NEFMA Spring Conference

Sales cultures make customers victims. Performance Cultures are a next level that forward-thinking community banks have adopted, keeping their focus on process over products, becoming learning organizations and making Marketing a performance partner. In this fast-paced session you experience:

-The 5Cs of trust-based selling
-The new RM – The Resource Manager - and how they elevate their game
-Connections to conversations – harnessing the “smarketing” power of LinkedIn
-Logo Day, Santa Banker, 3 Before 8, CEO 7 and Becoming a Turkey
-Six success practices CMOs can take to the bank

Jack Hubbard brings his 52 years as a banker and consultant to the NEFMA table, sharing practical ideas you can implement immediately to help your organization craft an enduring Performance Culture where you needn’t worry about the competition, you ARE the competition.

By showcasing the power of authentic narratives, the session will demonstrate how storytelling can build trust, differentiate brands, and humanize banking institutions in the eyes of customers and the broader community.

Attendees will learn how to define storytelling within a PR context as human-centered narratives that connect with emotions and lived experiences. The types of stories that banks should tell will be presented, including customer impact stories that highlight how the bank has helped individuals, families, or business.

Fraud scams are impacting every financial institution, with an ever-expanding range of schemes and tactics creating a massive problem that cannot be ignored. Bank marketing teams have a unique opportunity to take the lead in fraud prevention through strategic messaging and proactive customer and member education. This session explores how integrating fraud awareness education with marketing strategies can strengthen account holder trust, drive engagement, and position your institution as a financial safety leader.

In this session, participants will explore real-life case studies, including the success stories of SAFE Federal Credit Union, Cambridge Savings Bank, and First Reliance Bank, to uncover actionable strategies for seamlessly embedding fraud awareness into marketing efforts. Attendees will learn how to utilize interactive tools such as fraud quizzes, contests, on-demand webinars, and social media campaigns, as well as a comprehensive learning hub for in-person seminars, to foster deeper engagement, build trust, and generate valuable leads.

Dan Szabo
This session will explore how fraud awareness campaigns can creatively align with well-known observances, such as National Consumer Protection Week, Financial Literacy Month, and International Fraud Awareness Week, as well as less traditional opportunities. For example, leveraging Valentine’s Day to spotlight romance scams and pig butchering schemes, or National Grandparents Day to address grandparent scams and phone fraud. By integrating these timely and diverse initiatives, your institution can educate account holders and communities on critical threats while enhancing brand presence and building trust in innovative and impactful ways.

Participants will leave equipped with a roadmap to seamlessly integrate fraud education into their multi-channel marketing campaigns, balancing creativity, practicality, and authenticity. By tailoring campaigns to reflect different approaches—such as being community-centric, local, and approachable; tech-savvy and modern; or focused on safety, trust, and financial empowerment—attendees will learn how to authentically connect with their target audiences. Examples include using localized fraud stories to engage communities, interactive tools for tech-savvy audiences, or exclusive fraud resources for premium customers. Additionally, they will discover how to collaborate with fraud prevention and risk teams, ensuring that marketing efforts align with organizational goals while reducing workload through customizable, impactful resources.

A rebrand is a major milestone in the life cycle of a bank- and you want the timing to be just right. But how do you know when that time is? And how do you know the extent of a rebrand that is needed? While a rebrand may involve a new identity, with new logo and colors, that is not always the case. A rebrand is discovering the heartbeat of the organization and redefining the purpose of the bank. It's uniting the entire team and all business lines under one message and telling the bank's story in a way that is relevant and compelling in the communities the bank serves. It's becoming a workplace of choice and a place employees and customers are proud to be a part of.

Achieving sustainable growth requires continuous realignment with the behaviors and expectations of consumers. Financial institutions can no longer rely on yesterday’s consumer insights. This routinely updated session highlights key trends shaping new behaviors and provides practical strategies for financial institutions to engage, acquire, and retain the emerging consumer.

These are unprecedented times! A marketplace where disruption is happening on steroids. One where there is more change building outside of your organization than in it. And a relentless pace of uncertainty that can radically impact your ability to grow your organization and keep your team motivated.

The only guarantee you have is this: more change is coming. And if you’re not prepared — if you don’t have a plan — then research proves this level of uncertainty will negatively impact your ability to drive innovation, attract top talent and achieve bottom-line results.

While uncertainty can seem daunting, the truth is uncertainty has an upside — it always has an upside. In fact, it can be your greatest asset to thrive, grow and turn disruption into opportunity. But you need a plan, a strategy, and the research that shows the precise path you must follow to turn disruption into opportunity.

Join business growth strategist and award-winning author, Meridith Elliott Powell in this high-powered keynote where she reveals the research, the stories and the methodology.

This keynote has it all — energy, engagement, and a personal plan of action for every attendee.

Key Takeaways:

- Quantitative Research – Learn what more than 800 of your fellow CEOS think, feel and are confidently doing in the face of uncertainty. This keynote starts with the powerful benchmark study that gives you insights into how today’s leaders are dealing with and solving today’s toughest challenges.
- Qualitative Research – We follow-up with the commanding stories of 9 companies that have stood the test of time by thriving in business for more than 250 years. You’ll hear their overwhelming obstacles, their ingenious strategies for success, and the proven methodology they used to thrive through every crisis.
- The PROVEN Methodology – Then we share the code, secret, plan, so that you know the exact path you need to follow to put you in the driver’s seat — and in control in the face of uncertainty (so you can THRIVE!).
- You’ll Gain The Secrets to staying highly flexible and focused to strike the delicate balance of maintaining progress and seizing opportunity.
- Your Personal Plan of action for thriving in uncertainty.