Ep. 48: Reed Handley - PR and Media for F&A

Reed's Contact Details:



Bliss Profile:
http://www.blissintegrated.com/people/reed-handley/


LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/reed-handley-08738254/




 Additional Relevant Content from Reed:



Bliss Blog: “What’s Driving Digital
Transformation in Financial Services?” by Reed Handley,
December 8, 2019.


“Fresh-Brewed News” Podcast: “Episode 90: Data
Difference,” by Reed Handley, March 19, 2019.




FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Adam: (00:04)


Hey everyone, thanks for coming back and listening to episode 48
of Count Me In. As you will hear Mitch address in a moment,
today's episode features an expert guest who talks about
accounting and finance from an outside point of view. Reed
Handley, senior vice president at Bliss Integrated Communication,
shares her perspective on the changing needs of finance
organizations when it comes to their PR and media. This content
is highly transferable for all our listeners and we're excited to
share another great episode. So let's head over to the
conversation now. 


 


Mitch: (00:39)


So our conversation is a little different today as we're going to
talk about accounting and finance from the marketing and
communication perspective, right? So to kick things off and give
us an idea of what exactly it is that you do, what are some of
the popular needs of companies and financial services when it
comes to PR and media? 


 


Reed: (00:57)


Well, thank you for having me. I'm very excited about discussing
this with you. I will jump right in and say from my vantage
point, I think there are three core issues, from a PR perspective
that have overlapping spheres of influence. And those are raising
awareness, building trust and brand loyalty, which supports the
never ending drive to expand share of wallet with customers. And
then the third piece is harnessing data for storytelling and also
to use data as a jumping off point for more strategic insights.
I'll jump into the raising awareness piece just because I think
that that's the most overarching issue that we come across. And
it really depends on where an organization falls in its life
cycle. So the goal could be to become a household name, or to
hold onto your place as a household name among target audiences.
And that can be regardless if you're, focusing on a B2C space or
if you're a B2B professional. So that brings up the big question
of innovation and how that plays a role. I will say, and I'm sure
you're seeing this as well, but digital transformation across
almost every industry out there is having a seismic impact. On
how we're communicating about the value of the product or service
we're providing. And nowhere, in my opinion, is that more
apparent than in the financial services space. but it's
absolutely happening across management consulting, accounting law
firms as well. It's something that I think every single, major
industry is grappling with how to manage effectively. So I could
give you an example from the wealth management space, which is
where our sort of, a lot of my personal experience stems from.
you know, technology has completely up-leveled and democratize
the way consumers and also the individuals and businesses who
sell to those consumers are managing money and receiving advice,
which is not that hard to think about. You consider the ease with
which people are now reviewing or trading or analyzing their
financial lives. compared to the days before FinTech apps and SAS
platforms existed, like mint and RightCapital capital and
Expensify, you know, there's a whole universe out there now, that
makes it easier. So from a marketing and PR perspective, there's
a huge demand from financial institutions and professional
services firms to create programs that showcase the value of your
technology, especially as it relates to enhancing the customer
and the employee experience. ultimately you're looking to attract
and retain both targets and talent. So, you know, figuring out
how the communications workflow fits within the technology
workflow is really, really critical. 


 


Mitch: (03:46)


Now you've been with bliss for over five years, I believe. Is
that correct? 


 


Reed:


Yes, that's right. 


 


Mitch:


And I'm sure more communication roles prior to that. So with all
this technology and innovation, you know, how has your job
changed? Like what exactly is different about the needs of these
financial services and any other industry really as far as who
you are trying to put out this awareness? 


 


Reed: (04:07)


Well, this is a big meaty question. I will say I think from a
practitioner standpoint and a strategic standpoint, the number
one need and in many cases I would argue pain-points is
harnessing data for storytelling. and that, that goes for both B
to B and B to C companies. I think practically every institution
in the financial services space and certainly in professional
services is seeking new ways to aggregate data for more research
backed data driven, driven customer focused experiences. and you
may ask why the, and what's shocking to me is that the
expectation across the spectrum is so high among people that
we're trying to target. we're now in a period where people are
more willing than ever to pay a premium for exceptional service,
which is particularly noteworthy for increasingly commoditized
industries like ours, both from a marketing standpoint but also
from an accounting standpoint. I came across two really great
pieces of data about this recently. Forrester, reported that 70%
of B2B firms say cup customers have higher expectations than in
previous years. And Gartner also reported that 82% of B2B CMOs,
so vast majority, believe they will be competing mostly on
customer experience and not on product or service attributes by
2020, which is this year. so that tells us that customer
experience and the way you're communicating with your customers
at any point of their sort of journey in terms of getting to know
you and your organization is really the crux in differentiating
yourself in a competitive environment. which means, and can be a
little bit shocking, but it means that the, that you'll be left
behind. Absolutely. If you're not thinking about how to
responsibly integrate user behavior data into your client service
approach. 


 


Mitch: (06:15)


So you're mentioning so many buzz words that we talk about with
within our industry. You know, we're always looking to turn
insight into foresight and make sure that everyone's on the same
page as far as awareness and understanding through storytelling.
So I think this is fantastic. And along the lines of this digital
transformation, you said all this data might actually be a pain
point for certain organizations. What else do you think certain
organizations need to be aware of or contribute to the PR and the
media that you're putting out there for them because of the
technology? 


 


Reed: (06:49)


Well, I think that they have options. You know, on the one hand
you've got, from a financial institution stand...