These days it is not often that one can find something good to say about banks. So I was delighted at how well a recent campaign in the UK went for Santander.
In Windsor in the UK, Santander gave their customers a wonderful surprise this Xmas. When customers withdrew money at the ATM they were greeted by Jenson Button handing them their money through the ATM, plus an extra £100 and a hamper after they pressed the "Jenson Button".
Santander's Secret Santa Jenson Button campaign was very well received as the world champion engaged in the community in different ways including visiting people in their homes. The campaign video got more than 1.2 million hits on YouTube.
Earlier it was TD Bank that used a similar campaign, thanking people at the Automated Thanking Machine and engaging in conversation with very unique ways of thanking each customer as in the image below.
For some back-to-work-after-a-long-holiday fun I thought we could give bankers our ideas on other such lovely surprises they could think of to re-engage with customers and win back badly needed goodwill around the world. After all, why make this just a once a year exercise? This is also in self-defence, as I'm not sure I'd want someone's head popping out at an ATM, and I'm concerned that as this worked so well it could easily become the surprise of choice for banks going forward.
So what do you think your bank should do to give you that little extra pleasant surprise?
How can they start to create some much needed pleasant memories to rebuild relationships with their valued customers and start to reclaim some lost ground in The Digital Money Game.
Author of The Digital Money Game, co-author Virtual Currencies – From Secrecy to Safety
http://www.linkedin.com/in/charmaineoak
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