2017 Azbee Awards of Excellence
Category
Print > Company Profile > Less Than $3 Million Revenue > Northeast
Awarded to
Steve Cocheo, Executive Editor; Nicole Cassano, Designer; Wendy Williams, Creative Director
Entry details
Eastern Bank Profile
Issue date (if applicable):
Publication name: Banking Exchange
Publishing company: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Co.
Website home page: www.bankingexchange.com
Please describe the publication's mission and readership:
To say banking is undergoing a “revolution” overstates the case. Take away the “r” and you have “evolution.” But that understates it. Here is a sample of what banks are up against: On the one hand, they are trying to stay relevant in the digital age by letting customers, for example, do their banking using Alexa, Amazon’s digital assistant. Easier said than done for most banks who must rely on three big technology suppliers to provide the necessary support. On the other hand, banks still struggle under post-crisis regulations and are hoping a Trump administration will bring some relief. All that and much more are the "sweet spot" of Banking Exchange magazine and its companion website, bankingexchange.com—providing readers with the "competitive intelligence" to succeed. Our primary audience comprises bankers at roughly 6,000 U.S. commercial and savings banks. In print we reach 27,625 bank executives and managers from small and large banks across the country—42% top management and 47% middle management. In sum, Banking Exchange writers, editors, and contributors strive to do three things in print, online, and in social media: Inform, Assist, Challenge.
Please describe the enterprising work that went into this entry and its significance or impact on readers:
Here’s something you don’t see in most bank headquarters: Right on the wall someone has hung a tie on a nail. Nearby, on a whiteboard wall, someone has scrawled the names of famous sci-fi robots in felt-tip marker.
Welcome to Eastern Bank, a midget compared with Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase, but with enough innovation packed inside to wow even the big guys. The tie and robot list can be seen inside Eastern Labs, a little bit of Silicon Valley nestled inside the bank’s headquarters in Boston. Bank president Richard Holbrook recognized the need to shake up the bank’s staid culture with some non-pinstriped, tech-focused thinking. Eastern Labs is not for show. It has already rolled out an award-winning “fintech” product for small businesses.
What makes the Eastern story even more compelling is that the bank has embraced a bold strategy for community giving: it “tithes” for charities—putting 10% of its net earnings each year into a charitable foundation. It also has shifted from being a supporter to an activist voice on certain social issues important to its market, including LGBT and immigration rights. These are both unusual steps for most banks.
We traveled to Boston to meet with three senior executives of the bank and supplemented those interviews with secondary research to bring to life this compelling story.
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Eastern Bank Profile
Category
Print > Company Profile > Less Than $3 Million Revenue > Northeast
Description
Publication name:
Banking Exchange
Company:
Simmons-Boardman Publishing Co.
Winner Status
- Regional Silver Award
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