Advertising & Promotion Archives - Page 3 of 19

A Less Taxing April 15 from America First Credit Union

By Jim Bruene Posted on April 13, 2012
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Tax Prep

Looking for a little Friday afternoon diversion, I visited the website of the recent winner in the humor category of CUNA’s credit union marketing awards, America First Credit Union.

I liked the clever homepage graphic for its loan “billion dollar loan sale” (inset above). But what inspired this blog entry, was the credit union’s recognition that thousands of its members will be slogging through their Federal income tax returns this weekend (note 1).

America First put a prominent orange band across the top of its website (on all pages) reminding members where they could find 2011 tax info on their accounts (screenshot below). And like many financial institutions this time of year, the CU posted a link to TurboTax online for those needing last-minute assistance.

America First Credit Union homepage (13 April 2012)

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Note: U.S. national income tax returns must be filed by April 17, 2012, by anyone in the country with any income last year.

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Holiday Promotions from Credit Unions and Community Banks

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 27, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, BancVue, Holiday promotions

Last week we looked at the holiday efforts (or lack thereof) of the 20 largest U.S. banks. But aside from PNC Bank’s “Christmas cost index” and ING Direct’s “12 days of mobile,” not much this holiday season was particularly noteworthy (inset for Midland Bank gift cheques, circa 1956, see credit below).

For inspiration, you need to look at the smaller banks and credit unions. Here are five we found through random googling today:

1. Michigan State University FCU: 6.9% Holiday Loan (homepage promo #2)

2. Seattle Metropolitan Credit Union: Visa Gift Card (homepage promo #2)

3. OnPoint Community Credit (Oregon): Mobile gift cards (homepage, promo #1) , Visa Gift Card (promo #2)

4. Community First Credit Union (Florida): iPad giveaway for eStatements (homepage, promo #3; landing page)

5. Texas Bank: “Stash the Christmas cash” (homepage, one of four rotating promos; landing page)
Note: “Stash the cash” is similar to BofA’s “keep the change;” debit card purchases are rounded up to nearest dollar with the extra 1-99 cents deposited into savings. The holiday promo included a 5% bonus match on each transfer in December (website powered by Bancvue)

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Note: Picture credit. Midland Bank advertisement for holiday checks from The Illustrated London News, 17 Nov 1956. (Click to enlarge, for sale here).

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Holiday Promotions at the Top-20 U.S. Banks

By Jim Bruene Posted on December 21, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, BB&T Bank, Chase Bank, Holiday promotions, ING Direct, Key Bank, PNC Bank, TD Bank

Since I began blogging in 2004, I’ve usually run a year-end post looking at the holiday marketing efforts of the top-20 U.S. banks (links below). This year, only 7 of the 20 banks are using holiday or seasonal imagery on their homepages. That’s a decrease of 3 over last year.

As usual, PNC Bank is the gold standard for holiday bank promotions, with its long-running (25+ years) “cost of Christmas index” which quantifies the cost of procuring all the items mentioned in the famous song, “12 Days of Christmas.” Following is a quick overview of the promotions, including a 1-to 5-bulb rating.

Previous posts: 2010, 2009 part 1, 2009 part 2, 2007, 2006, 2006, 2004

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Big banks in the holiday spirit
(rated 1 to 5 bulbs)

PNC: Christmas cost index

Cost of Christmas based on the song 12 Days of Christmas

Score:

Homepage

Landing page: Amazing microsite, wonderful graphics, and slow loading (link)

Fifth Third: holiday sweeps

Pay Your Bills sweeps with holiday graphics
Small ad with a card wrapped with ribbon which directs users to branches for “holiday shopping made easy,” presumably for gift cards, but neither the ad nor the landing page make that clear

Score:

ING Direct: Mobile usage sweeps

12 Days of Mobile sweeps

Score:

Landing page

Chase: sweeps and car loans

Winner Wonderland, credit card sweeps with one entry for every credit card purchase and 5 entries for every donation put on the Chase card
Add joy to your wallet, car refinance promotion

Score:

BB&T: Visa gift card

Small advertisement in lower right

Score:

Homepage

TD Bank: Visa gift card

Small advertisement in lower right (below the fold on my laptop)

Score:

Homepage

Key Bank: gift cards

Very small gift-card promo, below the fold on my laptop and rotating with a half-dozen other items

Score:

Homepage

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Notes:
1. No holiday imagery on the homepages of BofA, Wells Fargo, Citibank, HSBC, US Bank, SunTrust, Capital One, Citizens, Regions, Harris, Bank of the West, Union Bank, Comercia
2. Screenshots taken from Ft. Myers, FL, IP address, between 7 and 8 PM, 20 Dec 2011
3. Credit: Happy Holidays animation from LayoutSparks.com

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Cyber Monday in Banking

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 28, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Credit Reports & ID Theft Protection, Loans & Credit, Quicken Loans

I’ve written about Black Friday promotions at ING Direct (see note 1), Service Credit Union, and the growing Small Business Saturday event spearheaded by American Express (which even earned a tweet from Obama).

This year I also noticed a trickle of activity on Cyber Monday as well. It’s probably better than Black Friday for online/mobile campaigns. Better yet, use the approach of Visions FCU (screenshot 2 & 3) and use the entire weekend to maximize the impact.

Cyber Monday promos:

50% off credit-monitoring products from Quizzle, the spinout from Quicken Loans (see email below)
Visions Federal Credit Union offered a loan special from Black Friday through Cyber Monday (screenshot below). The CU reported $10 million in loans on Friday alone.
Navy Federal Credit Union offered bonus rewards-points for purchases made online

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Cyber Monday email from Quizzle (link; Monday, 7 AM Pacific, 28 Nov 2011)

Visions Federal Credit Union Thanksgiving weekend loan special (28 Nov 2011)

Visions landing page (link)

Navy Federal Cyber Monday cashRewards promo (link)
Note: Given the date shown, this page is likely a carryover from 2010. But it’s still available via “Cyber Monday” searches on Navy Federal’s website.

Notes:
1. ING Direct was at it again with seven offers over the Thanksgiving weekend (Deposit Accounts has the full rundown). However, the specials did not extend into Cyber Monday.
2. 1st Financial Federal Credit Union ($210 million, Wentzville, MO) and Heritage Community Credit Union ($200 million, Sacramento, CA) offered loan deals on Black Friday according to CreditUnionsOnline.com

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Guess What I’ve Been Researching Online?

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 22, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, American Express, Email Samples, P2P Payments

I realize that ads based on recent activity are effective. But it’s still slightly unnerving, wondering whether you’ve lost every last bit of privacy or that you’ve been hit by an adware virus. But overall, it’s good to get relevant offers, especially when one has a $10 bonus in it (see AmEx below).

Here’s the two ads tossed my way while I was checking the status of my son’s flight today:

I wrote a blog post on Serve yesterday (see AmEx promo on top of the page) and have been banging around insurance sites (see Geico ad on right) for the past two weeks as I wrap up a report on the subject.

AmEx Serve offer
Perhaps because I didn’t sign up yesterday, American Express is throwing me $10 to try Serve, its P2P payments service. Here’s the excellent landing page (link):

After entering your email address, the button turns to a thank-you. It’s good feedback for the user and keeps them from accidentally submitting the form twice.

Here’s the email sent a few moments later:

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Notes:
1. Button credit Zazzle.com
2. We covered P2P payments two years ago in our Online Banking Report (subscription).

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Square Updates its Merchant Platform

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 15, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Credit/Debit Cards, Square

In 15+ years of accepting credit cards, there have been few notable communications from our acquiring bank or payments gateway, other than normal transactional messages (note 1). Square looks to be changing that with a focus on merchant (and end user) experience.

For example, today I received an email outlining Square’s latest platform enhancements (see first screenshot). The message included an enticing Open for Business with an invitation to watch a 70-second video outlining enhancements to its merchant platform, including built-in rewards capabilities (note 2).

The company has grown quickly. Basically starting at zero at the beginning of the year, they are now doing up to $11 million per day in card volume. More impressively, they are up to 800,000 merchants. Assuming a $65 to $70 average ticket, that’s around 150,000 transactions per day, or 4 to 5 million per month. But that also means the average merchant is only doing 1 transaction every 5 or 6 days.

And the user experience is far from perfect. Square has suffered growing pains as it learns to manage a business fraught with fraud and uncertainty. We tried to use Square at Finovate last May and couldn’t get transactions authorized, apparently due to tight account limits in force then.

Four months later at FinovateFall, most transactions were authorized, much to the delight of attendees who used it. But unbeknownst to us (note 3), the money just sat in the Square account waiting for us to confirm our bank account. One small test-transaction had been sitting there since May.

Bottom line: The company flat-out does a great job with design and UX, very Apple-esque. I expect to see a lot of innovation out of Square given its funding, valuation, and celebrity founder. The promise of turning transaction receipts into a dynamic communication is especially interesting (previous post).

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Email from Square (received 1PM Pacific, 15 Nov 2011)

Landing page (not logged in; link)

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Notes:
1. It could be that I’ve simply forgotten messages received years ago. But I can say for sure that there have been very marketing/customer service messages, because I pay attention to them. My acquirer is not one of the major players.
2. TechCrunch has a good rundown of the new features.
3. In fairness to Square, they did mention on the merchant receipt that we needed to verify the bank account. But during the heat of the conference, I never noticed that. Click on inset to see the company’s transaction receipt (highlighting mine).
4. I wonder what it will take to convince Japan’s Square-Enix Holdings, creator of Final Fantasy (video game) to part with the Square.com domain name (which is currently unused).

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11/11/11 Promotion at Notre Dame Federal Credit Union

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 11, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Credit/Debit Cards

Today is a big day for number nerds (note 1), as 11/11/11 makes its once-per-century appearance. So last night, I started looking for banks or credit unions using the date for a price promotion (note 2). With U.S. interest rates hovering around the 1% mark, I figured it would be pretty easy to find financial institutions offering CD specials at 1.11% APY, hopefully the 11-month variety.

But after googling for at least an hour, I came up empty. I found a few 1.11% APYs for longer-term CDs, but no one that was promoting it as a Nov 11 special. I was about to give up, but tried “1.11% discount” and up popped Notre Dame Federal Credit Union going all in on the 11/11/11 theme.

The home page (below) features a huge ad for its 1.11% APR holiday loan of exactly $1,111. And can you guess the term of the loan? Yep, 111 days! Thank you NDFCU marketing dept, you rock.

Fine print: There is one small catch. To get the loan, members must apply for and be approved for the credit union’s Visa Platinum card (presumably you can still get the holiday loan if you already have the CU’s card). So it’s really a credit card promotion in disguise, but that seems fair. It’s a good price, and allows for a little expansion of the holiday budget, but with the discipline of a loan that must be repaid before April tax time (note 3).

The offer is good through the end of November. And the loan application can be made online.

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Notre Dame FCU hits all 1’s on its homepage (11 Nov 2011)

1.11% loan landing page (link)

Notes:
1. I’ve been one for a long time. When I got my first calculator, I pressed “+1” on it 111,111 times just to fill the screen with 1s, the hard way.
2. Most U.S. financial institutions are closed today for Veterans Day, making it less likely to have a special one-day promotion.
3. Members also have the options of rolling the balance onto their NDFCU credit card at the end of the term.
4. Digital clock image from UK’s Daily Telegraph which had a 9-hour head start on the day.
5. Other 11/11/11 news:
– NY Times looks at 11/11/11 promotions
– DealerTrack marked the day with a press release about hitting the 1,111 lender milestone.
– The only promotional email I received using the day was from Starwood hotels (see inset)

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Capital One Driving Mobile Use with Sweepstakes

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 9, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Capital One, Credit/Debit Cards

Boosting mobile engagement has a promising ROI. Among other benefits, the potential $6+ saved per displaced call center inquiry can have a meaningful impact on the bottom line (note 1).

And while volumes are growing, Capital One says mobile usage is up 5-fold compared to last year, it’s still a lightly used channel compared to phone (voice) and online.

Yet, for a card issuer, mobile is THE most important channel for the NFC/Square/GoogleWallet future.

So it makes a ton of sense to pull out the stops now to get customers using the bank’s mobile app. Capital One in particular, as one of the last majors to get into the app store, likely has an awareness problem with mobile cardholders. Even if the CapOne native app was downloaded, it’s buried so deep on the iPhone’s screens, that users forget about it. In my case, it’s on screen number eight and I rarely see it even though I use my card almost every day.

To attract more mobile uptake, the card giant launched a usage sweeps today. Between now and Jan 6, each cardholder will get one sweepstakes entry every day they log in to the mobile app or mobile web (SMS activity does not appear to count). One person will win a 16GB Wifi iPad2 each day. And a grand prize of a Chevy Volt will be awarded at the end (full rules). The total prize package is $80,000, less than the cost of one 30-second spot on an about-to-be-cancelled sitcom.

The sweeps is being promoted with a small homepage link and a prominent mention on the main mobile banking page (see second screenshot below).

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Capital One mobile sweeps landing page (link, 9 Nov 2011)
Note: The call to action, text “power” to 80101, was not working in my test.
Update 10 Nov: Fixed

Main mobile banking page (link)

Notes:
1. Of course, you also have to put in place a mobile channel strategy that actually does displace call-center inquiries. That’s easier said than done. Also, financial institutions paying mobile vendors for each active user, may not want to boost mobile usage in this way.
2. Despite the name of our subscription newsletter, Online Banking Report, we cover mobile issues almost every month.

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The Day Before BTD, More "Switch" Efforts

By Jim Bruene Posted on November 4, 2011
Categories: Account opening, Advertising & Promotion, Verity CU

In banking, we haven’t had as much hype over a single day since Y2K. But with every major bank back-pedaling on debit card fees, the power of tomorrow’s Bank Transfer Day has diminished somewhat. Yet, it still should be a good week for smaller players to grab market share.

The Deposit Accounts blog had a run down of some special offers in effect tomorrow, including the “gloves off” homepage promo from Seattle’s Verity Credit Union (click inset to enlarge; note 1).

And here are a few more switch pages. Last week, I highlighted Freestar Bank’s effort. Here are four more (screenshots/links below):

Community 1st CU
1st Advantage CU
First Bank and Trust
Bank of Tennessee, which has the most interesting landing page by a long-shot (see last three screenshots)

All but the first are are powered by Deluxe’s SwitchAgent (note 2).

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Community 1st Credit Union homepage (link; 31 Oct 2011)

1st Advantage FCU homepage (link)

First Bank and Trust homepage (link)
Note: You cannot click through this ad. The call to action is “visit your banker”

Bank of Tennessee homepage (link)

Bank of Tennessee landing page, part 1 (link)

Landing page part 2

Landing page part 3

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Notes:
1. While you are at Verity click over to its Verity Mom social media effort (powered by Currency Marketing) and see the amazing turnout they had for their second annual spokester contest, 69 one-minute videos were submitted.
2. The reason why I’m showing so many Deluxe examples is because I used “SwitchAgent” in my search and found interesting examples. They have 14 clients using the new service, which we first heard about at BAI Retail Delivery a few weeks ago.
3. We write about these issues and much more in our subscription service, Online Banking Report.

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Capital One Pays to Play in Zynga’s Virtual Worlds

By Jim Bruene Posted on September 28, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Capital One, Citibank, Credit/Debit Cards, Discover Card

Like most, I’ve been amazed at how fast Zynga was able to build a 250+ million user base for its social games. But I’d never actually played one.

Until now. So make that 250 million and one users, because I couldn’t resist checking up on Capital One’s new product placement in three Zynga games (more on what players could do). The bank’s Facebook page, which has grown to 2.3 million likes, has details on the promotions (screenshot 1).

Although, it appears I may have missed my chance to interact with the CapOne goat, Visigoth statute or a virtual branch (the promo only ran one week), there are still credit card ads and mystery gifts available, at least in Farmville, the only game I tested.

Capital One viral gift & banner ads
Capital One may have ended the in-game elements for now, but they still have a presence in the game. Starting Farmville for the first time, I was greeted by a number of social elements, one of which is sending a Capital One gift (screenshot 2). There is no indication of what the gift actually is. Maybe that’s part of the fun, but it seems like a weakness to me. Am I sending someone a virtual goat or a solicitation for a CapOne card (mystery solved)?

The company is also running banner ads within the game (screenshots 5 & 6). Clicking on them takes users to the usual Capital One pre-approval page within a separate browser window (screenshot 7). Once you land on the CapOne site there is no mention of Farmville.

Discover Card & Citibank bonus offers
Game players are encouraged to buy all kinds of virtual goods. They can earn virtual currency in a number of ways, including using real world cash to buy credits. But users can also earn currency by participating in sponsored activities.

Both Citi and Discover are offering users virtual cash to apply, and be approved, for a credit card. Discover is offering virtual currency worth about $75 and Citi is handing out about $50.

My take: With 250 million users, the large brands owe it to their shareholders to see if they can make hay in Farmville and any other popular virtual world. And I suspect there will be a positive ROI for the right mix of promotion/offer. I have no idea what the magic formula is, but you know the direct marketing wizards at CapOne, Citi and the others will figure it out sooner rather than later (note 1).

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1. Capital One Facebook page (27 Sep 2011)

2. Capital One "free gift" in Farmville (27 Sep 2011)

3. Choose friends you want to receive the gift

4. Before you send the gift, you have the opportunity to see what the notice looks like to the recipient, and you can add a personal note

5. When I got back to the game, there was a large Capital One banner
Note: Starbucks promotion in lower right

6. Another Capital One banner ad served while playing Farmville
Note: Bank of Internet ad on right

7. The banner ad in Farmville, led to Capital One’s usual pre-qualification form

8. Discover Card and Citibank have powerful offers in the "earn cash" area.
Note: Discover offers 475 Farm Cash (worth about $75) for card approval, Citibank 300 (about $50).

9. The first screen after choosing Discover’s offer

10. Clicking Continue above leads to standard Discover Card app (in new browser window)

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Note: If you are interested in a fictional look at where the commercialization of Internet gaming is headed, I highly recommend Cory Doctorow’s For the Win.

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Launching: ING Direct Unveils $10 Million Campaign for Teen Banking

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 30, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, ING Direct, Youth market

Just last month we published a report (here) about the large, and mostly unmet, opportunity to bank tweens/teens AND their parents.

Evidently ING Direct didn’t need our report. The direct bank, soon to be part of Capital One, is launching an aggressive $10 million advertising campaign for its new MONEY account (note 1). There’s no official mention of the program at ING Direct, except for a wall post on its main Facebook page (see last screenshot).

However, several online elements have been released:

Microsite <ingdirectmoney.com> (see first screenshot below)
Facebook page <facebook.com/ThatsMoney> with 129 likes as of 2:00 PM Pacific, Aug. 29 (see screenshot 2)
Facebook app (screenshot 3-5)

Product: There’s only a few sentences describing the product, but it sounds like a standard checking account with debit card access. It will have no fees and no minimums and can be managed online (duh) and through a smartphone app.

Campaign: The $10 million campaign (note 2) is primarily fulfilled via Facebook (see screenshots below) and includes:

Advertising on Facebook and online
Supporting sweeps has (10) $1,000 prizes, (10) MacBooks, (20) iPod Touches
Those submitting pictures of themselves, may get it projected on a Times Square Jumbotron for 15 seconds (begins Sept. 15)

Our take: With 1% rates killing its traditional value proposition, it makes perfect sense for ING Direct to build for the future by positioning itself as a place that caters to the banking needs of the entire family. Well played.

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1. ING Direct’s teen-banking microsite at ingdirectmoney.com (30 Aug. 2011)
Note: In the lower right is a “pre-registration form” where the bank collects the name and email address of interested parties

2. Parents are encouraged to send a message to their children to let them know about the sweeps
Note: The lower right contains a place for parents to send email messages to their children

3. Facebook page at <facebook.com/ThatsMoney>

3. Facebook page info page (Facebook app)

4. Facebook page sign-up form

5. Thank-you page after pre-registering

6. Wall post this afternoon on main ING Direct Facebook page (link, 30 Aug. 2011)

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Notes:
1. New agency Berlin Cameron is spearheading the effort according to today’s Adweek article.
2. That’s about 40% of ING Direct’s projected $25 million media spend for 2011.
3. Hat tip: MyBankTracker
4. For more on teen banking, see our recent Online Banking Report.

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Citibank Running Front-page WSJ Facebook Campaign

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 16, 2011
Categories: Advertising & Promotion, Citibank, Facebook

Citibank is using some of the most expensive real estate on the planet, the front page of the Wall Street Journal, to promote its Facebook page (see inset and below). The bottom-of-the-page banner invites readers to Like Citibank on Facebook to “find amazing ways to use your (ThankYou) points,” and directs them to Citi’s main Facebook page, facebook.com/citibank.

Visitors are shown a special page promising exclusive access to an upcoming Beyonce concert for Citibank ThankYou customers (see first screenshot). After, clicking the Like button, a new screen appears with a “coming soon” message (second screenshot).

As of 11:30 Eastern this morning, Citi had 34,500 likes, by midnight the total had grown by about 2,000 to 36,500. I don’t know where they started the day, but according Visible Banking, the Citi Facebook page debuted in mid-November 2010 with 7,000 likes, mostly from employees.

Bottom line: I like the idea of creating exclusive benefits for Facebook fans. And perhaps Citi’s goal is to make this into a “teaser” campaign. But overall, I was disappointed not to receive any immediate info to reward me for taking the time to visit/like the bank’s Facebook site.

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Citibank banner ad, bottom of first page of WSJ (Western edition, 16 Aug. 2011)

Citibank’s Facebook page, before “Liking” (16 Aug. 2011, 8:30 AM Pacific)
Note: This is the landing page displayed when using the primarily URL, Facebook.com/citibank

Citibank’s Facebook page, after “Liking” (16 Aug. 2011, 9:15 PM Pacific)

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