7. Data collection
7.2 The Facebook Wall
October
The activity on the Facebook wall in October mostly revolves around the color change of the logo. The discussion has engaged several customers. A majority of the posts are of a negative nature. One customer has made a post that states, “I am thinking of changing bank because of this stunt”. Other customers do not seem to like the color change, thinking for example that it makes Danske Bank look like Netto, which is a Danish chain of cheap grocery stores. Danske Bank tries to calm some of the customers by ensuring them that the color change is only temporarily, and that is has been done in order to signal that Danske Bank is not an expensive bank. Danske Bank does however let the discussion flow freely most of the time. This can be said because the researcher observes that a lot of the customer posts have not received any answer from Danske Bank, even though the discussion on some of the posts involve many customers, and is not always of a positive nature. The manner in which Danske Bank answers customer questions has also changed since the previous month. The answerer now greets the questioner by name, and is signed by the person from Danske Bank that has answered.
Some customers have also taken the opportunity to use the wall as a forum for asking Danske Bank questions about previous incidents that they have had with the bank. Other customer enquires include praises and questions regarding the development of the new mobile application Danske Bank was developing. As mentioned, Danske Bank now answers the majority of the questions by greeting the questioner by name, and signing the answer with the name of the person that has answered the question.
The 21st of October, Danske Bank makes a statement informing their customers that the preliminary color change is over, and that the bank will be returning to their initial color of blue and white. Danske Bank also informs their customers that the mobile application is up and running. This creates some buzz, and judged by the response, most of the customers seem to be pleased with both the new application and the return to the original colors. This can be observed by customers creating posts praising the mobile application, and post comments like: “yes, Danske Bank is finally back in blue and white”.
Example of customer post in October, together with the answer from Danske Bank Translated
Customer: “I think a bank should show safety, stability and security through logo and marketing
communication, and the fact that you now have decided to imitate a Netto store I think is a wrong tactic. Heads should roll in the marketing department”
Answer: “Hi Philip. We agree with you that a bank should show safety, stability and security. But, we have in many years have had competitive prices. And even though it has been documented several times by independent surveys – especially the Consumer council magazine “think money” – many still think we are an expensive bank. This makes us frustrated. Even though we are wrapped in yellow, we are still the same bank, based on good consulting and competitive prices. However, we are back with our well- known blue and white colors in a few weeks. Best regards Susanne.
November
In November there is less wall activity than the previous months. The activity mainly revolves around customers having trouble using the new mobile application and having questions about it. There is also a customer post stating that he/she thinks that Danske Bank’s graduate program is the best. Danske Bank creates a post informing the wall members about who has won the “Danske Bank literature award”.
Screen dump of Danske Bank posting Translated
“Danske Bank big literature prize went to Morten Ramsland. More than 31, 000 have voted for whom of the three nominated authors who, this year should get the first prize of 300.000 kroner. As previous years, Danske Bank donates 5 kroner from each vote to dyslexia work.”
December
In December Danske Bank makes a post about them launching a new mobile application feature that makes it possible to pay bills by taking a photo of the bill. The post generates some comments among the customers. Some customers are however complaining about the fact that Danske Bank does not have an application for the Symbian operating system that supports Nokia phones. Other customer complaints concern the “nem-id” solution. Another customer has also made a post complaining about the fact that Danske Bank has removed an ATM from a mall in his/her local community. The last post in December is made by Danske Bank, informing their customers that their mobile bank has won the “readers award 2010”.
Screen dump of customer post and answer
Translated
Customer: “Does someone know when a Danske Bank app for Nokia N8 will be launched?”
Answer: “Dear Shahwayz. There has not been made any decision yet regarding a Nokia app. Possibly, you can use the browser version that you can find at: mobil.danskebank.dk, and it basically does the same. Have a nice weekend. BR Susanne.
January
The first posts made in January are praises to Danske bank from satisfied customers. The customers create comments such as “Danske Bank is a great bank, and has always helped me sort out my problems”. Inquiries from customers regarding a Symbian application continue also in January. There is also a customer question regarding some of Danske Bank’s fees, which has not been answered by Danske Bank. Another customer has asked a question concerning how he/she can stop receiving information about his/her account by mail every month. Danske Bank has answered the post, explaining how the questioner should proceed to fix it. The last post made in January regards Danske Bank and their CSR and ethics
strategies. The head of corporate responsibility in Danske Bank has answered the post very thoroughly.
Screen dump of customer post and answer Translated
Customer: “Thanks for the trust. You really are the best bank in Denmark, and I would never have anything else. Keep up the good work. “
Answer: “Thanks Alexander – we are happy to hear that / Susanne “
February
In the beginning of February Danske Bank introduces the idea bank with a wall post. The purpose of the idea bank is to get customer inputs for the mobile bank that Danske Bank is continuously developing. Customers start posting ideas immediately. Those who post ideas on the wall are told by Danske Bank to rather post it under the category “idea bank” in order for others to vote for the idea. A lot of the posts regard people wanting an application for Nokia phones. Danske Bank does however reply that they do not have plans for supporting the Symbian system in the near future. Danske Bank also posts a video showing who the persons that work on the mobile phone application are. In between all the ideas, there are also some postings with general customer questions to Danske Bank. An example of such a
question is a post asking whether or not the customer support function at Danske Bank should be able to answer a mail within 48 hours.
Halfway through February Danske Bank creates a wall post to thank for all the ideas they have received, and that they are still glad to receive more ideas. Danske Bank simultaneously encourages people to continue to vote for the posted ideas. A few days later, Danske Bank uploads a video where a man comments on the ideas that the idea bank has generated. In the last week of February, Danske Bank posts a link to an article in Politiken.dk, where they talk about Danske Bank being leading within mobile technology. By the end of the month, the majority of the posts have been related to the idea bank and the mobile application. This is also the month that has generated the most activity on Facebook.
Screen dump of Danske Bank posting Translated
“Today we introduce Danske idea bank here at Facebook. Do you have a good idea to what our mobile bank
March
In the beginning of March, people still post ideas for the mobile bank, together with posts requesting an application for Nokia phones. A customer that has just started to use Danske Bank generates a post stating how pleased he is with the bank. Danske Bank has thanked him for his praise. Some posts are also complaints and negative comments. As an example, one customer posts a comment stating that: “Danske Bank is a crappy bank”. Danske Bank answers the post by asking him to please contact them if he has had a bad experience with the bank, and provides an email address.
In the middle of March, Danske Bank posts a video where they want graduates to apply for jobs in the company. The video introduces four employees that started their careers as graduates in Danske Bank. In the video, these four share their experience with the viewers.
The next post that Danske Bank makes is informing about the fact that the idea bank
regarding mobile banking has now ended. Even after this statement, people still post ideas for the bank. Danske Bank comments on the ideas, stating that they still appreciate new ideas, and ensures the idea posters that they will pass the idea on to the developers. Danske Bank also makes a post stating that they will attend earth hour. The next thing that happens on the wall is Danske Bank posting another video where the developers of the mobile bank
comments on the ideas that the idea bank has received from its customers. Ultimo March, the person who won the idea session, providing the idea with most votes, has uploaded a picture of a cake that he got from Danske Bank as a thanks.
Screen dump of Danske Bank posting
Translated
“Become one of Danske Banks 90 new graduates. We are looking for graduates for IT- development, financing, business development and process optimization. Apply no later than March 27th and start September 1st.Read more here: #link#”
April
A lot of the posts in April are questions from customers, of a general manner. One example of such a question is a customer asking about how long it takes to transfer money from one country to another. Another customer question of general nature concerns who is singing in Dansk Bank’s latest commercial. Danske Bank replies to most of them. Some of the posts are also positive comments to the Bank, for example one poster stating that he is looking forward to becoming a Danske Bank customer. There are also some posts where people are engaged in a new commercial of Danske Bank, where some like it and others do not. Also, Danske Bank’s new customer promise “stå stærkere” (in English: “stand stronger”) generates some comments. Danske Bank replies to the posts and makes an effort to explain what is meant with this new slogan. Like other months, people continue asking for an application for Nokia phones. In April Danske Bank makes a post referring to a summer school program they have for students. Another posting is about information regarding a mobile bank update that is available in the application store. They also share a video where they ask people on the street what they think the “stå stærkere” (stand stronger) slogan means.
Screen dump of post by customer and Danske Bank
Translated
Customer: “avoid Danske Bank for all its worth. Let’s see how fast this post gets removed”
Answer: “Hi Morten. If you have any concrete critique, you are welcome to share it. You can also complain via our home page, if you feel treated badly. Write on #link#”
May
The first posts of May are of a negative character. Some of them are disappointed because of some features that is lacking from the mobile bank application. Other customers post
comments regarding Danske Bank not paying what they should in taxes to the society.
Danske Bank responds to these posts by defending themselves, stating that they are one of the corporations that pay the most taxes. There are also some posts from customers under eighteen years old, having questions about why the mobile bank is not available for them.
Danske Bank answers apologizing for this, and says that they do not have a solution at this moment.
Danske Bank makes six posts that are not text based. They start a new session of the idea bank, and they post two polls, in regard to the housing financing idea bank. Danske Bank also posts a video about the housing financing, and another video demonstrating a new feature on the mobile bank, namely investing, where people can buy stocks and bonds through their mobile. The last post from Danske Bank is another video where they talk about the status of the new idea bank so far. A man is talking, and explains that Danske Bank desires even more ideas from their customers on what is important for them when considering buying a new house.
Screen dump of Danske Bank posting
Translated
“Can housing financing become simpler? Share an idea in Danske idea bank”
The posts presented in numbers
In order to give a numeric presentation of the wall activity, the figures below are included.
The first figure shows number of posts by Danske Bank, and number of posts by customers.
The posts by Danske Bank include all types of posts; videos, links and text posts. However, it is just referring to first hand postings, meaning that comments on customer posts are not included here. The same goes for the posts by customers. Only first hand postings are counted in this table, and not comments made to other customers or to Danske Bank. Figure number 2 shows the numbers graphically
Posts by Danske Bank Posts by customers
September 5 1
October 4 46
November 1 3
December 2 2
January 0 7
February 9 75
March 4 26
April 2 21
May 7 42
Table 3 Numeric presentation of wall activity
Figure 6 Graphic presentation of wall activity
From these figures one can see that the customers make the majority of the posts. Especially in October, February and May, the wall activity from customers is high. In October, people seem to be concerned with the color change of the logo, as it creates a lot of activity and discussion. In the beginning of February, Danske Bank introduces the first session of the idea bank. The high wall activity in February indicates the follower’s eager to participate and contribute with ideas. In May, the wall activity is again increasing, as a new session of the idea bank starts.
10 0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
September October November December January February March April May
Posts by Danske Bank Posts by customers