Bank Merger Communications: Creative Development

Creative development is a part of any major communications process. Image, text, and video elements can all play a role in marketing programs, but in bank merger communications it's especially important to keep your goals and purpose in sight at all times.

Clarity over Creativity

No matter how eye-catching your mailer design is, or how clever your explanatory video may be, if your communications don't provide clear, necessary information about the bank merger to the right audience, they are extraneous. Be sure to keep your creative development within the scope and goals of the overall project—every image, word, or element within the campaign must relate to a specific communication goal regarding the merger.

Give Less. . . and also More

Less is best when it comes to merger communications, but you should also make it possible for interested parties to access more. Provide clear, factual, audience-centric communication in a way that will make the customer, employees, or vendors feel that the bank respects their relationship. Include the main highlights on how the merger will impact members of the audience, then provide a way to obtain additional information or ask questions. Some examples of offering a path to more information include:

• Emails with links to further details
• Videos that end with a call-to-action for visiting the website
• Letters that provide website URLs, emails, and phone numbers for contact
• Direction to a detailed FAQ regarding the merger
• The ability to connect online with a virtual agent

Plan as a Team

Creative development works best when all elements are tied together. Plan as a team, and take time to map products, customers, services, and information to the best communication elements. Set realistic expectations with merger teams about development timelines and response expectations. Use data regarding customers and products to define special circumstances and create communication elements with those in mind.

The goal of creative development in the bank merger communications process isn't to wow audiences with beautiful documents, webpages, or videos. The goal is to create feelings of comfort, develop relationships, and build trust with the customer about upcoming changes.

For more information on bank merger communications best practices, download our free Guide to Bank Merger Communications today.