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This is a really nice idea.

Smarty Pig is a site that helps people save for specific goals and allows friends and family to contribute to those savings plans.



Traditional banks should look at this because the 2.0 companies are snapping at their heels with innovations like this.



Thanks to Colin


Posted by Ed Cotton Brand voice has the power to transform how people see your brand, especially if you use it in the right places.

In 2006, Barclays Bank in the UK undertook an interesting experiment to try and transform the branch experience.

While most typical branch enhancements revolve around design, this transformation was all about language.

The objective was to use the materials in branch to forge a new conversation based on new language. The goal was to move from the old world of bank as powerful, but patronizing to a bank that's more approachable and human.

The whole exercise was illustrated by the shift from chained black pens to free pens with slogans.



Posted by Ed Cotton There are some very rare occasions when brand strength doesn’t matter because the an event comes along that's so huge it threatens the stability of your business and your brand.

Such an occasion happened last week to the Northern Rock bank. Media images of people lined up to withdraw their savings harkened back to stories we had heard from our grandparents about the 1929 depression, something we’ve never seen in our lifetime or expected to see.

Only an intervention by the British government saved the bank. At the last minute, it decided to step in and guarantee all the bank’s funds. They had to make a swift change because existing legislation guaranteed only 90% of funds up to 33,000 pounds ($70k) and nothing above and beyond that.

The announcement changed everything and the lines stopped forming at the bank and its share price started rising yesterday.

While the UK Government defended their action, which some critics had described as belated, it was clear from the government’s comments that the Northern Rock situation was something almost beyond their control and entirely symptomatic of the world of global finance.

In the wilds of global finance, it was almost as if the wolves had gathered around the weakest deer and were intent on killing it.

For the Northern Rock brand, it’s going to be a long hard journey back. While they have certainly gained infamy and awareness the fundamental element of brand trust that consumers need to have will need to be won back piece by piece.

It will be need to be open and honest and explain what went wrong and what they intend to do about it.

Here’s the start of the re-building campaign; a letter that’s running as full page ads and on the front page of the bank’s website.

May I begin by offering our customers my sincere apologies for the anxiety and inconvenience that we have caused you. I know how worried many of you must have been.

Today I want to make it emphatically clear to all Northern Rock customers that we are open for business as usual.

We remain a well-managed company and continue to be a safe place for your savings, loans and mortgages.

The simple fact now is that the Chancellor has made it clear that all existing deposits in Northern Rock are fully backed by The Bank of England and are totally secure during the current instability in the financial markets.

We are all working night and day to provide you with the service that you expect from us and deserve from us. And I would like to express my appreciation to our staff for their work and commitment over the last few difficult days.

Above all I would also like to thank all our customers for their support and understanding.

I am also pleased to announce that any customer who has paid a penalty for withdrawing their investment, will have the penalty refunded if they re-invest the same amount in the same type of account by 5th October 2007.

These have been troubled times but Northern Rock will prevail. We will not let you down.

Clearly, they have a lot more work to do.
 

Posted by Ed Cotton