C-suite

A role many people did not understand less than a decade ago has become integral to how banks navigate a new set of postcrisis hazards.

The financial crisis and its aftermath elevated the stature of CROs. The true test of their new clout will come during the next market expansion.

American Banker Research conducted a detailed online survey of 49 risk management executives from our readership as part of the inaugural C-Suite Series. The respondents included risk managers from banks with over $10 billion in assets all the way down to institutions with less than $100 million in assets. Questions covered topics from where risk officers devote the most attention to what roles they see themselves taking on next. The survey reveals executives' significant focus on regulatory risk and that boards are being responsive to concerns raised by chief risk officers. Here are highlights from the research.

Enterprise risk management is an area banks are trying to master, and the appointment of a chief risk officer to oversee this effort has become common, even among community banks. We asked CROs and other experts for their perspectives on this evolving role, the skills needed to do the job well and their biggest worries.

Bankers scratching their heads about how to attract millennials can take some comfort knowing that generations ago their predecessors also struggled to connect with America's youth. Crocker National Bank found a way, though.

Bank marketing was once largely a function of architecture. More than anything else, customers were looking for safety and solidity and banks sought to convey those concepts through their buildings. Today, with branch traffic steadily declining, bank marketing is reinventing itself as chief marketing officers — a relatively new title in the industry — face unprecedented challenges and opportunities.

A growing number of banks employ chief marketing officers who manage multimillion-dollar budgets and are involved in high-level corporate decision-making. The pressure's on to come up with creative ways to differentiate their brands and connect with customers.

Aside from shoestring budgets, the biggest problem for many community banks is that their marketing programs have gone stale, experts say. For too many, marketing remains bounded by three time-worn pillars: advertising, direct mail and public relations.

With more than 1,300 U.S. branches and a Canadian parent company, TD Bank hardly qualifies as a community bank. But the institution is trying to underscore its local-bank bona fides with marketing campaigns touting its support of neighborhood causes.

If you think bank marketing is all, or even largely, about advertising, think again. As fewer customers make regular trips to branches, banks are relying more on their marketing departments to connect with the public. We asked bank marketing executives around the country to talk about the challenges they face and how their roles have evolved. Here are some of their responses.