Berkshire Bank
The Challenge
Established in 1846 and headquartered in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Berkshire Bank is one of the oldest and largest independent banks in Massachusetts, proudly serving communities throughout western Massachusetts, northeastern New York and southern Vermont. In order to support its rapid growth, Berkshire required an interactive solution that would consolidate their primary lines of business onto a single platform while seamlessly supporting swiftly increasing customer demand.
The Objectives
Not having their four primary lines of business – Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, Insurance, and Wealth Management – managed on a single web platform created distinct business pain when it came to branding, messaging, and cross-selling among divisions. More inefficiency was experienced when trying to communicate and engage with online customers and when updating content on the site. Determined to have a web presence that matched their image of “America’s Most Exciting Bank,” Berkshire identified the following objectives:
- Create one website that seamlessly integrates all lines of business with consistent branding and messaging, easily enabling cross-selling among the four divisions;
- Introduce interactive technology and tools that would engage online customers and enable better communication with both customers and community members;
- Improve the experience of non-technical users by enabling them to create and update content for the site both quickly and easily;
- Use web analytics to gain insight into site visitor behavior and ensure the continuous delivery of timely and engaging content through accurate reporting.
The Solution
With extensive experience developing proven web solutions for leading banks, Bridgeline set out to deliver a website that would enable Berkshire Bank to create memorable site experiences for online customers and community members today and long into the future. Imperative to the success of the project was delivering a solution that would empower non-technical users by simplifying the process for creating and updating site content both inline and in real-time.
Bridgeline began by implementing iAPPS Content Manager, a powerful, end-to-end, web content management solution that would allow Berkshire Bank to fully integrate their four primary lines of business onto one seamless website. Bridgeline’s award-winning developers were then tasked with configuring Content Manager to store and provide management capabilities for all Berkshire Insurance Group forms and applications.
To most effectively optimize performance of the new website, Bridgeline implemented iAPPS Analytics, a fully-integrated web analytics solution, to provide accurate reporting of actual user behavior and actions on the Berkshire Bank website. This seamless integration between Analytics reports and Content Manager enables presentation of performance-enhancing content to Berkshire Bank’s customers at all times.
The Results
The new website allows the marketing team to quickly and easily create and update content inline and without the aid of technical resources. Publication time has been dramatically reduced as content is now routed automatically to managers for approval though workflows in Content Manager. This, in turn, significantly reduces the amount of time it takes for approved content to reach the live site, translating into more timely delivery to customers and potential clients. Additionally, the integration of multi-site management provides the marketing team within each line of business peace of mind in knowing that brand and message consistency for their division remains intact.
With the introduction of many web 2.0 features, Berkshire Bank now has a website that matches their image as “America’s Most Exciting Bank.” The “Join the Excitement” subsection of the new site is one of its most dynamic. Specifically designed to address a younger demographic, this section makes extensive use of rich media and cutting-edge video technology. Utilizing an iTunes-like video slider, site visitors can view videos featuring actual Berkshire customers, along with a personal message from Bank President and CEO, Michael P. Daly. One of the biggest draws on the new website, “Join the Excitement” has attracted more than 17,000 site visitors since its November 2009 launch to submit votes on how the bank should distribute a $20,000 grant to a worthy local area non-profit.
The outcome for Berkshire Bank has been outstanding, providing results that have positively impacted overall business, including improved security and workflow for the online loan payment section of the site. Fedelina Madrid, Vice President of Marketing at Berkshire Bank, says that “iAPPS has proven to be intuitive, user-friendly, and capable of enabling our different teams to manage a complex site on their own. The Bridgeline solution and easy deployment of iAPPS is definitely helping us to save time and money, and realize our overall business goals.”