solution

Case study

Parish National Bank (PNB), New Orleans – segmentation, targeting and positioning in strategic marketing

The financial services sector in the US has experienced a period of deregulation, technological innovation and changing patterns of competition. The Financial Modernization Act of 1999 repealed many of the restrictions that had previously restricted competition in US banking. Barriers to operating across sectors were lifted, and at the same time restrictions on interstate and international banking were disappearing. Regulatory changes, combined with changing market conditions, resulted in increased competition and a trend towards greater consolidation. Small local and regional banks were increasingly becoming ‘endangered species’.
Parish National Bank (PNB) is a small commercial bank operating in four parishes of New Orleans. Faced with this changing environment, the bank needed to develop an appropriate response. Some smaller banks had responded by aggressively looking to grow in consumer markets and thus position themselves as acquisition targets; others sought to identify particular niches where they could continue to compete effectively. PNB choose the latter course of action. Among the different market segments available, the bank identified local small businesses and small business employees as an attractive market segment. To deliver value to customers in this segment, PNB positioned itself as ‘high tech and high touch’, and aimed to provide customers with good banking relationships, innovative services and appropriate use of web-based technologies to support delivery.