Bank of America has undergone many changes in the past four years, through a variety of Merger and Acquisition activities. While these Mergers and Acquisitions have aided Bank of America in gaining additional geography and market share, these same activities have also posed numerous marketing challenges. Most recently, the MBNA acquisition has introduced the need to merge very different company cultures. And while the transition seemed to have worked effectively within the merged entity, customer attitudes towards the new merged entity and its brand new marketing campaign remain to be seen. In the midst of the merger, Bank of America has been plagued with customer dissatisfaction, yielding a second ranking on the 2006 MSN Money Customer Service Hall of Shame.
[...] study, Bank of America does tailor their ads to different age groups, online, through direct mail, telemarketing and advertising. The combination of innovation and age- targeted marketing has been a very successful approach for the bank. By January of 2007, Bank of America was the No.1 bank in the U.S. by deposit share, the bank with the largest debit purchase volume; the bank with the most online banking and bill-pay customers (U.S. Banker, 2007). Often with innovation comes risk, and this has been the case with online banking, and specifically, for Bank of America. [...]
[...] The aforementioned have posed quite a large marketing challenge for Bank of America. During their most recent acquisition of MBNA, Bank of America decided to take advantage of an opportunity to re- introduce itself to the marketplace, potential customers and existing customers, as the new “bank of opportunity.” The results of this decision are yet to be realized at this time. References American Banker's association (N.D). Retrieved from: http://www.aba.com/Industry+Issues/Issues_MA_Menu.htm Bank of America 2006 fact book. Retrieved from: http://media.corporate- ir.net/media_files/irol/71/71595/factbooks/FY2006_Factbook.pdf CBS News (2006). [...]
[...] Next, Bank of America elected to follow the MBNA methods it had long admired from its partnership marketing expertise to its aggressive debt collection techniques and reliance on high fees. Bank of America also retained MBNA's huge technology system” (Dash, 2007). Bank of America placed the mantra THINK OF YOURSELF AS A CUSTOMER on top of their doors and even merged the two corporate dress codes. Merger teams including employees fro both entities examined every system, policy and process to determine which would be used by the merged entity. [...]
[...] In examining Bank of America's marketing activities following their merger with Fleet, very little changed other than the disappearance of the Fleet name. Following the acquisition of MBNA, the MBNA name and all marketing assets disappeared as well, although the transition was phased over a longer period of time. During that same timeframe, Bank of America replaced its long-standing slogan “Higher Standards” with “Bank of Opportunity.” Bank of America's re-branding effort started shortly after the MBNA acquisition, and was launched in early 2007.” New TV commercials incorporate the bank's "flagscape" symbol with images of customers getting new homes and envisioning future careers. [...]
[...] In early 2007, both campaigns were abandoned, with the new Bank of America entity re-presenting itself to the marketplace under the slogan “Bank of Opportunity.” Marketing This portion of the marketing audit is designed to examine the various aspects of existing marketing, and determine the effectiveness of those efforts. As this audit is primarily concerned with consumer and small business retail banking and credit card activities, the examination of marketing efforts will be limited to this scope. Objectives According to Bank of America's 2006 annual report, consumer and small business customers accounted for 53% of the bank's net income and 56% of revenue. [...]
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