Burn Notice: finserve marketing intelligence from fabled spies

The television series Burn Notice features a spy, a retired Navy SEAL and a former IRA operative working together as unlikely do-gooders rescuing underdogs and making bad guys quake in their boots. While the characters run full-tilt into danger (like most reasonable people won’t) they offer lessons every marketer should take to heart.

Here are 5 quotes from the show financial marketers should know:

1. staying strategic

“If you’re always looking behind you to see who’s coming after you, you can’t see where you’re going.” —Michael Westen

It’s vitally important to monitor the competition, know what they’re doing and how your brand compares. Keep a dossier on your competition and your frenemies, too. Know their weaknesses and be ready to exploit them.

But dwelling too much on what’s behind you will cause you to careen straight into a problem you could have avoided. You won’t even know what hit you.

You have to plan the most efficient path that leads to the target ahead of you. That path may be straight or full of zig zags. But aiming for the target—and making sure all other actions get you there—is your most important role as a leader.

2. fostering vision

"There's a tunnel vision that people develop in a fight. They focus on their enemy, oblivious to everything else. The angrier they get, the more intense their focus. There comes a point where the adrenaline is so intense, you could land a jet behind them and they wouldn't notice.” —Michael Westen

Your internal culture—including your leadership—can develop tunnel vision. Employees forget their roles in the bank’s success when urgent matters become emotional and demand more attention than long term goals.

This is especially dangerous when people are:

• isolated while working at arm’s length or from home
• angry about having to come back to work
• unaware of hidden landmines caused by internal departmental silos
• protecting their turf or withholding information

As a guardian of your brand and the institution’s ultimate success, you must ensure that people don’t lose sight of the vision. Even in the best of times, distractions are coming from all sides.

Sam Axe: "This train is rolling brother; the only question is if you're on board."Jesse Porter: "Hell yeah, I'm on board."

Be keenly aware of the potential pitfalls and emotions that endanger your efforts. Work with HR, Marketing, Operations and others to ensure your culture and internal communications are top notch and keep bankers engaged and focused on the vision.

3. deeper research

"Spies go to bars for the same reason people go to libraries: full of information if you know where to ask.” —Michael Westen

Is your marketing research giving you good intel? Do you know where to look? Where are you going for information about your employees, customers and prospects? Traditional efforts are good, but don’t stop there.

Read the rest of this article on our website.

Banktastic? is a marketing agency for financial brands. We build outcomes-based programs that build love, loyalty and profit. Read more about our branding best practices at banktastic.com

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