The marketing challenge: profitable growth: Alisha JR Johnson, CFMP, is a self-described "marketing geek" who loves strategy and who believes wholeheartedly that marketing can and should make a huge impact on the bank's bottom line.

• Author: Marlin, Brenda
• Position: Certified Financial Marketing Professional - Interview

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With 20 years of bank marketing experience, Alisha JR Johnson, CFMP, has immersed herself in her profession: serving as the current chair of the Institute of Certified Bankers' Certified Financial Marketing Professional (CFMP) designation, chair of the advisory board for ABA School of Bank Marketing and Management and past chair of the ABA Marketing Network's board of directors.

In addition, she recently completed a three-year term as a member of the Minnesota Banker's Association board of directors.

Describe your bank's strategic plan and how you embrace this as a marketer.

At our bank, we go through strategic planning/resource allocation discussions every year. Our written plan contains our vision/mission, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, strategic priorities/goals, and the action plan.

For 2009, our strategic goals are to manage our nonperforming assets; profitably grow the bank; develop and maintain sustainable risk management practices and infrastructure; proactively explore new business lines; and develop a vision for how human resources will operate in the future.

I have always enjoyed strategic thinking and planning. It gives me the opportunity to look at the big picture: Where do we want to go? Who do we want to be? And the $1 million question: What do we need to do to get there?

Your bank just completed a rebranding process. Can you tell me what your bank's brand promise is and what you discovered through this process?

In order to answer the question--"Why Highland?"--we did a considerable amount of research. We talked to employees, current customers and former customers.

The outcome was that at Highland Bank, we put the customer first, make banking easy and get the job done. First--Easy--Done (F-E-D).

Once the brand promise was identified, the real work began--internal roll-out; external roll-out; living the brand; delivering on Highland's unique promise.

There were a lot of lessons learned not only during the research phase, but also during implementation.

One Lesson: " ... This isn't Alisha's branding campaign." The brand is owned by the customers--it is why they select your organization over another. You can't tell the customer, "This is why you like us." Instead, when the customers talk--regardless of whether they say things good, bad or indifferent--you listen and learn. The brand is representative of the entire organization. Long after I have retired, the Highland brand...