Bank customers, wake up!
Banks GE Money Bank is brashly predicting a new era for Swiss retail banking.
Banks GE Money Bank brashly predicts a new era for Swiss retail banking. They are often seen as a litmus test for the attractiveness of the Swiss financial center: the approximately 150 foreign banks. Since March 2, this number has risen by another mark. With GE Money Bank, a new brand has entered the Swiss banking market with big plans. Unlike most foreign banks, which are primarily active in wealth management for private clients, securities trading or corporate finance, the American bank sees its future in Switzerland in the private client business. "GE has already been successfully active in retail banking in Switzerland for years with a specialized range of products such as private financing, leasing and deposits. GE Money Bank is continuing this successful strategy and expanding its focus to a broader customer base and new services," says Ulrike Guigui, Managing Director of GE Money Bank.
Close to people
After rebranding as GE Money Bank, the next step is to conquer the Swiss retail market. "Because Swiss bank customers are particularly demanding," explains Caspar Coppetti, strategist at Advico Young & Rubicam, the advertising agency responsible, "we had to develop a completely new communication platform for Swiss customers". The central concern was to do justice to the bank's innovative products and services with a correspondingly independent appearance. "We wanted to create a new banking world: Close to people and forward-looking," explains Coppetti.
Advico Young & Rubicam has been working closely with the management of GE Money Bank on the strategy since 2003. Advico Young & Rubicam designed the implementation across all disciplines together with its sister agencies Wunderman, Futurecom and Burson-Marsteller from the Young & Rubicam Brands Group.
There were two starting points for the attack on the Swiss banking market: the competition and the customers. Market research showed that the typical bank is perceived by the Swiss as an ossified institution that would have little innovation in store for its ordinary customers apart from fee increases. At the same time, the surveys showed that there is growing resistance to this imbalance of power on the part of customers. In May 2004, the study "Swiss banking in 2010" by management service provider Accenture and the Institute for Banking and Finance at the University of St. Gallen came to similar conclusions.
Among other things, it stated that the price, the product
innovation while streamlining the product range and continuity of service will become increasingly important as competitive factors. The risk of losing customers will not lie in the termination of the overall relationship, but in the migration of individual customers, among other things.
Innovative banking communicationThis is GE Money Bank's opportunity. With innovative and needs-oriented products, it wants to appeal to the broad consumer group that is not interested in either the big banks or the retail banks.
regional banks. "GE Money Bank is for an up-and-coming urban audience that wants to realize its own plans far away from convention," says Coppetti. "These people are looking for a bank that can keep up with their pace of life."
For the launch of GE Money Bank, the team led by CD Urs Schrepfer, AD Roland Scotoni and copywriter Martin Stulz developed a new type of banking communication. Roland Scotoni explains: "This generation of customers doesn't want paternalism or artificial hurdles, but a personal bank that is on their side." The campaign is based on consumers' perception that time seems to have stood still at many Swiss banks. "In a comparison of then and now, of old and new thinking, we show how much things have changed everywhere," explains Scotoni, "and thus ask our future customers why they are still using yesterday's banking services."
Changed banking businessThis was implemented with a five-day TV spot teaser that used an alarm clock to announce the shake-up of the banking market: "Hey, the world is changing. GE Money Bank". The alarm clock can also be seen in the first product spot that follows the teaser: When the father presents his old car to his son, who has come of age, as a valuable heirloom, the alarm clock promptly rings. The world is changing, today anyone can drive a new car, because GE Money Bank is offering a special leasing offer at 4.9 percent for the Geneva Motor Show.
The print campaigns also work with this juxtaposition of old and new thinking. In the leasing area, GE Money Bank uses classic and modern cars to show how much things have changed. In the campaign for equipment financing, the change is illustrated using design classics. With the basic mechanism "Hey, the world is changing", GE Money encourages potential customers to change too: by choosing a new, contemporary bank. Ulrike Guigui comments: "The saying 'Hey, the world is changing' also applies to the banking business. We can offer customers a range of services developed on the basis of internationally proven expertise, which is geared towards the best service, innovative offers and security for the customer."
AY&R is setting the pace: time stands still at some banks, but not at GE Money Bank.
In the TV spot teaser: an alarm clock is supposed to shake up the Swiss banking market.
The new product spot signals the constant change.
Luca Aloisi
Close to people
After rebranding as GE Money Bank, the next step is to conquer the Swiss retail market. "Because Swiss bank customers are particularly demanding," explains Caspar Coppetti, strategist at Advico Young & Rubicam, the advertising agency responsible, "we had to develop a completely new communication platform for Swiss customers". The central concern was to do justice to the bank's innovative products and services with a correspondingly independent appearance. "We wanted to create a new banking world: Close to people and forward-looking," explains Coppetti.
Advico Young & Rubicam has been working closely with the management of GE Money Bank on the strategy since 2003. Advico Young & Rubicam designed the implementation across all disciplines together with its sister agencies Wunderman, Futurecom and Burson-Marsteller from the Young & Rubicam Brands Group.
There were two starting points for the attack on the Swiss banking market: the competition and the customers. Market research showed that the typical bank is perceived by the Swiss as an ossified institution that would have little innovation in store for its ordinary customers apart from fee increases. At the same time, the surveys showed that there is growing resistance to this imbalance of power on the part of customers. In May 2004, the study "Swiss banking in 2010" by management service provider Accenture and the Institute for Banking and Finance at the University of St. Gallen came to similar conclusions.
Among other things, it stated that the price, the product
innovation while streamlining the product range and continuity of service will become increasingly important as competitive factors. The risk of losing customers will not lie in the termination of the overall relationship, but in the migration of individual customers, among other things.
Innovative banking communicationThis is GE Money Bank's opportunity. With innovative and needs-oriented products, it wants to appeal to the broad consumer group that is not interested in either the big banks or the retail banks.
regional banks. "GE Money Bank is for an up-and-coming urban audience that wants to realize its own plans far away from convention," says Coppetti. "These people are looking for a bank that can keep up with their pace of life."
For the launch of GE Money Bank, the team led by CD Urs Schrepfer, AD Roland Scotoni and copywriter Martin Stulz developed a new type of banking communication. Roland Scotoni explains: "This generation of customers doesn't want paternalism or artificial hurdles, but a personal bank that is on their side." The campaign is based on consumers' perception that time seems to have stood still at many Swiss banks. "In a comparison of then and now, of old and new thinking, we show how much things have changed everywhere," explains Scotoni, "and thus ask our future customers why they are still using yesterday's banking services."
Changed banking businessThis was implemented with a five-day TV spot teaser that used an alarm clock to announce the shake-up of the banking market: "Hey, the world is changing. GE Money Bank". The alarm clock can also be seen in the first product spot that follows the teaser: When the father presents his old car to his son, who has come of age, as a valuable heirloom, the alarm clock promptly rings. The world is changing, today anyone can drive a new car, because GE Money Bank is offering a special leasing offer at 4.9 percent for the Geneva Motor Show.
The print campaigns also work with this juxtaposition of old and new thinking. In the leasing area, GE Money Bank uses classic and modern cars to show how much things have changed. In the campaign for equipment financing, the change is illustrated using design classics. With the basic mechanism "Hey, the world is changing", GE Money encourages potential customers to change too: by choosing a new, contemporary bank. Ulrike Guigui comments: "The saying 'Hey, the world is changing' also applies to the banking business. We can offer customers a range of services developed on the basis of internationally proven expertise, which is geared towards the best service, innovative offers and security for the customer."
AY&R is setting the pace: time stands still at some banks, but not at GE Money Bank.
In the TV spot teaser: an alarm clock is supposed to shake up the Swiss banking market.
The new product spot signals the constant change.
Luca Aloisi
