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+64%
increase in new account acquisition.
1 million+
new customers
Moving EVERYONE forward...
"We have no idea how you're going to fix this.
To be honest, we really don't think it can be fixed!"
That was the Regions Bank CMO, along with her 'second-in-command.'
I totally understood their frustration and doubt. As the most recent addition to the team, I had arrived at my new agency to find the whole situation...well...fractured!
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Customer attrition: Regions suffered from traditional churn rates - nothing usual about that. But the bank simply wasn't replacing customers as quickly as they were losing them.​
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Internal criticism: This lack of performance resulted in a lot of finger-pointing, with business units across the bank complaining that Regions' Marketing Department was not delivering them enough support.
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​Declining trust: Adding to this noise, and with mounting budget pressure, Regions' executive management team had begun to doubt the abilities of their new CMO. Without proof that the department's efforts were effective - and along with the criticism from the business units - the reputations of the Marketing team and the new CMO were at risk.
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​A complete lack of cohesion: Worst of all, Regions' Marketing leaders couldn't fix any of these things until it curbed the constant infighting that plagued its multiple agencies.
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For me, the solution was pretty clear: This was all about rebuilding relationships in order to drive performance!
STEP #1: REBUILD RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THE AD AGENCIES
The interagency culture was absolutely toxic! When the client's multiple firms weren't trying to steal each other's budget, they were busy scheduling secret client meetings and actively campaigning against each other. Sadly, my own agency was one of the worst offenders.
I decided we would adopt three (3) basic leadership principles to be our guide.
1) Recruit the right people with the right mindset. Working with Regions, we formed a leadership group among the ad agencies - then packed it with people who were willing to put the client's needs first. I was joined by fantastic account management partners Tripp Durant and Brian Conley (Luckie & Co.), the excellent media team of Joe Waugh and Monica Olivio-Crane (Harmelin Media), and digital strategy guru David Jacobson (Sapient). In the process, we identified all the politicians, schemers, and backstabbers and removed them from the planning and decision-making processes. Of course, this ruffled some feathers...but it was necessary.
2) Construct barriers to prevent toxic politics in the future. From that point on, no agency operated on its own. Instead, they were all governed by (and answerable to) the centralized advertising leadership group. We were going to be one team with one mission! ​Thanks to client support, it quickly became apparent that any agency trying skip proper channels would meet a dead end. Again, this ruffled some feathers, but it also helped reveal who really wanted to boost the client's business...versus who just wanted to boost their own agenda.
3) Ensure that loyalty is always a two-way street. Rule #1 in successful leadership: 'Always lead by example.' Since these new relationships were still shaky, I looked for chances to support the other agencies - Advocating for their strategies, celebrating their skills, and even helping to protect their budgets.
RESULT: Each opportunity to collaborate, cooperate - and even defend each other - now vastly improved trust, interdependency, and teamwork.
STEP #2: BUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH BANK SHOPPERS
Conducting immersive research across several Regions markets (Nashville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Orlando, Tampa, etc.), we stumbled across some pretty shocking news.
100%
Research participants who had switched banks within the past 2 years.
79%
Percentage of these bank shoppers who had positive impressions of Regions bank.
Zero!
The number of these shoppers who had actually considered Regions bank when they switched.
Wait...what? With such positive feelings, no one even considered switching to Regions???
The reason we heard most often: "I don't know what Regions Bank actually offers."
Indeed, when consumers thought about Regions, three things consistently came to mind:
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The color green
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"La-la" music
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Bicycles
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You see, several years earlier - during a time when Regions' products were underdeveloped and less competitive - the client and the agency had defaulted to a campaign that was heavy on 'feels' but light on substance: "A bank that's as easy as riding a bike!" Since then, using bright green bicycles and a cute jingle, the agencies had done a phenomenal job of reinforcing that message.
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But things were different now.​
Times had changed...
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Following the economic meltdown of 2008, consumer trust in financial institutions had plummeted. As a result, 'fluff' meant 'fake.' If they were going to consider Regions, they wanted more than just clever metaphors and catchy music. They demanded specific, detailed, and transparent information about the bank's products and tools.
People had changed...
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These days, consumers were deadly serious about their financial future. More than just a laundry list of products and services, bank shoppers wanted to understand how those products and tools could improve their daily lives...as well as help them achieve their future goals. They wanted a brand that would educate and guide them, one that could help them to feel totally in control of their finances. Bank shoppers even wanted to see products they didn't qualify for yet - just to know that Regions could (and would) be with them through all the coming phases of their lives.
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Most of all, Regions had changed...
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While Regions may not have been competitive back when the old campaign was born, these days Regions really had the goods. Online banking. Mobile banking. Digital check deposit. Virtual loan applications. An exceptional in-branch experience. And loads of other tools and resources for customers' everyday financial management and planning (advice, guidance, and education). Indeed, Regions offered everything that bank shoppers were looking for. Unfortunately, it all lay hidden behind the bicycle.
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​​​​RESULT: Today's Regions Bank had so much more to say...and our bank shoppers needed to hear it!
"DON'T GIVE CUSTOMERS CLEVER METAPHORS...GIVE THEM PROVEN MANAGEMENT TOOLS"
STEP #3: WHILE REBUILDING THE BRAND - REBUILD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE BUSINESS UNITS
A top-down approach to branding/marketing would force the beleaguered business units to simply adopt messaging that served the brand more than their unique marketing needs. And that wouldn't be well received So, instead of the age-old practice of deductively launching a brand from the top down, we inductively rebuilt the Regions brand from the bottom up - starting with the business units and working our way up to the overall brand.
The most important part: During this effort, we placed the business units smack in the middle of the planning process. This gained us several advantages, including...
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Undeniable partnership: This gave them a front row seat, showing the business units how hard the Regions Marketing Department and its agencies were working for them.
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Unquestionable focus: For each business unit, our work was uniquely riveted on their targets, their strategy, their tactics, and their media - thus demonstrating how dedicated we were to their success.
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Irrefutable ownership: Finally, we felt this approach would help protect the marketing department and ad team from unwarranted criticism. After all, when we crossed the finish line, anyone from the business units who dared to complain about our efforts would actually be criticizing something that they, themselves, had created.
In the end - in each other - we found advocates, not enemies.
RESULT: Internal complaints about Regions' Marketing Department vanished!
STEP #4: SO...WHERE DO WE ALL GO FROM HERE? FORWARD!
With the agencies collaborating, with the messaging problem identified, and with the business units now part of the team, we still needed to link those many business-unit ideas into one central brand direction - most importantly, a brand direction that generated the results that would help restore executive management's faith in the new CMO and her team.
From our detailed work with the business unites, I quickly identified a compelling insight. While target audiences across the business units were unique and diverse, they ALL had one thing in common: These customers were all "financial works in progress!"
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The average checking customer looking to learn more, plan more, and grow more.
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Low-income folks just trying to get a handle on their finances. ​
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The small businesses owner looking for a financial edge.
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Wealth management investors seeking to squeeze every ounce of return from their portfolios.
"MOVING YOU FORWARD" was really more than a brand theme for Regions. It was the brand's WHY, it's core truth, it's reason to exist - providing the very products, services, and guidance that empowered customers to move beyond the meltdown of 2008. It was the permission customers wanted to move ahead with their lives. Most importantly, this was the confidence our shoppers needed to choose Regions as their banking partner.
RESULT: When presented with this new direction, the CMO literally wept tears of joy.
STEP #5: DELIVER MUCH, MUCH MORE
Since bank shoppers were already familiar (and firmly disinterested) in Regions, we knew they would would automatically tune out at the first sign of the color green, "la-la" music, and bicycles. Our only way forward was to take shoppers by surprise. The advertising work had to to look and feel nothing like the traditional Regions ads consumers were familiar with.
​For the agency and client staff who had devoted so much of their time and effort to the old (bicycle) advertising, this was tough ask. Lots of hurt feelings. Lots of pushback. Still, with time, patience, and a focus on the strategy, we all worked through it - ultimately delivering pervasive messages and effective engagement plans that ran the gamut of new and traditional media channels.
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"Give life the green light" - This advertising campaign was launched across multiple targeted media channels, replacing trite bicycles and la-la music with real-life challenges - all solved by Regions products, services, and people. ​
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"Next Step Project" - Through social media channels and promotions, we published a series of real-life vignettes about Regions consumers who, when facing the next big step in their lives, used the bank's resources to get ahead.
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"Share the Good" - Similarly, this collection of stories spotlighted Regions staff going above and beyond, to help individuals and communities solve problems and reach their goals.​
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"Moving You Forward Scholarship" - This was designed to promote and boost the brand's commitment to helping students succeed as they emerged into the post-collapse economy.
STEP #6: PERFORMANCE
By the end of the fiscal year, Regions' Marketing Department tracked its success in a variety of ways...
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​TEAMWORK
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New Partnerships: The business units praised Regions' Marketing Department, for its support, ideas and collaboration.
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Better Alliances: ​The agencies had learned new ways of working together and respecting each other.
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Restored Trust: Thanks to all of this, Regions' executive leaders lauded the performance of both the Marketing Department and the new CMO.
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CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
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Brand awareness, brand recall, and advertising recall: All had increased by high double-digits.
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For example, by the Spring of 2014, YouTube engagement grew nearly +350%, Facebook engagement grew +300%, with Regions' content achieving a rank of #32 in all-time Facebook video views. ​
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KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
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But the numbers that counted the most?
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The Marketing Department's acquisition of new accounts had grown by more than +64%, garnering the brand more than one million new customers.
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