Listening is First Step to a Strong Brand

CUNA’s E-Scan Newsletter
June 4, 2010 | COMMENTS

Every credit union marketer is aware of the unprecedented changes going on in advertising and communication. This makes most marketers nervous, according to John Mathes, brand strategy director at Bancography.

The changes are coming from all directions, and the disruption makes life as a financial services marketer challenging. “If you have a strong brand, and you're on top of these changes, then you're probably feeling fine,” says Mathes. But if you've got chinks in your brand armor and you're not familiar with these trends, then you're susceptible to potential market-share erosion.

Mathes examines two consumer characteristics driving this change:

1. Avoidance. Avoiding advertising isn't necessarily new, but it's certainly easier in today's environment. Consumers have always been able to mentally tune out advertising, but technology enables consistent avoidance. It started with push-button radios in cars, then progressed to the television remote, each of which allowed people to switch stations or channels to bypass advertising.

Fast-forward to today's technology—DVR, satellite radio, MP3 player, smartphone, Sling-box, and the like. Couple the technology advancements with our changing media habits, and it becomes extremely challenging for an institution to deliver its marketing.

2. Rejection. Even if you're fortunate enough to relay a message to your intended audience, it'll probably be ignored. We've been hearing for years now that consumers are in charge of brands, and to a great degree they control the content they consume. This means if your message isn't relevant to them and they're not willing to “opt-in” to your communication, you're probably not going to grab their attention.

People are tired of being talked to, they want to talk with. If they're in the mood to chat, and your brand interests them, then you're on your way toward a meaningful dialogue. But if you interrupt them with traditional advertising that arrives unannounced and uninvited, then there's a strong likelihood you won't be heard.

With avoidance and rejection in play, what's a marketer to do? Fortunately, one of the earliest forms of advertising is making a strong resurgence. It just looks different dressed up in today's technology.

Conversation counts

Word of mouth is the oldest form of advertising, and it's enjoying huge popularity thanks to social networking and social media. Conversations are taking place about brands, and technology has enabled these conversations to take place anywhere, anytime, and with any number of people. Marketers can't control the conversations. In fact, only a few have figured out how to join them. Most are sitting on the sidelines wondering what to do.

What's your brand doing? If you're still trying to talk to your members and potential members, it probably won't work. You must be invited to join the conversation. Here's how:

Listen. If you enter a room where there are several clusters of people engaged in conversation, you're not going to be welcomed into those chats if you interrupt loudly. The conversations will grind to a halt until you're finished and then they'll resume after you leave.

Your best opportunity is to quietly listen to the conversations and, at the proper time, try to participate and contribute without appearing self-serving. Offer up a helpful piece of advice versus promoting your own agenda. Once you're part of the conversation, you can then slip in a solution that won't be ignored.

Start with snippets. To become engaged in a dialogue, you need conversation starters. You might have read about “brand bytes”—snippets of copy designed to speak about your brand in relevant, non-traditional ways. Brand bytes grew out of the shorthand of text messages and the Twitter format of 140 characters per message. They make perfect conversation starters.

If you have well-thought-out brand bytes, you can deploy them in the online social networking conversations taking place without appearing that you're simply there to sell something. If your brand bytes are helpful, friendly, and provide value, then you'll be able to join the dialogue.

Despite changing technology and shorter attention spans, a traditional advertising approach often still delivers more eyes and ears than alternative media options. Be aware of the shifting and rebalancing among channels, and start adjusting your approach accordingly. At the very least, monitor the conversations. There are dozens of services designed to capture every conversation taking place about your brand in cyberspace.

National brands do this well. Bank of America, for example, uses Twitter to contact every author who tweets about a negative experience with the bank. If Bank of America can be on top of these hundreds of conversations, says Mathes, you can be on top of the ones taking place about your brand.