Nostalgia brings customers closer
Bank marketing II An image campaign by SFLB for the cantonal banks consistently focuses on one card: customer proximity.
Bank marketing II An image campaign by SFLB for the cantonal banks consistently focuses on one card: customer proximity.
According to the renowned corporate strategists Treacy and Wiersema, there are three ways to become a market leader: operational excellence, product leadership or customer intimacy. The customer magazine of the Association of Swiss Cantonal Banks (SVKB) made the latter the subject of an issue a year ago. For a good five years now, the cantonal banks have been using the argument of customer proximity as a core competence to position themselves as market leaders: Slogans such as "Die nahe Bank" (ZKB) or "Meine Bank" (LUKB) make this just as clear as the local color in "Ich bin ein Glarner" of GLKB. Parallel to the various advertising appearances of the 24 independent institutions, the SVKB in Basel had the tireless money trick character work for the image of the banking group and the accounts of its customers. In the second edition, the industrious figure, who was supposed to represent the staff, was given a helper role to bring her closer to the customers. But after ten successful years (the market share of domestic business is now around one third), she is stepping down from the advertising stage of the universal bank - and with her the inventor Wirz Werbung.
Practiced strategy pays off
This does not mean that the Group should abandon its tried-and-tested
strategy of customer proximity, explains Elisabeth Bürgin, Head of Marketing Communication at SVKB. After all, according to the image barometer, consumers rate the bank highly in terms of likeability, trustworthiness and sustainability. "However, we wanted to implement these in a more emotional way, which is why we decided on the new campaign by Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett in a pitch." Bürgin does not want to name the budget, but the prestige and the three commercials now available in 40- and 60-second versions suggest that this is a long-term and substantial order. Especially as it will be supplemented with a "basket of additional activities such as advertisements and posters, provided that the member institutions, which are also autonomous in terms of communication, decide on one or other accompanying measure," says Bürgin. The ASCB wants to address customers from the retail sector first and foremost with the stories, and investment and corporate customers as a second priority.
In all the films, we meet children who earn their first money, for example by selling bunches of flowers they have picked themselves or by collecting empty Depot bottles at the football stadium after a match. "Stories that we all know and have experienced ourselves in one form or another," is how consultant Rolf Zimmermann sums up the idea with its high identification potential. Using the legendary KB "Kässeli", the commercials lead the viewer into the present of the former children, to the flower store, their own home or the transport company. They have all remained KB customers. "The aim is to express 'growing together' not in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality," emphasizes Elisabeth Bürgin. This inevitably led to a similar positioning to the current Raiffeisen banks campaign. Nevertheless, she sees the subtle difference: "The cantonal banks are characterized by high professional standards across the entire universal banking offering, combined with a pronounced customer proximity. As a result, they achieve above-average customer loyalty."
Likeable stories from the new Cantonal Bank campaign are reminiscent of the graceful Citterio commercials.
Luca Aloisi
According to the renowned corporate strategists Treacy and Wiersema, there are three ways to become a market leader: operational excellence, product leadership or customer intimacy. The customer magazine of the Association of Swiss Cantonal Banks (SVKB) made the latter the subject of an issue a year ago. For a good five years now, the cantonal banks have been using the argument of customer proximity as a core competence to position themselves as market leaders: Slogans such as "Die nahe Bank" (ZKB) or "Meine Bank" (LUKB) make this just as clear as the local color in "Ich bin ein Glarner" of GLKB. Parallel to the various advertising appearances of the 24 independent institutions, the SVKB in Basel had the tireless money trick character work for the image of the banking group and the accounts of its customers. In the second edition, the industrious figure, who was supposed to represent the staff, was given a helper role to bring her closer to the customers. But after ten successful years (the market share of domestic business is now around one third), she is stepping down from the advertising stage of the universal bank - and with her the inventor Wirz Werbung.
Practiced strategy pays off
This does not mean that the Group should abandon its tried-and-tested
strategy of customer proximity, explains Elisabeth Bürgin, Head of Marketing Communication at SVKB. After all, according to the image barometer, consumers rate the bank highly in terms of likeability, trustworthiness and sustainability. "However, we wanted to implement these in a more emotional way, which is why we decided on the new campaign by Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett in a pitch." Bürgin does not want to name the budget, but the prestige and the three commercials now available in 40- and 60-second versions suggest that this is a long-term and substantial order. Especially as it will be supplemented with a "basket of additional activities such as advertisements and posters, provided that the member institutions, which are also autonomous in terms of communication, decide on one or other accompanying measure," says Bürgin. The ASCB wants to address customers from the retail sector first and foremost with the stories, and investment and corporate customers as a second priority.
In all the films, we meet children who earn their first money, for example by selling bunches of flowers they have picked themselves or by collecting empty Depot bottles at the football stadium after a match. "Stories that we all know and have experienced ourselves in one form or another," is how consultant Rolf Zimmermann sums up the idea with its high identification potential. Using the legendary KB "Kässeli", the commercials lead the viewer into the present of the former children, to the flower store, their own home or the transport company. They have all remained KB customers. "The aim is to express 'growing together' not in terms of quantity, but in terms of quality," emphasizes Elisabeth Bürgin. This inevitably led to a similar positioning to the current Raiffeisen banks campaign. Nevertheless, she sees the subtle difference: "The cantonal banks are characterized by high professional standards across the entire universal banking offering, combined with a pronounced customer proximity. As a result, they achieve above-average customer loyalty."
Likeable stories from the new Cantonal Bank campaign are reminiscent of the graceful Citterio commercials.
Luca Aloisi
