Tag: BNP Paribas

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To Zig or Zag

While President Obama’s nomination of Federal Reserve Vice Chair Janet Yellen to lead the central bank garnered significant attention this week, the twittersphere was ablaze with news on emerging payments and financial services.  Personally, I focused a lot of my time on retail banking, advertising and marketing stories — a pleasant diversion from the political showdown here in Washington.  Accordingly, this week’s column highlights the creative side of building relationships and engaging with potential customers.  Please let me know what you think via Twitter (@aldominick) or by commenting below.

(1) How Do You Introduce a Mobile-Only Bank? With a Mobile Orchestra, Of Course.  Now, I realize most banks in the U.S. have nowhere near the budget needed for an advertisement like this. Still, BNP Paribas‘ “Hello Bank!” — which claims to be Europe’s first fully digital mobile bank — pulls off “a smart orchestra stunt.” According to AdAge, “the campaign brought together the talents from the musical and tech world for a one-of-a-kind performance by the orchestra that showed what you could do with just your mobile phone.”  Taped during a performance in Prague, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra’s 60 musicians put aside their instruments for a special performance of “Carmen.”  Take a look:

(2) From your ears to your eyes, a test of your social media savvy: #PACYOURBAGS. Do you get the hashtag?  Here’s a hint: this is a promotion run by Bank of the West (a wholly owned subsidiary of BNP Paribas).  Still confused?  While many still wrestle with a social media strategy, the San Francisco-based bank has taken to Instagram and Facebook to offer exclusive Pac-12 content — including news, events and videos — to better engage with current and potential customers under this hashtag.

Bank of the West hashtag

Visit their Facebook page and you’ll be invited to “capture any great moments from this week’s college football games… Tag them with #PACYOURBAGS on Instagram to enter and you could win $250 and a trip for two to the Rose Bowl Stadium on 1/1/14!”  Dare I say, #Cool.

(3) From Prague to the Pac-12, we’ve covered a lot in a short amount of time.  To wrap things up, let me share a story closer to home.  This one involves a few plucky upstarts taking on the biggest of the big.  No, this isn’t a tale of a community bank competing head on with Bank of America; rather, a link to an article that shows multiple startups trying to disrupt various sectors within the consumer goods industry.  Much like their BofA and Wells Fargo brethren, P&G and Unilever “have scale but are under constant assault from savvy upstarts.”  Yes, I’m drawing a parallel between the razor blades you might find in your bathroom to the battle for bank customers vis-a-vis “How Tiny Startups Like Hello and 800Razors Are Stealing Share From CPG Giants.” The premise: “smaller brands’ ability to break through goes to digital disruption in media and retailing.”  An interesting parallel, especially for those bankers willing “to zig away from the strategic and creative zags of category titans.”

Aloha Friday!

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A grown up swinging town

San Francisco, CA

I spent the last few days in San Francisco meeting with various companies (think BlackRock, Fortress, Raymond James, Pillsbury, Manatt Phelps, etc.).  Those conversations caught me up on various trends impacting banks on our west coast. As I do each Friday, what follows are three things I heard, read and learned this week — with a big nod towards the bear republic.  Oh yes, thanks to old blue eyes for inspiring today’s title.  Sinatra certainly knew what he was talking about when it came to the bay area.

(1) Every bank has a story, and the old Farmers National Gold Bank (aka the Bank of the West) certainly has a rich one.  Begun in 1874, it was one of just ten banks nationwide authorized to issue paper currency backed by gold reserves.  Long a favorite of mine thanks to an academic / St Louis connection with their CEO, I had the opportunity to sit down with one of their board members on Tuesday and hear more about the $60Bn+ subsidiary of BNP Paribas.  As I reflect on that conversation, it strikes me that the bank’s growth reflects smart credit underwriting, a diversified loan portfolio and careful risk management. Yes, there have been strategic acquisitions (for example, United California Bank in ‘02, Community First Bank in Fargo in ’04 and Commercial Federal Bank in Omaha in ’05); however, their growth has been more organic of late — fitting for a “community bank” that has grown to more than 700 branch banking and commercial office locations in 19 Western and Midwestern states.  While their geographic footprint continues to grow, take a look at their social media presence. In my opinion, it’s one of the best in the banking space.

(2) From Bank of the West to US Bancorp, First Republic to BofA, bank branches dominate the streets of San Francisco.  As competition for business intensifies, I thought back to an article written by Robin Sidel (Regulatory Move Inhibits Bank Deals) that ran in last week’s Wall Street Journal.  I’m a big fan of her writing, and found myself re-reading her piece on a move by regulators “that put the biggest bank merger of 2012 on ice (and) is sending a chill through midsize financial institutions.”  Her story focuses on M&T, the nation’s 16th-largest bank (and like Bank of the West, operates more than 700 branches) and its $3.8 billion purchase of Hudson City Bancorp.  According to Robin, the deal that was announced last August is on hold after the Federal Reserve raised concerns about M&T’s anti-money-laundering program.  The fallout? Since the Fed’s decision, CEOs of other regional banks “have shelved internal discussions about potential transactions.”  For those interested in bank M&A, this article comes highly recommended.

(3) So if certain deals aren’t going to be considered (let alone closed), it naturally begs the question about how how and where banks can add new customers and increase “share of wallet” to improve profitability.  I brought this up in a conversation with Microsoft on Wednesday and found myself nodding in agreement that financial institutions should “audit their customer knowledge capabilities” to provide an optimal experience.  “Customer centricity” is a big focus for the tech giant, and it is interesting to consider how things like marketing, credit management and compliance might benefit from a well-designed strategy for managing customer knowledge.  I know some smaller banks are doing this (Avenue Bank in Nashville comes to mind) and I’m curious to hear how others might be taking advantage of tools and techniques to out-smart the BofA’s of the world.  If you know of some interesting stories, please feel free to weigh in below.

Aloha Friday!