First National Bank of Chicago
COMMUNITY-BASED PUBLIC RELATIONS
The senior PR executive for First National Bank
of Chicago (now JPMorgan Chase) approached Hodge
Schindler with a challenge she thought could be
managed more effectively – from a cost and
results perspective – through PR rather than
advertising.
The need
The money center bank had a more extensive branch
network (150 branches at the time) in the six-county
Chicago region than any other bank in the market.
At issue was what the First Chicago brand represented
to customers – and how the competition
played up the negatives associated with “big,
downtown bank” in the community markets
it served.
Hodge Schindler responded by devising
a community-based “micro-PR” strategy
designed to use media relations to put a more local
and friendly face to the individual branches and
groups of branches within the geographic regions
around Chicago. (Following several mergers, our
approach was also utilized to a limited degree
in Michigan and Indiana.)
Our approach
Our approach was continually refined and honed
as business needs and concerns changed at both
the local and corporate levels of the bank. The
scope of work and our approach in developing
the process follows:
Media list development. We
researched and developed a database of all newspapers
(110) within the six-county region – inside
and outside the city, dailies, weeklies, business
media and cable news outlets. These were sorted
geographically and by the correlating branch regions,
maintained and updated regularly, and expanded
with local radio, cable and network television
outlets.
Approval process. To keep
this manageable for the bank’s small (two-person)
PR department, we devised an approach under which
corporate PR would approve releases that had a
corporate flavor, for example: shortened earnings
releases, economic forecasts, features and bylined
articles. Individual branch managers or bankers
(including marketers) spearheading specific initiatives
would approve all local releases such as new hires,
local market promotions/product initiatives.
Media
training. Senior executives overseeing
the branch network participated in formal media
training, undertaken by corporate PR. However,
branch managers needed a grounding in PR, what
it could do for their branches, what constitutes
news, and how to work with the media. We prepared
and distributed a training manual, using it as
a basis for annual presentations at regional branch
management meetings.
Communications. Devising an
effective communications pipeline was essential.
We utilized a number of approaches. We regularly
participated in marketing meetings for upcoming
initiatives to recommend and implement correlating
PR components. We frequently talked via phone and
met with branch management, individually and in
groups. We established a quarterly internal newsletter
to demonstrate successes the branches were having
with PR. This was later changed to a mass fax.
Tracking
initiatives. Hodge Schindler wrote/disseminated
between 20 and 50 news and feature releases monthly,
requiring a record of what was underway and had
been completed for which bank group and who had
approved it. Our straight-forward tracking chart
was submitted to our Corporate PR liaison at the
end of each month.
Tracking results. As keepers
of the clips, once a month Hodge Schindler sorted
news clips (provided by a service) by region and
sometimes by product line (e.g. small business
banking, mortgages) and compiled packages that
were
distributed to appropriate executives. This allowed
us to assess where the most successes were being
achieved, the reasons why or why not and what types
of releases were picked up most often.
Media outreach. The
challenge lay in identifying the varying news needs
and approaches of different news outlets and responding
appropriately. The level of sophistication varies
substantially between a daily and a weekly and
between a cable outlet and a local broadcaster,
for example. Some publications were adamant that
if the bank didn't advertise,
the news release would not run. Some publications
preferred a straight-forward news release about
products, services and initiatives. Many business
publications were eager for well-written and non-promotional
articles positioned under a local banker’s
byline. In addition to providing a regular pipeline
of releases and articles, Hodge Schindler successfully
positioned feature ideas with publications that
demonstrated the bank’s commitment to its
communities for Community Reinvestment Act purposes.
The
outcomes
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