Case Study

Client:

Zions Direct

Capability:

Branding, Marketing and Online Advertising, Product Launch

Campaign:

Ongoing

Challenge:

Banking gets a bum rap. All those interest rates, credit scores, bonds, and yields can make the average person’s head spin right round (like a record baby!). Banking just isn’t sexy, no matter how much it spends on lingerie.

Unfortunately, the lack of general enthusiasm for banking services was only the first problem facing Crowell as we set out to re-brand and re-establish Zions Direct (the online brokerage of Zions Bank). Low awareness and brand confusion also reared their ugly heads, then joined forces with the daunting challenge of competing such powerhouse firms as Fidelity, Etrade, and Charles Schwab. Luckily, Crowell has experience taking on giant foes — ever seen Godzilla in Salt Lake City? Exactly.

Solution/Execution:

With the competition spending Zions Direct’s annual media budget in a month, we knew we had to establish a rock-solid ownable brand position that could compete in the national market. But we didn’t get ahead of ourselves, that’s literally impossible. A full barrel of analytic monkeys — competitive analysis, a business audit, target profiling, and market analysis — all led to the creation of a new brand identity that not only supports Zions Direct’s position, but could be used consistently across all media.

Sure, we wanted to build awareness for Zions Direct — we are sort of a town crier after all — but the main goal was to raise the brand to the level of the competition. In order to do this, we harnessed the power of the internet and put a saddle on it. Though we look great in chaps and spurs, the real advantage was the equalizing ability of online marketing. By focusing the campaign — appealing to niche websites, behavioral targeting, search engine marketing, and banner advertising — we were able to stretch our marketing dollars further than seemed possible (a special thanks to Mr. Armstrong).

Results:

Sometimes internet marketing results can appear esoteric, and though we know the value of impressions sometimes it’s nice to show the tangible ends to justify our means. In this case, the ends came in the form of new accounts generated for Zions Direct online auctions, which was launched in the Spring of 2007 with the help of our campaign. The auction product, despite being a generally ambiguous way to buy investments, went from zero to over 5,000 accounts in less than a year and a half. Is there anything the internet can’t do? It’s a good thing we invented it. In your face Al Gore!