MarketingBeyond

Fremont Bank: Local California Bank Stays the Course

When I switched all my accounts from Washington Mutual to Fremont Bank  in Fremont, California last year, I knew that responsible local banking was still possible and thriving. Since then...well, you know the story. Large commercial and investment banks succumbed to the temptations of maximizing their profits at any cost, driving the world's economy into chaos.

Fremont Bank, which serves a small segment of residents in the East Bay--not far from San Francisco, San Jose and other Bay Area communities--prides itself on secure, conservative banking. Its investment managers were not swayed by sub-prime mortgages, credit swaps and other financial instruments invented by financially greedy bankers elsewhere. Fremont Bank's mission, stated in its website, is clear:

"For 45 years Fremont Bank has been built on a very strong and sound foundation. That foundation is designed to adjust, protect, support, and provide confidence to our clientele. We have based our operations on partnering with our clients and the strength of the market we serve. We are not just a bank. We are your bank and you are our client. To operate a safe and well-managed financial institution has been and will continue to be our primary focus. We consider our senior management team and board of directors to be the finest in the industry who have worked together for over three decades.

"If you have any questions or concerns regarding your deposits, the financial stability of Fremont Bank, or your banking needs, please do not hesitate to contact your local branch manager.

With our deep-rooted values and commitment to you – rest easy knowing we are here today, we’ll be here tomorrow and we plan to be here in the future.

Thank you for your continued partnership and trust."

As I've written here on MB recently, trust is paramount to the success of any business--especially with financial institutions that hold our future in their coffers. Without them, buying a house or car would be impossible, and conducting our day-to-day financial affairs would become burdensome to say the least. We need banks. But more than that: we need banks that maintain trusting relationships with their customers.

Fremont Bank, as a responsible member of our community, has also addressed the financial struggles of its mortgage customers. You'll also read this on its website:

"Let us Help You Save Your Home. Our Loan Workout Team Can Help You Find a Solution."
 
If you cannot afford your monthly mortgage payments and wish to avoid foreclosure, you may be eligible for a loan “workout” or modification.  We determine eligibility for loan “workouts” on a case-by-case basis.  Among other things, we will consider the value of your property and your ability (based on your current income) to make monthly mortgage payments in accordance with the “workout.”  You may also qualify to refinance your current loan with us."

While we read horror stories of bureaucratic bankers who move quickly to foreclosure, Fremont Bank, as a solid member of the East Bay community, is willing to work with its customers to explore all options preventing foreclosure. This not only helps its customers from losing their homes, in many cases, it just makes good business sense. Companies--banks, in particular--that demonstrate community responsibility and maintain excellent customer relations will thrive over businesses that don't.

Kudos to Fremont Bank for acting responsibly in its investment policies and helping the local community in one of the worst economic downturns of the century.

Standing Beneath the Buttonwood Tree: A Letter to Senators Obama and McCain

Message from the American People to Senators Obama and McCain

Dear Senators:

According to the Wall Street Journal this morning, investors in the stock market have lost $2.5 trillion dollars over the past seven trading sessions and 8.4 trillion dollars since the high of last year. Trust among all players in our economic fiasco has dipped to unheard of levels: banks worldwide will not loan to each other fearing they need the cash to remain solvent; as a result, banks have slowed, if not stopped, loans to businesses of all sizes; the Fed's efforts to bail-out collapsed financial institutions are ineffective; and, most important, Americans' trust in its government and way of life is dissipating.

As you enter the New York Stock Exchange, you see an historical wall plaque, describing the humble start of the Exchange. It reads in part:

"This central market place for the purchase and sale of securities was founded in 1792 by merchants who met daily beneath a buttonwood tree that grew nearby."

When traders in the late 1700's met under the buttonwood tree, we would imagine they wheeled-and-dealed as forcefully as today's traders. The major difference: traders exchanged securities of real value, representing ownership in growing American companies--not trumped-up CDO's, credit swaps, sliced-and-diced sub-prime mortgage and other equities, invented by financiers whose self-interest is their own profits, not the betterment of society and our economy.

The nation--for that matter, the world--is suffering. Many already have lost their jobs and many more will suffer the same fate. Homes--the bastion of security and hope--are on the auction blocks. Businesses are challenged to pay their employees and obtain capital to grow.

In the remaining weeks before the public votes one of you into office, we ask--no, demand--you inspire trust in your ability to lead. Cut the criticism of each other. It falls on deaf ears and, frankly, we don't care. You may not have answers to resolve our dire situation at this time. That's fine. No one else does either. But each of you is fully capable of raising our hopes and lowering our fears.

You will only truly win the election if you do this. So nix the accusations, false claims against your opponent and blaim of others. Like John Kennedy and Martin Luther King, paint a vision of our future. Eliminate the rehearsed, trite phrases and ignore your advisers who put accusatory words in your mouth. You'll have plenty of time in office to identify the greedy fools on Wall Street and elsewhere who contributed to our financial mess.

Stand together under the buttonwood tree, speak from your heart and tell us of better times to come.

 

Social Media Advertising: Is FaceBook an Effective Marketing Tool?

Yesterday, MobileDiscoveries, Innovative Communication Solutions' e-commerce mobile and portable gadget store, started advertising on FaceBook. With Google charging $5+ per click for electronic items, we thought we'd give FaceBook a try.

For our first day, the click-through-rates varied from .02-.04  with GPS devices and Lenovo notebooks generating the higher number. While some say this is horrible and FaceBook users are only a bunch of kids clicking away, we don't have enough conversion data yet to calculate our ROI.

One feature that attracted us is the use of keywords representing member interests. I thought I'd share a few of our online ads and keywords with you so you can better determine if social media site advertising is worth a try.

Unlike advertising on Google, Yahoo or Microsoft, FaceBook provides an opportunity to choose very specific keywords and phrases matching FaceBook member interests. Here's the ad copy and associated keywords for ads with the highest CTR's:

 

Lenovo V200 12 Notebook

12 inch WXGA notebook features
a Core 2 Duo processor with Intel
graphics, 1GB memory, Corel and
XP Pro. 10% off at MobileDiscoveries.

Keywords: You are targeting people between 18 and 50 years old in the United States who like Bluetooth, Business, Business Development Manager, Computers, computing, Electronics, engineer, my laptop, Marketing Consultant, Marketing Director, Marketing Executive, Marketing Manager, Microsoft, The Notebook, Programmer, Sales Consultant, Sales Executive, Marketing and Sales, Sales Representative, Software Engineer, Travel, or Windows Live Messenger.

Here's a GPS placement:

GPS Navigation

MobileDiscoveries features
handheld and vehicle GPS units,
map software, cases and
other accessories at
great prices. Visit us soon.

Keywords on this one: You are targeting people between 18 and 50 years old in the United States who like Apple Computers, Autos, Computers, Electronics, Gadgets, Going On Vacation, my laptop, mobile phones, Sales Consultant, Sales Manager, Marketing and Sales, or Sales Representative.

We used more specific keywords in this Garmin GPS device that's geared for active lifestyles. This ad also identified 3.5 million FaceBook members matching the keywords, a million or so higher than the first GPS ad above:

Garmin Edge 605

Bikers. Add maps and get
motivated. This GPS enabled
cycle computer comes
loaded with everything
you need. MobileDiscoveries

Keywords: You are targeting people between 18 and 45 years old in the United States who like Anything Outdoors, being healthy, Bike Rides, Bikes, Computer, Computer Games, Cycling, Dirt Bikes, Electronics, Exercise, Exercising, Friendship, Gadgets, Garminchipotle Cycling Team, Going On Computer, Going On Vacation, The Great Outdoors, Health And Fitness, Health Nutrition, healthy living, Losing Weight, mapping, Maps, Men's Health, Mountain Biking, Outdoor Activities, Outdoors, Playing On The Computer, Relaxation, Relaxing, Riding My Bike, Street Bikes, Streetlight Manifesto, Weight Watchers, or Workout.

We started thinking about the product's features and benefits, then came up with a few keywords that seemed applicable to the demographics of our target audience. As you start typing keywords, FaceBook suggests words and phrases to use. Beneath the keyword section, FaceBook shows the total number of members who have indicated these interests in their profiles. Try doing that on Google or Yahoo.

As of a moment ago, in our second day of FaceBook advertising, we've generated over 300,000 impressions, 86 clicks and an overall CTR of .03. Again, It's too early to assess the results. But we've run Google ads with 0 clicks based on 50,000+ impressions. So at least we're getting potential customers to visit our site on a very small budget. (Average CPC is 33 cents.)

Here are the other ads currently running:

Personal Internet Radios
Garmin Geko 201
Nokia E62 10% Off
GPS Gadgets Galore
Never Get Lost
Portable DVD Players
Podcasting for Business
GPS Navigation
Portable Electronics

Our experience with FaceBook will naturally determine how we allocate our advertising budget. However, I like the narrow targeting, low CPC and ability to test dozens of ads simultaneously.

Oh, our daily budget? $20