It's interesting to note the difference between American Banks and Canadian Banks when it comes to PR.
On some level, this is kind of like asking which is worse, a hurricane or an earthquake given populous sentiment towards banks has forever been fairly negative.
However, I think the Canadian banks can teach American banks something when it comes to PR. We all know that Canadian banks handled themselves much more responsibly on the financial front during the financial collapse of 2008, but since then they've also done a better job on the PR front.
1) TD recently announced that it was increasing fees on checking accounts. However, they appear to be targeting the increases towards services that will least affect their customers. Their official statement is that only one per cent of their customer base will be affected.
Compare this to the banks in the US which implemented debit card fees that affected almost every customer and caused such a backlash in public sentiment that the banks have since revoked the charges.
2) I was also surprised to see that the CEO of TD, Ed Clark, supporting Occupy Wall Street. When asked for what advice he would give OWS his response was:
"My main advice is stick to your guns. When people say, ‘You don’t have a solution,’ say, ‘Of course we don’t. If there was a solution, don’t you think people would be doing it?’ To ask the people who occupy Wall Street or Bay Street to have a full answer is absurd. They’re doing their job which is to say, ‘If you think this [system] is working for everyone, it’s not.’
What you are seeing when it comes to Canadian banks, or at least TD, is that customer service (and understanding their customers) seems to be directing their PR strategies. Which is excellent - the best PR strategies are ones that aren't about manipulating publics to come around to your views but rather aligning and articulating your views in relation theirs.
In essence, messaging as though you were sitting across the table from them face-to-face, as opposed to simply communicating with them through letters, news releases and other less-than-personal forms of one-way communication.
Now, this is not to say the Canadian banks are perfect by any means. I had a family member who recently had a horrible experience with Scotiabank, and ironically, it was TD Bank who saved the day.
All this is not to say that Canadian banks won't at some point start milking customers like US banks have tried to do. But for the time being, they are doing a good job on the PR front and I think most Canadians are thankful that we are dealing with TD Bank versus Bank of America.
I did a quick search on YouTube for TD related videos. The first to pop up was a video of their CEO reviewing 2010. It's interesting to note that the focus of their messaging was on community and employees. Yet again, clearly exhibiting that from a PR perspective, they clearly understand the importance of being people-centric in their messaging.
On some level, this is kind of like asking which is worse, a hurricane or an earthquake given populous sentiment towards banks has forever been fairly negative.
However, I think the Canadian banks can teach American banks something when it comes to PR. We all know that Canadian banks handled themselves much more responsibly on the financial front during the financial collapse of 2008, but since then they've also done a better job on the PR front.
I say this with regards to two events recently by TD bank:
Compare this to the banks in the US which implemented debit card fees that affected almost every customer and caused such a backlash in public sentiment that the banks have since revoked the charges.
2) I was also surprised to see that the CEO of TD, Ed Clark, supporting Occupy Wall Street. When asked for what advice he would give OWS his response was:
"My main advice is stick to your guns. When people say, ‘You don’t have a solution,’ say, ‘Of course we don’t. If there was a solution, don’t you think people would be doing it?’ To ask the people who occupy Wall Street or Bay Street to have a full answer is absurd. They’re doing their job which is to say, ‘If you think this [system] is working for everyone, it’s not.’
What you are seeing when it comes to Canadian banks, or at least TD, is that customer service (and understanding their customers) seems to be directing their PR strategies. Which is excellent - the best PR strategies are ones that aren't about manipulating publics to come around to your views but rather aligning and articulating your views in relation theirs.
In essence, messaging as though you were sitting across the table from them face-to-face, as opposed to simply communicating with them through letters, news releases and other less-than-personal forms of one-way communication.
Now, this is not to say the Canadian banks are perfect by any means. I had a family member who recently had a horrible experience with Scotiabank, and ironically, it was TD Bank who saved the day.
All this is not to say that Canadian banks won't at some point start milking customers like US banks have tried to do. But for the time being, they are doing a good job on the PR front and I think most Canadians are thankful that we are dealing with TD Bank versus Bank of America.
I did a quick search on YouTube for TD related videos. The first to pop up was a video of their CEO reviewing 2010. It's interesting to note that the focus of their messaging was on community and employees. Yet again, clearly exhibiting that from a PR perspective, they clearly understand the importance of being people-centric in their messaging.
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