Andy Goldberg, chair of B-M’s U.S. corporate practice, has just published a byline article in American Banker (subscription required) called Fostering Trust: There's Ample Loyalty to Start that examines how community and regional banks can bolster trust among their key stakeholders during tough economic times.
"For community or regional banks a localized communications effort can be effective.
The simplest step to take is to make sure employees get the information they need to be strong brand ambassadors. This requires regular, continual communications from management to employees, which enables organic message delivery to the bank's customer base.
Taking a "branding from the inside-out" approach allows branch tellers or other customer points of contact be their customers' "expert" on the bank and shows an understanding that everyone from CEO to teller has a role to play in building trust within the community. Local media relations and a digital strategy and other forms of community outreach can easily dovetail and reinforce this "inside-out" approach."
The piece also examines a recent Burson-Marsteller study looking at the U.S. consumers' trust in their banks across ten states. You can view some of study's findings below.