3_Alejandra_V3_RS_Final

Laura Jones: 00:10
You know that magic number called your credit score? I bet you know what yours is, and that's by design because financial institutions have trained us for years that that one little number unlocks every single product and service that you have access to in your financial life. Now that number is supposed to be equitable. It's supposed to level the playing field. But what if it actually reinforces systemic inequalities?

Laura Jones: 00:38
I've invited Alejandra Denda, the first ever CMO of the Federal Savings Bank, to help us unpack this myth. I'm Laura Jones, and this is Opinion Party, the podcast where we explore the most pervasive myths in modern marketing. Welcome to Opinion Party, Alejandra.

Alejandra Denda: 00:57
Nice meeting you. I'm really happy to be here.

Laura Jones: 01:00
So, I want to start by calling out your superpower. You speak five languages?

Alejandra Denda: 01:06
Well, I used to be fluent in five languages, and I've seen kind of, like, pretty strong at them. But after living twenty something years in The US and then last 10 being in US roles, I think I'm rusty in some of them. But I studied kind of five different languages, and I understand completely. And I think that that gives me a different perspective of life. How so?

Alejandra Denda: 01:35
I think people who speak different languages see the world differently. And it gives you a cultural context in terms of understanding how people think, how people act. So, you see kind of more than words. You hear what people's backgrounds are and how they impact their decisions. So, I think that kind of makes me understand cultures in

Laura Jones: 02:00
a different way. So, let's get personal and talk about money. It's such a hard topic in so many cultures, and here we are, two women. I just want to get right into it. How have your early experiences with money shaped your experience now as a chief marketing officer of a financial services institution?

Alejandra Denda: 02:22
Wow. That's a great question and a very loaded question. So, I'm originally Argentinian. And in 2001 was a big economic crisis in Argentina. I was already living in The US by that time, but I actually was affected by it.

Alejandra Denda: 02:39
So, I don't know how much kind of like your audience knows, but 2001 almost the Argentinian economy collapsed. So, they froze all bank accounts, and they restrict your access to cash. And the dollar was pegged to the peso. The peso was kind of like basically unpegged; they got the currency devaluated in a great degree. So that create social unrest, people going to the streets and really complaining about it because they lost 50 to 70% of their savings.

Alejandra Denda: 03:14
And there was this massive impact on the economy, like increased levels of poverty and employment. So, it was really something that shaped the country. And even though I was living in the US, I still had savings and have money in Argentina. So that kind of huge event that really impacted the Argentinian society make me realize of the importance of the region with money and the relation with institutions. So, when we are looking right now at the Federal Savings Bank and what kind of our relationship with, consumers, when they tell the consumers come from different parts of the world with different understanding of money and different trust in financial institutions.

Alejandra Denda: 04:05
So that specific event and that relationship made me be more conservative and more aware of different societies and different cultures and their relationship with money.

Laura Jones: 04:18
So interesting. And I can see from the initiatives that you've worked on that you've really brought that human insight and that truth into everything you've done. And speaking of, you're the Federal Savings Bank's first CMO. Is that correct?

Alejandra Denda: 04:33
Yeah. That's

Laura Jones: 04:33
correct. So, when you come in, tell me about that. Were there legacy systems in place, legacy perhaps myths of your own in place that you needed to break through to really start to have impact?

Alejandra Denda: 04:45
Yes. I don't know how much you know about financial institutions, but it's a very male dominated environment, the industry overall. It's very product focused. This is a product we have, and we are pushing to the market. And doesn't understand exactly what's kind of like doesn't have the understanding of consumer insights, understanding of the impact in society.

Alejandra Denda: 05:17
So, it's I had to first learn the industry and then do a very deep dive in consumer segments, consumer understanding, and things that I leverage from the CPG world, like category growth drivers, what's kind of, like, really driving industry growth. And at the same time, to your point with that kind of human level, what kind of drives kind of, like, people's growth and then kind of wealth growth. So it was really interesting to bring a completely different perspective to financial industry and more the traditional CPG training in order to understand how we can unlock insights and help company grow, but at the same time, help people be better in, like, their financial understanding and what to do what's best for them on a family or individual basis.

Laura Jones: 06:14
So, let's get right into that, the heart of this myth, right, that the color of money is green, that there's just this objective, one size fits all approach. It's very standardized, and financial institutions pride themselves on that fact, on being able to make very rational, logical decisions. But the data shows that these situations can oftentimes disadvantage certain people from certain communities. Why do you think that this myth hangs around so much?

Alejandra Denda: 06:44
I think that there's definitely socioeconomic disparities across the world and in the US, and I think that that's a reflection of those disparities. So, I believe that different institutions try to address it in different ways. At the Federal Savings Bank, we pride ourselves trying to give loans to all and help the homeownership process to all. So, we have specific initiatives like education initiatives to help really people from we started actually helping people from other countries and immigrants to understand the mortgage process. Mortgage is a process that almost only happens in The UK and The US in the same way that we have in the American process.

Alejandra Denda: 07:40
It's very Anglo Saxon. There's other countries in the world that they have kind of like mortgage system, but it's quite different than the one in the US. So, with so many immigrants in US, people kind of come from different perspectives. So, we started saying we need to educate people of what's the process and how you build and that is actually a pretty counterintuitive process. When you talk to other populations and say, you build credit by spending?

Alejandra Denda: 08:09
It's kind of crazy, really. In order to get a loan, I need to spend. I need to spend in credit cards. I need to assume debt in order to get more debt. It doesn't make kind of rational sense.

Alejandra Denda: 08:20
So, we need to explain that process to different social government, to different groups. But then we realized in that process that many Americans don't know that either. So, we started process thinking as an immigrant and as somebody have kind of worked with cultures around the world, we started saying we need to give this location and this almost level of playing field for immigrants. But then talking with different Americans, realized that also there's a lack of understanding of the process and it's a complex process overall. So, we started first with education, understanding why it makes sense to do things, why you shouldn't buy a car before you're buying a loan because your credit score is going to be affected, how you build credit, you build kind of like and while understanding what's the best financial decision for you.

Alejandra Denda: 09:18
And then we started thinking about products, specific products. So, we have one product called ITIN loans that are for people who doesn't have Social Security number. So those people in with other bankers with other banks get really unfair treatment. There's a lot of predatory practices with that kind of consumer groups. They don't have social.

Alejandra Denda: 09:44
They think many banks can charge them incremental fees to get like a credit score or to do a pre-approval. That doesn't happen with like mainstream Americans.

Laura Jones: 09:55
So, what assumptions do you think that traditional banks are missing that you at the Federal Savings Bank can see and take advantage of for market opportunity?

Alejandra Denda: 10:05
I think that there's assumptions like thinking that immigrants have kind of like carry more risk because they may have, like, less stable jobs. But actually, we realized that with our ITIN product, for example, we have very low level of delinquencies. So, there's kind of, like, based on education and clear communication and transparency, we're able to mitigate some of the risk that bank thinks are attached to different immigrant groups or different groups across the board. So, we have the pro the program for ITIN. We also we are veteran owned and operated, so we have specific products for military and veterans that really help that group get access to benefits that the government, the state government offers, and many other bankers don't kind of offer because it's more time consuming.

Alejandra Denda: 11:08
It's a little bit kind of harder from an operations perspective. So, we do help with, like, government loans that give kind of give homeownership opportunities to people who doesn't kind of pay have a down payment or doesn't have social or kind of our veterans and military. So, we offered all those kinds of products to help people have access to homeownership. And we know there's a direct correlation between homeownership and wealth creation.

Laura Jones: 11:38
Sounds like you do a lot of product development, which is very impressive for a financial institution. Is there a particular approach in place that you use to product development that kind of keeps that stream going?

Alejandra Denda: 11:51
I think it all starts with the consumer and understanding consumer needs and understanding how we can have a positive impact. And I think part of the legacy that we talked before, you asked me about like what's kind of, like, legacy practices, is the financial institution is always kind of, like, product first. So, I offer you a secure loan, an unsecured loan. And people say, like, I need money. I have no idea if it's secure and secure.

Alejandra Denda: 12:18
There's all this kind of lingo and terminology in the financial industry that's really difficult to grasp. So, we started with, like, understanding consumer needs first and understanding how to deliver the right product for that consumer. And many times, is, you know, I need, like, a loan for a wedding or I need a loan to do kind of, like, a home renovation in my house. So, all those are, like, products that from a financial perspective might be similar, but from a consumer perspective are completely different. So really understanding the consumer need and offering a clear solution to their needs.

Alejandra Denda: 12:59
That's what we're all about.

Laura Jones: 13:01
And we're both part of IRG, the Institute for Real Growth. That's the organization that's bringing us together. Tell us a little bit about your IRG journey and how you took your Ikigai and brought it into the work that you do.

Alejandra Denda: 13:15
Wow. You're speaking to my heart right now. I love the concept of ikigai and the concept of really balancing of what's kind of your purpose and what you're going to impact in the in the workplace that's impacting your life. So, from a personal ikigai, besides being the CMO of the Federal Savings Bank, I'm also a Northwestern professor. I teach both masters as well as the undergrad in marketing, and that's an area that, like, I want to have impact for future generations.

Alejandra Denda: 13:53
And I do a lot of mentorship, so my ikigai is about having impact across everything that I touch. And part of the impact with the Federal Savings Bank has been really understanding the model of the ARG of, like, how you deliver against key stakeholders, like customers, the colleagues, community, and capital markets, and how that do that with the SDGs in mind. So, as you mentioned in the beginning, the capital markets is an easy kind of correlation for, like, financial institutions. We got our product is money.

Alejandra Denda: 14:39
So, we buy and sell money in a way. So how do we deliver against the other stakeholders? And as I mentioned of like what it's been what has helped me have a completely different perspective in this role. It's my traditional training in consumer-packaged goods and how to understand kind of consumer needs and how going to drive from data to insight and how we make sure that that kind of brings impact in the consumer and in the communities that they live in. So, part of that IRG process was making sure we keep the consumer front and center of everything that we do that is very unique for financial institutions that normally has product first, understanding the impact of that in the communities.

Alejandra Denda: 15:34
And homeownership is one of the biggest drivers for, like, community growth. So, the energy really help kind of understand that framework and understand how with colleagues we work and work more collaborative. Because as you said, financial institution is all about ROI and metrics. So how we can make sure people understand that marketing drive growth and is one of the more important growth engines. So how marketing can have a seat on the table, but in traditional banks, it's kind of hard to do.

Alejandra Denda: 16:08
In traditional banks, marketing tends to be more a call center and a sales enablement tool. But based on my personal perspective, it's completely aligned with the ARG. I think that is kind of one of the you have this sense of the industry, a sense of the consumer, and can help both growth within the company. So, using kind of the that framework as well as understanding the societal impact of the SDGs, whether it's no poverty, whether it's, like, health and wellness, there's a strong correlation with financial security and psychological security. So, by owning a home, you feel more stable and that help with mental health and help with psychological safety.

Alejandra Denda: 16:55
So how you build would you take care to take really leverage all those things together and bring strategies and bring kind of tactics from a marketing perspective that deliver against that.

Laura Jones: 17:09
Your students at Northwestern are so lucky to have your perspective and such a leader with heart and skill. Is there anything surprising that you teach your students that you maybe wouldn't expect them to hear in a traditional business school setting?

Alejandra Denda: 17:28
Yeah. I think it's well, your first question is about, like, being multilingual, and I told you about, like, cultural context. And one of the things that I teach is this framework called dimensions, cultural dimensions. And it's this is a Dutch psychologist and sociologist who created this framework to analyze different countries and how people behave in those countries. So, you have countries that are more individualistic versus more high collectivist, and there's countries that are more pro indulgence than others.

Alejandra Denda: 18:08
So that framework helps understand the communities that you serve. And there's no right or wrong. It's just kind of like different countries on different or on a community level tend to over index in some of the characteristics versus others. And I think that framework really helps people understand better the impact on the communities no matter where they are. So, we I started teaching international marketing strategy, and I use that framework to understand how when you launch products to new market, you understand the cultural kind of environment.

Alejandra Denda: 18:45
But even in the class I teach right now, that is branding in the digital age, and how you leverage traditional marketing and branding concepts into this environment with AI, with VIR, and new technologies, I still use that framework that is very traditional, but it helps you understand consumer and societies. And I think that the fundamentals are still really important no matter how you leverage technologies on top of that.

Laura Jones: 19:15
I completely agree. The more things rapidly evolve, the more we need to keep our humanness at the center of it. Well, we're nearing the end of our time together. Is there any last insight that you'd like to give your fellow marketing community about what you've learned here at IRG, or any advice as to how to navigate this time?

Alejandra Denda: 19:35
I think part of the ARG model and part of my personal motto is authenticity, and it's leading from the heart. So, understand the human aspect of everything that we do from a consumer as well as a leader with your team and be authentic and lead from the heart. And I think that many people try to go with kind of like, what's the newest, what's the new thing. It's not like trending. But I think that it's really important to be consistent with the fundamentals of understanding consumer behavior, understanding the frameworks that are traditional of marketing, and utilize them to understand different industries.

Alejandra Denda: 20:26
So many people tell me it's interesting how the transition between, like, CPG and financial institutions and the financial industry. And I think, actually, the fundamentals are the same. And the way to really kind of, like, drive impact is understanding consumer needs and your impact in society and delivering messages and strategies that deliver against that. And from a leadership perspective, I really believe in authenticity and having the right conversation and having kind of that across different stakeholders. And I think that that now has really have positive impact in both kind of, like, my career life as well as my life as a professor as well as my personal life.

Alejandra Denda: 21:18
So be true to yourself, be authentic, and really think about the impact your ikigai and the impact that you want to make in the communities.

Laura Jones: 21:28
Well said, Alejandra. Having conversations like this one are the bedrock of so many unlocks. Thank you so much for joining us on opinion party. It was really great to have you and to be here with you at IRG. If you want to find out more about anything you've heard in this episode, check out the show notes.

Laura Jones: 21:49
And remember, everyone's invited to opinion party. So please hit like or subscribe. Thanks for coming.