As chief marketing officer for Fifth Third Bank, Melissa Stevens has had fun with her bank's unusual name, greenlighting commercials in which Fifth Third vows to "put 166.7% into everything we do." (Five-thirds is the mathematical equivalent of 166.7%, the ad notes).
It may look easy to create quirky advertising spots and social media campaigns, but running the $203 billion asset bank's marketing and branding efforts is a precise science, Stevens said.
"In jobs like mine, everyone thinks they can do your job," Stevens said.
Her roughly 300-person team includes data scientists who help determine what matters to consumers and where ads should be placed. But it's not just about crunching numbers. Her team also analyzes qualitative factors, Stevens said, like if there is a dip in consumer responses "because our commercial was bad or because there were two bank failures in one weekend."
Stevens joined Fifth Third in 2016 as its chief digital officer. Previously, she was chief operating officer and head of the Consumer Innovation Labs at Citi FinTech, a division that focused on getting customers to use the bank's mobile apps.
In January, Stevens' title at Fifth Third was changed to chief marketing officer, which she said more accurately reflected the scope of her responsibilities, including overseeing the rollout of Fifth Third's online and mobile banking efforts and leading the bank's external and internal communication efforts.
One such project was the relaunch of Fifth Third's mobile app late last year. The app makes it "easier to pay other people, and easier to save money," Stevens said, adding that it also helps users create savings goals and tailor the way they borrow money for a large purchase. Stevens' team was in charge of promoting the app and assisting customers in how to use it. As of May, about 1.5 million of consumers with Fifth Third checking accounts are using the app.
Stevens also sees Fifth Third's network of about 1,000 physical branches as an opportunity to connect with local communities.
"A branch exists as a form of a billboard for you," she said. "Consumers want to see your brand physically present at the places where they work and live."
Additionally, Stevens is responsible for building relationships among the bank's employees, and creating more ways for them to advance their careers. New initiatives that she has launched include coffee chats with executives, lunch and learn training sessions and other internal networking events.
"It's about making a big company feel small," Stevens said.
Stevens also plays a leading role in Fifth Third's hunger relief efforts, one of the bank's key charitable causes.
Each May, the bank asks its 19,000 employees to volunteer at places like food pantries or to collect unwanted food from restaurants or grocery stores and bring it to a food shelter. And on May 3 – "Fifth Third Day" – the bank kicked off a month that focused on employees volunteering to feed the homeless. In total, Fifth Third employees supplied roughly 11 million meals during the month, Stevens said.
"We focus totally on food insecurity for the month," Stevens said. "It pains me that there are children who go to bed at night who are hungry."
