Play yo' part

Last week I talked about ING and a newsletter I got from them, specifically about how it contained only a small amount of information I was actually interested in and a big chunk of stuff I didn't want to know about. Like an eager kid banging at my door to tell me about their day, once I've gotten a "No" to my question of "Did anything bad happen?" I have what I need to know.

When brands step outside the zone they have asked permission to occupy (those that are smart enough to get permission anyway), they're jumping the shark, they're stepping into territory where they don't have credibility, and all the onlookers can do is sigh and roll their eyes.

In the same way the web has allowed the proliferation of niches, it means brands are afforded smaller and smaller spaces to occupy in our lives. What they need to work on is owning that niche, becoming a credible and trusted source. Once they have that down, they can expand - carefully. The move for ING from savings account bank to home loan bank isn't a huge step for anyone to make; when they start talking about dolphins, this is where I lose interest.

Know your role, and play your part. Meet expectations consistently and you'll be afforded the platform to grow, one piece at a time.

Tomorrow I'm going to look at how expectations support a brand and tie into the customer's willingness to pay.

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Image courtesy of discola with thanks to compfight.

Am I not your girl?

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="...talk about wide open spaces..."][/caption]

In almost the only thing I do that can be classed as "fiscally responsible", I have an ING savings account. Money goes in and it doesn't come out for any reason (except maybe the Galapagos Islands which a friend recently suggested we visit...).

One of the things I like(d) about ING was the lack of correspondence - their involvement in my life is at exactly the level I wish it to be. They haven't pushed for a single thing more, content to hold my money while it earns a little interest and leave me be. I thought we had an understanding.

A few days back I got hit with the "latest" issue of their newsletter called The Juice. I say "latest" because I don't remember them ever sending me one before. There's a brief note from Vic Wolff Executive Director, Marketing and Communications who gives me the only thing remotely interesting to me: the interest rate has gone form 6.90% or 7%. Great - if that means what I think it means, truth be told I have no idea how that impacts my savings day to day, it's like telling a homeless person they could offset their carbon emissions by 25% if they begged on the sunny side of the street.

• They tell me they've paid out $5 billion dollars in interest since starting. Not to me. So I don't care.


• Why using Billy Connolly in their commercials is such a good fit for their brand. I do not care.


• A note about donating $50k to a research project to better understand the snubfin dolphin. I do not care - understand I'm all for marine conservation, I'm just a bit more concerned making some fundamental alterations to the way we live in order to make sure my kids (when I have them) can see any dolphin somewhere other than a textbook.

ING, know you want to have a chat with your customers, but your opening salvo was a bunch of stuff you wanted me to know about you. And I don't care what you look like, that doesn't get a drink bought, and it certainly doesn't get a conversation started.

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Image courtesy of refractionless, with thanks to compfight.