators is the key to turning unproductive group project meetings into multi-disciplinary project teams that foster communications, involvement and solid decision-making.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

We believe that the starting point for the development of an effective strategic plan is the definition of a business's role in the marketplace. A clear business definition facilitates the planning process by providing a focal point for corporate decisions concerning target markets, product offerings, competitive standings and appropriate marketing activities. How management answers the question, "What business(es) are we in?" can have a significant effect not only on the company's strategic planning, but also on its ultimate success.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

A domain name that reflects the attributes and benefits of your company or its products and services is an important corporate asset. It has, however, become significantly more difficult to acquire the domain name of your choice. As the number of Web sites proliferates, interesting, descriptive or catchy dot-com domain names have become an increasingly valuable commodity. The active and growing aftermarket in internet names has given rise to the appreciation in the value of desirable names and the creation of additional extensions to expand their availability.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Good marketing is about satisfying the needs and wants of target markets. Influences that occur in individuals' formative years help establish a common generational value system that can provide marketing segmentation criteria that are more meaningful than demographics alone. Generational cohorts can provide marketers with different insights to the biases, priorities and preferences of market segments. These insights can form the basis for important decision-making criteria.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

We have been monitoring the financial marketplace for over two decades and now recognize that the failure rate of financial products and services is well in excess of 80%. We have also observed that product developers continue to repeat mistakes that account for many of these disappointments. When planned and orchestrated effectively, the activities surrounding the introduction of a new product or service can be as large a factor in its success as its design or pricing.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Very few financial products and services possess features and benefits that differentiate them in the marketplace. How then do some manage to build market share while others decline? One of the key factors is their ability to effectively shape target market perceptions through powerful messaging. Creating effective messaging is a challenge that makes marketing more art than science. Without changing the product or service, messaging can completely change a product's appeal by focusing on different benefits and attributes.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

By proving trend analysis is both an art and science futurologists have had a major impact in redefining the corporate planning process. It is now acknowledged that the development of breakthrough business strategies requires two equally important elements: 1) a refined marketing planning process that facilitates the identification of emerging trends and the analysis of their implications for your business; and 2) the discipline and courage of leadership to recognize the opportunities afforded by relevant trends and change priorities accordingly.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

While most mainstream financial services organizations acknowledge the growing financial power of the senior market, very few have managed to develop effective strategies that leverage that power to benefit both the seniors and their own firms. while most mainstream financial services organizations acknowledge the growing financial power of the senior market, very few have managed to develop effective strategies that leverage that power to benefit both the seniors and their own firms.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Online success rates can be high, but implementing a successful online marketing program can prove complex. Finding the appropriate mix of Search Engine Marketing approaches involves testing and refining alternate strategies and measuring the effectiveness of each element. A thorough understanding of the services available, awareness of differing search engine submission criteria and guidelines, as well as some knowledgeable technical assistance, are essential to develop and implement a successful internet marketing campaign.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Paid search programs are revolutionizing online marketing. While the majority of PPC programs increase visibility, they do not provide equally successful results. Common mistakes include selecting keywords that are inappropriate or too expensive, targeting the wrong audience, or misinterpreting (or simply not following) the submission guidelines specific to a given search engine. Successful PPC campaign managers make effective use of keywords, ad copy, landing pages and conversion metrics to maximize the effectiveness of their paid search campaigns.Request a Copy of the Entire Article

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) channels are becoming increasingly crowded, and PPC keywords are becoming more expensive. As a result, search engines are looking at new approaches. The two most promising new alternatives to conventional ad placement take a more personal approach to SEM by targeting Web surfers based on their interests and their geographical locations.Request a Copy of the Entire Article