5 Takeaways from Curinos’ CMO Summit
Curinos welcomed marketing executives from more than 20 financial institutions to its CMO Summit for 2024 in Charleston, S.C., April 29 and 30. With an emphasis on the possibilities of generative AI, guests were treated to insights from a diverse set of experts within financial services, marketing, and academia. From the presentations and discussions, here are five timely themes that resonated throughout the event.
1. Martech is changing exponentially; organizations change logarithmically.
There’s an accelerating gap at many financial institutions between the current limits of their marketing technology stack and the capabilities needed to fully embrace generative AI. Narrowing that gap will be a foundational marketing challenge in the coming years, so marketing organizations will need to be more agile and more strategic about which changes to pursue. There are now 11,000+ marketing apps, up from fewer than 200 a dozen years ago. The “data lake” of the 2010s is now the “interactive water park” of apps and automations working with data at scale.
Martech’s Law
2. Trust in banks has plummeted, from both sides of the party divide.
Trust issues can be traced back to the 2008-09 financial crisis, and they’ve only grown with the rise of political populism. Data privacy is a case in point. As open banking gains traction, FIs will need to navigate how to share personal information with third-party providers and with one another. Conflicting regulations – on fees, for example – don’t help. Adding to the challenge is the plethora of regulations that are not being applied evenly to banks and nonbanks. To stay connected with customer sentiment, pay attention to social media and have a plan to anticipate and respond.
FIs are increasingly caught between conflicting regulatory directives.
3. Interest is the most powerful lever for deposit acquisition and retention.
Interest and other expenses need to be considered in the marketing of new and maturing deposits. The cost of acquisition and retention includes offered rate, back-book repricing and attrition. The marketing expense associated with offers, promotions and communication are tiny in comparison, so marketers need a seat at the table so they can integrate their activities with product and pricing decisions. The key to growing and retaining deposits without repricing the entire book is to identify people who may be motivated to shop or switch and price accordingly.
Marketing budgets are dwarfed by other drivers of deposits.
4. Plummeting retail fees make serving the mass market more challenging.
By 2025, overdraft and NSF fee revenue will be 80% lower than in 2019 and credit card late fees and interchange fees will be down 65% and 15%, respectively. Payback for a typical acquired customer will extend from two years to four years, and on average it will take 5,500 mass-market accounts to generate $1 million in revenue. FIs will need to focus on the true value of the mass market, which is low-cost deposit acquisition, while offering protection through other means, including lines of credit. They will also need to make primacy a priority for the mass affluent, which represents more than five times the value of the mass market.
Revenue Impact by Customer Segment
FIs will need to shift their focus to higher value.
5. Marketing’s “Four Ps” are still valid, but Product is giving way to the “Five Cs” of customer experience.
Today’s dynamic marketing aggregates prospects and customers into micro-segments, and profiles evolve in real time. At its core is customer experience, surrounded by the “Five Cs”:
- Context: Martech- and AI-enable contextual targeting through intuitive, data-driven campaigns that are hyperpersonalized.
- Content: Automatic, multivariate testing enables real-time optimization.
- Calibration: Creative, media channels and ad placement dynamically calibrated to drive specific KPIs.
- Conversion: Driven across multiple channels for optimal customer experience.
- Collaboration: Customers can customize or co-create their own products in partnership with the brand.
Dynamic Marketing Framework
Customer Experience (CX) is now at the center of Marketing Strategy.
Curinos Presentations
Craig M. Woodward, CEO
Adam Stockton, Managing Director
Brandon Larson, EVP, Head of Channels Division, Sarah Welch, Managing Director, Olivia Lui, Director
Sarah Welch, Managing Director
Olly Downs, Chief Data Scientist
Olivia Lui, Director
