The Yellow Brick Road founder's Macquarie tie-up is not only challenging the big four banks on margins, it's revolutionising the role of the chief executive in the process.
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Comments PolicyGood luck to Mr Bouris but Robert is being very kind when he suggests that Yellow Brick Road's unsuccessful strategy to date was actually all part of a longer term plan to pursue this new strategy. Also, I wonder whether Nine's new shareholders are happy to use their ad inventory to invest in a mortgage business. Maybe they think it's better than free-to-air TV. If so, there are lots of other promising start-up ventures that would trade equity for TV ads. Nine could then become a venture capital fund (Mark Bouris' extreme CEO makeover, November 13).
From the outset I agree, it does seem like Bouris has developed a cunning plan (Mark Bouris' extreme CEO makeover, November 13). However on further analysis, in order for the plan to come together as you so rightly point out, he needs to offer home loan products that are much lower rates of interest than the banks.
What has changed since Bouris and Aussie John first started bashing the banks 10 years ago, is that the Australian banks have become far more competitive than before. Today, no one pays the standard variable rate, and infact, any mortgage broker who knows what they are doing, can better the rate promised by the Bouris marketing machine.
Not such a cunning plan Baldrick.
Mark Bouris has been able to take advantage in the manner he represented his company as an underdog player in the motgage sector and good on him, but I found the mainstream banks to give misleading signals when they were trying to sell bank bills just before RBA annoucements and their PR staff still do and so I suggest CEO's who might want to emulate Mark Bouris would need to tread softly and very carefully in that area of marketing towards the general public if they want to avoid class actions. (Mark Bouris' extreme CEO makeover, November 13)
As boundaries breakdown between the private and public sectors, private CEOs are under more pressure to project and account for themsleves like politicians and government ministers are under increasing pressure to think commercially about how they will fund their promises and deliver value for money. Mark Bouris understands that like selling a political message, brand-blazing is best done by a proactive CEO. Hiding behind PR officers wont win client or shareholder trust.
Not only in Australia, but across the western world the attitude of the population is changing toward banks.
Maybe in part that is because Banks, by and large have adopted a "too big for their boots" attitude that does not go down well with the general population.
Their position of trustworth institutions is tested by their unethical actions that are reported on regularly. Their savage charges and their constant quest for profits.
Groups like Unhappy Banking (unhappybanking.net.au) are appearing, not only here, but across the globe.
A more sensitive and conciliatory structure may well take big slabs from the market share of the big four.
Lets wait and see.
It seems that the times they are a changin' (Mark Bouris' extreme CEO makeover, November 13).