Boston Globe Media – Sovereign Bank Case Study

Assignment:

Under contract to Berman Gobin Creative, take the contents of a one hour interview with Laurie Cochran, Sovereign Bank, and select quotes that best communicate the benefits of a multi-channel approach to reaching different audiences. Demonstrate how Boston Globe Media delivers through its wide range of products.

Writing Solution:

Laurie Cochran has spent her career in the financial world. She recognizes the challenges of communicating about money. “Money is incredibly important but is the most difficult thing to get people to talk about. It’s so emotional.” Boston Globe Media’s multi-channel approach helps Sovereign engage customers with messaging appropriate to their needs. "Boston Globe Media allows us to reach both the mass market and specific narrow targets. They have a unique product where buying it all gets us 70% of the market. The Globe alone reaches 50% of the market. As a marketing director, I think it’s smart of them to look more holistically at their client base because our customers are using all the media." While Sovereign’s message is mass market, they use different Boston Globe Media vehicles to move different products.

“The Globe reader tends to be higher income so we use them for things like mortgages. The Metro, which targets the T commuter, tends to be younger so it’s a great place to advertise free checking. Boston.com allows us to specifically target the people we want and immediately measure the effectiveness of our advertising.” By increasing viewer engagement, Boston Globe Media increases Sovereign’s share of voice. “We actually spend less on media than our competitors but you can credit the Globe for helping our money go further. And, now that NESN is part of the team, it becomes an even larger package.” The integrated sales approach works for Sovereign. “The best thing about the Globe is their strong client management. At the last luncheon we had 12 people representing different Globe disciplines. They all offered very creative ideas. They are proactive, helpful, and very thoughtful about our business and what we are trying to accomplish. If you want to cover Boston, you go to the Globe because they know how to do it.”