Banks, credit unions focus on promoting brands

For instance, the overall average performance rating for consumer advertising was 7.2, while its importance rating was 8.2, for a gap of one point. That difference was matched in marketing support for advisors’ practices, as that category received a performance rating of 7.0 and an importance rating of 8.0. (That said, it’s worth noting that the two ratings in the latter category declined steeply, falling from 7.6 and 8.5, respectively.)

Toronto-based Bank of Montreal saw the greatest improvement among the banks in its consumer advertising rating, as it improved by a full point to 7.7 from 6.7 in last year’s Report Card.

Jim Lund, BMO’s director, national sales force programs and retail investments, says that this is a result of the bank’s client-focused advertising efforts: “BMO is working hard to be the bank that defines great customer experience. The tag line you’ll see in our advertising is ‘Making money make sense’.”

BMO advisors agree, as several pointed out that the bank’s advertising is improving. “It’s getting a whole lot better than it used to be,” says an advisor in Ontario.

But despite the improvements, BMO is still not meeting advisors’ expectations, as the importance rating they gave consumer advertising — 8.2 — exceeded the bank’s performance rating by half a point.

“We need a little bit more,” says a BMO advisor in British Columbia. “It should be more focused on our advantages.”

The story is much the same at Vancouver-based Vancouver City Savings Credit Union. The credit union had the most improved rating in consumer advertising of all the deposit-taking institutions in this year’s survey, even though it received one of the lowest ratings in the category. Vancity was rated at 6.2 for its advertising this year, a significant jump from the 5.0 rating it garnered last year.

Michael Atkinson, director of investment solutions at Vancity, says the credit union has launched a new promotional campaign that seems simple and straightforward: “Our tag line is: ‘What’s your plan?’ We are trying to make sure people are thinking about that and showing that we have the capability to do it.”

The advertisements focus on that capability by promoting advisors and their expertise. For instance, the ads feature investment-related questions and answers; beneath each answer, the advertisements say, “Speak to your investment specialist today.”

Much like BMO, Vancity advisors have noticed the progress, but said the credit union has a lot of work to do in this department, as they rated the category an 8.2 in importance, representing a gap of two full points above its performance rating.

Says a Vancity advisor in B.C.: “There is a big marketing department and it was really good at highlighting our investment services this year, but it is lacking overall.”

Advisors with Toronto-based Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce were also happier with their bank’s advertising efforts this year, as they rated CIBC at 7.9 in the category, an improvement from last year’s rating of 7.2.

“They are consistent and true to what we are doing at the branch,” says a CIBC advisor in Ontario, “and they get the word out to the client.”

That said, CIBC advisors are far more concerned about the support they receive from their firm to market their individual practices. In fact, they rated the importance of the category (8.2) almost a full point greater than the bank’s performance in the category (7.3).

“There is a lack of support for individual practices,” says a CIBC advisor in Ontario. “There is lots of nationwide generic stuff, though.”

The situation is quite similar at Toronto-based TD Canada Trust. The bank has consistently been rated highly for its consumer advertising, and the story is no different this year. Although its rating in the category fell by 0.3 of a point to 8.3, it was the second-highest in the survey, beaten only by Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia‘s 8.4.

@page_break@However, TD advisors have many complaints about their bank’s marketing support, as that rating fell by 1.2 points to 7.3 from 8.5 last year.

“We have done some stuff in the past year and it has taken four months to get it approved,” says an advisor in Alberta. “We cancelled other initiatives because we had to go through the marketing department and it was too expensive. If we could do it locally, it would be a quarter of the price.”

Meanwhile, there were some advisors who were displeased with their firms’ consumer advertising initiatives. For instance, advi-sors with Montreal-based National Bank of Canada gave their firm the lowest rating (5.4) in the category, while rating the category a 7.7 in importance.

There’s a valid reason for this, says a National Bank advisor in Ontario: “We don’t focus on advertising — at least, not outside of Quebec. It’s important, but it’s not the strategy they’re following.”

But Margaret Pernice, senior manager of wealth management at National Bank, says this may change. In March, the bank appointed Neil Glasberg as senior vice president of retail and commercial banking for Ontario and Western Canada. And management is looking to his team for advice on this issue, Pernice says: “Based on their strategy, we’ll see if it’s time to put more money into advertising in other provinces.”

As for Royal Bank of Canada, it saw its rating for consumer advertising decline the most of any firm in this year’s survey — advisors rated it at 7.5, a drop from 8.1 in 2008. Additionally, RBC advisors rated the category an 8.5 in importance.

Michael Walker, vice president and head of branch investments for RBC, says the bank “has ongoing national advertising. Going into the fall, it [will] focus on advice capability and financial planning capability. We will make sure, through the fall and into the RRSP season, we focus on delivering advice.” IE