Banking & Finance

Mobile Deposit Statement Insert

This high-impact statement insert said a mouthful for Merrimack County Savings Bank, introducing customers to “tap and snap” check deposit via smartphone.

Community Guaranty Savings Bank - CD Ad

More than creativity, knowing your target market is the true essential of rate advertising. The type of customer parking their money in a short-term CD will respond strongly to low risk.

Lobby Poster Campaign - Greater Alliance FCU

Customer-facing posters announcing a new banking platform for Greater Alliance Federal Credit Union

Claremont Savings Bank - Email

Publicizing bank grants to local non-profits, this email promoted community service without over-promoting CSB's philanthropy.

Bank-Fund Staff FCU - Mortgage Ad

Foreign nationals who use the World Bank's credit union expect frequent relocation, making this "Moving In/Moving On" headline a welcome expression of flexibility.

Telephone Credit Union - ATM Announcement

This New Hampshire credit union wanted a midwinter promotion to launch their 24-hour teller. Piles of sand in the lobby and tiki bar decor helped customers forget the snowdrifts outside.

Community Guarantee Savings Bank - Statement Insert

A vertical stuffer is a difficult size to fill convincingly, but this foreshortened gear shift lever was a good fit and tied neatly into the headline.

Claremont Savings Bank - Landing Page

I wrote the online content for this landing page, providing easy-to-digest content that helped customers (and the bank) enjoy a smoother homebuying process.

"Fixed Rate. Limitless Rewards."

Telephone Credit Union Ad for Visa Platinum card with free reward points.

Telephone Credit Union - Car Loan Ad

Rhyming is unfashionable in advertising circles, but so are jingles -- and both work. Big rate, short headline, immediate benefit.

MillRiver Wealth Management - Identity Package

Old-school New England industry took on a modern look with these materials for the rebranded MillRiver Wealth Management.

MillRiver Wealth Management - Launch Poster

Old-money traditions and service were key attributes for this rebranded investment arm of Merrimack County Savings Bank.

Community Guaranty Savings Bank - Newsletter

I've written a lot of newsletters, including this six-panel foldout for bank customers.

Optima Bank & Trust - Interest Checking Ad

Product ads were rare for this commercial bank, which typically used customer portraits to convey its attentive personal service. So I applied a similar message for this checking product.

Bow Mills Bank and Trust - "Heart of Banking" Ad

For a little local bank with a surprising array of value-added financial services, I planned every detail of this campaign down to the media unit -- a lower half-page on each side of a spread.

Bow Mills Bank and Trust - Annual Report

My print campaign extended easily to the bank's annual report, celebrating personal service, local roots and community volunteerism.

Merrimack County Savings Bank - Leadership Ad

I do a lot of research. When I found an ancient newsletter describing emeritus CEO Herb Little's preference for a desk close to customers, I knew I had my angle for this campaign entry.

Merrimack County Savings Bank - Leadership Ad

Bank presidents from the past half century were featured in this campaign, contrasting a 150-year history of local leadership with constantly merging mega-banks.

Merrimack County Savings Bank - Leadership Ad

With CEO Paul Rizzi on the verge of retiring, I wrote a campaign welcoming the new president as part of a 150-year tradition of unbroken local leadership. Then he fired us. Typical.

Merrimack County Savings Bank - Statement Stuffer

The pride of a growing entrepreneur is key to this insert, but I liked my other proposal better: "You've Come a Long Way. Shouldn't Your Checking Account Finally Catch Up?"

Telephone Credit Union - Statement Stuffer

Mnemonics and key words drive a lot of my concepts. Tying the home equity line into a benefit headline and visual is the sort of synergy I favor for increasing reader recall.

Telephone Credit Union - Statement Stuffer

What's wrong with this picture? Tweaking a well-known visual was an easy way to gain sympathy with bank customers tired of "safe and sleepy" CDs.

PROJECT CLOSEUP: Claremont Savings Bank Website

MOBILE BANKING is huge these days, forcing many institutions with older online banking channels to play catch-up. One example is this project for Claremont Savings Bank in early 2016, when I tackled my first responsive design website.

77% of Americans now own smartphones according to Pew Research, and industry pollsters say eight out of 10 Internet users regularly access the net from a smartphone. That's why a responsive design website is so valuable, working equally well on big desktop monitors or tiny mobile devices.

Unfortunately, CSB’s decade-old website didn't work well on either.

CSB wanted a virtual branch, but all they had was an online brochure. Big scenic photos wasted valuable real estate while requiring smartphone users to scroll madly for content. Top navigation was cluttered and passive, giving customers no encouragement to make transactions online. Plus the tone was wrong. It seemed all about the bank, not about the customers.

A "Sandwich" Approach to Responsive Design

Tight budgets meant a lot of the legacy content would get only a modest streamlining, which put me in the unaccustomed position of brainstorming structure rather than form.

I studied some responsive bank websites, and the immediate metaphor that came to mind was a submarine sandwich: a long slice of bread on top with essential navigation, then big interactive buttons as toppings to go with meaty fillings such as dynamic sliders, promos, news alerts and customer-friendly tools. The bottom slice was liberally spread with lesser navigation links such as careers, privacy and security, and so on.

My sandwich ended up featuring six layers of content, splicing old legacy content with new material to make the format work. The new homepage still bears a family resemblance to the old one, but it's dramatically better from a customer's viewpoint:

Lessons I'm Still Struggling to Learn

Ah, but don't think it was smooth sailing. I had a hard time getting my head around just how many separate pages needed to be consolidated for a responsive site. It's better to think of them as sections, rather than pages. Here's an example.

In print and most online media, keeping content short and "above the fold" is a priority. But a responsive design page is like the elevator shaft in a 10-story building. You're fine as long as there's a button for the floor you want.

Hallmarks of a Responsive Design Website

Easy Navigation: If impatient mobile visitors can’t access key functions directly from your homepage or landing page, you’ll suffer from high drop-off rates. Add a vertical list of shortcut buttons or an icon-driven grid so visitors can shop, compare, buy, download or demo right away.
Scroll-free Content: Smartphone users want a navigable snapshot about the size of a business card. If you feature sprawling text and imagery that require endless scrolling, your site is probably an annoying time-waster. Compartmentalize everything with tabbed or collapsible content and image sliders, so the big picture is always in view.
Big Touch Targets: Are you frustrating touchscreen tappers with tiny buttons they can’t lay a finger on? Follow the lead of smart interface designers like Apple and upsize touch targets such as buttons or icons, so the first easy tap on their touchscreen takes them precisely where they want to go.
Instant Help Options: If you don’t have click-to-call, click-to-text or online chat buttons clearly featured, you’re missing the chance to answer questions, make sales and build loyalty. Put one-touch contact options on your homepage and “Contact us” page. These users have phones in their hands, so they’re ready to engage.
Videos: The vast majority of consumers find videos helpful when making buying decisions online, and mobile users find them especially valuable because they pack a lot of information within a small space. In fact, some studies I've seen show that videos can increase conversions by nearly 13% on average. And that might be a conservative figure.

Speaking of videos, that's another area where bank marketing has taken a major leap. Look for an article on that soon! | DC |