The daughter of a Forrester researcher recently received an email from a major bank with an offer she simply didn’t understand:
Earn 0% APY with an IRA CD.”
“Is this even English??? Someone explain what this means,” she wrote to her father, Forrester VP Dipanjan Chatterjee.
The email subject line, containing only eight words, had three different acronyms in it – all financial services industry terms that are not widely understood by the general public.
Chatterjee shared the interaction and his thoughts on LinkedIn.
“That’s my daughter’s reaction after being messaged by her bank. She is old enough to be somewhat curious, but young enough to be utterly befuddled,” he wrote. “The financial services category is in dire need of a lesson in communication relevance. Often providing a better brand experience doesn’t take a lot of money, tech, or people. It takes common sense.”
