The Bank Account that Protects Your Identity
Pioneer Bank
In December of 2013, Target Inc. discovered a data breach that resulted in the theft of up to 70 million customer identities. A similar breach occurred less than a year later at Home Depot. This time, even more customers were compromised.
It’s under this context that Pioneer Bank turned to Burst Marketing to re-launch their premium checking account product, HighFive. Having previously focused the brand around savings and coupons, marketing results had been mixed. It was clear that HighFive needed a fresh approach.
Burst started with research, opening HighFive accounts for employees, talking to current HighFive account customers, and steeping ourselves in the ins-and-outs of the product. The product itself was solid, offering lots of benefits well worth the low monthly fee. But we found that few customers were interested in coupons. Those that were certainly weren’t emotionally engaged with the idea of saving a few bucks on groceries.
What did get customers riled up was the fear of identity theft. This was especially prevalent among higher net worth individuals: a key target demographic. These individuals had the most to lose from a stolen identity.
We also found gold in HighFive’s cellphone replacement plan. Big cell phone carriers charge $8 or more for cellphone replacement plans. Pioneer offers replacement to HighFive account holders for no additional fees. With more than 282 million smartphones sold in 2013, this feature opens the door to the vibrant ecosystem surrounding the exploding smartphone market.
With our research in place and our target market clearly in our sites, it was time for creative execution. Our work focused around the line “The account with all the extras”, and featured graphical callouts for the most compelling account benefits. The media strategy focused on generating millions of impressions through the use of outdoor and display advertising, while also generating trackable conversions through online marketing that drives to a landing page.
There was just one thing nagging us. With all these great benefits, HighFive Checking didn’t feel much like a checking account. It felt like something bigger; something that transcended checking and deepened the relationship between customers and Pioneer.
It wasn’t a checking account at all. It was a banking account.
With Pioneer’s approval, HighFive checking was renamed HighFive Banking, and the brand was re-launched to the Capital Region in early September 2014.
