Umpquitize is the action of making the ordinary extraordinary
I just read about Umpqua in Joe Jaffe’s (@jaffejuice) new book ‘Flip the Funnel’. Some companies truly get the importance of differentiation through customer experience . Umpqua understands ‘branded acts of kindness‘ and takes the concept ‘to the bank’.
The West Coast bank chain based in Portland, OR has tellers place customers’ cash on black wooden trays along with a silver chocolate coin embellished with the bank’s logo.
Add in free wifi and their own brand of free gourmet coffee. Put it all together and you’ve got some sweet free perks that land them #295 in the Purple Goldfish Project.
Here is a great interview from Umpqua’s Eric Lucero (@erlucero). If you don’t have the full 8+ minutes . . . fast forward to 6:15 in for the genesis of handshake marketing. Pure genius:
HELP me catch another 698 purple goldfish for a great cause. FISHERMEN WANTED: Click here to send me your example.
I have been a long-time admirer of Umpqua Bank and have followed their marketing techniques for quite some time. This is the first time I’ve heard about the Handshake Marketing program, and as a fellow bank marketer, I have to say, I love it. By encouraging employees to do random acts of kindness, it gives them a way to genuinely reach out and do good things for customers, and that in turn helps them to feel pride about what they do. This program is a win-win because it creates employee and customer loyalty.
Very cool stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Lori,
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the post. I also love Umpqua’s approach. I don’t know if I agree that their approach is ‘random’. I would argue that what Umpqua deals in is ‘branded acts of kindness’.
Branded reflects the next generation or 2.0 version of ‘acts of kindness’. Here is where I see the difference:
Random 1.0 – versus — Branded 2.0
Unpromoted Promoted
Untargeted Targeted
One off promotion Recurring or Consistent
Opportunistic Planned
Relevant to recipient Relevant to recipient + the brand
In the field At Retail
PR focused Integrated
It doesn’t just need to be random anymore. Executed correctly, as part of an integrated strategy, ‘branded’ acts of kindness or ‘marketing lagniappe’ can create brand awareness and more importantly drive brand loyalty.
Stan
@9inchmarketing