Hard hitting but very relevant post from John over at Socialmediatoday.  The current issues with Banks highlights the lack of credibility in traditional style advertising.  And its not just advertising, its the entire corporate presence.    AIG webs site says this:

The industry’s most prominent independent ratings agencies continue to recognize growth in terms of insurer financial strength. Our financial strength is our commitment to you that we’ll be there for you when you need us

The main page is running their latest ad here, and it speaks about ‘what we see’, has photo’s of football players, and is generally a typical wealth management type ad.  Time to get real.  Where is the comment to people speaking about what they are doing.  If I had an AIG policy, what are you doing for me – is my policy still working?  Simple basic comments addressing what people are actually thinking.  This is what people expect and what social media mean.  Talk to people and listen to people.

Anyhow, here are Johns suggestions and click through for the detail.

1. Stop your traditional advertising with your old campaign now

2. Make a commitment to educating your customers on personal finance

3. Whoever said corporate blogging is dead is an idiot – start a blog for godsake

4. Listen and react to your customers publicly

5. Advertise all of the above and build a strong community around your bank built on trust