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.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
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17 comments:
Hi Jack,
Nice article...brought back some nice memories of a great ad campaign.
The only problem with this analogy is that if someone chose not to get a "Handybank" card, they could still spend their money. Their wallet was not made obsolete. It was a choice.
By 2009 my TV will be obsolete unless I get cable or some converter box. I will have no choice.
Big difference!!
And again, unless there's a mammoth leap in quality of programming, I'm not happy with it.
I understand your point but hope you understand mine. I was showing that you can increase market share by education and marketing.
As far as your old sets, yes the government will give you two coupons each worth $40 toward a converter if you depend on OTA. If you have more sets, your out of luck having to pay full price. That is the way it is.
Make room in the garage for your TV...right next to the turntable and 8-trac player!
Analog TV. I can't say your wrong in that. The guys that really would get stung are the ones who buy a analog set now at the bargain prices. That is why education is so important at this particular time before xmas. Erie doesn't know better yet because nobody has told them.
For you backwoods hicks in Erie you missed the Today Show this morning in HDTV! Meredith Vieira started today and NBC decided it would be a great idea to build a new set and broadcast the show in HDTV!
Oh wait! You rubes can't get HDTV in Erie, or even Digital for that matter!
HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE YEARS BEHIND THE TIMES!!!
(UP YOURS BRIAN AND DOUG!)
Cleveland Pete!
Jack,
I'd really appreciate an "Idiot's Guide" on how to buy a new TV. My husband spent 30 minutes at a local store with a salesperson who told him that to buy a new large screen (~42") TV, you need to add 20% for accessories such as cables, surge protection, a power filter (not sure of correct term for that - something that makes sure you have clean power), among other things. THEN he went on to talk about HD DVDs, Upverters, Blue Rays, and a thousand other things that we had never heard of.
We went from thinking we'd spend $2000 to thinking that we won't be buying a new TV after all. I (naively?) thought you could just bring home a 42" TV and plug it in . Was I wrong? Was this an overzealous salesperson trying to sell a bunch of extras that we don't really need?
I'd appreciate your help, on kindergarten level if possible. Thank you.
Anonymous...
You have been hijacked by an over zealous salesman. He would have you spending $5,000 before you know it. You must have gone to Best Buy or Circuit City where those guys really know less than you do.
You don't need a clean power strip unless you have power problems in your home. Some like it for the xtra protection but I just use a good quality computer surge protector and that costs a lot less. Depending on how you get your TV, via able, satellite or over the air, you will probable need a HDMI cable to go from the cable or satellite box to the TV. Don't let them sell you a Monster cable. They have a Monster price tag as well.
Ia m sure others will write as well but if you want more advise write me at my email address gut104@yahoo.com. $2,000 is plenty to budget and you can bargain them down too. Rememmber that.
Jack - Wal Mart has been selling SDTV sets by RCA & Sanyo. While it's not actual HDTV, it would be a way to gradually introduce average people to the future of TV. Plus, you could still use the sets with the HD tuners after the 2009 deadline & save money in the process. It would certainly lead to purchases of an HDTV in the future. It would make more sense around Erie since nobody outside of WQLN has aired any HD programs.
Walmart has announce that they will be cutting back on their SD or analog sets just like everyone else. There is also a mandate that most sets have to be digital as well with tuners. Not necessarily HD.
I have a feeling that by next summer we might have one more commercial station broadcasting in HD.
Nice article Jack.
Do you remember The Captain's main claim to fame?
How about "UB the Banker"
I saw one of the little figures a while ago!
Nice article and great web site . I enjoy reading it .
Why don't you picket WSEE the way the union did back in '81? You can have a big rally...you'll be the only one there!
Hey Hey Ho Ho we dont need your stinkin' war! (OOPS! Wrong Cause!)
When I see a comment like the one above...I know that new beginnings are not far off.
Ahh yes, a trip back in time to my days at then WYSS in Saegertown. Ron Smith of WWCB (whom I had worked with) did all the commercials for Handybank and even some of the remotes for their Handybank openings.
checkitontheinside...
I think you meant that you didn't know why people called ATM's Handybanks. Just wanted to clarify that for those reading.
Trisha... you can check the prompts on the left side for most of your questions on DTV. They connect to the FCC website. If you currently get your TV via cable or satellite, nothing changes for the sets connected to them. For the sets that you depend on over-the-air directly, you will need a converter box to continue to use them. You will be given two $40 coupons that you can use for up to two boxes. After that you have to pay full price. I have not seen a price on those yet and it could be that the $40 coupon may not cover the entire cost.. Again go to the DTV.gov website to get more answers to your DTV questions. However, most of them we have answered in earlier posts.
That campaign is a classic...I especially remember the original Handybanks had a cylander that had all of the instructions on it, and would spin to give you each message.
Jack, I was on BestBuy.com today and can't believe the prices for plasmas, 42" now well below $1500. The question I have is whether anyone will be actually using OTA signals, instead of Dish-HD or Time Warner HD. Isn't our cable/DBS penetration in the Erie metro like 75%? You can save a couple hundred bucks if you don't buy a TV with the HD-tuner and just connect to the cable or DBS box via a HDMI cable.
I disagree with the Monster Cable comment. I have set up demos with standard out of the box "free" cables and high-end Monster Cables.
In an audio display, you could really hear the difference. Then again, I was a strong sales person, selling audio and video (and more) at Best Buy for four years loving those big sales (despite not being on commission). As far as the high-end surge, it may not be neccesary for everyone to add, but if you did invest $2000 or more in a home entertainment system, what's another $200 to protect it.
The standard stuff works, but the sales person in me would say if you are spending the money, wouldn't you want the picture to look as good as it possibly could and the audio soudn as good as it possibly could ? You don't have to go with Monster, but at least go midgrade.
I used to tell people that watching TV is a privledge, not a right as far as the FCC goes. You don't have to be a pioneer or an early adopter, but the change is inevitable. At least they will be offering coupons to help bare the burden of making your analog tv work after the switch.
I did like your case study.
(having issues with commenting so if this shoes up more than once, sorry)
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