“Why Nobody in Erie Cares about HDTV!”…

How To Successfully Market Consumer Technology in Erie And Become Number #1--An Erie Case Study.



“Nobody in Erie Cares about HDTV!” I hear that so much in the comments that it prompted me to go back about 33 years to another time and the introduction of another “new” consumer technology that the industry said that nobody wanted. They were called ATM’s. Remember? There was no mandate for ATM’s; purely consumer driven by marketing savvy.

The time was 1973 and there were 4 major banks in the little sleepy village of Erie, Pennsylvania. There was the big number one papa bank, First National…then there was the number 2 mama bank… Security Peoples. They were followed by their naughty stepchildren… number 3 Marine Bank and number 4 Union Bank. (Captain Dan was the marketing vice president of Union Bank, that is why it was extra naughty)

In those days, everyone was chasing papa bank. Security Peoples, known for lavish spending on new offices and other things, decided to try a single cash dispensing machine at their 8th and State office. They thought that people would flock for the convenience. But poorly, they put limitiations on its use by being picky on who would get a cash card and also limiting the number of hours of use. (That made no sense…even then) They didn’t support it with advertising in any significant manner to draw customers. So it failed.

Shortly there after, the first of the naughty step children, Marine Bank, observed the stumbling and decided on a “Brighter Idea.” Already having a reputation as being a very aggressive and progressive bank, they decided that the newest generation of ATM’s could give them a significant marketing advantage and help increase their market share, but it would have to be done right and with great cost.

Now the other banks and many Erie residents scoffed and laughed at the young upstart stepchild and its young aggressive president, Ted Junker and his Public Relations manager, Marlene Mosco. “They’re crazy”…. “People want to deal with real people not some cold machine.”….”They won’t trust a machine”…”They’ll lose their butt.” “It won’t work.” …“Just throwing their stockholders money away.”

The naughty little number 3 bank pressed on. They made big investments in the new ATM’s, remodeling existing locations to handle the technology and its supporting elements. Educated employees and trained them to do demonstrations at every opportunity. They also decided that everyone who had a checking account or would open one would automatically get one of the new access cards. (How shocking! They would actually trust low balance customers?) And one of the most important elements, they directed their advertising agency, House Gwynn and Nelson, (Later to become Engel & Tirak) to come up with an advertising campaign. They didn’t skimp on budget as Ted Junker practiced the marketing philosophy that if you want big results, you have to spend correctly to get it. (I think he learned that from his years at Penn State)

The decision was made to go with a 60 second television spot. This was very rare in local TV. A creative composer and lyric writer, Al Balo, came up with a piece of music and an accident in Erie marketing genius was born, "7 days and 7 nights." The ATM was called Handybank. I say it was an accident because 7 days and 7 nights was not the original introductory slogan. The music was a soft country sound and portrayed a typical blue collar truck driver riding I-79 who couldn’t wait to get home to Erie and use his Handybank card. (“Heading home to Erie…makes me think Marine…Handybank.”) The consumers loved it and it was the consumers, not the bank or the agency, which picked-up on the 7 days and 7 nights theme. Who was the bank to tell the consumer that they missed the real theme and got it wrong…or maybe...just maybe they just got it right? Junker, Mosco and the agency recognized a hit when they saw one and quickly adopted 7 days and 7 nights as the new slogan for the ATM service.

Over the years, the marketing cost and the cost of the technology to support the Handybank system ran into the millions for Marine. Remember, this was in 1970’s advertising dollars! I joined the Handybank agency team not quite a year after the introduction. It was my job to continue the momentum and we did that following the same successful formula. The result was that naughty stepchild, Marine Bank, went to number 2 and then to the number 1 bank in the area. It didn’t happen overnight and Marine introduced other innovations too, but market share increased faster than the expectations of the bank itself.

And what usually happens when you meet with success? People and other banks take notice. Other local banks finally introduced ATM’s but who remembers second best? None ever achieved and still haven’t achieved the success of those days 30 some years ago. A decade after that introduction, Marine Bank was absorbed into the PNCBANK system and within a short time had to change the name that was identified with Marine Bank…. Handybank to Mac. That is the way business happens.

The moral of this case study is that concentrated consumer education and solid marketing are paramount if you want to increase market share with new consumer technology. With digital, the advantage is that it is already a government mandate. The television station that claims that mandate as its own..today, educates the consumer...today... rather than letting natural confusion happen as Mark Cuban has predicted, will soar into ratings heaven for a very long time and increase its value on the brokerage market.

The economy of the Erie area will continue to go through cycles of ups and downs. The trick is you have to have vision, the courage and the resources to take advantage of the upside. You can’t do it by gutting your operation and expecting the end product to be acceptable to the public. That is a bean counter’s view of business and inevitable leads to suicidal disintegration from within.

(A postscript: Eventually Ted Junker became Chairman of the Board (Ret) and Marlene Mosco currently serves as President of PNCBANK North. And for thinking out-of-the box, the stockholders made lots and lots of money. The End)

"Congress passed a law on February 1, 2006, setting a final deadline for the DTV transition of February 17, 2009. Most television stations will continue broadcasting both analog and digital programming until February 17, 2009, when all analog broadcasting will stop.." FCC http://www.dtv.gov/

The EYE is STILL watching and doesn't like what they can't (W)SEE.