Wells Fargo, I applaud you
Posted by Trey Reeme on June 5th, 2007
I am eating my words about Wells Fargo. I was tough on The Student LoanDown and Guided By History.
And I never understood Stagecoach Island’s existence away from Second Life – not to mention Cassie, their avatar, and her MySpace page (I never blogged about that, by the way).
I didn’t believe the sites had the potential to break out and (to use a phrase you may never hear me use again) “go viral.” And I didn’t see Wells Fargo incorporating them into a larger marketing strategy that crossed the barrier back into traditional marketing (which social media arguably should do).
But I was wrong; Ed and crew really are leading the charge. Not only have they kept all their social media true to their vision with each being relevant on its own, now they’re all coming together in a well-crafted campaign called Wells Fargo: Backstage.
It’s integrated marketing, baby! It’s compelling content! It’s, dare I say it, genuinely cool.
Stagecoach Island, podcasts, student loan education, free music downloads, a giveaway of a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid. Online + Offline.
I’m even hoping they’ll use that Twitter page to keep people posted on the Backstage Tour, bands to be featured on the podcast, etc. (Actually I’m sure they’ve thought about that already, and if not, they should consider it.)
I’m blown away. And you should be, too.
Thanks, Trey, for checking out our Backstage site. As you wrote, it’s another social media approach to reach the youth segment in a way that also integrates well with other efforts.
I like your suggestion to use Twitter to keep people informed about the tour. It could be good platform. Or, we could use our MySpace presence as well to keep people up to date.
Cheers! -Ed
Thanks Trey. I count on you guys to tell me the things going on South of the border that I hadn’t heard of yet. Congrats Ed!
WF Backstage is stunningly effective. It totally rejects the boring “home page” design concept. At the bottom of the screen, the “Access All Areas” card provides instant links to open an account, build your credit, get college financing, find a branch, and even work at Wells Fargo.
It also has plenty of copyright and SM notices. :)
Trey, thanks for the shout-out! I’m blown away that you’re blown away. :) And hey, I don’t mind if you’re tough on us—in my opinion you’re a pretty fair critic.
Back to the land of copyrights and servicemarks (Ron, that’s for you!), Staci