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Inspiration Point August 2012 Powered by
Banking on Success
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Siam Commerical Bank in Thailand 2006 - 2010
The banking industry in Thailand has come a long way over the last six years. In a bid to compete with their major international competitors, home-grown Thai banks have made customer service a priority and have focused on improving their image through branch refurbishment and advertising to help retain existing customers and drive new business.
Inspiration Point August 2012 Powered by
Building the brandDetermined to take on Bangkok Bank, the strongest bank in Thailand, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) embarked on a brandbuilding campaign. SCB invested heavily in the project, and completely changed its communications strategy from placing occasional product ads to implementing a full-scale campaign.
The initial burst of advertising was released at the end of 2006 to coincide with SCB’s 100th year anniversary. The following year, SCB went on to launch the biggest testimonial campaign Thailand had ever seen - 11 different TV ads - with the key messaging focused on SCB’s excellent customer service. The campaign ran throughout 2007 and used a cross section of people including a student, retiree and business owner to connect with a broad audience.
Leading the wayThe testimonial campaign was a success. Thanks to careful use of established brand cues, which were consistently integrated into all the executions, the ads were instantly recognizable as being for SCB. The campaign created a lot of buzz around the brand, and also effectively strengthened the attitudinal relationships of SCB.
This chart shows SCB’s Bonding score, which indicates the strongest relationship that customers can have with a brand. This increased from 16 percent to 27 percent in just one year. In 2007 this was the highest level of Bonding of any Thai bank.
Consumer Bonding with SCB
16%
27%
2006 2007
16%
27%
2006
2007
Despite the economic and political crises of 2008-2009, SCB continued with its advertising campaign and looked to the future by nurturing innovation. This strategy paid off and the bank launched a range of new products, including a ‘Family Plus’ credit card - Thailand’s first fixed deposit cash back credit card. The launch was heavily supported by advertising, which featured a local celebrity and highlighted the bank’s new focus on innovation.
In just two years, SCB’s successful advertising campaign and focus on innovation helped to increase the bank’s popularity (fame) and brand appeal (emotional affinity), both important attributes in the banking category. SCB transformed itself into a bank with both dynamism and emotional appeal.
SCB Bonding diagnostics
10
20
30
40
50
60
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
The most popular
Appeals more than other banks
Setting the trends
Offers something different
10
20
30
40
50
60
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
The most popular
Appeals more than other banks
Setting the trends
Offers something different
Inspiration Point August 2012 Powered by
SCB’s significant strengthening of equity between 2006 and 2009 coincided with a decline for Bangkok Bank. Previously Thailand’s biggest bank, Bangkok Bank fell out of favor with customers. This led to a decline in equity and caused the brand to slip into Defender status, which is typified by average levels of brand equity and a less differentiated brand. From a financial perspective SCB net profit in 2006-2009 grew from 13.3 to 20.8 billion Baht while Bangkok Bank in the same period achieved growth from 16.9 to 19.8 billion Baht. By 2009 SCB had achieved a higher Bonding score (32%) and higher profit than Bangkok Bank for the first time. SCB’s net profit year-on-year growth rate during this period was much faster (CAGR of 16% vs 5.4%).
BrandZ Bonding scores
2006 2009
2006 2009
2006 2009
2006 2009
SCB Bangkok Bank
lnnovate to succeedUnlike 2007-2009 when SCB led the banking category on both brand health and advertising volume, 2010 proved a difficult year for the brand. A more competitive media environment meant SCB was no longer the dominant spender in the market.
Other banks, both large and small, stepped up their advertising making it increasingly difficult to cut though the advertising noise. SCB now faced a decline in Bonding as equity slipped back. While SCB continued with a testimonial campaign, its competitors introduced innovative creative executions. One example was Kasikornbank (‘KBANK’), which used a variety of advertising styles to appeal to people of different ages and make the brand seem new and exciting. The ads tapped into the Thai audience’s love for drama and successfully united its product and customer innovations with humor, music and emotional stories with which the audience could identify with. KBANK reaped the rewards. Its brand equity was elevated to a level that was on par with the other leading banks. Financially, net profit of KBANK slightly declined from 15 to 14.7 billion Baht in 2007-2009. In 2010 the net profit of KBANK jumped to an impressive 20 billion Baht.
46%
11%
18%
25%
38%
16%
15%
31%
SCB
Bangkok Bank
Kasikorn Bank
Other Banks
2009
2010
Share of Bonding
Inspiration Point August 2012 Powered by
Insight...Although customer service and the brand experience are critical in this sector, it is clear that brand building through above the line investment is just as important.
The bank that can deliver cut through advertising that connects with its audience and highlights innovation will have a better chance of gaining dominant brand equity.
Disruption through innovation can itself bring rewards. Where meaningfully different product or service propositions can be developed and sustained, banks can build stronger relationships with customers. Ensuring this is communicated through creative and innovative executions amplifies the chance of success.
This report was compiled using 2006-2010 BrandZ data for Banking/Financial Transactions category (400 consumers aged 18-65 yrs were interviewed in Thailand annually).
For more information about the study, please contact: [email protected], Senior BrandZ Consultant, Millward Brown or [email protected]. Suthapa Charoenwongse is an Associate Account Director, based in Bangkok. She has 9 years of market research experience across FMCG and financial services.
BRANDZ™ is the WPP global brand equity study available to clients and potential clients via WPP owned companies. It is validated against sales and quantifies and diagnoses the strengths and
weaknesses of brands.
