Its just Horse shit

My kids now talk about the bank that killed the horse, I reckon they threw out the baby with the bath water, but that's just my opinion... and then in the mail [yip we still get paper mail] the official letter arrived, with all the usual 'spin' a landscape with no Horse, a lot of blurb and a a simple goal "To be New Zealand's best bank"

I do wonder what drives a large corporation to make decisions like this? Is it a drive to increase the share price and therefore the value of the company [which executive bonuses are often calculated on] or is there a more honorable drive, a mission to deliver a better quality service, better valued products [lower interest rates] and more services? And what does it really matter to me as the customer?

In the letter they went to great lengths to explain all the new advantages, but hang on a minute .... I already had those advantages, and I've been enjoying them ever since the ANZ bought the bank a few years back, so I again I ask, what is the benefit of belonging to a bank that wants to be the best bank in NZ?

An interesting additional piece of information that needs to be tabled is that the National Bank was already ranked the best bank in NZ, so now that they've merged, they've succeeded in taking one bank back and the other mildly forward (remember that the ANZ was ranked one of the worst ;-).

I wish I had an answer to this question, and I can't be bothered contacting the Ad Agency or the Comm's department at the bank to get any answers as I dare say I'll just get more 'Spin'... so maybe over the next few days some of you may be able to shed some light and educate a rural boy from Ranfurly ... please...comments are now open

 

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Don't be up yourself!

Reading my bible is a daily challenge, but it's one thing I enjoy, but only after the exercise. Anyway this particular day I read in Proverbs 27:2. Don't call attention to yourself; let others do that for you. I stopped and thought about this for some time and realized the truth is especially important in a business marketing context.

God, is stating that we should not self promote, but let others do it for us, and in my experience this is true, making sales easily, faster and getting those all important calls or enquiries and we must resist the temptation of thinking that we should tell people how good we are. it's like our CV that's us self promoting, and that's why prospective employers contact and interview referees and past employers. A good book written specifically about this was by Al Ries "The fall of Advertising and the rise of PR" His premise in his book was that large firms that appear to have built their position or reputation by creative advertising, actually built it early in their life cycle on the back of some very good PR and all that advertising does is maintain or strengthen that market perception.

... So then how can we improve our reputation?

1. If you have a LinkedIn page then get other contacts to write recommendations. This is very easy to do if you've taken the time already to connect with many business contacts.
2. Join networking groups, like the chamber of commerce, The Cycling Cluster, BNI and get to know other business people that will actively recommend you.
3. Build a blog so that people the ability to comment on your posts, this has others see that you have people following you or social proof (take a hint people write nice things please ;-)
4. Post in Facebook and Twitter regularly asking questions that inspire others to comment, just don't be like me and go too contraversal
5. Here's a big one: DO A GOOD JOB! all the tricky tactics in the world don't work unless you or your business aren't delivering good value.
6. Avoid all tactics that have you stand out from the crowd, they'll be the reason people remember you, for potentially all the wrong reasons
7. Become world famous, write a blog, post in the social networking arena, or like my good friends at concentrate.co.nz, write articles for the local media.
8. Be easy to talk about, my anadotal evidence as a marketer involved in networking groups, is the businesses that are the easist to understand get the most referrals. This requires a deeper understanding of what you do for your clients, not what you do! (If you need help call me 03-974-9230 and I'll steer you in the right direction)

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