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3. FINANCIAL
Services Banking on Podcasts
For years, City National Bank's investor community subscribed to market update email newsletters to stay in the know. But some clients weren't getting the updates because they had been erroneously routed to users' spam filters.
The $848 million-revenue bank needed to deliver the same timely information to the same audience, but in a more reliable, efficient manner. So in January 2006, it gave its email newsletters a makeover and invited clients to subscribe to RSS feeds. It solved the spam-filter problem and gave the bank a new channel to communicate with customers.
"I think Web 2.0 has so many benefits for so many companies," says Mark Middlebrook, who has been senior vice president and manager of e-commerce at the bank since 1999 and works closely with Beale, the CIO. "Especially financial services."
Before the bank launched RSS feeds and podcasts for customers, bank employees could access weekly audio updates on the market from City National's chief investment officer on the corporate intranet. Then the bank's leadership decided to tweak those recordings so they'd be suitable for a public audience. Given the tools' low cost and ease of use, it was easy to win support from senior executives, Middlebrook says.
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