countybank
One responsible bank didn’t like being tossed in with the big bad apples. “People don’t want to hear from banks these days…” said the CMO. “Well, let’s see if your bank can hear from the people,” I said.
BELOW: Microsite where prospects and customers placed orders for biscuits, just the way they like ‘em. And delivered fresh and hot by a Countybank officer.
“Zlotnick showed us how to build on being a trusted local bank….Met our goal of creating face time…generated 80 sales calls, a three-month backlog of meetings, 22 new customers, revived six dormant accounts, and 35 new deposit accounts with $1.36 million in balances and 10 new loan accounts…”
– Bill Jenkins, Marketing Director, Countybank, Greenville, S.C.
Exec Summary
Category Thinking: It doesn’t matter that banks are failing and can’t be trusted with people’s money, consumers will get over it — as long as banks just keep advertising how everything’s fine, we got our acts together, don’t worry, yadayadyada…
New Insight: People rebuild relationships where they can find real conversation again: up close and personal, one on one, in real time.
New Position: You can talk to the people at Countybank (which just may lead to you trusting them).
Result: Met goal of creating face time. Generated 80 sales calls, a three-month backlog of meetings, 22 new customers, revived six dormant accounts, and 35 new deposit accounts with $1.36 million in balances and 10 new loan accounts for $516,000…and led to 70 “other” accounts and investment advisory services for $225,000 in new premium dollars.
Full Case Study
Situation: Countybank, located in Greenville, South Carolina, was a bank in the worst national and global banking and economic crisis since, well, maybe ever. But Countybank knew what it was doing and wanted to grow its business: by relationships, one at a time. It had a new customized business banking service called The BizKit. This birthed the idea of delivering good ol’ southern hospitality in the form a hot, fresh biscuit. Each biscuit could be custom ordered “as they like” — plain, ham, chicken, or sausage. Traditionally, Countybank’s media, like outdoor, would be overloaded with info: phone numbers, Website address and too many marketing 1.0 features and benefits. It was too much and, in effect, was contradicting the authentic message they wanted their prospects to feel: Countybank is a refreshing bank to deal with in these toxic-bank times.
Category Thinking: It doesn’t matter that banks are failing and can’t be trusted with people’s money, consumers will get over it — as long as banks just keep advertising how everything’s fine, we got our acts together, don’t worry, yadayadyada…
New Insight: Countybank’s instinct for building an authentic relationship was remarkable in the bank category: simple, neighborly, no fine print and strings attached. How could we speak simpler in the messaging, yet engage and peak curiosity? How could we drive people to the microsite without the usual bank-speak and over-load of information?
Solution: A campaign that authenticated their best instinct. Simple yet engaging messages that would peak prospects’ interest and then reward them by leading them to simple, engaging truth: Countybank is just saying hi and offering you a honest simple biscuit, any way you like it. No strings.
New Position: You can talk to the people at Countybank (which just may lead to you trusting them).
Result: Met goal of creating face time. Generated 80 sales calls, a three-month backlog of meetings, 22 new customers, revived six dormant accounts, and 35 new deposit accounts with $1.36 million in balances and 10 new loan accounts for $516,000…and led to 70 “other” accounts and investment advisory services for $225,000 in new premium dollars.
