I took part in two panel discussions last week focusing on very similar themes - the customer. More specifically - the bank customer. 

Those outside the banking world - in any other retail-orientated industry really - may not see this emphasis on 'the customer' as anything strange. But most within 'our' world know what a strange and wondrous development this is.

Many cite the rise of customer devices and smart phones, or the explosion of social media or just simple changes in so-called 'customer behaviour’ (of course, those trends combined with a global financial crisis that put almost all of Western capitalism on a saline drip and a heart monitor). It was probably a combination of ‘all of the above’ over the past 18 months which shook the banking world to its core with a shout of:

'Hey, there are real PEOPLE who are your c-u-s-t-o-m-e-r-s at the end of all those banking products - shift your marketing, customer service, business strategies towards THEM!' 

Last week we recorded our very exciting webcast discussion on the changing role of chief marketing officers in financial services - The Proactive CMO - Bank marketing strategies in the age of Big Data, social media and alternate channels

Webcast registrants also get access to IBM's global CMO study 'From Stretched to Strengthen'- which interviews 1,700 global CMOs on the challenges they now face.

Our panel included:

• Peter Markey, CMO, RSA Insurance/MoreThan
• Eva Eisenschimmel, Customers, Brands, Digital and Telephone Banking, Lloyds Banking Group
• Elaine Fletcher, Business Development Executive, Business Analytics & Optimization, IBM - 

For anyone who has ever uttered that the financial services industry is 'afraid' or 'conservative' regarding trending issues such as social media, Big Data, multi-channels and demographics - watch the webcast. Your conventional wisdom will be shattered. 

The webcast will be broadcast at 14:00 GMT on Wednesday, February 22, 2012. 

Immediately following the webcast, at 14:45 GMT, we will be holding a live Twitter Q&A with Peter Markey, CMO of RSA Insurance/MoreThan and Elaine Fletcher at IBM. 

The Twitter Q&A will be held via @Finextra with Elaine on @elaine4ibm and Peter at @petermarkey on the hashtag #finxcmo

Although the Twitter Q&A will be based on the webcast - if any of you have any pressing financial services marketing questions you would like to send my way, please forward them onto @LizLum. 

I also took part in, for the second year running, First Direct's social media roundtable for Social Media Week, where I chaired a panel looking at social media and bank customer service with:

• Natalie Cowan, Head of Brand at first direct,
• JP Rangaswami, Chief Scientist at Salesforce,
• Lauren Anthony, Senior Customer Experience Manager at HSBC
• Giles Andrews, co-founder and CEO from innovative lender Zopa
• Bridget Treacy, a data & privacy expert at law practice Hunton & Williams 

It being Valentine’s Day, the panel and audience discussed, among other things, whether it was possible to 'love' your bank. 

You can read the commentary here and watch the highlights video here.