Beyond the Collateral Archives: October 2007
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October 24, 2007
Can Financial Marketers Really Learn From Nike?
At first glace, the article on page one of today’s The Wall Street Journal entitled “Nike Hires Influencers” seems to hold little for financial marketers. But there are three important object lessons that translate to investment product development. First is the notion of building products for the end user. I don’t think we spend enough time researching and understanding investor needs. Instead, we defer that responsibility to the financial intermediary. Investment management marketing needs to return to a time when the “manufacturer” knew the investor better. Second, with differentiation rated the number one business problem in our most recent study with FRC, I think the idea of injecting more creativity and consumer focus into our product offerings has merit. Whether American Century’s LiveStrong Portfolios ever turn out to be a critical sales success, they do represent a fresh twist on a commodity product. Finally, the idea of identifying “influencers” really resonated with me. When we are segmenting and researching the needs of financial intermediaries, maybe gaining a better understanding of the role that these FAs play in their offices can provide some fresh insights to direct new marketing and product initiatives.
What do you think?
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October 22, 2007
11 Reasons Why Marketing Plans Fail
In this 15-minute podcast, Dave Swanson, Founder & Managing Principal of SwanDog Strategic Marketing discusses the most frequent reasons that written marketing plans fail.
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October 16, 2007
Use of Social Media Universally Low Among Marketers
In the marketing study, Beyond the Collateral …, we just produced with FRC, we were surprised as to how little marketers in the financial services area had begun to embrace and utilize new media such as RSS feeds, blogs and social media. However, I just came across this comment in a Marketing News blog regarding a recent consumer marketing forum in Chicago. “A lot of marketing folks, most of whom are probably quite smart, still have no idea what the heck social media even is.”
I guess this is an issue prevalent not only with financial service marketers. We agree with the premise of the rest of the comments too – that all marketers should start getting a better understanding what these new media opportunities can provide.
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October 15, 2007
We Want Your Input
We believe marketing can, and will, make a larger strategic impact in the financial service industry. However, that role will not be automatically handed over to us. We must take the initiative and pickup the reins of leadership. To that end, by sharing ideas and thoughts we can all benefit from each other’s knowledge and experience. So, join the discussion and share your opinions.
In your opinion, what are the key marketing challenges facing the financial service industry today? And, how do you think we can overcome them?
