Voices: the CMB Blog

This summer, New Corp’s alleged hacking of celebrity and crime victims’ mobile phones ignited a fire storm around mobile security. Closer to home, the dark side of online convenience wasn’t news to the millions of customers who’ve had their passwords, email, social media accounts, and credit card information hacked. What has received less attention in the U.S. are the privacy issues and risks that stem from burgeoning mobile usage, particularly mobile banking. This spring CMB along with iModerate asked 1,461 Americans over the age of 18 to share their mobile banking habits; the findings reveal consumers’ concerns about mobile privacy.

Data breaches are uncomfortably common, with over 13 million customers falling victim in 2011 as of September. While having an email account compromised may be frustrating, time-consuming, and embarrassing, the thought of financial information in the hands of hackers is the stuff of nightmares.  The vast majority of major banks offer the convenience of online banking, and the growth of smartphone ownership has made mobile banking increasingly popular. According to CMB, over half (52%) of smartphone owners use their device for banking activities including checking account balances, transferring funds, or purchasing stock. Nearly 68% of those under 35 use mobile banking compared with 41% between the ages of 35 and 49, and only a quarter of those over 65. The difference in mobile phone usage by age is consistent with lower use overall by older smartphone owners, who are less likely to take advantage of the array of mobile capabilities than younger users. 

Mobile bankers and non-mobile bankers alike indicate feeling more concern (54%) over personal privacy when using smartphone “apps” for banking than when using a personal computer.  The feeling is unsurprisingly more pronounced among non-mobile banking smartphone owners. A look at motivations behind the lack of use reveals real concerns about mobile privacy and security from smartphone users across the board. As one respondent noted:  “I do not want to do any banking on my phone, at all. Too many security risks…Lose my phone and all my info is cached…phones are easy to access and mine data out of,” Female, 30-34.

Forty-seven percent of smartphone users, who did not use their phone for mobile banking, expressed concerns about privacy (having location tracked by mobile devices, or wireless carriers). Nearly the same percentage (49%) noted security concerns (identity theft, malware, viruses) as reasons not to bank with their phone. Privacy and security concerns aside, half of non-mobile bankers said they preferred to do their banking in person or online. Said one respondent, “I am comfortable with my desktop, my firewall and security system, etc. Plus, in general, I am more productive and faster on the desktop,” Female, 55-59.

The fear of security and privacy breaches is powerful, 71% of smartphone users who don’t use mobile banking say they are highly unlikely to start within the next six months, 86% say they’re unlikely to begin investing on their device. But there is a bright spot for mobile app designers: of non-smartphone owners who plan to buy a device in the next 6 months, nearly 40% said they’d be “highly likely” to use their phone for banking.

So what is the takeaway for the banking and mobile industries?  For some, concerns over security and privacy may always trump the ease and convenience of new platforms and devices; banks and mobile providers must still actively address the reasonable privacy and security concerns of their customers to establish trust among those who may be wary. Banks who can deliver new product and service bundles that satisfy these very real concerns about mobile security will gain the trust, and ensure the growth, of their mobile banking customer base.

Posted by Jim Garrity. Jim Garrity is VP of CMB's Financial Services practice, never wears blue jeans to work, and loves the convenience of banking.

Download our recent Consumer Pulse report: A Consumer Perspective on Mobile Banking. It looks at how smartphone and tablet owners are conducting mobile banking and transactions on their mobile device.

This week we released a new Consumer Pulse report highlighting 10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Facebook. In collaboration with our friends at Constant Contact, we asked nearly 1,500 Americans over 18 about their Facebook habits. While it may not surprise you that 75% of American adults who go online have used Facebook, how they use the site to connect with companies and brands just might. Here are a few of my favorite facts:

56% of consumers said they are more likely to recommend a brand to a friend after becoming a fan on Facebook (tweet this)

Mark Schmulen @mschmulen, Constant Contact’s GM of social media and I were chatting a lot about this point.  I loved that Mark calls Facebook a “recommendation engine,” I couldn’t agree more. While I would normally think of Yelp and other online review sites, Facebook is playing a big role in today’s social word of mouth and is indeed becoming a recommendation engine. Facebook users are not only creating a more personal relationship with a brand, they’re sharing that relationship with their friends and family.  Brands have the opportunity to deepen and better relationships with consumers even after they’ve gotten their “thumbs up” on Facebook.

78% of consumers who “Like” brands on Facebook said they “Like” fewer than ten brands (tweet this)

Those who choose to fan a brand don’t do it to every brand that catches their eye.  As consumers we tend to like brands we feel connected to and are happy to put our name against. Sure we have all different motivations for liking a brand from discounts and coupons to showing our support, but the good news is for the most part when we like a brand we tend to keep it that way; 76% of Facebook fans say they’ve never “un-liked” a brand.

45% of consumers said they spend most of their time on Facebook in the newsfeed (tweet this)

As a marketer I think this is one of the most important points to understand. A key ingredient to successful marketing on Facebook is consistently posting in the newsfeed. The research tells us 77% of those who are fans of a brand spend their time in the newsfeed. This is the opportunity brands have to engage in a two way conversation. Listen to what your fans are saying and contribute to the conversation.

Tremendous opportunities wait for brands that can provide engaging content and conversations with their fans. The chance to create a base of loyal, influential, and active consumers is too good to pass up for businesses of any size. I’d love to hear how you engage with brands as a Facebook user, and how your company makes its Facebook presence known. 

Download the full report: 10 Quick Facts You Should Know About Consumer Behavior

Posted by Kristen Garvey. Kristen is CMB's VP of Marketing, a mom of two and she “likes” of The Wildflower Inn in Vermont because vacationing there was a great experience and she recommends it to friends all the time.

Ten years ago this Labor Day weekend, I moved to Boston from Upstate New York. I had dreams, a ’94 Chevy Cavalier that looked like a sneaker, and MapQuest directions carefully taped to my dashboard. For those familiar with Boston, its pre-colonial lay out and slightly aggressive drivers, it’s still a wonder I made it to my apartment. As I recently let the soothing voice of Roger (my GPS) guide me to a meeting outside the city, I reflected on how far we’ve come since the days of the road atlas and printed directions.

Although I’m fond of Roger, it’s already clear the iPhone has made him obsolete, I don’t need both.  This Labor Day weekend I’m traveling to the Adirondacks and Roger is staying home. And according to Richard Read at All Car Tech’s Taps for TomTom: The Standalone GPS Unit is Dead, I’m not alone. Read looks at research from our most recent Consumer Pulse and finds the GPS device may be going the way of the road atlas. Findings from our survey of 1,461 people, found 38% of mobile device users are using their GPS less, since getting a smartphone or tablet.  

And those aren’t the only findings to ponder as we head into one of the busiest driving weekends of the year: nearly all (89%) mobile device owners are using their devices for mapping and directions. Mobile devices are “go-to” devices in every sense, with 67% of mobile device owners eschewing printed directions, and 60% stopping less at gas stations, due to GPS and mapping capabilities on their device

For more on how Smartphones and Tablets are changing everyday behaviors, download our latest Consumer Pulse The “Go-to” Device: Smartphones and Tablets Change Consumers’ Entertainment Behavior

How are you finding your way to your Labor Day destination— GPS, map, Smartphone, Tablet, compass?

This post was written by Megan McManaman, who has a perfect driving record.

I heard great things about the Shopper Insights conference in Chicago a few weeks ago. While I couldn’t attend, others from CMB said the conference had a great vibe, and was filled with excitement and information about the latest trends in the shopping experience. One of the major takeaways was that the combination of customers’ shopping preferences and new technologies continues to drive change in the retail shopping experience.  We’ve seen this first hand in our Consumer Pulse detailing how smartphones are changing the retail experience.

Appropriately enough, and just in time for the conference in Chicago, I read an article in Marketing Daily about Walgreens new “Pick Up Today” service rolling out in Chicago. We have seen this multichannel trend in other retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy and at many grocery stores, but this is the first I have seen for a pharmacy. This really caught my eye as my focus is on the healthcare industry and we recently looked at consumer digital communications trends in the healthcare market.

Walgreens is timing things right - our research shows one-third of consumers are already communicating with their pharmacy digitally (through websites, email, portals, or mobile apps). And it’s not just the young, 36% of those over the age of 50 say they’re communicating with their pharmacy digitally. For now most are simply refilling a prescription or asking a question, but this is another opportunity for a customer touch point. While 31% of consumers say they are currently communicating digitally with their pharmacy, 76% say they expect to communicate digitally with their pharmacy in the future.  

With only 16% of consumers saying they would never communicate digitally with their pharmacy, health insurer, or provider, the trend is clear.  Consumers have certain expectations with regard to digital communications based on what they’ve done in other industries.  It seems like there is a lot of potential here for pharmacies and other healthcare companies (e.g., insurers, providers) and security is really not an issue for consumers even with topics such as prescription drugs and health-related issues. 

So I ask those healthcare companies out there….are you prepared for what consumers expect to be able to do digitally in the future?

Download the CMB Consumer Pulse report sharing the consumers' perspective around digital communications with their healthcare providers. Download the report.

Posted by Amy Modini. Amy is an Account Director for CMB’s Healthcare Practice and enjoys spending time at the beach and trying to keep up with her almost two year old son.

Here at CMB we do quite a bit of work around customer satisfaction programs. In fact, we recently released a CMB Consumer Pulse on the topic. It’s one of my favorite topics because it’s so easy to relate to as a consumer and as a marketer I have a real appreciation for those “stand out” experiences.

After a long weekend basking in the Nantucket sun, a few friends and I decided to take a break from the Cape Cod traffic and stop for some dinner at Not Your Average Joes. After a delicious meal and way too much bread and oil dip, we asked for the check. To our surprise, not only did we receive the check, but it was given to us on a miniature cutting board with an iPod touch attached to it! No, we didn’t win a prize for best customers, (although if such a prize existed, it definitely would have been ours) but what we did receive was a survey via iPod touch. Instantly, all of our attention was switched over from the bill to the survey (good job Joe’s!). As we huddled around the iPod touch and went through the ten question survey together, it was amazing how much we were all enjoying the experience, dare I say even having fun with it. We are all used to seeing surveys in our daily life, but for some reason seeing one so conveniently displayed to us on an iPod touch-embellished cutting board was somehow more exciting.

Think of how many times you receive a survey at the bottom of a receipt, and if you’re like me, more times than not that receipt never makes it out of my pocket or purse. This survey experience was so different. It got me thinking how having a great customer experience from beginning to end is so important.  Not only did we have a great meal, but we finished the meal having a positive interaction with the brand while completing a survey…crazy right?! 

Not Your Average Joe's rolled this Survey on the Spot system out to all of its stores in January 2011 and since then, in the words of their CEO “it has changed the way we do business”. In an interview with Stephen Silverstein, CEO of Not Your Average Joe's, he mentioned their success:  "We're probably getting about 400 surveys per week per store on this system,” and "About a third of the people taking the survey join the e-mail club, the surveys have helped us be more aware of every single table, in every single restaurant”.

With all the technology available today,it is refreshing to see a restaurant that is utilizing it in new creative ways and, in turn, helping their brand look more appealing. I left thinking that Not Your Average Joe’s was a smart, savvy, cutting edge restaurant that I wanted to spread the word about. And what’s better than some good ol' word of mouth? Not Your Average Joe’s has embraced technology and gained a few more customers along the way…including me!

Our Consumer Pulse study: Customer Satisfaction Programs: The opportunity to engage, interact and improve takes a closer look at Download here.

Posted by Stephanie Kimball. Stephanie is CMB’s Marketing Operations Manager and loves any and all sports, the beach, traveling, marketing, being challenged, good food, nightlife, and Saturday afternoon naps. You can follow her on twitter @SKBalls