The Right Brand and Position

SITUATION

A 50-year old financial institution, second in size in a highly competitive market, needed to establish brand awareness and update its corporate identity and positioning. FabCom was commissioned to develop a comprehensive, three-year marketing strategy.

GOALS/OBJECTIVES

Goals

 
• Develop, brand and promote a unique and effective market position.
 
• Grow membership by 200% over industry average rate.
 
• Increase current members’ utilization of key services/products such as credit cards, savings accounts and real estate loans by 10% per year.
 
• Increase call center traffic by 350% on inquiries of new services.
 
• Separately and strategically identify and target key stakeholders to influence acceptance of the market position.

Objectives

 
• Clearly communicate the new market position to all target audiences.
 
• Reposition for future regional growth.
 
• Provide the “blueprint” and allocate the marketing resources needed to obtain the goals and objectives as outlined in the Board-approved “Vision 2005” plan.
 
• Provide the Internet infrastructure and user features for a fully-functional consumer financial gateway with one click live support from call center.
 
• Separately and strategically target the Hispanic market.

Strategy/Tactics

The comprehensive marketing strategy and campaign elements were built around the positioning statement, “Your Financial Partner.” A name change was a key element of the strategy in order to resolve the confusion in the market relative to a large number of institutions with similar names. The logo was revised and updated. Print, radio and direct mail were also utilized.

Results

The new positioning, “Your Financial Partner,” resonated with both existing members and prospects as corresponding to their needs and financial concerns. While the industry’s average growth rate declined by 37.5% year-to-year (from 3.2% in 2000 to 2% in 2001), FabCom was able to help the institution grow its membership by more than 8%, or 4 times the industry average. In the institution’s statewide market, only one competitor (out of 70) grew by a larger percentage. Based on the success of this strategy, the relationship and the client’s growth continue to prosper.