Chicago AMA | For Marketing Professionals

Tools for Services Marketers

FOR CITIBANK ILLINOIS, "New product and service development has been a major focus," says Randy Weinberg, Advertising Director of the bank's Consumer Branch Network. Objectives of this development include maintaining a competitive advantage, retaining existing customers, attracting new customers and increasing revenues. And Citibank Illinois is among the growing number of services marketers who are successfully using a range of tools in the marketing mix to achieve their business objectives.

Weinberg points to the many sources of change in the banking industry -- including regulatory (affecting branching, products, competition and disclosure), tax policy, public policy, technology and consumer demand for access, convenience, simplicity and advice, among other changes -- which have provided new opportunities and opened up competition for marketers of financial services.

The industry has responded since 1986 with a range of new products such as all-in-one accounts, home equity loans, investments, financial planning services, value-enhanced credit cards, insurance services, debit cards, smart cards and PC banking. To make the most of these opportunities, such financial services organizations as Citibank Illinois are utilizing a variety of marketing tools.

One such example is Direct Access online banking, "offered by Citibank for about ten years but never heavily marketed," says Weinberg. "Now Citibank is putting full-court activity behind it."

Viewed as a major opportunity due to the growing market of on-line users, Citibank sees this product as offering greater convenience for the consumer and reduced costs for the provider while opening up the geography ("In a virtual banking world," he says, "there are no geographic boundaries, so the importance of location is diminishing.")

Citibank's promotion of this product centered on advertising which focuses on empowerment (with a tag "Why go to the bank when the bank can come to you?") and which leverages third party testimonials. The message was delivered using a mix of tools including media -- print, tv, direct and FSI -- with such other elements as trade shows and user groups, demo disks, strategic alliances and in-store demos and signage.

Specifically, to reach existing clientele, says Weinberg, Citibank used

statement stuffers
newsletters (information-based)
statement messages
direct mail
in-branch merchandising
teller referrals
relationship management
seminars

And to acquire new customers, the organization employed

advertising -- tv, print, radio, outdoor
direct mail
seminars
outside sales
ethnic marketing
event marketing

Results of the promotion, reports Weinberg, were strong: 20,000 registrations (45% to customers new to the bank and 55% to existing customers), higher than average balances, deeper than average relationships and more satisfaction.

John Knoche, Vice President of Ronald J. Krumm & Associates, suggests that database marketing can be a very useful tool for services marketers, provided they "don't use all this trend and historical information blindly." Instead, he advises, "Use it to think about your customer"

Knoche emphasizes that marketers should care less about what customers "look like" and more about what customers do.

"What's important," says Knoche, "is behavior over time. Database marketing allows you to work with this."

For his law firm, William H. Wentz of Fewkes, Wentz & Strayer relies heavily on referrals to help develop the client base. Clients are asked to refer colleagues, and attorneys with different specializations (Fewkes, Wentz & Strayer specializes in serving entrepreneurial business clients) are encouraged to direct clients from smaller companies to them.

FWS also promotes its new and existing services to prospective clients by making its brochures available through accountants and banks.

These insights into the real world tools services marketers are using to meet the challenges of today's marketplace were shared during a special morning program sponsored by Chicago AMA's Services Marketing Division.

Back to the Chicago AMA Homepage