Category Archives: Financial Services

Banks, PayPal Poised for Mobile Payments Success

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Ann Graham Hannon

Consumers love how easy their smartphones are to use and like shopping and browsing on them, too.  But when it comes to buying the products they hesitate, wondering if they are leaving a “computer hacker backdoor” into their personal financial information. It’s no wonder.

In light of all the security issues consumers face from cyber-attacks (i.e. Zappos/Amazon), and a recent story that hackers buried their spying devices so deep within Nortel’s internal systems that experts couldn’t find them for years, it’s not surprising that the majority (6 in 10) of consumers worry about the security of their personal financial information when purchasing goods and services on their smartphones. If they buy that cute blouse or high-tech golf driver online, will they suddenly find their bank account empty?  Why take the risk? 

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Who Will Own Memories?

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Rob Stone, Ph.D.

I recently wrote about the enduring power of brands, like Girl Scouts, that tell great stories (and thanks, folks, for the cookie orders). Ironically, as I finished writing that blog, I came across the proverbial exception that proves the rule. Kodak, a century-long bastion of American manufacturing, recently filed for bankruptcy. For my kids, Kodak means no more than Studebaker means to me—a hazily familiar brand, at best. But, in its heyday, Kodak’s brand positioning was unparalleled. Any noteworthy or picturesque scene would inspire people to call it “a Kodak moment.” Kodak owned the very idea of “memories”—perhaps the most enviable positioning that any consumer brand could boast. 

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Everything I Know about Sales and Marketing, I Learned from the Girl Scouts

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Rob Stone, Ph.D.

Brand strategists observe that successful brands are built on stories that interweave the value of the brand with the consumer’s lived experience. See, for example, Seth Godin’s All Marketers Are Liars, which is not a pitch for deceit so much as an argument that authentic-feeling stories build vibrant brands in a world where consumers are skeptical and overloaded by stimuli. A lot of the brand work we’ve done over the past years has been built around that insight, but I’ve seldom seen its truth demonstrated as clearly as I did last weekend.

My daughter, Anna, recently became a Girl Scout, and cookie-selling season is upon us. (Email me to get hooked up with a box of Samoas.) This was her first foray into the world of sales, and we were excited to watch from the sidewalk as she went door to door, clipboard in hand, with a smile and a sales goal. What followed was a clinic on the power of brand and how the brand relationship is composed of and conveyed by stories.

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Will the Durbin Amendment Negate QE II?

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Shayna Stewart

With the rollout of Quantitative Easing (QE) II, the Federal Reserve provided a considerable amount of effort and monetary largesse to stimulate the economy. Also known as “the last resort,” this effort is wholly dependent on the action of US banks: QE cannot succeed unless banks make business and consumer loans … lots of them.

A Brief Recap

To accomplish QE, the Federal Reserve first creates money electronically. Then, it transfers the money to banks in exchange for long- or short-term assets (in this case, long-term treasury bonds). Ideally, this transaction temporarily infuses bank reserves so the banks grant more loans thereby stimulating the economy.

The positive, short-term effects of the increased money supply generally mean lower borrowing interest rates, increased wages or more employees, a higher level of output and increased spending. This creates a positive environment for businesses, particularly small businesses that have been very vocal about limited access to loans. Continue reading →