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Blueprint
banking built for you.

Spring-Summer 2009 | www.bbvacompass.com

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PLUng for thee

Solving the
Health Insurance Puzzle

Educate your employees to make smart

choices about their health coverage

Global Growth,
Demystified

Set the stage to profit from exporting

your products or services

Peer Exchange: Win

the Innovation Game
Nimble leaders share how they
beat bigger competitors

ift
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Case Study BBVA Compass Bank

2006-2010

NG P. 16
PLANNI
ESSION
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6
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Summe

King Fish Media Case Study

BBVA Compass Bank

NG P. 17
PLANNI
/ ESTATE

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a variety of print and digial media.

wa
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bout twothirds of
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ess leaders
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believe this
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no impact
problem
No impac
t

BBVA Compass is a commercial bank that serves the Sunbelt region

of the U.S. The bank was looking to position itself as a leading original
source of global, national and, particularly, local economic and business
information. In 2006, it partnered with King Fish Media to develop
Compass on Business, a private media program to reach small-tomedium-sized business customers by way of original thought
leadership content via print and online.

5%

30%

Will be a

significant
problem
18%

Will be a
minor
problem

24 Summer
2006

Compass
| ON BUS

INESS

10

20

30

40

Percent

50

60

70

80

GETTY IMAG
ES

says Platt
47%
It also creat
e River is
ed a new
already
results from
plan
to lay the
a strong focu seeing positive
groundwork t assistant position
could have
ple successio
s on an issue
before they
for new emp
caused big
n planning
that
move into
loye
problems
been addr
at the man
position in
an apprentic es level, adds
had it not
essed. We
agement
Green. It
operation
eship com
re trying
opportun
s or main
s a very
key areas
prehensiv
to create
ities for learn
tenance, two
broad,
in the pow
e look at orga
ing and men new
so people
including
er plant.
nizational
Our train
all the nuts
can pass
toring,
needs,
ing coordina
know
and
alon
bolts.
ledge and
adult educ
While its
g before they
tor is an expe
too early
ation curr
skills
leave. We
rt in new
to tell how
the captive
iculum desig
says. The
wan
train
t
ing
to
well
knowledg
use all
n, Green
initiatives
first thing
the creat
e we now
will work
hes doing,
ple, is to
e processes
, Green
have to
begin the
for examand deve
process of
can serve
plant-spe
lop peop
updating
us in the
le that
cific oper
future.
our
Filling the
ations book
hasnt been
Age Gap
s, which
done in 20
in Colorado
Most Color
current oper
years. He
ado
s using the
workers plan business leaders
ators to
who are
to offer them
help bring
information
for young
flexible work creating plans to
all that
er workers
up-to-date.
retain
hours
that
or deal with
by retiring
well have
,
When he
workers includ pair them with older part-time work oppo
the
electronic
s done,
consulting
rtunities and attrition of older
workers.
ed contin
versions
easily upda
Other altern
or
uous skills
mentoring
that can
were incen temporary opportuniti
atives
ted and
trainin
programs
be
tives to delay
used for
es and phase g for all employees cited to help fill
reference.
the gap left
retirement
training and
d-in retirem
and giving
Hes
and job-sh
all the skills also in the process of
aring progr ent. The least popu older employees
lar option
ams.
assessing
and know
s noted
Flexible work
ledge we have
in the main
hours
tena
in
develop train nce group, so that place
Part-time
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ing to fill
work
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any gaps.
On the non75%
younger
worke
tech
rs
nical side,
developin
Continuous
67%
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g train
skills trainin
r is
g
agement roles ing for supervisory
60.2%
and manPhased retire
. The com
39.8%
Hiring retire
ment
pany has
Platte Rive
es as consu
creat
r Academy,
ltants or
which it will ed the
35.2%
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transition
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g
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ly to help
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s into thos
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25%
e
more
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20.5%
than sim-

tktktktktk

Execution

The target audience for Compass on Business is small-to-medium business executives who reside in the BBVA Compass footprintAlabama,
Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. The magazine is
delivered quarterly to 15,000 current business customers, with another
15,000 copies used by bank representatives for sales prospecting.
A website was created to work hand-in-hand with the magazine to deliver
on-demand information to key business banking customers. The site
has shown steady traffic growth since its launch in 2006, and currently
averages more than 12,000 unique visitors per month. King Fish editors

A web site
was created to work
hand-in-hand with
the magazine to
deliver on-demand
information to key
business banking
customers.

The current Web site www. BBVa Compass.com was initially designed to
go hand-in-hand with compass on business

king fish media case studies

Cover Story

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Ins
Outs of
&
Exporting
The

 ultivate your internaC

tional distributors and
customers. Speak their
language and adapt to
their culture.

Seek advice from

experienced exporters
and enlist a bank with
a global presence that
can help you build relationships abroad and
assess foreign markets.

Treat exporting as a
long-term investment
in business growth
rather than a temporary
reaction to slumping
domestic markets.

Expand overseas with a long-term

plan and a network of trusted allies.

After Christopher Feola signed his companys

first agreement to export its technology, he
anticipated logistical challenges. But he didnt
expect phone conferences to pose a problem.
When the Texas-based entrepreneur scheduled a meeting with
the firms development manager in California and its joint partner
in India, different time zones stymied the group.

Blueprint
Ins
O ts
&
ExPou
rtING

banking bui

lt for you.

A former globetrotting journalist, Feola is accustomed to overcoming cross-cultural barriers. His travels through Asia taught him
not to mistake politeness for agreement.
You have to be cautious about cultural issues when doing
business overseas, but you also need to bring the same focus to
every sale, he says. No matter where you are, you need to
understand the customers problem and make a strong case to
show how you will solve it.
An American company that lays the groundwork to export
its products or services can expect speed bumps along the way.

Financial and regulatory requirements, coupled with the need to forge

alliances with distributors and other partners in foreign lands, can
cause initial delays and cost overruns.
Successful business owners begin exporting as a long-term investment
in growth. They brace for early hiccups and persevere while building
a reliable network of relationships abroad.
Impatient executives, by contrast, tend to give up after a few quick
disappointments. They may conclude that the initial headaches of
exporting dont outweigh the familiarity of sticking with an established pipeline of domestic sales.

continually enhance its features, including top financial content from

Kiplinger, quick polls, podcasts and a blog to create a sense of community among readers.

sm

Spring-Sum

mer 2009
| www.bbva
comp

The

of

Expand ove
rseas with
a long-ter
and a netw
m plan
ork of trus
ted allies

Solving the
Health Ins
urance Puz
zle

Educate your
choices abou employees to make
smart
t their healt
h coverage

Global Gro
Demystifi wth,
ed

Set the stage

to profit from
your prod
exporting
ucts or servi
ces

Peer Exchan
the Innova ge: Win
tion Ga
Nimble leade
rs share how me
beat
bigger comp
etitors

All three of us managed to call in at the wrong time, says

Feola with a laugh. Hes president of nextPression Inc., a tech firm
in Grapevine, Texas.
In a global economy, American firms often look abroad to expand.
Enticed by the high growth rates in many foreign markets, Feola and
other business owners are testing the waters overseas.
Feolas team is pitching its technology to a big insurer in
Hyderabad, India that needs help with data integration to strengthen
its customer service. He licensed nextPressions product to an Indian
tech company with offices in Los Angeles and London.

King Fish and BBVA

Compass worked
together to rebrand
and relaunch Blueprint
magazine. The editorial
scope was expanded to
include stories on retail
banking and wealth
management.

they

ass.c om

In 2009, Compass was acquired by BBVA of Spain and was rebranded

as BBVA Compass; Compass on Business was subsequently relaunched as Blueprint. King Fish and BBVA Compass worked together to
rebrand and re-launch Blueprint magazine. The circulation was raised to
38,000 and the editorial scope was expanded to include stories on retail
banking and wealth management.
In addition, BBVA Compass turned to King Fish to create several
additional communication vehicles for bank employees. One is a 52page quarterly magazine called Adelante; another is a 10-page digital
magazine called Together, which welcomed newly acquired Guaranty
Bank employees to BBVA Compass; a third is a 4-page biweekly
magazine for customer-facing employees called Everyday.

Results

The Compass on Business program has been integrated across a

number of marketing channels. The banks corporate marketing department and relationship managers applauded the distinction among local
banks of offering an original magazine to their clients.
The private media channel King Fish created for BBVA Compass enables
the bank to talk directly to key customers as part of its customer retention and acquisition marketing strategy. The use of content marketing
has helped BBVA Compass to create a stronger, trust-based bond with
customers and prospects. Based on the success in 2009, the program
will be expanded in 2010 with new internal and external magazines.

tktktktktk

BBVA Compass chose to use original, compelling content to communicate with current customers through an integrated print/online program.
Surprisingly few companies today are focusing on customer retention,
which proves to be even more valuable during an economic downturn.
For Compass, not only does this program serve to hold current customers longer; it also drives more revenue from the existing base of banking
customers through smart, cross-product news and content.

king fish media case studies

contact
Cam Brown

KinGFish Media

978.832.1410
cbrown@kingfishmedia.com

978.745.4140
27 Congress Street
Suite 508
Salem, MA 01970
www.kingfishmedia.com

Own Your Media Channel

tm