Introducing Tribed: Banking experiences for niche communities October 17, 2011
Posted by nichebanking in Bank customer segmentation, Banking business model, Future of banking, Niche banking, Niche banking examples, Nicheruptive, the Bank for Dog Fanatics, The Long Tail of Banking, Tribed.add a comment
After many anonymous, vague and philosophical blog posts and tweets over the last many, many months, I’m pleased to share with you what we’ve been working on.
First, let me introduce myself: I’m Jeff Stephens. Chances are, if you have been reading this blog, you may already know who I am. I’m founder and CEO of small brand consulting shop Creative Brand Communications, and its little buddy PSST! Word of Mouth Marketing for Banks and Credit Unions. I also blog a little bit about my ideas and entrepreneurship in general at www.jeff-stephens.com. In fact, I have posted a video message on that site today as well, if you’re interested.
I’m pleased to introduce my new business, Tribed: banking experiences for niche communities. We plan to develop an extensive series of small, highly targeted online-only ‘direct’ banks. Why? Because we want to make financial services more relevant to consumers. Our plan is to do this by providing banking member experiences that are tailored to extremely narrowly defined member segments, who share in a particular passion (“tribes”). You can read the official Tribed press release here.
As the first example of this concept, today we’ve also launched Wag, a new website aimed at the most avid dog fanatics, at www.dog-bank.com. The website is currently an online publication providing unique content about how personal finance topics intersect with and impact the lifestyle of the fanatical dog lover, and facilitating discussion with community members about these topics. Once we have completed the setup of our direct banking operations, the website will offer those services as well, while continuing to provide ongoing content. Currently accepting unlimited reservations for its service, Wag will cap initial membership at 1,500 members to maintain a high quality group of engaged dog fanatics. You can read the official press release for Wag here.
I hope you’ll take a few moments to poke around our sites and learn more about our concept. If you have questions, comments, etc., please be sure to share them. You can drop me a line at j@niche-banking.com.
Welcome to the long tail of banking!
Putting it all together: niche banking in practice October 11, 2011
Posted by nichebanking in Niche banking, Niche banking examples, Nicheruptive, The Long Tail of Banking.add a comment
It’s finally almost time to put everything together that we’ve been talking about, working on, and kicking around. As I look back at our posts and headlines over the past couple years, I see the evolution of our idea and our plans. I reflect on these posts, and in hindsight it was like dropping a trail of crumbs toward the launch of our concept:
- Everyone’s passionate about something…and somehow, money relates
- Only one type of banking innovation matters: business model innovation
- Niche banks will build relevant banking services into a social community
- Being a terrible fit for most people
I’m pleased to report that we’ll finally be introducing our ideas and plans to you on Monday, October 17, 2011. We’ll show you what we’ve been working on, how we envision this business functioning, give you a nice concrete example of what we’re talking about, and let you put a face with this anonymous name.
Counting down the days…
Examples of Themes, Not Niches March 19, 2010
Posted by nichebanking in Bank customer segmentation, Niche banking, Niche banking examples, Nicheruptive.2 comments
To continue the conversation from our previous post, Themes vs. Niches, and to help understand the difference between themes and niches, let’s take a look at some examples of themes. Then, by comparison, when we look at niches, it will be clear how they differ.
A good example of themes can be found in Sin City. Take, for instance, the Paris casino and the Venetian casino in Las Vegas. These are essentially exactly the same product, just with different motifs. They are both still casino/hotel/resorts with the same business model.
Some people may incorrectly argue they are niches. That’s not the case for these companies–here’s why:
- They make money the same way: they sell hospitality experiences, provide gambling, shopping and other activities. Their revenue and expense categories are very similar.
- The experience they deliver is the same. Sure, things “look” like Paris or Venice at either venue, but the experience they are selling is the same.
- The experience is not authentic–it’s cosmetic and faux.
- The experience is not engineered specifically for customers of a certain segment. People don’t come to The Venetian because they have a common love for Venice; they come because they want a fun Las Vegas experience…which is the same as what the Paris sells.
There are existing theme banks. Take Redneck Bank for instance. Catchy, funny and gets attention. But does it create a true experience tailored to a certain group of people who align with being rednecks? And does it make money in a unique way that is centered around this redneck service? Nope. It’s just like any other bank, but it comes in a different flavor.
The world deserves true niche banks. That’s where Nicheruptive comes in.
