At its founding, Wells Fargo & Co. gained success by harnessing the Old West. The venerable bank is having a similar experience today, harnessing another wild frontier — the Internet and, in particular, the Web 2.0 space.
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In fact, Wells Fargo has had many “firsts” when it comes to Web 2.0: first U.S. bank with a blog; first bank with a blog dedicated to student loan information; first bank with a business banking blog; first bank with its own virtual world; and one of the first banks to have a vice president of social media.
“We have a philosophy that we want to serve our customers when and where and how they want to be served. Today, more and more consumers are consuming social media, so we want to be there,” says Tim Collins, senior vice president of experiential marketing at Wells Fargo. “It is just a natural extension of our approach of being where our customers are.”
Wells Fargo was founded on March 18, 1852, in New York City when Henry Wells, William Fargo and others signed articles of association for a joint stock company to do a banking and express business in distant California.
Wells Fargo grew with the nation as it rushed for gold and silver in the West, doing business over land by pony and stagecoach; coming through for miners, merchants, farmers and ranchers; building on the frontier; offering “Ocean-to-Ocean” service by 1888 — and is part of American history.
Wells Fargo currently is a diversified financial services company based in San Francisco that provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance through nearly 6,000 stores, the Internet and other distribution channels around the world. The bank has $549 billion in assets and 158,000 employees across its more than 80 businesses.
Blogging banks
Wells Fargo launched its first blog, Guided by History, in March 2006. It originally was planned as a temporary blog, launched to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire, which where important parts of Wells Fargo’s history. At first, it included information about earthquake and disaster preparedness, such as how to pack survival kits and write disaster plans. But the blog was so successful, the company decided to keep and expand it.
“The readership really continued to build even after the anniversary,” Collins says. “And we learned that we needed to expand our focus. Today, the blog is not just about disaster preparedness; it’s broader than that. It’s about history, where we look at our archives and compare events today with what we’ve learned in the past.”
Ed Terpening, vice president of social media for Wells Fargo, adds that Guided by History was a learning experience for the bank.
“The blog allowed us to get comfortable in the space and to listen, and we used some of that learning to develop some of the other blogs,” he explains. “Blogs are really about interested communities, and when we looked around at our business we learned there are a lot of other interested communities as well.”
For example … people interested in the financial intricacies of a college education. In September 2006, Wells Fargo launched the Student LoanDown blog, which offers resources for financing college and managing debt. Students, parents and graduates can get guidance on the financial aid process, discuss various borrowing and repayment options, and share experiences with a team of Wells Fargo experts.
Wells Fargo Blogs:
An Overview
Guided By History
http://blog.wellsfargo.com/guidedbyhistory
Wells Fargo historians give visitors a blogging experience that bridges events in the past and present with an outlook on the future. The blog offers a glimpse of the company’s historical archives, which boast a vast assortment of exclusive documents, artifacts and photography.
The Student LoanDown
http://blog.wellsfargo.com/studentloandown
The Student LoanDown blog is a student resource for financing college and managing debt. Students, parents and graduates can get guidance on the financial aid process, discuss various borrowing and repayment options, and share experiences with a team of Wells Fargo experts.
Stagecoach Island Community
http://blog.wellsfargo.com/StagecoachIsland
Stagecoach Island is an interactive game where people come to explore, connect and have fun. The fresh twist to this virtual world is that visitors actually learn how to manage their money without breaking their piggy banks. Stagecoach Island is a place where visitors can blog regularly — as well as announce events, provide feedback and voice what’s on their minds.
Commercial Electronic Office
https://wellsoffice.wellsfargo.com
This CEO blog focuses on the inside scoop on what’s cooking in Wells Fargo’s product areas. It offers its readers — who are large Wells Fargo customers — information about what new products Wells Fargo is thinking about building for its commercial customers, as well as what changes it’s making to existing treasury management products.
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