CHALLENGE
A commercial banking client wanted to both leverage and differentiate its advertising from its retail banking division by building upon existing awareness yet right-sizing the campaign to appeal to a commercial banking audience.
Secondarily, research was commissioned to understand what mattered most to this audience so that marketing and sales worked together to drive awareness and shape brand perceptions.
APPROACH
Focus groups were conducted with CFOs and their equivalents in different size middle market companies across industries. Participants first shared what mattered most to them in a banking partner and their perceptions of our client and the competitive set.
They were then shown several different campaigns to understand which campaigns and support points had the greatest resonance. The goal was to have messaging build awareness and consideration for the commercial bank in anticipation of a sales call from a client relationship manager.
OUTCOME
Based on feedback from each of the campaigns and support points, the advertising was optimized to engage mid-market financial decision-makers. Research also revealed a great deal about the mindset of this audience and how best to design a sales strategy that would ensure our client was within the consideration set when selecting a commercial bank.
