By OpenX in Brands & Agencies|April 29, 2021

Insights from the Buy-Side: Amy Leung at TD Bank

In our latest edition of Insights from the Buy Side, we had a chance to catch up with Amy Leung at TD Bank. We covered everything from the upcoming death of the cookie to the changing expectations consumers have around digitally engaging with a business, and how that has impacted TD’s marketing strategy. 

Check out the full interview below.

Amy Leung
SVP, Head of Digital Marketing Strategy at TD Bank

Amy is SVP, Head of Digital Marketing Strategy at TD Bank, where she oversees the digital marketing strategy across both inbound (SEO, Onsite, Mobile App) and outbound (Paid Media, Email, Push, SMS) channels. Her vision is to create a seamless digital customer-led experience that drives loyalty and adoption to reinforce TD’s Unexpectedly Human brand.

OpenX: You started a new role during the height of the pandemic – what has that been like?

Amy Leung: I started at TD Bank after coming back from maternity leave with my third child, and the first day I was supposed to go into the office was when the entire company shifted to remote work. I haven’t actually met any of my team in-person or stepped into the office yet! That being said, it has been a better than expected experience. While many of us would normally be in different locations, we all are now just joining calls via WebEx and it’s a way for us to connect with one another no matter what office we are in. While it’s only been a year, I feel like I have known my team for years and the first thing I will do once it is safe is to give each of them a big, suffocating hug!  

OpenX: What are the top marketing priorities in the year ahead for TD?

Amy Leung: We strive for a connected customer experience at TD, and in order to achieve this, our digital capabilities and technology need to be set up to deliver omnichannel solutions. Most large corporations are still reliant on disjointed legacy platforms, and we need to invest in platforms that can bridge the disparity and unify our customer ID. 

Second, measurement, reporting tools, and resources must be prioritized in order to deliver data-driven insights that will inform decision making. 

Finally, delivering relevant, targeted content will be key to continuing to engage and deepen customer relationships. We recognize that our customers depend on us to be a “human bank” and we want to meet them where they are in this new normal of a digital-first era. With that said, all of this can only be done with a privacy and compliance mindset. We expect that regulations will only increase in this digital world and rightfully so. We want to ensure we adhere to customer preferences and deliver an unexpectedly human experience, every time.

OpenX : What emerging trend or piece of technology are you most excited about today?

Amy Leung: I am incredibly excited about the rapid migration consumers are making to digital business technologies. According to a McKinsey report consumer business digital adoption leapt forward five years in a matter of eight weeks last year.

While digital experiences cannot replace human connections, it does force companies like TD to step back and look at how to deliver a human experience in the digital space. We also have to recognize that most digital adoption is spurred by the desire for efficiency and convenience.

An example of how we’re addressing this is that TD recently launched curbside pickup for debit cards, leveraging a service that consumers have come to expect from big-box retailers. Customers can now order a new debit card directly from the mobile app with just a few clicks, and then arrange to pick up the new card at their local branch in a matter of hours. We know speed is important to our customers, and Curbside Pickup eliminates the need to wait for a new debit card to come in the mail, so our customers can get back to their normal lives sooner.

OpenX: How are you approaching identity and audience targeting, and are you thinking about the death of the cookie? 

Amy Leung: It’s definitely an interesting time to be in digital marketing, and all of the upcoming changes, from the deprecation of cookies to Apple’s enforcement of App Tracking Transparency (ATT), have impacted the way we look at programmatic. 

There will be a renewed reliance on first party data, and publishers who are able to authenticate their users and provide premium inventory will begin to see higher demand in a cookieless world. 

From a TD perspective, 2021 is the year we will all start doubling down on our Martech stack to prepare for the changing world ahead of us, and like many companies, we will be building out our customer data platforms and looking for a universal ID solution. We want to walk the fine line between delivering relevant content to people who are interested in what we have to offer versus doing anything that could be considered too invasive or distracting. We will have to juggle between aggregated data and the desire to measure results on an individual level to determine attribution and spearhead personalization.

OpenX: Tell us about TD’s Unexpectedly Human brand promise, and how that aligns with the bank’s digital focus? 

Amy Leung: We’ve always been the bank that prides itself on being different from other banks. Our research shows that nearly three-quarters of consumers (74 percent) believe their banking relationship is transactional. We wanted to challenge that perception. 

Unexpectedly Human highlights how we’re evolving with consumers and providing modern convenience – a personalized experience via the channels that they prefer. We focus on delivering interactions, not conducting transactions. We speak to our customers in human language, we understand their needs and goals, and we recognize their pain points – and we work hard to solve their problems.

Unexpectedly Human takes our brand promise to the next level – we are committed to challenging expectations about what a bank is and can be. We want our customers to expect the unexpected – because not only do we promise to treat them like a human, but we’re going to deliver an exceptional experience, each and every time, whether they engage with us through our online and mobile experience or through a face-to-face interaction.

OpenXP: One last question – what are you most looking forward to when the lockdown is over?

Amy Leung: Like many others, we have family living internationally. It’s been a hard year with the inability to visit our extended family all over Asia. I’m looking forward to traveling there and having them meet my kids for the first time!

*Interview has been edited for length and clarity

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