Seeing a brand’s opportunity to revitalize an industry

How do you identify a chance to revitalize an industry through a single brand? Robin Tooms talks with Rob Camper, Strategic Brand Director at Cadence Bank, about spotting branding opportunities in an industry with trust issues.

Robin: Hello and welcome to this edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies. I’m Robin Tooms, Vice President of Strategy at Savage and my guest today is Rob Camper, Strategic Brand Director at Cadence Bank; so Rob, welcome.

Rob: Thank you Robin, it’s great to be here. I totally appreciate you having me.

Robin: I’m glad that you’re here. I want to talk a little bit about Cadence Bank and more specifically about the industry that you’re in because that poses some particular brand challenges for you, so tell us about that.

Rob: Yes it does and I’ll ask this question: Is it a bad thing if your industry where your brand is, if that industry has a perception problem? And I’m gonna say, well, first off, ask Starbucks. What was the coffee shop industry like when Starbucks burst onto the scene? It was really non-existent. If it was anything, it was a greasy spoon, it was 15 cent coffee and really wasn’t even that great of coffee either.

Robin: So how is that like the banking industry?

Rob: In the financial industry, as we can all feel, I mean, there’s a lot of trust issues; there’s a revolt going on, there’s just got a bad rap right now.

Robin: Rob, so let me ask another question, with all of those challenges in front of you, why did you decide you wanted to be a Strategic Brand Director at a bank, of all things?

Rob: That’s a great question. When I see banking as an industry with such a bad rap and then I see, uh, like the Starbucks case, an opportunity; when I see the founders that came together to start Cadence Bank Corp. and what they were all about. They were all about revolutionizing that, they were all about redeeming that to a certain extent, so I look at that and go well cool, there’s a branding opportunity there. If you’re really all about that, then the brand becomes easy to construct, and you have an opportunity to be a hero.

Robin: I like that. That is good advice for someone facing a big challenge like that: don’t be afraid. Well, thank you for joining us today. This has been another edition of Brandonomics, an inside look at top brands and their marketing strategies.

 

 

Cadence Bank is a regional bank with more than 100 locations across Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas. Cadence offers personalized service and knowledge of the particular challenges of its customers. Along with a commitment to leading the banking revolution, Cadence is passionate about giving back to the communities where its employees live and work. https://cadencebank.com/