OnlineNewsletter
from
Davis & Associates(Strategic Marketing)

EDITION 6: MAY / JUNE 2001

ITEM 1: Financial Services Companies - Junk Mailers

A recent survey* shows that financial services companies are among the worst in sending unsolicited mail.

The survey was based on a sample of 6,000 consumers in six markets (Australia, US, UK, France, Germany, France and The Netherlands). Survey participants were asked a range of questions, including which type of companies send the most unwanted direct mail.

In the finance sector, credit card companies were most frequently cited as the main offenders.

The study broke the results down by age, gender, region and income. In the Australian market, for example, 25-34 year olds are the most heavily targeted by financial services companies.

The survey underscores the reality that, while financial services companies extol the virtues and practice of CRM, too many continue to engage in undifferentiated marketing strategies, with insufficient recognition of customisation.

* Junk Mail Offenders in the New Economy, A View of Customer Interaction and Privacy, Prime Response

ITEM 2: New Generation Bank Branches

In the UK, Abbey National is trialing a new generation "superstore" branch. The superstore includes:

• a customer lounge with reading materials and television monitors
  
• a "discover and learn" area where customers learn how technology can help them manage their finances more effectively
  
• a finance clinic offering financial "health checks" within 30 minutes
  
• e-banking demonstrations via the internet and digital tv
  
• a play area for children.

In addition, Abbey has involved two retail partners, a coffee chain (to provide in-store coffee bar facilities) and a mobile phone seller (to advise customers on mobile phone banking).

The superstore concept is Abbey's vision of creating "local centres of financial excellence".

Watch this space to see whether Australian financial service providers replicate the Abbey model in their bid for differentiation?

ITEM 3: Opinion Piece - Advertising Agencies & Marketers

The relationship between corporate marketers and advertising agencies too often and too readily becomes "dysfunctional" - characterised by varying levels of respect and trust.

At its starkest, ad agencies see marketers as unimaginative corporate "suits", intent on diluting and doctoring their creative work to make it palatable for the organisation's senior executives and Board.

While marketers see ad agencies operating in creative cocoons, lacking savvy about the realities of corporate politics and too often removed from the realities of business.

How do we move on from this all too common scenario and meaningfully change the terms of engagement?

Firstly, let's acknowledge there are some truths in both sets of perceptions outlined above, but equally, there is also a lack of understanding by both parties about the other's environment.

Take adland. Too few advertising people (irrespective of whether they are creatives, media planners or account executives) have direct and /or meaningful experience of the corporate environment.

They find it difficult to understand why creative work needs to be "finessed" or modified to achieve consensus amongst senior executives and /or the Board.

With the corporate marketer, perhaps there is a tendency to bow a little too quickly to the pressures and caprices of the executive suite - not making a stand for the agency's creative vision or their own broader brand vision, when it really matters.

Perhaps also, there is a tendency by marketers to confine the agency to too specific a role, making it virtually impossible for the agency to act and think like a true "business partner".

Something clearly needs to change; when an agency is first appointed, goodwill abounds on both sides. Yet far too often and too quickly, the relationship degenerates into mutual disdain.

The answer is not about tweaking agency account management models; the answer lies more in such measures as:

• Recruiting more corporate marketers into agencies,and bringing agency-experienced people into corporate marketing communications roles
• Promoting skills and knowledge transfer via reciprocal secondments
• Incorporating into advertising-related training and education, practical skills, knowledge and case studies about operating effectively in corporate cultures; equally, marketing education needs to provide practical training in managing supplier relationships
• Education and training for both agencies and corporates in effective frameworks / models for managing outsourced services.

ITEM 4: AMI Marketing Seminar: Local vs Global Marketing

AMI is hosting a breakfast seminar on Tuesday, 15 May, at The Renaissance Hotel, Sydney, on "Managing an Effective Local Marketing Function within a Global Marketing Organisation".

The guest speaker is James Collins, Director of Marketing and eCommerce, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. For more information, contact Furness Associates on (02) 9438 4141, or email, furness@ozemail.com.au.

ITEM 5: Online Marketing Education

Visit the www.emarketingcampus.com website, to view how you can participate in online lectures in a virtual classroom environment. Topics include internet marketing,internet customer service and relationship marketing, and internet marketing research.

ITEM 6: One-Day Financial and Professional Services Conference

On 26 June, the AMI is sponsoring the second annual Financial and Professional Services Conference at The Renaissance Hotel, Sydney.

The theme of the conference is: "Managing Your Key Marketing Assets: Case Studies from Financial and Professional Services".

Speakers include senior executives and marketing directors from Accenture, St.George Bank, Allens Arthur Robinson, J.B.Were, Baker & McKenzie and Zurich.

For more information, contact the AMI's event managers, Furness Associates on (02) 9438 41 41, or email furness@ozemail.com.au.