Great quote! Stephanie is always worth reading, but the summary of Stowe’s Reboot presentation is outstanding. True to form, I have to read someone elses post to get Stowes point :-). First off, my immediate reaction is to look askance at the concepts outlined, e.g., “new kind of consciousness”, “how are brains changing”, “learned state of consciousness” etc. Stowe’s comments are all about Gladwell’s ‘Blink’ argument, that by allowing your brain to absorb many things at once, you can free your mind to see new patterns, and systems that you would not otherwise see, if you remain focussed on one … Continue reading “The world is more like an ER than a supermarket checkout”

This article reminds us that Banks actually do decent traffic online. I was in a session today where Jim from Craigslist spoke of their 7 Bn page view volume, and here we have HSBC too hitting decent volumes. Online sales at HSBC increased by 55% in 2006 as more personal and business customers tuned into the benefits of banking on the Web. The uplift in online sales was divulged by Michael Geoghegan, group chief executive at the bank’s annual general meeting. In total the bank’s Websites handled 1.8 billion visits in 2006, he said. Continue reading Online Banking produces large volumes of activity

Jim continues to keep Online Banking Report focussed on the newest and latest trends in our industry. I look forward to this report due out next week, and we’ll talk about it then. I am a huge fan of Wesabe in particular, and believe they are making new tracks in financial services. Our next Online Banking Report, Social Personal Finance, will look at the entire sector. You’ll find it here next week. It will include a detailed look at Wesabe and Lending Club, which is catering entirely to Facebook users (see post here), and what banks should do to compete … Continue reading Online Banking Report | Social Personal Finance … coming nest week

I have to call foul on this headline: BMO banks on Web 2.0 The article on ITbusiness.ca, refers to a use of software from Open Text, for a perfectly legitimate and no doubt smart application. I have just finished two days at MESH and the predominant theme for me, was communities and credibility. I will be posting on that separately, but I had to highlight this headline, as doing both the Web 2.0 movement, and BMO a disservice. One a simpler level, its just wrong, and might have people believe another box can be ticked off, and that is just … Continue reading Spin about Web 2.0 will hurt Banks

First keynote conversation, was with Richard Edelman. No surprise, but he is very quotable, and he also struck me as quite pragmatic in his views. His biggest hate is for spin. He talked a lot about the importance of transparency. he spoke frankly about the Walmart fiasco, when, if i remember right, Edelman staff were found to be ghost blogging supposed Walmart customers. He sees the HQ role as one of standards and training, and encourages all 2,500 staff to be engaged in social media. One of his main points, was to encourage companies not to leave the social media … Continue reading MESH07 | Richard Edelman

After the first day, as usual I am watching to see trends, especially those that are relevant to Banks. In reading this, its worthwhile reflecting this group are the super early adopters, startups, Web 2.0 companies, but there was a group here this year that did not show up last year. These were enterprise types, technology groups, enterprise knowledge management people. I saw one chap from the Royal Bank of Canada group, asking how he could use wiki’s for sharing knowledge within the Bank. Some notes: – the first thing that struck me is the evolution since last year – … Continue reading MESH07 | thoughts from day 1

I am attending MESH07 conference in Toronto. Today is Media and Social day, so less business focus, which comes tomorrow. Highlight this morning was Michael Arrington from Techcrunch. He was quite entertaining, and quite clear in his views about old media and new media. His speciality is startups, and the main take away for success and differentiation that he looks for are twofold: – Technology innnovation – network effect – ability to attract large numbers of users, interested in partipating The other keynote included Tom Williams from givemeaning.org. When asked a similar question about drivers of success, his answer is … Continue reading MESH07 | Michael Arrington

There are times when I think Banks act with incredible stupidity, then somehow one manages to leap out of the pack and really display a fundamental lack of any grasp of how consumers think. Hat tip Javelin. Barclaycard customers could soon be hit with an annual fee of up to £20 if they fail to use their cards “enough”. The UK’s largest credit card provider says it is considering an annual charge for its one million customers who rarely or never use their credit cards. Source: The Guardian I can just picture the salivation in the conference room, as the … Continue reading Barclaycard

Japan is a highly consumer oriented society, with advertising everywhere. There is also a very high expectation for corporate loyalty, and service to customers. No surpirse about these figures that indicate 40% of lack is in time and energy ( 2 – 4). While I have written before about the exceptional service customers get in Japan, this suggests the pressures this creates are not sustainable. Its not humanly possible to sustain this level of service. A new model is required. “What do you lack [most] now?” 1 Money 30% 2 Sense of drive, desire to act 15% 3 Time 13% … Continue reading Japan as an early warning signal for customer service

This has been bothering me for a while. I think it took me getting out of a large organisation, to begin to see the futility in the customer centric, 360 degree view, mentality. Everything about 360 degree view, as defined, is company centric. For the uninitiated, “360 degree view of the customer” is about creating and providing access to a comprehensive collection of information about individual customers. It’s the corporate memory for customer interactions. The Marketing Consortium: I say futility, because while it sounds like the right approach, its impossible to be customer centric from the viewpoint of any one … Continue reading Some thoughts on customer centric, 360 degree view, and Social Networks.