Case Studies

Insurance & Financial Services

Situation

A community bank that actively targets and adeptly serves small businesses, decided to significantly grow its business through acquiring additional small business customers and extending its reach to personal account customers. The challenge of this growth movement was to preserve the unique internal atmosphere and personal customer relationships that had differentiated the bank from its larger competitors.

Process

The Bank and Market Directions first began their approach by talking with the bank's customers, which gave a better understanding of what core brand elements existed that set the Bank apart from other banks. In addition to focus groups that explored brand perceptions, customers also took part in ideation sessions that helped generate ideas for exceeding customer expectations while fulfilling the desire for growth. Customer groups were then followed by internal ideation sessions with senior staff and a series of planning sessions that helped outline a specific plan for growth while being mindful of their core brand differentiators.

Results

As a result of these efforts, the Bank is able to make strategic decisions that continue to differentiate them in the banking world as well as strengthen their current customer relationships and position them for successful, on-target growth. Additionally, the Bank was able to adopt and integrate a consistent brand look and feel at all touch points, ready themselves to provide the best customer experience for their target audience and focus on hiring and training orientation in order to bring the brand alive internally.