http://www.letemps.ch/Page/Uuid/aa17a71e-1498-11e3-9da5-8ad4c0806839/Les_trois_commandements_de_la_communication_bancaire_daujourdhui#.UidtoBZXtm0
How many Geneva private banks have a Facebook page?
Lombard Odier, my buddies who committed genocide on their translation team just before I was about to join them, have started one but it might have been better to refrain...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lombard-Odier-Cie/349211655162941
It seems that most Geneva private banks haven't bothered starting a Facebook page (perhaps too low-end for them) but the problem is that Facebook has happily generated a page for them, containing wonderful information from Wikipedia on the bank in question — which is alright if the Wikipedia page actually casts your bank in a favourable light.
One notable exception is Pictet Wealth Management:
https://www.facebook.com/PictetWealthManagement
This is an excellent page that promotes the PWM's economic research. And there are plenty of other good things too.
When I contacted Pictet, they stated that their Facebook page is mainly targeted at the Japanese market, where the social-networking site has a hybrid business/private-life role. Reportedly, their preference lies with Twitter and LinkedIn.
Personally, I think LinkedIn is a no-no because of:
1. Operation PRISM and other privacy concerns
2. The silly endorsement function that it now has, by which you can endorse people for skills from flower arranging to French. For stinging but warranted criticism of this site, see Lucy Kellaway’s article on 18 August: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/a0423cca-040a-11e3-8aab-00144feab7de.html#axzz2f1uz8hvU
This “skills endorsement” feature has, in my opinion, done a great deal of harm to LinkedIn’s brand image.
Regarding Twitter, this from the FT on 13 September:
Twitter is fun but flawed. Try following a discussion or argument, or searching for an interesting link someone tweeted a few days ago, and see how easy you find it.
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/5837c954-1a8a-11e3-93e8-00144feab7de.html#axzz2f1uz8hvU
So Facebook is too juvenile, LinkedIn has shot itself in the foot, and Twitter is hard to keep track of.
Where does this leave private banks who want to network on the web?
Perhaps Xing. Sure, 90% of page views still come from Germany, Austria and Switzerland but it has the advantage of working out of Hamburg. And in Germany, data privacy is sacrosanct. And privacy is something that every client wants, not because they have something to hide but because, quite simply, it is something they are entitled to as human beings.
So Facebook is too juvenile, LinkedIn has shot itself in the foot, and Twitter is hard to keep track of.
Where does this leave private banks who want to network on the web?
Perhaps Xing. Sure, 90% of page views still come from Germany, Austria and Switzerland but it has the advantage of working out of Hamburg. And in Germany, data privacy is sacrosanct. And privacy is something that every client wants, not because they have something to hide but because, quite simply, it is something they are entitled to as human beings.
