ABA Banking Journal - December 2010 - (Page 48) ABA Resources Q Does a bank’s brand matter? An interview with Kathleen Rumfola, senior vice-president, ABA Brand Marketing ABABJ: Why should a bank care about its brand? Kathleen Rumfola: A brand isn’t just a tagline and logo. It’s what your customers think you are; what they experience at your bank. A bank should care about how customers interact with their employees, how they use their products, how they see and experience the bank. ABABJ: What contributes to a strong brand? KR: When ABA refreshed its brand, we first talked to members, nonmembers, and employees to find out what they think ABA stands for. From that we developed our messaging, which is the most important element of a brand—more important than look and feel. So a bank should first find out what customers say that they are, what the experience is like (fix anything that’s bad) and then build messaging around that. Once the messaging is established, build a consistent look and feel so that your customers know that it’s your bank. ABABJ: Can a brand shape what a customer thinks about a company? KR: Once you develop your messaging, you need to make sure your employees understand what your brand is because they’re the ones who carry out your brand every day and interact with your customers. The brand should be a roadmap and guideline for your employees to follow, asking themselves, “Does the work I do every day support our brand?” For example, if part of your brand is delivering great customer service, every employee needs to deliver great customer service every time they deal with a customer. You need to spend time with the employees and provide brand training to make sure that employees understand what that means. What are 10 things you mean when you say great customer service? It may be solving problems on the first call. Or returning calls within 24 hours. Define what it is. Part of our brand at ABA is that members come first. So everyone knows that, regardless of what they’re doing, if a member calls or has a question, that’s their top priority right now. ABABJ: What’s an example of a great brand and what makes it great? 48 | ABA BANKING JOURNAL | December 2010 KR: When Walmart did a rebranding, they came up with the tagline, “Save money, live better,” paraphrasing a quote from Sam Walton. Everything they do is built around that phrase—in the store, in their ads. Everyone knew they were cheaper. But they took it a step further and asked what that means for their customers. You can do things you want to do because it costs less—you can have more people over to watch football and have more fun. ABABJ: Why should bankers care about ABA’s brand? KR: I don’t expect bankers to be able to recite our four brand tenets, but I want them to be able to play it back in their own words based on their experience with us. They may not say “champion for all,” but they understand why it’s good to belong to an organization that understands the viewpoints of big and small banks. They may not say “extraordinary people,” but they get answers when they call us. They may not say “unmatched scope and scale,” but they know we have a depth and breadth of products, information, and services that can make their bank more successful. They may not say “impact-driven,” but they know we get results for their bank. I want them to understand what ABA can do to make them more successful. Kathleen can be reached at krumfola@aba.com or ask for her at 1-800-BANKERS. Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of ABA Banking Journal - December 2010 ABA Banking Journal - December 2010 Contents Chairman’s View Editor’s Column The Economy Bank Notes ABA Community Banking Pass the Aspirin Tech Topics Rethinking Retail Securities Blanket The Defense Rests Compliance Clinic Compliance Inbox ABA Resources Legal Issues First Person ABA Banking Journal - December 2010 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS/BAKS0515 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS/BAKS0415 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS/BAKS0315 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1014 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0914 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0814 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0714 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0614 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0514 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0414 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0314 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0214 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0114 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1213 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1113 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1013 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0913 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0813 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0713 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0613 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0513 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0413 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0313 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0213 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0113 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1212 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1112 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1012 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0912 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0712 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0612 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0512 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0412 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0312 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0212 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0112 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1211 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1111 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1011 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0911 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0811 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0711 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0611 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0511 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0411 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0311 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0211 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0111 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1210 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1110 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS1010 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0910 http://www.nxtbook.com/naylor/BAKS2/BAKS0810 http://www.nxtbookMEDIA.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.