Last Time I Checked, MetaBank was Still Lame

About two months ago, I heard that something outrageous was coming! Maybe you saw the ads in the newspaper, heard them on local radio spots or watched the spots on T.V.... Some company was going to do something outrageous and they teased Iowans with what I guess is probably a $50,000 media campaign. The ads direct people to this microsite.

Usually when you spend that much on a teaser campaign the idea is to get people to talk about it, build some buzz, and generate some interest about what’s so gosh darn outrageous. I'm guessing this is probably the first time you’ve heard of it.

The outrageous thing is that the message didn’t reach audiences in the mediums that allowed them to share the campaign, and this campaign has failed to generated any momentum. I mean, when is the last time you were in your car posting a radio ad to your Facebook account? I know I don’t often share the ads I see printed in the Des Moines Register through Twitter. I guess they could have run the T.V. ads on YouTube but they didn’t.

So what is so outrageous? Well, MetaBank announced  some new checking account offers that -- on the surface -- seem pretty cool. Pretty different from the normal bank advertising we are so used to seeing. I asked my friends at Lessing-Flynn if they did this campaign. They told us that Meta Bank was no longer a client and they had nothing to do with this. Lessing-Flynn didn't know what agency was helping Meta Bank. 

It's clear that there was no ad agency directing them. No agency would have recommended $50k in teaser media without any social media initiatives. In today’s world, that would be a waste and campaign suicide. Go onto Twitter and search outrageousnow.com – you get two tweets – one from the company that built the site and another from some agency person.

What if someone had just suggested they use social media (the right way) to drive their efforts? What if someone tweeted for a month about the "outrageousness" that was coming? What if MetaBank already had a social media presence and could have increased their follow list through this kind of campaign? Metabank did use some social media chicklets on the site, but they don't have a volunteer fire department (aka, followers!) to help get the word out. What am I supposed to do with these? A Facebook icon and a url that pops into my twitter feed? Huge miss. 

My guess is that in 30 days if you search Google for “outrageous now” you will find this blog post listed higher than the actual outrageous now URL and most likely the MegaBank site. That’s not because I’m more savvy than anyone else, its just that I am the only one talking about it. Spending $50k on a teaser campaign that flops? Now that’s outrageous!

The only thing lamer than this is Banker's Trust sending me SIX generic Facebook messages asking me to be its friend when I am not a customer and I already told them that they can't use me for my followers. Get your own, dude.

Comments

[Phil James]

Thank you for this. I almost feel like every follow request I get on facebook or twitter from a big company is a big empty shell for a lame advertising campaign. The purpose of social media is to have a conversation and to connect! The purpose is not just to pimp your products... it's to get your customers (followers) to pimp the products for you!

[Jeremy Schultz]

I searched for outrageousnow.com @ Twitter.com's search bar and got nothing. Am I missing something or has the results just gotten old?

[Pinel Jones]

Mr. Schultz,

Here's one:
http://twitter.com/pushmybrand/status/4331750863

And this is pretty telling:

http://tweetmeme.com/domain/www.outrageousnow.com/style/recent

[Michael Libbie]

Yeah Baby! Great post...we may steal it today on the show.

[Tom Flynn]

Claire - You are right on target with this post. There aren't many types of business that rely on relationships more than banking - because there's not much difference in the products. I don't know if this campaign has increased MetaBank's business, but I do know that it hasn't had as much impact as it could have if social media would have been built into the campaign strategy. Banks say they fear social media because of compliance issues and message control ... but I think it's more about fear of the unknown. A bank that executed social media correctly as part of their strategy could make a killing in this market.