» Banking

How Much Are American Families Saving?

Jay Waters — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:13:28 +0000

The holiday season, from a financial point of view, is a season of spending, not saving. But something important is going on in the world of consumer savings this holiday season.

The last three years saw a dramatic turnaround in consumers’ interest in saving, as consumers sought to gain more control over their financial circumstances due to the uncertain economic times. However, growth in savings has stalled. September 2011’s savings rate was down to 3.6% after falling for three consecutive months, and is now back to where it was just before the recession started. Some economists are suggesting that the strong start to the holiday shopping season is being fueled, in part, by withdrawals from savings.

After witnessing this reduction in savings, we thought it would be interesting to see how American families are faring when it comes to savings. Our question in early November put savings in terms of monthly take-home pay. Many financial experts say that the average household should have between three and six months pay in savings, to cover possible emergencies and short-term job losses. So our question was simple – how many months of take-home pay do you currently have in savings?

The numbers are frightening. One out of four families reported having zero savings, and another 25% have less than one month’s take home pay in savings. At the other end, 21% of families have three or more months in savings.

Once we started diving down into the numbers, some additional alarms go off: 43% of families with household incomes of $50K or less have zero savings, and another 26% have less than one month’s pay. That’s a total of almost 70% who have less than one month of savings. On the other hand, more affluent families aren’t doing much better. Only 16% of households with incomes over $50K reported having zero savings, and 27% have less than one month in savings, for a total of 43%.

Note that there isn’t much different in age ranges at most levels – 26% of parents under 35 years old have zero savings, versus 33% for parents 35 – 44 and 30% for parents 45+. But older parents do very well at the higher levels, with 27% having more than three months salary in savings – three times the percentage of younger (under 35) parents.

It makes sense that these older parents are better savers than younger parents – they have had more time to accumulate savings. Also, generally, the longer you work, the higher your salary, and thus the more disposable income you have available for savings.

There’s also one other interesting tidbit to note in the data – Republicans are twice as likely as Democrats to have more than three month’s salary in savings.

Since this is the season of spending, in our next post, we’ll have a review of how families’ spending intentions have shifted over the course of 2011.

Jay Waters is SVP/Chief Strategy Officer at Luckie & Company. You can contact him by email.

Photo credit: 401K via Flickr

Artistic Cyclists Put a New Spin on Regions’ Banking Experience

Elizabeth Boldin — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:55:57 +0000

Finding the perfect banking experience is often a difficult balancing act. But Luckie & Company was up for the challenge.

After research findings indicated that Americans want more control and better balance over their financial lives, Regions Bank charged Luckie with creating a new marketing campaign to emphasize these key messages. Knowing consumers’ familiarity with the Regions LifeGreen® cruiser bike as a symbol of the positive experience Regions promises, we wanted to continue using the bike in the new campaign.

Enter the world of artistic cycling – a perfect display of both control and balance.

Artistic cycling is a type of competitive indoor cycling, mostly popular in Europe and Asia, where athletes combine graceful choreography with difficult-to-perform maneuvers. Think figure skating or gymnastics on a bike. These maneuvers are the result of pure physical agility, artistic skill and hours of practice. No harnesses or fancy camera tricks here, folks. The result was spectacular TV spots that were memorable and reinforced Region’s message of control and balance.

Given the success of the marketing campaign and, let’s be honest, the sheer entertainment value of seeing gravity-defying tricks on bikes, Regions decided to feature these award-winning cyclists at some of their sponsored events, bringing the marketing campaign to life. Top performers in the world of artistic cycling will join us all the way from Germany. As great as they are, the TV spots only offer a sample of artistic cycling. I mean, there are only so many tricks a 30-second TV spot can capture. The feats these talented cyclists perform live are nothing short of an act in Cirque du Soleil – riding backward with no hands, standing on top of one another, holding a pike position longer than what should be humanly possible, all while on a bike.

I have no doubt their performances will provide spectators with the “wow” factor. As a former event planner, this is always the ultimate goal of any event – to leave guests with a feeling they’ll remember long after the streamers are gone. But, from a client’s perspective, I think this is an important opportunity for Regions to gain brand interaction with its current and potential consumers. In addition to seeing the television commercials and print advertisements, Regions’ consumers will now be able to experience artistic cycling firsthand, and hopefully they will gain a better understanding of the control and balance a Regions relationship offers.

And, to top it off, the cyclists will have the opportunity to expose Americans to artistic cycling, giving their sport some ~~legs~~ wheels to stand on in the U.S. As The Office’s Michael Scott would say, it’s a win-win-win.

Elizabeth Boldin is an Account Executive at Luckie & Company. You can contact her by email or follow @keboldin on Twitter.

When a Brand Finds Personality

Tripp Durant — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 14:38:39 +0000

When I got into advertising, I always wondered if I would be lucky enough (no pun intended) to work on a brand on the verge of a big breakthrough. The advertising history books are full of these case studies, but would I get to experience it firsthand? During my 13 years at Luckie & Company, I’ve seen what I thought were the beginnings of many of these big, brand-changing moments but for a variety of business reasons it was hard for them to survive.

For the last eight years, our agency has been fortunate enough to work with Regions Bank. We’ve done many campaigns for them over the years, but I believe today were experiencing one of those special, hard-to-come-by moments.

This story starts in 2007. Like many advertising campaigns, this specific campaign was born in a conference room along with two safe, somewhat expected ideas competing for the right to become the new Regions brand. Regions, “The Everyday Confidence Bank,” had just merged with cross-town rival AmSouth, “The Relationship People.” We knew from consumer research studies, client meetings and our personal experiences that people wanted a bank that was simple, easy, reliable, friendly and uncomplicated. This is not necessarily new ground for banks, but the idea of using a bicycle to represent these qualities was quite different, unexpected and, if you don’t mind me saying so, brilliant.

We thought the bike brought a likable, easy-going, somewhat nostalgic presence to the brand. But the real test would come from consumers.

As the concept was shared, we heard over and over how bike riding is so enjoyable for so many people. Many remembered how it represented freedom and fun family time. They saw it as a metaphor for life and the journey we’re on. It reminded them of a simpler time when life wasn’t complicated. Consumers and business owners said they would love to see a bank with those very traits. And with that, we launched the first of what would be several campaigns with our brand icon.

Fast forward to the present: The Regions LifeGreen cruiser bike has defined the brand, one that customers and even non-customers easily recognize. Its strength as a brand asset is reflected in strong brand linkage scores in studies by companies like TNS. Regions scores are near the top each quarter even though the bank is consistently outspent by the competition. Customers can order their own LifeGreen cruisers through the branch, and it’s always fun to hear unsolicited positive feedback about it in focus groups. We’ve even heard stories about kids riding their bikes singing the Regions song, “La, la, la, la, la….”

The banking industry is still trying to emerge from the Great Recession. More Americans are trying to take control of their personal finances and better manage their money, bills and savings. As you will soon see in our new work, the bike continues to play an important role in the messaging, with control and balance taking center stage – literally.

I’ve worked long enough to know this business can change overnight, but it has been great to see how one smart idea can really make a difference for a company. I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

Below is a new spot for our latest Regions campaign, which prominently features the iconic bike.

Tripp Durant is Account Director at Luckie & Company. You can contact him by email.

April Trend Trackers

David Stutts — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:32:18 +0000

Each month we publish a series of four marketplace specific Trend Tracker newsletters that take a quick topical look into the banking, snacking, telecom and tourism industries. While we sometimes look at traditional stuff like new campaigns and promotions, we really tend to focus on interesting insights that relate to emerging technologies, digital and social happenings and consumer behavior.

Read below for the headline stories in each report and download the reports for free by clicking on the respective links.

Banking

Snap A Photo Of A Bill, Then Click To Pay It
Bank Taps Customers For Co-Developed Ideas
Google To Test Mobile Payments At Stores
How The Other Half Lives: A Low-Income Version Of Life
In South Africa, Cardless ATM Withdrawls Via Mobile Phone
AMEX Launches Digital Payment Platform To Attack PayPal
Lookout PayPal: Visa Jumps Into Personal Payments
Amazon Exploring Mobile Payment Service

Snacking

TCHO Turns Chocolate Making Into A Serious Game
Pepsi Capitalizes On Fond Thoughts Of The Good Ol’ Days
Taking Photos Of Breakfast And Giving Meals To Children
Stouffer’s Farmers’ Harvest Seeds Farmville
Kids, Would You Like Some Augmented Reality With Your Cereal?
Mars Introduces Random Acts Of Chocolate
Coca-Cola Launches Global Music Effort To Connect With Teens
Step Away From The Cheetos
Kraft To Reward Sustainable Farming

Telecom

Facebook Teams Up With Warner Bros. To Stream Movies
Lookee Here: No-Fee Online TV
Google To Test Mobile Payments At Stores
USA Network Offers Mobile App Allowing Users To Interact With Performers
Atari’s Greatest Hits Collection Brings 100 Classic Games To iOS Devices
Apple TV To Offer Live Sports Streaming
App Provides Real-Time Instant Messaging Translation Service
Android Continues To Grow
Amazon Exploring Mobile Payment Store

Tourism

Where Consumers Get Discounts On Where They’re Going
Location-Based Stories Immerse Users Via Mobile App
A Mileage Program For Social Media Butterflys
Tourism Ireland Uses St Patrick’s Day To Unveil Facebook Game
Wanderfly Helps Travelers Plan In Reverse
Intercontinental Online Trivia Game Pushes For Younger Loyalty Members
New AAA App Helps Motorists Save At The Pump
Airport Perfumes Capture Cities’ Scents As Travel Mementos

For a free subscription to Trend Trackers — or our other monthly newsletter, Generational News and Views — just drop David Stutts an e-mail at david.stutts@luckie.com

March Trend Trackers

David Stutts — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 17:15:48 +0000