What's with April 15th?
Today marks the one blemish in April’s usually blooming record: Tax Return Day. Eh, well, April is also the beginning of tornado season, but I digress. A post office’s nightmare and a CPA’s dream, tax season gives a whole new light to mathematics and itemization. People find themselves scrambling through old shoeboxes for missing receipts and trying to mentally calculate volunteer work and “charitable” donations they can claim in hopes of squeezing every penny out of their return.
But why April 15th? Who chose this day to make people sweat an audit and pile themselves in papers? So I decided to dig around a little bit, and by a little bit, I went straight to Wikipedia. C’mon, everyone uses it, but no one wants to admit to.
According to the highly distinguished website, Congress was the one to put “tax day” on the calendar. When we, “America”, ratified the 16th Amendment in 1913, which allowed Congress to institute an income tax, they chose March 1st of the following year as the deadline for filing returns. However, with the Revenue Act of 1918, which I probably need to pick up a text book to see what that was about, they up and moved the date to March 15th. It wasn’t until 1955 though, that Congress finally settled on the April 15th deadline. I think it was because April is prettier, but apparently it was to spread out the workload for the IRS. It’s also rumored that the growing middle class was filing more and more returns and the government wanted a little more time to hold on to the money. Sneaky.
Although fulfilled with this great public encyclopedia knowledge about something that I still get my dad to do for me every year (yes, I’m 25), I also don’t want to spread lies. Therefore, I decided I needed to verify this information. After some intense Google searching, I stumbled across an article on CNN from April 15, 2002, which basically laid out the same information verbatim. And everyone trusts CNN.
So there you have it. That’s why April 15th is, well the day it is. So put the remote down, turn your laptop on and get to filling.
Contributed by: Keri Lynch
A Refreshing New Offering from Intuit
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Like any good American, I was doing my taxes recently. I’m a TurboTax gal. I’ve used it for the past 6 years and it’s pretty easy. As I got closer to the end, fingers and toes crossed hoping for a refund (it didn’t work), I came to a screen with an ad for Mint.com. Well this is new, I thought. Those smart folks at Intuit – you know, the makers of TurboTax, Quicken, and QuickBooks – have a new product.
The name, Mint, might make you think refreshment like the plant or may make you think of making money. I like both so I checked it out. The site aggregates all of your bills, accounts and debts into one site so you can budget and easily keep an eye on your accounts. I like budgets (she says with a smirk).
But the reason I really like it? It is endorsed by Intuit. Intuit has established itself as a financial software resource and immediately I trusted my information would be secure and accurate on Mint.com as well. It turns out Intuit acquired Mint.com late last year. Before the acquisition, I wouldn’t have given the site a second look. Tying Mint.com to Intuit gives it immediate credibility and positive associations.
I tried Mint.com out and it was very easy to use. The problem is that I’m a little paranoid when it comes to giving my information out online despite Intuit’s stellar reputation for security. So, for the moment, the only mint in my life is in my green tea.
My Bank? Or My Best Friend?
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While flipping through a recent magazine, I was caught off guard by a pretty lilac background and the name Ally in elegant cursive writing. After initially dismissing the name as either an oral contraceptive or a weightless supplement, I realized that Ally was neither of the above. Ally was actually a bank (the former GMAC bank rebranded.) The quandary raised two important questions in my mind. When did we start adding emotional attachments to the names of financial institutions? And more importantly, when did my bank become my best friend?
As Steve Martin pointed out in his recent comedy routine, if you are going to name a bank, it’s got to be something big and strong like Security First Trust and Federal Reserve. The comedian went on to explain that, you have to name a bank like that because nobody wants to put their money in ‘Fred’s Bank.’ It feels like Fred can just walk up to you and say “Hi, I’m Fred, I have a bank. You got $1500? ”
I must say, I have to agree with Martin on this one. Typically, I am a fan of emotional branding. However, when it comes to banking and money, let’s leave our friendships out of it.
By Kelley Blakewood
Don't blame it, name it!
It’s a scary time for those on both Wall street and Main street. But let's try and make some of that proverbial lemonade out of a sour economy.
I don’t know about you but when I hear 'sub-prime meltdown', I think of something off the menu at Quiznos. I think we should take this opportunity to give the sub-prime mortgage crisis a name with branding potential. If Lehman Brothers employees are successfully selling their company paraphernalia online, think of the merchandizing opportunities just waiting for an economic crisis brand! Mugs, hats, paper weights for those now useless stock certificates… the possibilities are endless.
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Names you can bank on
In an industry as dynamic as banking, names are especially prone to being outgrown. So when an institution realizes its name is not memorable, searchable, or functional anymore . . . well, it’s always changeable.
A fresh identity can provide:
An Umbrella for Growth
In today’s global economy, more and more financial institutions are expanding beyond their original scopes for markets and services, and local names are simply too limiting.
A Simplified Brand
Taking a bland name and giving it a fresh, unique identity.
Merger Marketing
Mergers are very common in the banking industry and retaining the positive brand associations from both previous names can help with an easy transition.
Contributed by: Maghan Cook