As we all know predictions are a dangerous game. Particularly when it comes to social media.
Last year and my colleagues and I listened to people who know better than us, we heard some interesting things.
This included:
1. The mobile device is set to soar thanks to iPhone
2. Video popularity and accessibility would follow as bandwidth and download speeds improved (particularly on mobile phones)
3. Social media and content marketing really do matter in financial services - both retail and institutional.
And here we are, barely into 2010 (January often doesn't count in Australia), yet flooded with requests for help with, guess what? Video. Online PR strategy and campaigns. Content. And a serve of social media monitoring on the side please.
The parts of financial services looking at social media is interesting - and completely diverse. We expected large consumer brands to lead whereas we've now seen everyone from industry institutional asset managers to retail direct players take up online PR or more social-media-friendly forms of online communication and engagement .
When my favourite monolithic bank added an iPhone app to their existing mobile banking platform on the holidays I was a little surprised and delighted. Yes, the functionality is rubbish but it does look good. I'm sure version 1.1 is just around the corner.
Apparently the predictions were right. Of course it's early days so it will be interesting to see if the increased investment in interactive communication and online PR holds until the next holiday season.
We suspect it will.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Lessons from 2009 and what it means for 2010 for financial services communication
Tonight as we held drinks with colleagues in our Sydney CBD office one client jokingly asked "GFC. What's that?"
And it was actually funny because for the smallest moment we'd forgotten how this year began.
As 2009 started most of us working in financial services could think of nothing else.
As the year ends most of us are thinking about next year - how to capture more of our markets, how to take a new market or to re-establish ourselves.
The themes our clients are talking & asking about are now completely different to this time last year or to just a quarter ago.
Just a few months back we were talking about fund retention, preserving reputation, staying in front of investors or clients to build trust, and cutting costs.
Now it's all about proactive communication, educating or engaging investors, content marketing, building brands and marketing ROI.
In a year where there were plenty of hard lessons what are the stand outs and what does it mean for 2010?
So what are the communication lessons from 2009?
I've put this short list together based on the experiences shared by our clients and the work we've done this year.
1. Earning clients or investors trust is an ever-present task....the more we do now, the most goodwill we'll 'bank' for a rainy day
2. Educating clients and investors is now a requirement, not a 'nice to have' for most financial services marketers
3. Marketing budgets are in fact largely discretionary...but strong communication is not. Businesses were threatened when communication was poor enough. And others thrived this year thanks to better-than-average communication.
4. Return is everything, cost is not. Dollars spent now have to work harder to deliver outcomes and show a return on objectives or investment. In this new, more thrifty paradigm, "cheap" can be good in marketing as long as it delivers a return - the same is true of larger spends.
5. Good people are still worth their weight in gold. The businesses who managed to keep their best marketing and communication people continued to deliver the best marketing, media and communication results.
What's ahead in 2010?
Predictions are dangerous but what the hell...it's my last post for the year and I think I've got a clear bead on what CEOs and marketers want from us in 2010.
Here are the top four things I think we'll see in financial services marketing communication in the year to come:
1. Cost pressures will remain - forcing ever more efficient results from all marketing spends and driving the "evolution of evaluation" and online delivery
2. Financial services PR will come to mean both traditional and online PR as financial services and wealth management firm migrate their traditional PR online (here's how to do that!)
3. Direct-to-consumer will rise as the new perceptual battle ground for PR. While media outlets will remain hugely influential, financial services brands will now be battling harder for the first page of Google, not just media coverage dominance
4. Education, particularly via content marketing, will come of age in financial services. Where once it was the lone voice of BT, in those long copy ads of the 90s, it's now going to be micro sites such as the Perpetual one - populated not with a few key themes but with a veritable library of content - "markeducation" to investors.
On that note, I'm signing off for the year. Posts will resume in late January, and I'll be moderating comments in the meantime...and of course still interested in your views as we talk on or offline about the posts and all things financial services communication.
Thanks for reading, and for your comments this year...and happy holidays.
And it was actually funny because for the smallest moment we'd forgotten how this year began.
As 2009 started most of us working in financial services could think of nothing else.
As the year ends most of us are thinking about next year - how to capture more of our markets, how to take a new market or to re-establish ourselves.
The themes our clients are talking & asking about are now completely different to this time last year or to just a quarter ago.
Just a few months back we were talking about fund retention, preserving reputation, staying in front of investors or clients to build trust, and cutting costs.
Now it's all about proactive communication, educating or engaging investors, content marketing, building brands and marketing ROI.
In a year where there were plenty of hard lessons what are the stand outs and what does it mean for 2010?
So what are the communication lessons from 2009?
I've put this short list together based on the experiences shared by our clients and the work we've done this year.
1. Earning clients or investors trust is an ever-present task....the more we do now, the most goodwill we'll 'bank' for a rainy day
2. Educating clients and investors is now a requirement, not a 'nice to have' for most financial services marketers
3. Marketing budgets are in fact largely discretionary...but strong communication is not. Businesses were threatened when communication was poor enough. And others thrived this year thanks to better-than-average communication.
4. Return is everything, cost is not. Dollars spent now have to work harder to deliver outcomes and show a return on objectives or investment. In this new, more thrifty paradigm, "cheap" can be good in marketing as long as it delivers a return - the same is true of larger spends.
5. Good people are still worth their weight in gold. The businesses who managed to keep their best marketing and communication people continued to deliver the best marketing, media and communication results.
What's ahead in 2010?
Predictions are dangerous but what the hell...it's my last post for the year and I think I've got a clear bead on what CEOs and marketers want from us in 2010.
Here are the top four things I think we'll see in financial services marketing communication in the year to come:
1. Cost pressures will remain - forcing ever more efficient results from all marketing spends and driving the "evolution of evaluation" and online delivery
2. Financial services PR will come to mean both traditional and online PR as financial services and wealth management firm migrate their traditional PR online (here's how to do that!)
3. Direct-to-consumer will rise as the new perceptual battle ground for PR. While media outlets will remain hugely influential, financial services brands will now be battling harder for the first page of Google, not just media coverage dominance
4. Education, particularly via content marketing, will come of age in financial services. Where once it was the lone voice of BT, in those long copy ads of the 90s, it's now going to be micro sites such as the Perpetual one - populated not with a few key themes but with a veritable library of content - "markeducation" to investors.
On that note, I'm signing off for the year. Posts will resume in late January, and I'll be moderating comments in the meantime...and of course still interested in your views as we talk on or offline about the posts and all things financial services communication.
Thanks for reading, and for your comments this year...and happy holidays.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
10 steps to take your financial services pr & marcomms communication online
This morning my colleague Paul Cheal and I presented a seminar about how Australian financial services marketers still have a window of opportunity to achieve “first mover advantage through online PR”.
This afternoon we also published an eBook focusing on the most practical take-away from that seminar - the ten simple steps to take your pr and marketing communication online.
Yes, it’s a new era of consumer sovereignty (post-Ripoll, post-GFC & mid-online PR (r)evolution).
Yes, transparency in retail and institutional markets is, or will be, greater than ever before
And choice of information channels & sales channels will proliferate…
At the same time the rise and rise of social media means choice of marketing tools can be overwhelming.
Where to start?
By taking the same principles we learned in traditional PR, communication and marketing online – and playing by the new rules of the social media world.
The sweet spot for financial services is online PR.
By online PR we mean:
- 1. Quality and quantity content that earns you search engine superiority and viewer attention
- 2. Communication direct to clients in both institutional and retail markets
- 3. All linked back to an effective website AND
- 4. Engaging your audiences with the next “P” in financial services marketing – philosophy.
Because in the new digital democracy it will be what you stand for, what you do and how interesting you can make it, that earns you the attention of the people who matter most to your business.
So what are YOU going to do to tell your business’s story more effectively online?
Download BlueChip Communication's ten steps to online PR for financial services here.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
How to brief a financial services, or B2B, public relations firm
Brief? What brief?
It’s been seven years since I last briefed a PR firm, and just on 48 hours since I last took a brief from a potential client. In the intervening six years and 363 days, I’ve often wondered how the various suppliers I worked with coped.
A good brief sets up the whole relationship, saves time and makes sure you get value for money. I've got a feeling my partners didn't ever have quite that clarity from me.
Sure I had a set of criteria (sometimes). And a well-written three or four pages about what I wanted from the engagement. Maybe even a vague notion about my ideal outcome.
But not a clue about how to create a “long list” then run a selection process, using criteria to choose a short list then the right firm.
No, I more often used that other time-honored selection process - gut feel. Which is great if you are already working well together.
Not so great if you’re looking to establish a relationship.
So assuming you’re going to apply some logic and order to how you choose a communication partner, here are some of the things I’ve learned from clients, my own consultants and various fantastic staff.
As I said in the beginning, good brief sets up the whole relationship, saves time and makes sure you get value for money. It sets expectations, objectives and boundaries.
It doesn’t have to be onerous, or too long. It can be a one pager if your needs are simple, or less if you have previous experience with the consultancy you’re briefing.
Objectives
Should include scope, timeline, results you want and the sorts of deliverables you want to see along the way. Headings may include:
1. Summary
2. Objectives (SMART if you can)
3. Desired outcomes (what you really really want – both realistic and, perhaps, not so)
4. Activities (you may or may not know all of these but if there are some you clearly want, best you let your potential partners know)
5. Challenges to overcome/issues (almost all organisations face both opportunities and challenges – the more upfront you can be about these the better the response from the potential partner)
Expectations
6. Performance criteria (how do you expect to measure the firm? Output, outcome, impact?)
7. Timeline (how long do you want them to work for?)
8. Terms of engagement (fixed or project fee, recurring engagement for a set price and time, or on an hours basis?)
Boundaries
9. More about you and your firm
10. Budget (upper and lower limits are really really helpful and save an immense amount of time & rework)
11. Non-disclosure (we usually ask our clients if we can give them one of these before we get the brief)
Next, how to actually select a B2B or financial PR firm and then, how to get the most from them.
It’s been seven years since I last briefed a PR firm, and just on 48 hours since I last took a brief from a potential client. In the intervening six years and 363 days, I’ve often wondered how the various suppliers I worked with coped.
A good brief sets up the whole relationship, saves time and makes sure you get value for money. I've got a feeling my partners didn't ever have quite that clarity from me.
Sure I had a set of criteria (sometimes). And a well-written three or four pages about what I wanted from the engagement. Maybe even a vague notion about my ideal outcome.
But not a clue about how to create a “long list” then run a selection process, using criteria to choose a short list then the right firm.
No, I more often used that other time-honored selection process - gut feel. Which is great if you are already working well together.
Not so great if you’re looking to establish a relationship.
So assuming you’re going to apply some logic and order to how you choose a communication partner, here are some of the things I’ve learned from clients, my own consultants and various fantastic staff.
As I said in the beginning, good brief sets up the whole relationship, saves time and makes sure you get value for money. It sets expectations, objectives and boundaries.
It doesn’t have to be onerous, or too long. It can be a one pager if your needs are simple, or less if you have previous experience with the consultancy you’re briefing.
Objectives
Should include scope, timeline, results you want and the sorts of deliverables you want to see along the way. Headings may include:
1. Summary
2. Objectives (SMART if you can)
3. Desired outcomes (what you really really want – both realistic and, perhaps, not so)
4. Activities (you may or may not know all of these but if there are some you clearly want, best you let your potential partners know)
5. Challenges to overcome/issues (almost all organisations face both opportunities and challenges – the more upfront you can be about these the better the response from the potential partner)
Expectations
6. Performance criteria (how do you expect to measure the firm? Output, outcome, impact?)
7. Timeline (how long do you want them to work for?)
8. Terms of engagement (fixed or project fee, recurring engagement for a set price and time, or on an hours basis?)
Boundaries
9. More about you and your firm
10. Budget (upper and lower limits are really really helpful and save an immense amount of time & rework)
11. Non-disclosure (we usually ask our clients if we can give them one of these before we get the brief)
Next, how to actually select a B2B or financial PR firm and then, how to get the most from them.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Day One at FPA 2009
Bruce Madden attended Day One of the FPA National Conference 2009 in Melbourne for BlueChip Communication.
Three industries have converged on the Melbourne Convention Centre this week, meaning delegates to the Financial Planning Association annual conference must first run the gauntlet of the "Mind, Body and Spirit Festival" before hitting the annual gab fest of the Australian College of Emergency Medical Practitioners, to finally reach the zone partitioned off for the FPA.
It makes for an eclectic mix of patrons under one roof, and with Australia's financial planners facing sustained attacks on the remuneration, education, client obligation and pretty much anything else front, along with Bernie Rippoll just days from delivering his much anticipated report into the industry, you could forgive one or two delegates who feel the urge to nip out for a spot of chakra realignment or some aura mapping down at the Mind, Body and Spirit convention.
And it is comforting to know that - should things really deteriorate - the Emergency Medical experts are on hand next door to care for the real cot cases.
Not that the mood at FPA 2009 is at all downbeat. At least not compared with the thoroughly morose start to last year's event on the Gold Coast, at the peak of the global financial crisis.
No, things are best described as"busy". Businesslike. Not inspirational, but determined.
Busy keeping up with the swiftly moving national agenda played out in the media. Busy absorbing what the politicians and reviews will have to say about the future of the industry. Busy trying to figure out why the good planners, who have never taken a commission in their life and who act only in their client's best interest, are being swept along in the turgid morass that has become the industry's reputation.
As one senior industry figure put it: "there are many balls in the air, and I feel sorry for the good planners who are juggling them all while trying to make an honest living".
These are issues rich times. Witness this exchange last night between IFSA CEO John Brogden and IFS's David Whitely as evidence of just some of the viewpoints being played out among stakeholders at present: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/business/items/200911/s2746942.htm.
FPA chief executive Jo Anne Bloch's comments on raising education standards was a front page report on this morning's AFR. ABC TV turned up at the FPA news conference today, asking Ms Bloch the familiar question, repeatedly, "will you ban commissions".
So, your humble correspondent has selectively done the rounds today, asking people from various backgrounds, what single issue must the industry overcome?
The best response was from Jo Anne Bloch: "we must restore confidence in financial planning among consumers".
Bruce Madden will file only one report from FPA 2009. He would love your feedback on bruce@bluechipcommunication.com.au.
Three industries have converged on the Melbourne Convention Centre this week, meaning delegates to the Financial Planning Association annual conference must first run the gauntlet of the "Mind, Body and Spirit Festival" before hitting the annual gab fest of the Australian College of Emergency Medical Practitioners, to finally reach the zone partitioned off for the FPA.
It makes for an eclectic mix of patrons under one roof, and with Australia's financial planners facing sustained attacks on the remuneration, education, client obligation and pretty much anything else front, along with Bernie Rippoll just days from delivering his much anticipated report into the industry, you could forgive one or two delegates who feel the urge to nip out for a spot of chakra realignment or some aura mapping down at the Mind, Body and Spirit convention.
And it is comforting to know that - should things really deteriorate - the Emergency Medical experts are on hand next door to care for the real cot cases.
Not that the mood at FPA 2009 is at all downbeat. At least not compared with the thoroughly morose start to last year's event on the Gold Coast, at the peak of the global financial crisis.
No, things are best described as"busy". Businesslike. Not inspirational, but determined.
Busy keeping up with the swiftly moving national agenda played out in the media. Busy absorbing what the politicians and reviews will have to say about the future of the industry. Busy trying to figure out why the good planners, who have never taken a commission in their life and who act only in their client's best interest, are being swept along in the turgid morass that has become the industry's reputation.
As one senior industry figure put it: "there are many balls in the air, and I feel sorry for the good planners who are juggling them all while trying to make an honest living".
These are issues rich times. Witness this exchange last night between IFSA CEO John Brogden and IFS's David Whitely as evidence of just some of the viewpoints being played out among stakeholders at present: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/business/items/200911/s2746942.htm.
FPA chief executive Jo Anne Bloch's comments on raising education standards was a front page report on this morning's AFR. ABC TV turned up at the FPA news conference today, asking Ms Bloch the familiar question, repeatedly, "will you ban commissions".
So, your humble correspondent has selectively done the rounds today, asking people from various backgrounds, what single issue must the industry overcome?
The best response was from Jo Anne Bloch: "we must restore confidence in financial planning among consumers".
Bruce Madden will file only one report from FPA 2009. He would love your feedback on bruce@bluechipcommunication.com.au.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Minister Chris Bowen: ASFA Day 3
Day Three of ASFA in Melbourne ended on a self-congratulatory note, with Minister Chris Bowen concurring with earlier speakers that we do in fact have a great national savings system, and delegates rating the conference a success.
In closing the 2009 ASFA conference, Chris Bowen, Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, outlined his four tests for the outcome of the various reviews that are to affect the national savings system: simplicity, efficiency, equity and adequacy.
A system that is easier to understand will help ensure Australians are more engaged with their super says Bowen. Great technology will reduce costs and improve returns, with the Medicare clearing house described as a “modest first step towards a more efficient, less paper-based system”.
The Cooper review will look at reducing fees and increasing long term returns, said Bowen, citing Treasury figures that estimate a one per cent difference in fees can translate to 16 per cent less at retirement in a members’ account.
Side stepping whether or not nine per cent is adequate, the Minster linked adequacy (the minimum objective) and equity, suggesting that the greatest challenge is to design a system with genuine incentives for low and middle income earners, signalling greater concessions for this group.
“The global financial crisis has put super through the wringer. It’s battered returns and shaken the confidence of those who are about to retire or have already retired.”
Against that backdrop, Bowen says his job “is partly to explain to Australians the importance of super” for individuals and to the economy generally.
Bowen addressed audience questions focused on adequacy, the Henry Review and some particularly pointed questions about legislative changes to super.
“Adequacy isn’t enough”
“Henry Review recommendations won’t be implemented immediately – most will be the subject of a national discussion.”
In addressing continual government changes to super, Bowen suggested “the reviews are an opportunity to have more certainty in super”, but only once the various recommendations from current processes are implemented. In other words, more change now against the promise of longer term stability.
I attended ASFA on behalf of BlueChip Communication. Bruce Madden will also be attending next week’s FPA Conference in Melbourne.
In closing the 2009 ASFA conference, Chris Bowen, Minister for Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law, outlined his four tests for the outcome of the various reviews that are to affect the national savings system: simplicity, efficiency, equity and adequacy.
A system that is easier to understand will help ensure Australians are more engaged with their super says Bowen. Great technology will reduce costs and improve returns, with the Medicare clearing house described as a “modest first step towards a more efficient, less paper-based system”.
The Cooper review will look at reducing fees and increasing long term returns, said Bowen, citing Treasury figures that estimate a one per cent difference in fees can translate to 16 per cent less at retirement in a members’ account.
Side stepping whether or not nine per cent is adequate, the Minster linked adequacy (the minimum objective) and equity, suggesting that the greatest challenge is to design a system with genuine incentives for low and middle income earners, signalling greater concessions for this group.
“The global financial crisis has put super through the wringer. It’s battered returns and shaken the confidence of those who are about to retire or have already retired.”
Against that backdrop, Bowen says his job “is partly to explain to Australians the importance of super” for individuals and to the economy generally.
Bowen addressed audience questions focused on adequacy, the Henry Review and some particularly pointed questions about legislative changes to super.
“Adequacy isn’t enough”
“Henry Review recommendations won’t be implemented immediately – most will be the subject of a national discussion.”
In addressing continual government changes to super, Bowen suggested “the reviews are an opportunity to have more certainty in super”, but only once the various recommendations from current processes are implemented. In other words, more change now against the promise of longer term stability.
I attended ASFA on behalf of BlueChip Communication. Bruce Madden will also be attending next week’s FPA Conference in Melbourne.
Will Cooper reshape the world of super as we know it? ASFA Day 2
Jeremy Cooper may not be planning wholesale changes to our super system. On the other hand, his comments in an ASFA plenary session suggest he's certainly not entirely buying the industry line that "it ain't broke so don't fix it".
In a wide ranging speech, Jeremy Cooper outlined the potential governance issues facing the industry in 2025, including the potential for a group of four "super" super funds to dominate the landscape, providing direct private equity sources of funding and wielding far greater leverage in their investment decisions. Cooper drew a parallel with Canadian behemoth funds Ontario Teachers and the Canada Pension Fund.
In this brave new world, the superannuation industry "dog" would no longer be wagged by the funds management tail. Cooper shared a possible view that super the system, if re-designed around members' interests, may look significantly different to the possibly funds management-centric structure of the industry today.
He asked if perhaps superannuation trustees are captive to their service providers, and suggested that without greater scale our funds are at a significant disadvantage in bidding for access to global assets.
In a message that made trustees happy, although perhaps didn't deliver joy to fund managers, Cooper suggested "Super funds have to start acting like they are at the top of the food chain", using their power to benefit members.
Other advantages of scale? Lower fees, in-house investment expertise, improved diversification, lower admin costs per unit and better member education.
In a wide ranging speech, Jeremy Cooper outlined the potential governance issues facing the industry in 2025, including the potential for a group of four "super" super funds to dominate the landscape, providing direct private equity sources of funding and wielding far greater leverage in their investment decisions. Cooper drew a parallel with Canadian behemoth funds Ontario Teachers and the Canada Pension Fund.
In this brave new world, the superannuation industry "dog" would no longer be wagged by the funds management tail. Cooper shared a possible view that super the system, if re-designed around members' interests, may look significantly different to the possibly funds management-centric structure of the industry today.
He asked if perhaps superannuation trustees are captive to their service providers, and suggested that without greater scale our funds are at a significant disadvantage in bidding for access to global assets.
In a message that made trustees happy, although perhaps didn't deliver joy to fund managers, Cooper suggested "Super funds have to start acting like they are at the top of the food chain", using their power to benefit members.
Other advantages of scale? Lower fees, in-house investment expertise, improved diversification, lower admin costs per unit and better member education.
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