PNC is going after tech-savvy customers with a digital-first money management marketing campaign called #BeTheBoss. The campaign turns traditional brand approaches to marketing on its ear, said Tom Kunz, senior vice president of digital at PNC.
The campaign starts with learning about customers and prospects. The bank has an audience management platform on its Web site that tracks non-personally identifiable information about visitors and develops segments. It adds in data about online shopping habits from various sources and combines it with financial information like investments and credit information and creates a demand management capability.
The bank then goes to online sites, publishers it calls them, and it can articulate what messages it plans to deliver to specific segments. Then it uses response data to see how the campaigns impact business.
“The traditional approach has been that publishers make available certain categories or inventory and you try to buy and optimize based on those. With our approach, we tell the publishers we know what the customers are after and which sites they go to and we have information to suggest we can help them.”
The the bank creates relevant content for digital, by creating a number of often-amusing 15, 30 and 60 second spots on YouTube and other sites. The bank looks at using 100 to 200 sites. A 20-something recent grad might be dealing with student loans, new bills and unexpected expenses and some vacation planning. Sara, a mother with children and a home, may also be interested in vacation planning. PNC might try to hit them at travel sites, perhaps even on the same site, but at different times of the day.
“It’s not so much that you buy in different places but how you buy by the segment and the time,” Kunz said. Buying an ad on an NFL game is very different from trying to reach Sara on Hulu as she tunes into a TV show that came on at 6 but she can now watch at 10:30 since the kids are in bed and she can relax. With video spots, the content, relevancy, humor and production frequency is very different from broadcast TV.
“I think you will see more brands moving in this direction,” he added. “But you have to take the time to get the data right and you need to get the production, tone and content. How you engage on Facebook is a little different from Twitter and that is different from YouTube. There’s not just one answer when you say social.”
Social brings new dimensions to marketing and allows unique levels of targeting, he added.
“Technology and customer experience are blurring; brands that get good at customer experience will win.”
PNC is building on its virtual wallet and Being the Boss of Your Money. Other institutions have elements, but Kunz thinks the bank is unique in having tools to integrate across banking, credit cards and investing.
“We figured out a way to bring all that together for the consumer, bring the data from all our different platforms and put it in a helpful context for customers.”
One innovation it offers is a financial calendar. Rather than just show the existing balance, it shows balances and scheduled payment so if a customer has a balance of $1,000 and two $250 scheduled payments, the free balance is described as $500. It also shows scheduled deposits such as direct deposit paychecks.
The Virtual Wallet, introduced in 2008, has helped the bank create highly valued customers, and digitally inclined customers are in touch the bank more often — on average they check something at the bank every day.
Kunz said some of the key trends he sees is how technology and marketing are merging. Big data is the lightning rod that is turning marketing upside down, he added.
“What it means for us is being able to use data on our existing customers, being able to find similar customers who will also find value. We are building content that is digital first, not just coming from traditional off-line [resources]. You can learn more quickly with real-time blogging and targeted buying. We are on the leading edge of the new game of marketing and data.”
PNC can test constantly with its digital approach to marketing. It can conduct A/B testing on its offers and shift dollars to the most effective platforms.
“So far the publishers are very supportive. I think they realize the more effective and efficient we can be with our marketing spend the more we are willing to spend.”
By Tom Groenfeldt, EPM Contributor, from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomgroenfeldt/2013/11/25/pnc-goes-digital-first-in-marketing-to-the-tech-savvy/
I write about finance and technology, which can range from supercomputers to iPhones and iPads, which have made inroads into enterprise computing in the last year. It’s a fast-moving world with just a bit of hype, so figuring out what’s real is a challenge, and spotting emerging trends is a feat that often comes from listening and deciphering themes amidst the chatter. For a change of pace I turn to photography — I like shooting on the streets of New York, and when I am home in Wisconsin, I turn to our dogs for inspiration, as you can see on Facebook. Tom writes for Banking Technologies in London, and for Forbes, at blogs.forbes.com/tomgroenfeldt. See Tom’s articles on EPM Channel here.