The business economist at work: marketing a specialty - regional economist at First National Bank of Chicago

Business Economics, April, 1995 by Diane Swonk

My marketing functions were even more formalized. As Jim's backup, my own speaking schedule became more hectic. I just could not accept everything that came my way. We set up parameters, and made the bank adhere to them. If a customer wanted to have us speak, then their banker would have to sponsor the costs. We were a staff department, with little resources (now even less). We put the job of setting priorities back on the bankers, and forced some level of discipline regarding the servicing of our customers. If a banker did not want to pay our way to service a customer in New York, then it was not worth our time going to New York.

In terms of the press, I also had to get more efficient. The focus of my efforts shifted from establishing to leveraging a reputation. I no longer had the time to complete large in-depth studies. We put our monthly publication on a mailing list to the press, added a press release to explain the results, and crossed our fingers that all the work we had done up until then was worth something.

The plan worked, and the press coverage of my work increased. By 1993, I was not only known, I had been voted one of the top forty executives under forty in Chicago by Crain's Chicago Business. I feel extremely indebted to my friends in the press.

RECENT CHANGES

In 1994, we once again revisited our list of publications. We now provide consolidated summaries of the forecast (both regional and national) for senior managers in various forms. I also revamped the regional forecast. An index was created so that we could compare regional growth against the real GDP figures for the nation. The press has imposed a strict discipline on us to keep our analysis simple and easy to read. Senior managers, however, seem even more pleased than the press with the changes.

More is in the pipeline for 1995. First Chicago started a new company, the First Chicago Investment Management Company (FIMCO), in January. Jim has been recruited to chair the research efforts of that company. With that shift, my responsibilities have once again changed. I will now be augmenting the marketing efforts of FIMCO, as well as covering for Jim. He will be working one-and-a-half days a week at the new subsidiary, and I will be acting Chief Economist in his absence. Jim has already named me as his successor. I see the FIMCO exercise, however, as an important stepping stone to get there.

I continue to brief senior managers on the region's economy. The use of the regional analysis for planning purposes, however, has already been institutionalized. We hold regular briefings with credit managers of all levels within the bank. More of my time is spent, however, on outside than inside marketing efforts.

Our relationship with the press is a good one, although the cultivation of press relationships is an ongoing process. I talk to print reporters daily and T.V. reporters weekly. I am almost always ready to do an interview. I have been known to turn down interviews, however, when the subject is out of my area of expertise. I help reporters even when I don't get the quote. Believe it or not, I have found reporters to be extremely loyal. (In December, the Chicago Tribune ran a front-page business profile on me, immediately following the birth of my first child. I couldn't have asked for more if I had paid for it myself!)