Thought Leadership
2011
"Building a Comfortable Brand in Uncomfortable Times"
Canadian Marketing Association (CMA) Conference Speech
March 2, 2011
Written by
.
I'm not going to talk for long today, or talk just about marketing and banking. In fact, I'm going to start today by doing something we try to do a lot of at TD. And that's listen. It was listening that drew us to our marketing strategy of comfort and convenience in the first place; it's listening that helps make it succeed; and it's listening to our customers that will continue to set TD apart – especially in uncomfortable times like these.
So let's first listen in to someone who has something to say about banks.
(VIDEO: YouTube rant of a guy who hates banks.)
(SLIDE: The Chair, with the line "Banking Can Be This Comfortable")
I think when that guy gets old and crotchety we could use him in one of our commercials.
The fact is people don't like banks, even though they know they're necessary. Or rather, they're conflicted about them. They know one thing, but they feel something else.
That's uncomfortable. And it's been true forever. A hundred and one years ago, Stephen Leacock wrote his famous short story, "My Financial Career."
(SLIDE - Picture of Stephen Leacock)
The story starts with these words: "When I go into a bank I get rattled. The clerks rattle me; the wickets rattle me; the sight of the money rattles me; everything rattles me. The moment I cross the threshold of a bank and attempt to transact business there, I become an irresponsible idiot." By the end of the story, Leacock is so uncomfortable about banks that right after opening an account and depositing his paycheque, he immediately withdraws the full balance.
After that, he put his money in a sock.
At the core of Stephen Leacock's story is a very common idea: people know that money, and especially banking is complicated and time-consuming. It can even be intimidating and painful.
(SLIDE: The Chair, with the line "Banking Can Be This Comfortable")
But if a bank can make the experience of dealing with them as quick, simple, friendly and straightforward as possible, they'll stand out from the others. And if that bank can actually build a brand that's comfortable, then it will have an advantage that's not only authentic and lasting, but nearly impossible to replicate.
We're now over a decade into this marketing strategy. We've been the recipients of many honours and had much success. Marketing comfort and convenience has worked in very different markets, market conditions, media and applications. This simply proves how true this belief is. Especially in uncomfortable times like today.
In fact, marketing a company that has over 650 billion dollars in assets, millions of customers, thousands of branches, and hundreds of products and services….. wrapping that under the all-embracing banners of "comfort" and "convenience" is a case study in classic brand strategy.
Our strategy has worked because it's constantly nourished by new ideas – ideas from the edge. And those ideas come from exactly the same place our strategy came from – listening to our customers.
The meaning of comfort and convenience continues to evolve and resonate with our customers. But it all began in 2001 with the ultimate symbol of comfort and convenience – a big easy-chair.
Here's how that was expressed in our first TV spot:
[VIDEO: First ever TV spot, “Know your Name” in 2001]
(SLIDE: The Chair, with the line "Banking Can Be This Comfortable")
That spot premiered in 2001 on national TV, taking a page from our operational standards - that staff are expected to address customers by their name. And it struck a chord in terms of relevance. But it took awhile for the idea of a bank promoting comfort and convenience to break through. I was around then, and the results were pretty mediocre. We could have done what a lot of companies did, which was to change campaigns after a few months in search of the silver bullet.
We didn't do that because we were convinced we had the right strategy. We knew it would take awhile for Canadians to get used to this very different idea in bank marketing. Then, it started to catch on.
Now let me show you a spot that we just launched on February 6th during the Super Bowl.
[VIDEO: Show latest TV spot, “Hours”].
(SLIDE: The Chair, with the line "Banking Can Be This Comfortable")
As you can see, we've raised the bar again on comfortable and convenient banking opening over 300 of our Canadian branches for Sunday banking.
Between these two spots, the marketplace has undergone multiple revolutions in ……communications technology, wealth, service and consumer hopes. Back in 2001, "social media" wasn't even an expression, let alone the driving force it is today. In some ways, these spots seem like they're from two different worlds. In the first, the star is really a point of view, how we see the world, and in the second, a couple of Grumpy Old Men - but the point of view is still there.
And a lot of other things are still there too. We're still shooting in black and white, we've still got the familiar Green TD Shield, and of course the Green Chair. Most of all, we use the same five words at the end of the spot today as we did when we began: "Banking can be this comfortable."
You'll notice that our marketing isn't particularly trendy or "cool", a position that is too often the default for many marketers. Rather, it tends to be "folksy". As a friend told me, it's more like Tim Hortons, not Starbucks. And those two brands represent archetypes that have always been around the financial services world. There's an old saying in the banking business: When you want to deposit your hard-earned money, when you want to invest.... that's when you want the glass office towers, the MBA's, the power suits. In short, you want a banker that looks like this:
(Insert slide of stern looking power broker)
And when you want to borrow money, take out a mortgage, buy something on a credit card, that's the time you want a banker who's unhurried, really understanding, maybe has a hot cup of coffee for you, maybe someone who looks like this:
(Insert picture of folksy, welcoming, cheerful, small town banker)
But here's the thing about this conventional wisdom: It's no longer true. No one wants to deal with a bank that feels like that first guy. Ever. Whether they're depositing 50 bucks in the college fund, or financing a hydro dam in Eastern Europe.
So we're definitely more Main Street than Bay Street. We prefer the slow and steady approach, always guided by what our customers are telling us, then leveraging those insights to develop campaigns that have real staying power.
We're also working to constantly bring new meanings to the idea of comfort. For example last year, we filmed a series of vignettes with the writers and directors of our customers' favourite TV shows. The series, which aired on CTV, is called "Up Close & Comfortable."
The writers and directors sit in the comfortable TD Green Chair and offer insider's insights about what's happening behind the scenes with shows such as Lost, American Idol, CSI and Grey's Anatomy
(SLIDES: Scenes from "Up Close & Comfortable")
What's different about this initiative with CTV is that it allows us to reach consumers on a more personal level and to spread the word about comfortable banking at TD. Like all of our marketing tactics, it starts with the customer.
Today, being open sooner to new ideas is also helping us expand into new markets and new mediums. Here's an example.
All the Banks promote Diversity. TD embeds diversity into its marketing in some very meaningful ways. Maybe it's our heritage as the Toronto-Dominion Bank, but I like to remind my fellow Torontonians that our hometown is not only one of the most culturally diverse in the world, but in the history of the world. So it makes good business sense to promote our city's and our nation's great and emerging strength.
For the past five years, we've sponsored Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender events in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. We also market directly to the LGBT community.
I can tell you that marketing directly to this community was new to banks and some people felt downright uncomfortable about this, particularly when it came to marketing in the mass channels.
So what does all that have to do with being comfortable?
Well, take a look at this poster.
[SLIDE: Two-men poster].
It's about a lot of things, including being comfortable with who you are. But most of all, it's about time. We believe it's about time companies who offer support to this community show that support openly. Since developing our LGBT initiative, I say with pride that we've seen a 75% boost in the number of TD employees signing up for same-sex benefits.
But the most gratifying response has been from our customers.
(SLIDE: Facebook Discussion Of Poster)
Here's a Facebook discussion below a cell phone shot of the poster behind me - a customer had encountered it in downtown Toronto, but in the business district, not in the gay village. I'll just read some of the posts….."Great ad to help break down prejudices in our society"… "I can't see this couple play too well in Sudbury."… "I'm thrilled to be living at a time when my son doesn't give this a first thought, let alone a second."…and "If you didn't already have my account, these posters would have had me switching to you."
We got this kind of Feedback because we listened to the LGBT community and brought fresh thinking to an issue and a market where all the banks participate.
And where are we listening these days? Facebook and social media. For the past couple of years, we've used social media to listen and engage, and we're moving to deliver more service and advice through social media channels. Were we the first ones in? No. But we're happy to offset any 'first mover advantage' by leveraging social media to engage in meaningful and relevant conversations with our customers. Like a lot of companies, we were cautious about jumping in to social media. It's completely open-ended, unmediated. It draws people who like to complain. It attracts rants. But once we decided to get into social media that discomfort has largely disappeared.
Here's a recent example of why:
(SLIDE: Maple Leaf Mommy Blog)
Let me introduce you to Maple Leaf Mommy. TD has been calling her home phone to promote products to her husband. She states numerous times to the caller that her husband is unavailable at that particular time of the day, but TD continues to call.
Maple Leaf Mommy writes on her blog "TD Canada Trust is driving me mad…."
Readers of her blog join in… "He should cancel his card"…and "They are a pain in the butt". Fortunately, we were listening and responded with an apology and an offer to help.
The WIN…. Check out Kimberley's comment. "I think that is freeeeekin awesome that someone from TD totally read your blog! The power of social media!"
We hear this sentiment everyday… customers are blown away that we are on social media but more importantly that we are listening and that we offer to help.
So yes, we're everywhere our customers are today and we're anticipating where they'll be tomorrow. That's always going to be at the edge. But the message we deliver at the edge is all going to be about comfort and convenience.
Here's another example.
The university demographic is a tough bunch to reach. To them banking is just not something they relate to. So how does a bank engage a group of young people?
We do that by going out to Universities and meeting students face-to-face, to offer them a one-of-a-kind experience that money can't buy, and bring it together with an online experience.
[Slide of the Pump it Up Campaign]
We created the "Pump It Up" program with live concerts by the famous DJ - Girl Talk, Canadian indie rock band, - The Stills, and rapper - KOS ("Chaos"). Students didn't win tickets to a concert; they won an entire concert. Little wonder the students at Mohawk College and Trent University ended up using social media and even homegrown radio spots to promote student votes for their campus.
So, did all this activity produce tangible business results? I can tell you that I get asked this question a lot.
Well, by the time the concerts ended, 54% more students opened accounts last Fall than the year before. Which, as they say in the United States, is a lot of "green."
(SLIDE: The Chair, with the line "Banking Can Be This Comfortable")
But the green our customers are talking more and more these days is of the ecological variety: corporate sustainability - and it's not just our customers, but our employees, investors, and communities. Over the last few years, we've looked at ways to be more efficient, retrofitting lighting, improving heating/cooling systems and so on. We conducted a global energy audit of our operations, measuring our carbon footprint everywhere we do business, and generated local carbon offset credits through investments with social partners like Habitat for Humanity and Tree Canada. We also purchased offsets from Zerofootprint and similar organizations in Canada and the US. With these efforts, in 2010 we became the first North American bank - and one of the few banks in the world - to announce that our entire global footprint is carbon neutral.
Now so far I've been mostly talking about TD in Canada, but in fact over the last few years, we've grown dramatically south of the border.
Earlier this year, the Financial Post attributed our success to our bedrock faith in the importance of our customers and a laser-like attention to their needs.
The Post then asked my boss Ed Clark why TD's loan portfolios are growing by 4% this past year in the U.S. when the average loan portfolio at U.S. banks has been falling by 8%.
Here's what he said: "If I put a branch on a corner in New York City, I know five years later I will have more than 25% of the business of the competing branch across the street. Because some time in that five years, some clients will come at 4:02. Their branch will be closed. They'll look across at our store. There'll be somebody giving dog biscuits to somebody's dog... and they'll say: "Why am I banking at the guy across the street?" I mean, it's a very simple concept. Just be open longer and give better service." Unquote.
If you're a student of Canadian business, you know the roads are littered with iconic Canadian brands that tried to succeed in America – especially under their original name. But today, TD now has more stores in the US than we do in Canada. I'm always amused by the story of the lady from Brooklyn who came to Toronto with her friend, looked up at the TD Tower on King Street and said: "Gosh Mary, they have TD Bank up here too."
In the U.S., TD Bank is branded as America's Most Convenient Bank. We're focused on delivering "wow" service that's both convenient and comfortable. Let me show you what I mean about "wow" service.
[SHOW CLIP FROM REGIS AND KELLY” THAT DEMONSTRATES “WOW” SERVICE].
(SLIDE: The Chair, with the line "Banking Can Be This Comfortable")
If you can make your customers' banking more convenient and comfortable, that gives you permission to do much more with them, to offer a deeper, longer relationship. The fact that we launched our US campaign in the middle of the worst recession since the Depression, at a time when Americans were incredibly anxious about their finances, and when trust in their banks was at an all-time low, well, all the more reason that offering more convenient hours, free coin counters and even dog biscuits set us apart from the other banks.
So today, the Bank that started over 150 years ago in Toronto is now the 7th largest deposit-taking institution in America.
In the past few years, we've expanded our Direct Investing operations to Great Britain and Ireland. And our growth story won't stop there.
Will we be promoting comfort and convenience in these markets as we have been in Canada and the US?
Believe me; we are mindful that ……as they say in the investment business, "past performance is no guarantee of future returns." But our view today is that consumers want banking to be comfortable and convenient …. Until our customers tell us differently, we will continue to focus on delivering legendary, "wow" customer service – both north and south of the border.
I want to close by offering this one thought: the strength of a strategy is not how successful it is quarter by quarter. It's how it succeeds year after year and for us, decade after decade. Bad strategies are forced to run sprints. Good strategies can run marathons. The stronger that strategy, the longer it can run.
That's' a lesson we've learned and one we're comfortable in offering to marketers everywhere.
IAN ON VIDEO: So is he done? Lots of slick talk, right? Smooth as silk those bank marketing guys, I tell you. He tries to get you to open an account? Take it from me, you can teach these guys a lot, if only they'd listen...
[Dom remains at the podium while Ian speaks on the video. After Ian speaks Dom says "Thank You"].
Thank you. I'd be happy to answer your questions....