I just got this email from one of our Senior Account Executives who specializes in financial marketing. Ann’s a major Mariners fan and is one of those fans that listens to baseball on the radio (a great thing to do outside with a beer in the summer by the way.)

“I’ve been hearing radio spots that simply recount bank customers horror stories and solicit people to go to a web site to submit their stories. Absolutely no branding - no idea what bank is running these. Can’t tell from the web site either. Check it out: www.mybankdoesntgetit.com

I’ve heard these on ESPN radio since baseball season began - so it could be a Seattle market thing if they did a Mariners buy.”

Ann is also a smart marketer who wonders just what this campaign is all about. Yeah, it has a “cool” factor (I like the design and sure, I like bitch sessions too) but it is of a type of bank advertising where a bank hammers on all of the fear and loathing of bank customers to then say… “Hey, we are different and better.”

I have seen banks kill each other for years. It is a somewhat rare and cruel campaign tool of the banking industry. I am not sure that there are many other industries that knock their own category with the same amount of gusto! Is this really a good idea? Do people really think that one bank is that much better at dealing with the major issues once they have highlighted them? Is this good branding?

We’ll wait and see which bank reveals its name — and the rest of the campaign. My bet is that it is Washington Mutual.