Westpac engaging business customers

I often walk past the Westpac branch on the corner of Collins and Swanston. It's a bank branch that offers the regular services you'd expect of a bank, but it has something that makes it unique for banks in the CBD.

This branch has a shop window that is passed by tens of thousands people every day, but there are plenty of banks like that. What's unique about this branch is that its windows are not filled with posters of the latest home loan or term deposit rates, rather its lovingly merchandised with products from one if its business banking customers. Each month a different customer gets a turn.

What a great offer for valued customers, something I'm sure many of these small business customers could never think to afford.

I don't have a business so I'm not really sure what the most important thing a business bank can do to satisfy its customers, but handing over high street window space is a good start.

I wonder if this is one if the factors that makes Westpac have the highest business banking satisfaction of the Big Four.

*disclaimer: I work for Roy Morgan, which is one of the reasons I get thinking about customer satisfaction quite a bit.

Advertising and sponsorship, the Olympics and Paralympics

These past two weeks I have been totally wrapped up in the Paralympics. A lot has to do with how well Australia is doing, but I have also enjoyed the ABC's commentary and programming.

The mix of expert comments and entertainment, especially the nightly panel was totally engaging - a real lesson in how to engage an audience.

But probably the biggest difference I noticed between the Olympics and Paralympics was the difference in advertising and sponsorship. Unlike the Olympics, in the Paralympics sponsors are able to advertise within venues, thus getting their branding within the sports broadcast.

In the Olympics this is banned, thus sponsors rely on commercial tv advertising. And this was probably the thing that most turned me off channel nine's Olympics broadcast. The continuous ad breaks required to payback the broadcast rights made the already lackluster programming lineup even worse.

It leads me to ask, could there be a different sponsorship model for the Olympics where sponsors pay more for in-venue advertising (a reality of all modern sports) in exchange for non-commercial, or at least limited commercial  broadcasts?

I imagine that is one dream too large.