Introduction The situation under investigation is Commerce Bank. Vernon W. Hill is the Founder and former CEO of Commerce Bank, which was founded in 1973 under the motto “The world,…did not need another “me-too” bank. The Bank started with no capital and no brand name, nonetheless Hill managed to differentiate himself from his competitors. Commerce Bank operates more comparable to retailers such as Starbucks and Home Depot rather than a typical bank. Many people choose said retailers over competitors due to buying into their brand. Commerce Bank has branded themselves as a bank that cares all about providing great service for their customers. One Strategy they have is encouraging customers to visits their branches by extended bank hours on the weekday and weekends. Due to this strategic approach in 2001 Commerce Bank experienced a growth of 40% deposit growth, whereas cumulative deposit growth in the United States was 5% in 2001. Commerce Bank method of attracted and retaining customers through outgoing friendly service was effective.
Instead of remaining stagnant on customer service tactics, in 2002 Commerce Bank installed the “Retailtainment” program as a latest idea for WOW!ing customers. Competitors were beginning to adopt some of Commerce’s basic service offerings. Thus Commerce developed this program to continue to maintain their competitive advantage. The focus of this case analysis is to discuss how the company’s operation design supports Commerce’s competitive advantage, decisions critical to the bank’s success, motivation for the Retailtainment program, and pros and cons of Commerce expanding into other regions. My analysis will be supported by identifying criteria of the WOW! Awards and financial data provided by annual reports.

Issue Chief Financial Officer of Commerce Bank Douglas Pauls shares, “The hardest thing about becoming a big bank is not