Luận văn a study solutions for developing brand of anbinh bank in the period 2005 2010

1.3.3 Communivating banking brands 1.3.4 What brand model for bank 1.4, Experience in building and developing barking brands 1.4.1 Failures and Success in building brand.. Ta compete wi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

HANOI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

À⁄

Tran Sy Mau

ASTUDY & SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPING

BRAND OF AN BINH BANK IN THE PERIOD 2005-2010

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

Hanoi — 2007

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

HANOI SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

Tran Sy Mau

ASTUDY & SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPING

BRAND OF AN BINH BANK IN THE PERIOD 2005-2010

Major: Business Administration

Cade: 60 34 05

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION THESIS

SUPERVISOR: DR NGUYEN VIET ANH

Hanoi— 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

2 Objectives & aims -

3 Research quesion sec

4, Scope ol’ work

5, Data & process

6 Methods & approa

1.1.5 Key Concepts in Building Brand

1.1.6 The Corporate Brand

1.2.6 Service and Bariking Branding - - 19

1.3 Building banking brands

1.3.1 Introduetion about brand in banking

1.3.2 Factors in building strong brand

1.3.3 Communivating banking brands

1.3.4 What brand model for bank

1.4, Experience in building and developing barking brands

1.4.1 Failures and Success in building brand

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & EMPIRICAL FINDINGS

2.1 Research Approach co

2.2 Research Method

2.3 Data collection methad

2.4 Overview of lhe case ABBank

2.4.1 Introduction

2.42 History and development process of ABBanik

2.4.3 Mission, Vision and Objectives of ABBank -

3.5 Empirical findings Ma

2.5.1 Empirical Data

2.7 Why are Vietnamese banking brands not great2 co oinessireee 74

2.7.1 Overview of banking brand m Vietnam -

2.7.2 Actual existences of bank branding in Vietnam 75

2.7.3 Why are Vietnamese bank brands not great’? ¬ˆ

CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPING BRAND OF "ABB ANK 86 3.1 Orientations develop banking industry in coming time es

3.1.1 Objective and strategy in developing Vietnam's banks in coming time 86

3.1.2 Government orientation in developing banking seTvies 88 3.1.3 The fulwe of banking branding 95 3.2 Difficulties and challenges in developing b brand of ABBank 7 3.2.1 Difficulties to ABBank cevtonevinnes atest! 97 3.2.2 Challenges to ABRank - - 100 3.3 Solutions for develeping Al3l3ankk brand M dA 3.3.1 Overall solutions for developing ABBank brand 101 3.3.2 Application of Brand Resonance Pyramid model i AlBank 13 3.3.3 Recommendations - - - 11 CONCLUSIONS - 119 APPENDIX

vi

SBY- Slate Bank of Vietnam

SOC Bank: State-owned commercial bank VCB: Vietcombank

WTO, World trade organization

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1- {: Importance of brand to banks

Figure 1-2: Seven factors in building successful brands

Figure 1-3: Brand resonance model

Performance Results in the period 2004-2006 55

; Employees’ Understanding about brand - -:ssszcccce 61 : Understanding of employees about aspects of brand 62

: CusatomeIs` cholee " —

Satisfaction level of Customers about bank 7

2.7: Efeeling of custorners about A13i3ank brand ce 68

Figure 2.9: Difference between ABBank and others 69

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: Employees’ understanding about brand 63

‘Table 2-2: Difficulties of employees in Working csssccseseesesseenseeeseeeeeee 63

‘Table 2-4; Factor affect 10 customer's chơi6e c ee seecsoecoseee 7

Table 3-1: Comparison between ABBank and other CT5 banks 99

APPENDIX

Appendix 1: QUESTIONNAIRE (For customers)

Appendix 2; QUESTIONNAIRE (For Manager and employees)

vi

TNTRODUCTION

1 Background

Tu recenl years, Vietram"s cconomy has been always al high growth rate, banking is one of the industries has influence on the economy with the highest prowth rate in a long time Besides that, go together high growth is competitive pressure becoming increasingly among banks as well as [oreign barks which has not only a strong power of finance but also experience in a long time Hspecially,

when Vietnam became formal member of WTO since the 1 January 2007, after that there arc many banks establish, and there are more forcign banks send file to State

Bank of Vietnam to ask the Vietnam State Bank to permit them open branch or even

establish a new foreign bank with 100% their capital What's more, with pressure

from domestic competilors as well as foreign banks, domestic taust have planning

to compete in fierce competitive environment An Binh bank (ABBank) is not

exception Ta compete with competitors from domestic to foreign, each bank must

ave good brand Below are some reasons, which make me to, decided chose this topic what makes ABbank to develop its brand in coming time

First, under competitive pressures from foreign banks, domestic banks more

increasing, ABBank cannot develop without development planning of brand and a certain brand image in customers ‘mind, ‘Therefore, ALBank needs to have a plan to develop iis brand in coming time, before cape with dircet competition from foreign

banks

Second, Vietnam participates into WTO (world trade organization), more and more foreign banks ponelratc into Vietnam market, and this makes a large pressure for Vietnam’s banks

Third, ABBank changed operation in commercial and investment banking in

a shor! time and if is new one in Vietnam financial market Therefore, ABBank

must do many things to build and develop a believable image in customers trust Furthermore, ABBank has difficulties in finding solutions for developing brand as well as improve brand image im customers’ mind Therefore, ABBank has Lo not

only compete with domestic commercial banks but also prepare finance and human resource to guarantee existence and development in fiercely competitive environment as well as cope with forvign banks At this moment, ABBank has nol yet an overall plan to develop its brand Therefore, it must have a plan to develop brand if it wants to exist and develop in fierce condition in today Moreover, there are sub-reasons whal make me interest in studying brand in banking, that is brand in banking is new concept m Vietnam and the number of banks have strong brands is very little

2 Objectives & aims

‘The purpose of this study is to show the issues of ASBank case and propose the solutions for developing brand of ABBank in the period 2007-2010 In the study, T will concentrate studying brand problem of ABRank and raise solutions to develop its brand in coming time Furthermore, the purpose is to provide an overall seeing about bank brands in Viemam financial market as well as foundation for fulure research in the banking brand in Vietnam in the future In this thesis, the objectives and aims as following:

Objectives of the study

This study focus mainly on three objectives as following

‘> Studying deeply and more detail how brand development is conducted in banking field

“> Finding issues in process of building, brand at ABBank as well as aspects, which relate to ABBank

* Propose some solutions and brand model for developing An Binh brand in

3 Research question

‘As mentioned above, there are several important issues need to consider when developing a brand Local bank brands not only have lo compete with cach other but also to compete with international bank brands that have the advantage of capital and management skills to attract the consumer Because of new business in investment and commercial, ABBauk actually has not an overall brand strategy for developing bank brand The question to ABBank now is to find the solution for developing Brand of ABBank in coming time As an intangible and risky purchase, the brand can reassure the customer and add functional as well as emotional value Based on the discussion so far, the research problem is stated as:

Research question 1: What solutions can help ABBank develop its brand in the

period from now lo 20102

Tlowever, to have solutions for developing brand of ADBank, the study needs consider the issues discussed in this paragraph, the research problem is further narrowed dowrt as one folowing sub research question

Rescarch question 2: What are difficulties and challenges facing AnBinh?

5 Data & process

With the main objectives are to find solution for ABBank 10 develop its

brand in the period from now to 2010 Study takes information from many sources

as following:

Data source: Bank’s mformation & findings, Tutemel, papers

The way to process data: The method to process data is mainly by excel

Data has been taken from some websites, which specialize on branding in the world

and Vietnam such as Brand charmel, Tnterbrand, Businessweck or vneuonomy,

saigontimes and so on Information from surveyfinterviews more than 100 customers in [lanoi as well as over 100 employees of ABBank in IIanoi branch

6 Methods & approaches

‘The study uses case study to make clear the problem of brand in banking, system in Vietnam Moreover, to have information for this study, this study

cơmcentrales ơn survey customers and smployees by some ways such as

questionnaires, interview and observation or in research method, we use case study method Especially, in the survey, we use three methods that includes

questiommaires, inferview, observation

This study will be an empirical research, which preliminarily adopts the

following: Review of related literature/documentation, survey, in-depth interview,

Review of related iterature/documeniation’ this will examine the multidiseiphinary theories of and empirical studies on brand in the literature In Surveys/interviews

sessions: queslionmaires will he developed and structured interviews are conducted

7 Significance

With the objective mentioned above, the study contributes several meanings

to banks in Viehtam On the theory, this study makes lear some aspects of the theory of banking brand in general and in ABBank in particular This study is also a

good reference for banks in Vietnam when they have demand to build brand It is

hoped that this study will contribute to the body of knowledge on brand and show

how the brand concept could be deployed more effective in other parts of Vietnam

It will also help Vietnamese banks to understand fully about brand importance and

come up with more suilable brand strategies and policies On the practice, Lis

study gives an overall strategy for ABBank developing its brand in the future.

8 Limitations

‘Thesis has some limitations as following:

% The scope of work, which only in Hanoi branch of ABBank is narrow Not

study in head office

“+ The time of the study from 2005-2010 is another limitation

> Customers in surveys are mainly personal nol consist of enterprises

+ Numbers of customers to interview and survey is not large

9, Expected results

The study expects Lo show the following findings:

* Propose solutions for building and developing brand in ABBank

e Understanding more detail and deeply about brand in banking

* Finding the difficulties and challenges in the process of brand in ABBank

® Giving out the best solutions for developing brand in ABBank

10, Follow —up (potential)

Further study will be taken on building and developing ABBank brand aller

a period Other way of study will be analyzing the importance of brand to banks in ABBank particularly and all over banks in Vietnam in generally This study is an nvormation channel and reference source for banks in Victram when they wart Lo develop their brands Apply successfully in ABBank in the further future

certainly, will not directly be applicable to other banks in Viemam In addition, this

study will only examine branded difficulties and show solutions for ABBank Due

to the slandardized thesis fortnal and for the sake of clarily, Ins thesis will be

divided into five clearly defined parts and chapters as follows:

11.1 Intraduction

‘This part presents the topic and the research question to the readers It seeks

to build infcrest im the topic and help the readers understand the motivation for choosing the subject

11.2 Theoretical Foundation

This chapter presents to the readers aboul basie theory of brand and brand in banking, consist of factors, criteria and process to build a successful brand in banking The chapter focuses on considering internal factors and criteria as well as

others relate to bunlding @ strong brand im banking Beside that, ins chapter also

brings the theoretical foundation and different, more detail understanding of brand

in generat and banking, brand in particular

113 Research methodology

This chapter explains the theoretical, empirical and analytical approaches

that were used for the study It also seeks to establish the validity and reliability of

the paper Morcover, (his chapter shows the rescarch methodology in detail and all findings on the research based on reaching above objectives as well as mention

mole! for developing in the case And present the overview of the case study

11.4 Solutions for Develaping Brand of ABBank

‘this chapter bases on the results of the survey, interview, observation and study in relation lo tescarch questions and the theory presented in chapler one and two More importantly, this chapter indicates difficulties and challenges of ABBank and since then propose appreciate solutions, recommendations for bank in

developing its brand in the coming time

11.5 Conclusion

This part will summarize the findings of the study and give out conchisions

about the study Furthermore, through comparison between theory and practical

understanding this study gives out implications for furthor rescarch of building and developing brand in Vietnamese banks

CHAPTER 1: FHEORETICAT, FRAMEWORK Since 1 January 2007, Victnam became formal member of WTO, this is an

opportunity for Vietnam economy as well as most enterprises Jlowever, go together

opportunity is challenge and challenge in here is extremely large, if we have no well

preparation we will fail, especially to banking industry, which is easily affected by

international and multinational corporations such as IISBC of UK or Citibank of

America With a strong power of finance and labors force as well as over one

hundred years experience they are easy to defeat domestic banks when they are permitted to open their own banks in Vietnam market It is necessary to build and

develop brand and this is an important lask ever necessary mission to all Why?

Building brand in order to assert banks’ position, credit, and reputation is the most

important task in this period Through building brand, banks improve image,

competitive slility, devclop market, keep market share suslainable and enhance

competitive ability to not only among domestic banks but also among foreign

banks

Branding is a relatively new concept for the barking industry Banks are

slowly realizing that they need to manage their strategic assets, too Competition in

the global business environment is tough and achieving a unique position and competitive advantage becomes more and more difficult and expensive The high level of investment necessary to maintain production capabilities and rising cost of R&D for product differentiation makes strong marketing capabilities and unique brands pre-requisites for modern companies to cover these heavy investments How

can companies and management teams catch up?

1.1 Understanding Brands

1.1.1 What is brand?

According to the American Marketing Association, a brand is defined as a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one scller or group of sellers and to differentiate them

from those of competition In other words, where product features can be copied in constantly diminishing periods, brands offer companies the possibility of distinguishing (heaselves from their competitors Whereas products offer tangible

benefits, such as different uses, and feature tangible attributes, such as price and

quality and physical characteristics, brands are much more complex A brand is oflen loaded with symbolic meaning, i can bring up associations with secmingly unrelated subjects that have been linked with the brand, a perception of quality

‘beyond physical attributes, or other pasitive/negative associations

A brand is ultimately built in the consumer’s mind, where he or she gathers

up all the knowledge regarding the bank, its products and services, the

communication they have with the outside world, and the associations all those

elements bring up Brandmg is ideally donc mm a manner Uhal appeals Lo the necds

and wants of the proposed target audience, and thus communicates to that audience

issues that give them a posite impression Building profitable brands is a hard

task, especially with the huge competition in today Only approximately 5% of new brands succeed, and even huge, well-known banks or companies often experience

the need to downsive their brand porlfolios However, the value of a strong brand can be immense, so a look into what rescarchers has deemed effective ways of

building brands is in order

A short history of brands

Mention brand we can know the short history of brand consists of three stages:

«© Brand as a mark

+ Brand as a marketing tool

* Brand as a source of sustainable competitive advantage

Branding started to develop and come ta the fore in the marketing process in the USA an the 19Ih and carly 20 conturies Many farnous brands date back to this time, for instance, American Express and Coca-Cola, With growing consumer sophistication branding became associated with a mix of values that gave consumers @ message aboul.a producl, Consumers saw the brand as cricompassing a

specific set of valucs, which would lcad them to reject an alternative unless their

perceptions were altered or other factors

1.1.2 Types of brand

A brand in many ways is an external manifestation of an intemal culture, The essential point of a brand is that it inspires customer loyally and/or a method of distinguishing one prodvet from similar rivals, For the owner of a brand, two important characteristics should flow from the existence of the brand There are two types of brand

Manufacturer brands Manufacturer brands are created by producers and bear their chosen brand wae The producer is responsible for marketing the brand The brand is owned by

‘the producer By building their brand names, manufacturers can gain widespread distribution and build customer loyalty

Own label brands

Owrrlabel brands are orcated and owned by businesses that operate im the

distribution channel often referred to as “distributors” Own-label branding if, well carried out — can often offer the consumer excellent value for money and

provide the distributor with additional bargaining power when it comes Lo negotiating prices and terms with manufacturer brands negotiating prices and terms

with manufacturer brands

1.1.3 Function of brand

Brand is very important ta all banks Especially in this stage, when competitive pressure is Tange and a lot of difficulties and challenge come to domestic banks ‘Therefore, to understand about function of brand is the way help banks to use brand as a tool in the development process Below are some femetions

of brand and these expressing the importance of brand to a bank

First, brand has recognizable and distinguishable funetion Second, announcing and Conducting function

«©_ Thừd, Making feeling and confidence

Last, Heonomic function 1.1.4 What is branding?

Branding is determining the essence of your institution and communicating

it Branding helps clearly communicate our heritage Branding, also captures and

communicates our distinct personality,

& Branding Context Relate to brand name, there are many factor such as customers service, price

quality, advertising, marketing sales, public relation, financial performance, facility appearances, competitors offerings, intemet presence, employees behavior,

employee appearance

b Service Branding

A holistic brand image inteprates entities such as values, colors, name,

aymbols, words arxl slogans Many poople argue that once an organization

establishes a favorable brand image its main task is to ensure consistency They further argued that since service firms often follow a monolithic branding strategy, ounsumers mentally group all the eorporation’s portfolio together, expecting

<mniformity, thus management of brand consistency is even more important

Successful service brands also depend on good internal communication programmers onabling grealer consisleney delivering the service oxperience, regardless of the customer's point of contact Having well designed induction and

training programmers creates greater commitment, which is an important

component in services brands

Many services branding issues require a company-wide approach to their

solution and implementation Such issues include closing service quality gaps: a

focus on internal and external stakeholders, including staff, a need Lo monitor the whole service delivery process and the role of strong, organizational values in

motivating staff to deliver the services brand.

1.1.5 Key Cancepts in Bui

ling Brand

J3rand is common term and im that term, there are quite many concepts

related to it, Tn this study, the research focuses mainly on [inding difficulties and

challenges as well as solution for develop bank brand ‘This section will examine

key concepts in this process Bank brands are different application of the brand concept, however, the theury presented applies 1a bank

Brand Personality is defined as “the set of human characteristics associated

with a brand (Aaker, 1996, p.347) The brand image building strategy implies the

definition of a brand personalily and a user personality The match belween brand

personality and consumer personality is also an underlying concept of the relationship marketing, which is based on the self-image congruence notion Brand

Personality is an tmporlanl source of imagery, a soll altnibute of smage According

to Aaker (1996), brand personality can create brand equity according to three

models: self — expression model, relationship basis model and functional benefit representalion model

Brand Identity inchides brand names, logos, positioning, brand associations

and brand personality A good brand name gives a good first impression and evokes

positive associations with the brand

Brand Awareness is a status when people recognize your brand as yours This does not necessarily mean they prefer your brand (brand preference), attach a high value to, or associate any superior attributes to your brand, it just means they recognize your brand and can identify it under different conditions Brand

awareness consists of both brand recognition, which is the ability of consumers to

confirm that they have previously been exposed to your brand, and brand recall, which reflects the ability of consumers to name your brand when given the product

calegory, category weed, or some other similar cue Aided awareness occurs when

‘you show or read a list of brands and the person exprosses familiarity with your

brand only after they hear or see it

Brand Positioning: A positioning siatemcnt tclls in onc sontence, what business the company is in, what benefits it provides and why it is better than the oumpetitors are The markel position of a brand shows where a spcvilic brand is located It also shows the relationship to competitive brands We can determine the market position of a brand based on the answers to the following four questions:

@ Ihy (which benefits and advantages does the new brand bring to the

consumer)

@ (hen (determining the opportunities for which the brand is most suitable)

* For whom (it 1s about the determination of the consumer of a brand or target

group)

@ Against whom (determining the main competitive brands)

Brand Essence is the heart and soul of a brand—a brand’s findamental

nature or quality Usually stated in two to three words, a brand’s essence is the one constant across product categaries and throughout the world Some examples are:

Nike: Authentic Athletic Performance

Disney: un Family Untertainment

Starbucks: Rewarding Everyday Moments

Brand essence delenmines the corporale vision Without brand essence, we cannot communicate the brand Brand essence comprises brand personality,

characters, relationship, and brand image and brand position

1.1.6 The Corporate Brand

Referring brand name we must mention one concept, which often relate to

‘brand image ur message of a bank or company thal is corporate branding Whal is corporate branding? Corporate branding is a potentially strong tool for re-aligning a corporate strategy and ensures that the corporation — big or small — is leveraging

adequately on the untapped internal and exlernal resources A slong CEO and a

dedicated management team are always seeking to raise their own bars and be

change agents for their corporations backed by a strong corporate branding strategy

A well-drafted and professionally managed corporate branding strategy and implementation plan can be a powerful component of the boardroom work According lo this concept, corporate branding is oflen, bul wrongly, referred lo ax

an exercise where the bank logo, the design style and color scheme are changed Naturally, these are important elements to evaluate and potentially change at a later stage once the stralogy has been decided upon Tl is often accompanied with anew corporate slogan, and then everyone expects results to occur during the project Corporate branding is a serious undertaking that entails more skills and activities

than just an updated glossy marketing facade wilh emply jargon

A strong corporate branding strategy can add significant value in terms of helping the entire corporation and the management team to implement the long-term vision, creale unique positions in (he markel place of the bank and its brands, and not the least to unlock the leadership potential within the organization Ilence, a

corporate branding strategy can enable the corporation to further advantage on its

tangible and nonelangible assets leading lo branding excellence throughout the

corporation

4) The Corporate Brand in the Banking Sector

Branding is the comerstone of service marketing for the 21st century; the corporate brand is the primary brand for banks In banking, the corporate brand builds on the identily of the corporation to olTer a distinc promise to customers, shaped by all members of the organization Both bank brands and corporate brands involve multiple interfaces, and employees are an important part of communicating

the brand Because of the intangibility, heterogeneity and inseparahility of services,

there are specific challenges to branding services Banks can use their corporate

‘brand to overcome intangibility Without a brand, customers might view the service

as a series of standardized actions There 1s lngher risk associaled wilh intangible

products Customers must trust the bank through its brand, which helps consumers

to visualize the service That is why VCB or BIDV brand make confidence in customers’ mind,

Risk also results from the heterogeneous nature of services A service cannot

be produced in the factory and checked for quality before it is delivered to

customers Stalls, whose underslanding, commitment, behavior, allitude and

performance are vital to the success of a brand, deliver services Services must

‘become more tangible through clear reference points, such as physical elements like furniture and building design Fixed elements creale a consistent offering, which is

necessary to build the brand in the future

Another important characteristic for branding services is iseparability,

ineanimgy thal the brand promise ts delivered through staff and customer interachon

Services are usually produced on a regular basis with the customer, while customers who are not a part of the production process buy products Therefore, service

providers have more opportunities to create a postlive unpression and slrengthen

their brands To take advantage of their potential, service companies should align

processes, organizational structures, and the physical environment to deliver a

consistent superior service Due to the charactlenstic of inseparabilily, internal implementation of the brand is very important for bank and its services ‘hus, the

cosporate brand in the banking sector plays an important role for a bank, and needs

to be carefully managed

b) The Value of the Corporate Brand Brand ereales value for the organization and ils customers through brand equity, Brand is the most powerful weapon that the firm hes at its disposal Corporate brands can be used as master brands and have a longer life than product

or service brands As we know, product brands live in the present while corporate brands live in the past, present and the future Differentiation is not enough in business today, it is also important that the sender of a message represents the real source, which is the case for the corporale brand Businesses thal come from a corporate body reassure stakcholders in insceure times

Moreover, as businesses are becoming more global, banks tend to emphasize

corporate brands imstead of service and product brands The increased use of the

corporate brand is also a response to the imitation and homogenization of produets

as well as the fragmentation of markets

The corporate brand is a strategic

source that guides the business and creates value A general advantage to corporate brands is the economies of scale that it generates in all aspects of communication, compared to the promotion of individual line brands As a result, of strong brand values, higher prices ean be charged for services, and sales vohunes are likely to increase It is easier to

introduce new services under the existing brand name, but it can be difficult to enter new markets if the brand does not fi the new customer segrnent Tn addition, if a new line fails, then more damage could occur than with a firm that practices individual branding The power of the corporate brand is clearly demonstrated by Taterbrand’s list of the world’s 100 strongesl brards, of which a vasl majorily 1s corporate brands

By creating clusters of functional and emotional vahies for their brands,

banks can add value fo the lives of customers Customers generally do not create selationships with individual products or services, but it might do so with a brand

(which represents a set of promises) People argue [Hai customers consume all facets

of the brands identity: physical aspects, personality, and implicit relation Consumers perceive the brand’s identity through its relation to the outside world and through their scli-image Through this idenlity, the brand tics Lo achieve a strong emotional bond to the consumer, which gives the brand a special quality Consequently, the brand becomes a guarantee of quality and reduces the perceived

risk of purchasing the service

©) Communicate

Bring the corporate brand to life through a range of well-planned, well- execuled marketing activities, and make sure the overall messages are consistent, clear and relcvant to the target audionces Make sure the various messages are

concise and easy to comprehend Do not try to communicate every single point

from the corporate branding strategy, Instead, a sclective approach will make much

more impact using the same resources

4) Measure the brand performance

A brand is accountable and this is no different from a corporate brand How much value does it provide to the corporation and how instrumental is the brand in

securing competitiveness? These are some of the questions thal iced Lo be answered

and that the CKO will automatically seek as part of a commitment to run the sirategy successfully The brand equity consists of various individually tailor-made

key performance indicalors and needs to be tracked regularly A brand scorecard

can help facilitating an overview of the brand equity and the progression as the strategy is implemented

1.2 Branding strategy

‘As wee know, a brand is described as a name, term, sign, symbol or design,

or a combination of these intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors We can further look at a brand to identify the maker or supplier of a product, while presenting

specific features, benefits and services to consumers Morcover, a brand is a

promise to the consumer of what the product, service, or company stands for, and of the kind of experience, they oan get from it

A brand incorporates a personality based on cultural factors inchuding, film stars, sport heroes, or fictional characters ‘today’s brands are viewed and

understood from an emotional perspective Therefore, branding has to da with the

way thal customers porceive and buy things, ol simply @ characteristic of certain industries A brand equals a ‘relationship’, ‘reputation’, a ‘set of expectations’ and a

promise Moreover, they state that a brand is a combination of tangible and

intangible attributes, symbolized in a trademark, which if properly managed, creates

influence and generates value

1.2.1, Positioning

Positioning is the process by which a company offors its brands to the consumer and positioning is an essential aspect of branding It is necessary that the

message to be communicated by all the organizations activities because any of them

may be the particular characteristic that the customers analyses and develops their perception Moreover, the objective of the positioning as the process makes the

offer into a brand Positioning is not about what you do to a product, but what you

do to the mind of the prospect ‘This means products and services are positioned in the mind of prospects According to Aaker (1996), brand positioning refers to both

the process and the result of building or rebuilding an image for a brand relative toa target market segment

1.2.2 Brand Equity

“Brand equity” refers to the value of a brand Brand equity is based on the extem to which the brand has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived quality

and strong product associations Brand equity also includes other “intangible” assets

such as patents, trademarks and chamnel relationships Brands differ in the amount

of power and value they have in the market place due to different factors Powerful

wands are known lo have brand equily Rrand equity is a sel of brand assets and

liabilities linked to a brand through its name and symbol, which adds or subtracts

from the value provided by a product or service to a firm andor to that firm’s customers (Aaker, 1996) Novertheless, the brand equity is based on the extent Lo which it has brand loyalty, name, awareness, perceived quality, strong brand

associations, and other assets such as patents, trademarks and channel relationships

Furthermore, brands that have strong brand cquily are scon as a valuable asset to the

company and can be bought or sold for a price

1.2.3 Value

Value is the trade-off between what a consumer gives and gets from a brand, Intangible values are the benefits that customers experience that are not functional

or physical aspects of the brand, which can include the aspects of the brand personality ‘These characteristics of the brand cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard or smelled belore they are bought For example, trust, freedom, power and excitement However, tangible values are the benefits that the customer experiences that are the functional or physical aspects of the brand These characteristics of the brand can be son, fasted [el heard or smelled before they are bought Perevived value is the consumers overall evaluation of the benefits of a product, which is based on what they receive (ex: quality, satisfaction, or convenience) and what is given (ex: price,

lime, effort) Furthermore, perceived value is completely based on the individual Perceived quality is the consumers perception about a products overall excellence or superiority in comparison to other products, and is based on the individual

1.2.4, Brand Image and Identity

Personality and the positioning of the brand make up the brands identity and image Brand is buill by creating a strong brand personzlily, or set of’ brand values, and positioning the brand by creating, a favorable perception in the mind of the

target audience Brand images are the set of beliefs that a consumer holds about a particular brand Cousumer’s beliefs may differ based on their individual expericnce

or perception of the brand Furthermore, the brand identity is the total proposition that a company makes to consumers, or the promise it makes and is everything the company wants to be seen It may consist of features, benefits as well as all other values that the brand possesses

short rm as well as in the Jong run, by creating a favorable brand image in the minds of consumers, As a result, the brands popularity will have a positive contribution to the brand's loyalty, image, or markel sales

1.2.6, Service and Banking Branding

‘A company uses product branding when they decide that the product should stand on its own, and should be left to succeed or fail without any support from the comporate brand or company name Usually fast maving consumer goods are associated with this level of branding, Corporate brand is when the brand name gives all its identity to the products or service, and then the products receive strength and association through the companies brand values In extreme cases of corporate branding, the company’s name is strongly associated with the product,

while there is no mention of products and services at all

1.2.7 Yin and Yang Model to Branding

According to Asian culture, Yin and Yang are complementary sides to every individual, and il provides balance so Uhal the mdividual is harmonized Like Yin and Yang, the human brain has two hemispheres; one on the left, another on the right The left side of the brain deals with logic and rationality, while the right side

is concerned with emolions, dreams and ereativily In branding: the Yin represents

the rational, while the Yang represents the emotional Both the left side and the

sight side of the brain are important for people to have because it creates balance

Based on this concept, bank ether builds thetr brand personality to appeal to the

rationality, or the emotions of consumers, while others use both This way of

looking ai consumers began with packaged consumer goods, but has adopted

rapidly by practically every type of business in various indusirics, since il has

shown to provide many benefits With specific products are services, therefore, the

‘bank need to build a brand must based on combination of opposite factors That is

philosophy make many successful brands in Asia, especially in Japan with famous

brand in the world such as ‘Toyota, Sony.

1.3 Building banking brands

To have a good and prestigious brand such as HSBC or Citibank, Vietnamese banks must spend much time and expenditures in a long time to prove their ability, management ability as well as finance power before have customers’ absolute confidence ‘lo do this, banks must understand the importance of brand and other factors, which have influence on process of developing brand of bank Next

step we will consider elemenis relate to brand and role of brand in banking

1.3.1 Introduction about brand in banking

a The importance of brand fo bank in business

If brands are a strategic asset, then how do they affect business? A strong brand provides a point of differentiation for the member and customer by leaving an impression in the mind of the members or customers Tt builds a long-term relationship for long-term gain through loyalty and trustworthiness The goal of branding is to create perceptions that drive choice of customers

th Produce Image Gffenlidien bow

Figure 1-1: Importance of brand tv banks [Source: Steffen Leditschke, Successful branding in the IMinancial

Sector 2004, p504

‘There are two things, which affect people’s perceptions and preference communications about an offering and experience with the offering Communications and experience both affect brand image More importantly, what

you communicate and the exporicnee you deliver must be closcly aliened to build a positive brand image lănance in general and banling in particular is, as it were, the

have until recently been a relatively minor part of the marketing message of retail financial services companies and bankers in particular

With changes over in 20 years, since economic reform began in 1986 have

changed the pattern of banking Some of these have been driven by changes in

regulation, but more significant have been the changes in consumer behavior Today, demand of customers has changed much Customers are now more aware of

safety of their asset and comforlable with new Lechnologies Cuslomers are more

willing to purchase banking services such as home banking, internet banking

They have embraced change, regulatory changes have made many financial prodnels tore transparent, and thus more casily compared

4 Why should banks iry to build their brands?

Until now, there are 37 commercial banks and representatives in Vietnam

Under strong competitive pressure from all sides, domestic banks must build strong their brand in order (o attract customers as well as to cope with competitors If they

don’t build brand for themselves that means they will make them in trouble in the

process of competition To avoid being merged and acquisitioned by foreign large

‘banks, banks must have strong cnough brand to cope with them as well as to attract customers ‘There are many advantages to businesses when they build successful

trands for them These include higher prices, higher profit margins, better

distribution, and customer loyalty Businesses thal operale success{il brands are also much more likely to enjoy higher profits A brand is created by augmenting a

core product with distinctive values that distinguish it from the competition This is

the process of creating brand value

¢ Brand value in banking sector

A good brand name is invaluable asset in banking industry Banks rely heavily on their reputation, After all, banks only work if the consumer is willing to

trust the bank company with large sums of moncy Branding is particularly important to the financial sector in the current economy, since investors and other dig spendors are being cautious about making large Financial (ransactions

Finance Brand is a London company that tracks the value of bank brands ‘the company tracks 150 global brands across all industries The top financial services brand, holdmg the number 13 spot on Finance Rrand’s worldwide list, is Citibarik (According to Lnterbrand, the world's top brand name is Coca-Cola with brand value

is over $ 70 billion)

Scandals are nol the only faclor affecting brand value in the banking sector

Banks and financial service firms have sought to trim their budgets over the last few

years Like other industries, the banking sector has had ta react to the recent coomomie downtum by becoming leaner and more efficionL Seeing losses in investment units, banks are looking to their consumer divisions to find a profit As a

result, instead of being rewarded for bringing banks their business, customers are

oflon seeing higher [ces and docroasing personalized customer serviec Some banks have even adjusted their fee structure to encourage customers to use A'l'M machines

instead dealing with bank tellers These cost-cufling measures lead to a

depersonalized banking oxperience in which customers have little emotional

connection to the bank's brand The lack of human contact is increased by modern

techuology While many basic banking transactions can now be handled cilher al an ATM or at a bank's Web site, neither outlet is capable of perceiving, let alone addressing, a customer's fears or frustrations Unfortunately, as banks rely more and

more on technological outlets for service, there is often fewer helpful and

knowledgeable staff in the bank lobby when the customer shows up in person

Maintaining the value of a single bank brand is difficult Corporation in the

industry bring uew branding challenges The function of a brand is to make the hank

and its scrvices recognizable and memorable In corporation, however, corporate

politics often become involved The fate of the acquired bank's name can be

perceived as a symbot for whal is bappening to the bank itscll Employees are alraid

for their carcers often fight to preserve what thơy believe are the core idontity of their company

4 Signals to recognize a strong brand in market

it is not easy to recognize the mistakes of bankers in their investment of

‘brand building Experience from crisis in 1997 in Asian countries gave us important lessons aboul right investment decision in branding A large brand without difference or specific characteristic or image, it could not get profit ‘the same to the

case a large brand and famous service without profit also lead to failure in the near

future

Moreover, to have a strong brand as well as to know that we need to know

necessary signals to a brand in market What are signals to know a brand is strong in the Gnancial market? There are many signals lo recognize a strong brand, but in banking industry, we only need to know six signals below Those are Difference,

Image, Service Quality, Price, Profits and Distribution channel

You can know and make a plan for building and developing a strong brand in

the future ‘Therefore, how to measure our brand whether it is strong or not You cammol describe how your brand difference to compelilors in one word With product are invisible, it is very difficult for banks when make customers sec the

difference between your service to competitors If do not that, your brand is not strong Why did you suceced? Whal would you have in (hal case? The answer ix certainly profit However, how could we to cope with finaneial difficulty or crisis if

we would have not a strong brand to base If not, certainly you go to bankruptcy

If you cannot summarize your mission, task, vision, and brand value in a word That

mean your customers also cannot feel ‘Therefore, you have to answer clearly the question: “what your brand’s mission is? Ilow does it develop and where is your

Ywand’s Customers orily remember your brand's symbol when il is clearly different

and salient to others If you have intention to imitate to others, you will fail

Company value is visible assets This is right However, if your bank has been fired

all asscts disappear, how much is your bank valuc? At that time, only brand is factor can help your company to restore

Who make brand in first time is very important, all people remember Lo founder of company, who help company to growth as today Moreover, to make a good image of leader in customers ‘s mind is very important of all brand, especially that is commercial bank, where all beliefs have been put m one leaders hand

Above are some analyses about six standards to know a strong brand in market We need to strive make a good image through service quality and others

factors which relate to customers ax well as employees in your bank Actually,

systematic brand building process is important for creating a strong brand

f, Process of building & developing brand

Building brand im genoral as well as in banking fickl in parhoulw is a

complicated and difficult process To build and develop a brand, the bank needs

have a detail and suitable process A number of models of the branding process

exist in the lileralure, however, they have gonerally bean eriliewed for the lack of empirical testing ‘he brand building processes in general and will be reviewed in

ttus section Brand building process focuses on building the overall brand Since all

brands have an identity, the framework is applicable to any type of brand After

considering factors, which relate to a bank brand, we found that, building brand is a proceas of combination and choice of invisible ancl visible aitibules as well with:

objective to differentiate product and service by meaning, interesting and attractive

way To build a sustainable brand in the long time, bank can apply seven steps as

follow:

First step is marketing research ‘I'his is a necessary preparation step to any

marketing expert or brand expert To have this information system, bank can

oulsource or lo do by itself If bank does research by i self) there are iwo Lypes:

qualitative rescarch method (Foous group, Fave to Face, interview) or quantitative

research method (questionnaire, survey )

Next step is building brand vision This is bank’s neat and clear message, which banks to send customers and express development trend of bank in coming years Tn other words, brand russion express the reason for bank's existence Below are some roles of brand mission Unify bank’s development aims and make consistence in leadership point out a strategy to use human resource Making aneasuroment for development of brand and make base for building development objective in the future Knoourage employees towards a common development

objective IISCL is a typical example for this or Sony, I3M and Ilonda

Third step alter buildizy brand mission is lo map out strategy for brand

development ‘That mean we must have a strategy for developing brand in short term and long term Fourth step, based on strategy of brand development, we continue ta choose position for brand or Brand positioning Tn this sicp, we have to determine our brand position compare to competitors in market, which are recognized by

customers In this step, there are eight characteristics Fifth step is building system

of Brand Awareness This is a sci of imaginaliveness, which bank warls ils image

to survive in customers’ mind through service, bank, employees’ behaviars, logo,

symibol However, 1 is nol enough when building syslem, and we must make

customers remember, understand and accept our brand In other words, we have to

bring brand to public ‘his is very important step in building brand ‘'o do that, anany people know brand Through that, we assert the success of brand in the smarket That is core problem Jead to success in building brand To get that we need

to do a continuous step, that is brand media operation The last step is brand

evaluation Through this step, we know awareness level, imaginativeness in

customers’ mind, or customers’ loyalty to brand Besides that, brand measurement also help to know the effectiveness level of cost budget to developing brand in

yank

1.3.2 Factors in building strong brand

a General brand factors

To answer the question: Whal faclors are imporlant in building brand value?

Professor David Jobber identifies seven main factors in building successful brands,

as illustrated in the diagram below:

Quality is a vital ingredient of a good brand The core benefits must be

delivered well, consistently Research confirms that, statistically, higher quality

brands achieve higher market share and higher profitability that their inferior

competitors

Positioning is about the position a brand occupies in a market in the minds

of consumers Strong brands have a clear, often unique position in the target market

It can be achieved through the combination of brand name, image, service

standards, product guarantees, packaging and the way in which it is delivered

Figure 1.2: Seven factors in building successful brands

[Source: David Jobber, 7 Important Factors in Building Brand

Value, 2005, p2]

Repositioning: occurs when a brand tries to change its market position to reflect a change in consumer’s tastes This is often required when a brand has become tired

Well-blended Communications: All elements of the promotional mix need

to be used to develop and sustain customer perceptions Initially, the challenge is to

build awareness, then to develop the brand personality and reinforce the perception.

Credibility: In terms of brand developmant, firstmover means that it is possible for the first successful brand in a market to create a clear positioning in the aninds of targel customers before Ihe competition entars the market,

Long-term perspective: ‘his leads to the need to invest in the brand over the long-term Building customer awareness, communicating the brand’s message

and creating customer Ioyally takes time This means Lhat management must, invest

ina brand, perhaps at the expense of short-term profitability

Internal marketing: Management should ensure that the brand is marketed

triemally as well as externally To do this, we mean that Ihe whole business should

understand the brand values and positioning ‘his is particularly important in banking businesses where a critical part of the brand value is the type and quality of service (hat a customer receives and in banking there are 70% influence to brand from internal factors

b Internal brand factors driving successful banking brands

There is liltle research has been underlaken to identify and understand factors contributing to brand success in the banking sector, Due to the intangible nature of

wands leading to different people holding different interpretations, management

faces the challenge of cnsuring that all cmployces have similar interpretations to ensure coherent enactment of brand strategies ‘fhe organizations with more successful brands were characterized by the following factors: a hohsle, consistartl and integrated approach to branding, a focus upon excellent and personalized customer service, an ethos, which challenges the norm, responsiveness to change, a

high degree of brand literacy, and a synergy between the brand and organizational

culture

+ ‘The brand is a holistic experience

A major theme emerging was the idea of the brand as a ‘holistic’ experience

For the successful banking brands, the brand is interpreted as everything experienced by the customer The synergy between each element of the experience

enables the brand to be more (an the sum of its paris This is highly appropriate in

re à

a services context, services branding uses these in addition to intangibles such as the behavior of employees during the service encounter Conversely, amongst less successful banking brands, the branding approach was amore naive and simplistic

4% Consistent and integrated approach to branding

Yor the successful banking brands, consistency between the brand elements was recognized as vital to brand success, a fact reflceted in the hleraurc We can see the importance of consistency throughout the organization in terms of

communications about the brand We also notes the need for consistency, with the

anos! effective way of encouraging this being lo gain employees’ belief in the values

governing their behavior ‘fo encourage consistency all employees should work on the brand in an integrated fashion Many theories stress that an integrated branding effort is everyone’s responsibility m the company The barik also needs to highlight that for a brand to appear as a coherent whole, managers from different functions

and backgrounds must work together on branding issues The importance of cross-

functional teamwork in building brand is expressed through campaigns in bank

‘The brand is responsive to change

Another factor, which differed belween the more and less successful banking,

brands, was the dogree to which the brand was dynamic and responsive to change

lissentially, a brand can be described as a cluster of functional and emctional

values Societies are dynamic, as reflected m the constantly evolving values held by

consumers It, therefore, follows that for a brand to be successful over time, its

values may need to be adjusted to reflect changes in consumers’ values Rather, the

‘brand needs to respond and adapt to its environment in a unique way

General speaking, the less successful brands tended to be seen as more traditional, staid and set in their ways In contrast, despite one of the more successfil brands

also having a long herilage, both of them demonstrate certain unique aspects 19 the

service offered which reflect the ways in which the brands have responded to

changes in the environment Retaining the brands’ anonymity, one of the successful

drands has harnessed changes in technology to olfer customer a particularly

convenient and modern service The other successful brand responded to changes in the banking industry by adapting its service to incorporate new markets

“% Synergy between brand and culture

Definitions of organizational culture are conspicuous in their abundance and diversity We can temporarily understand culture on three levels — artifacts, values and basic assumptions Tt is at the valucs level thal the link between brand and culture is most evident If there is congruence between the organization’s espoused values, employees’ values and brand values, then the resulting synergy should

encourage a strong brand which is genuinely ‘lived’ by employees Tl was found

that the successful brands were capitalizing on their corporate culture and were

congruent with this The brand often reflects the culture and values of the orgativalion, The brand is part of the cullure Tis combination of factors, different ways we live our lives and vision and not necessarily a specific thing says “this is

the brand We also remember that we cannot copy a culture or people and our brand

is based im our culture and we can do whalever we want wilh the brand but unless the culture matches, it does not work However, from typical less successful brands

we should remember that there is a culture of fear and there is very much fear,

people are looking over their shoulders and so on It is a negative culture

Culture changes slowly the most difficult thing is long time employees, getting them to change We have boon looking to change culture (or years and still have

loads to do The influence of corporate culture upon the success of brands has been

noted in the literature For example, culture of a bank may have as much influence

on external stakeholders through the behavior and attitudes of service personnel as

do the more formal corporate communications and visual identities An organization needs a ‘corporate religion’ whereby alt members believe the same things about the

orgarivalion and share the same values Recause culture relates 10 the shared values

within an organization and through influoncing staff behavior impacts upon performance If the values of the organization and the brand are congruent, then employees will nol face such conflicl and their behavior will reflect the values of

the brand In line with this, respondents from the more successful brands were less

likely to make negative or unenthusiastic comments about their brands

“% The brand challenges the norm Differentiation is widely accepted as vital to brand success ‘he brand may play a more vital role in terms of differentiation for services than for products, given that tangible evidence of differentiation is fess feasible with services A basis for differentiation succeeds when genuinely relevant to and welcomed by consumers Many people argue that service organizations with the strangest brands demonstrate

a conscious effort to be different and to ensure that, what they stand for is important

and valuable to their customers In spite of the acknowledged importance of differentiation but many corporate brands have no value proposition? They are simply large, slable firms that can be rusted to deliver adequate products and

services, but with no point of distinction and sometimes with a hint of being

‘bureaucratic and ponderous We found that the more successful banking brands

differentiated by challenging the norm Of the less successful brands, respondents noted that there was generally very little differentiation or deviation from the norm

For banking brand, therefore, to be successful there needs to be something, which

makes it unique

“ The brand is based upon excellent, personalized customer service

Anoiher factor strongly related o bankiryg brand success was the quality and

nature of customer service Essentially a brand is a cluster of functional and

emotional values, which enables an organization to make a promise about a unique

and welcomed experience Whilst it is difficult to make the functional values

unique, as these can often be quickly copied, the emotional values have the potential

to sustain differentiation Ultimately, what is delivered is less important than how it

is delivered The importance of high qualily customer service is well grounded in

the literature The umqueness of a services brand is more likely to cmanate from the augmented level More generally, performing a needed service and performing it

30

better than competitors is a powerful brand-building combination Within one of the more successful brands, the idea of high quality customer service was taken further

On the other hand, within the less successful brands both the quality of service and the bonding between the brand and consumers were regarded as being significantly lower One aspect of customer service, treating customers with respect and not patronizg thom, was noted as particularly important, One of the choices organizations face is whether to adopt a ‘loose’ or ‘tight’ style of brand management Ilowever, the importance recognized by managers of the more

successful brands of personalizing the cuslomer service experience is more in

keeping with the idea of loose branding ‘There is a realization that senior management must relinquish their dominant control over the brand, so staff can be allowed, or even cncouraged 1 personalize the exporience [or consumers Such personalization is governed by the brand’s values, as these define boundaries and

enable staff to understand what appropriate behavior is That is why; there are so

few sure

ful banking brands, given how consumers scem to welcome ant individualized service experience

*% Organizational members are highly brand literate

Within the more successful banking brands, staff with direct inthaence upon

or involvement with branding matters were highly brand literate, having a comprehensive understanding of their brand and its implications for their job

Compared to product branding, banking branding is more dependent on employees

It is, therefore, essential that all staff understand the brand so each element of the internal value chain adds value in the desired coherent manner, and there is a link between the internal and external brand Without a strong connection between the internal and external brand, it becomes almost impossible for a significant consumer

telationship Lo develop

Employees with more successful brands have a much elearer and consistent understanding of their brands They commonly provided short, sharp statements characterizing (heir brand, which resonated across levels and funeGons Within the

31

less successful brands, particularly managers that are more senior often gave very elaborate and sometimes confusing brand explanations, Additionally, some

sespondonls amongst the less successful brands confused advertising slogans with brand essence statements Krom reality and theory we found that the brands may not

be salient and did not make a strong conection with consumers

Fimployees working with more success[ul brands appeared to have a greater

understanding of how their departments contributed to brand success, and how ther

‘behavior impacted upon the brand in the eyes of consumers Liverything we do has

to contribute Lo the brand and if not anything is coutribuling then you have to ask if

we are doing the right thing making sure we operate in UR in a way that is

consistent with the brand It was also notable that the brand understanding within the more successful brands was independent of sentorily and functional area Ofien, respondents within the less successful brands had received minimal or no education about the brand and therefore could either not understand that a services brand is

amore than just ils advertising, or not appreciate the implications of the brand for

their role The less successful brands tended to be poorly understood, within the

orgatnzalions’ lower ranks and outside the marketing function This reflects a theme

within the branding literature refer to an overall lack of wniderstanding about

branding

c Fundamental principles of building a brand

When do any thing we often have a principle, to do that we have clear direction

in dong Building brand is not exception, in building brand, we also need a principle

The following are the fundamental principles of building a brand:

« Differentiate yourself, Whether you choose to highlight your education, your high-tech equipment, an aspect of your service, or

your expertise, focus on something thal sels you apart

+ Create a position Positioning is the place a product or scrvice occupies in the minds of prospects A firm might specialize in a

spovific service or locus on a specific audionce Decide what position

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suits your background, abilities, and audicnes, and then build the marketing plan around that

« Be consistent and persistent After determiring the differentiator and position, create the brand by advertising and promotion Repetition in

more than one medium is key factor Print ads, direct mail, radio, the

Tuternct, speaking engagements, Tewspaper arlicles—any available medium should be used to communicate your name and your message

to the target audience

* Customize your services Once you have built your brand, begin

refining your business to fit your identity If the business is about personalized services, qualify its identity by offering a specified

amount of one-on-one Lime with chents

a Key Criteria in Building Bank Brands

Here we focus on a review of the relevant services management and services

branding literature lo undersland the problem of developing successful services brands Many papers representing the defining issue in the management of banks

But the service encourler frequently is the banks from the customer’s point of

view’ Yot often front-line empleyces are not trained to understand customers and

do not have discretion to ensure effective responses 'urthermore, customer-facing staff may he relatively poorly paid, resulting in low levels of motivation and

sesponsibility This can be disastrous for the bank and its brands

Competitors easily copy products; but service is not Because, service

depends on the culture of the organization, the training and attitudes of its

employees, it is more difficult to build and sustain successfully and it is more difficult to copy As we see that “banking is perhaps the most sustainable

differential advantage im bunlding successful brands The most aflen raised criteria

for succecding with bank brands is having a foouscd position, followed by

consistency, values, system and other themes conducted an empirical study to

33

determine the key criteria in building banking brands The following some elements were mentioned most frequently by respondents

% Focused Position the bank brand must be positioned in the mind of prospective customers Positioning must be understood by both staff and customers Faced with an abundance of communocalion im the markei, this is indeed a challenging Lask To succeed, simple communication of the service brand is imperative; the frm must foous on creating few associations A positioning statement should associate the

brand with a restricted number of benefits Consistency is essential 1 all brands

marketing presents the challenge of variable quality through dependency on staff

The single most important and most difficult factor is achieving some kind of

consisieney in the experience thal consumers have of the brand Consistency could

be encouraged through systems Mor example, the way the ACB bank uses I'l to get

call centre to ask, in almost a mechanical marmer, a few questions to help locale the

caller’s details on their database Once confirmed, the support of the database

facilitates a more personal interaction When developing support systems for staff,

the organization needs lo cousider how these can be implemented across all poms

of customer contact

% Values

The third most apparent theme about successful services brands is that they

come from organizations, which have a clear view about their values, with a

culture, which is focused on doing the right things for the customer A successful

tank has a clear understanding of ils values, oflen expressed through the corporale

culture It has been proven that there is a clear connection between valucs and

behavior It is said that, values guide and motivate staff Management must also

“live the brand.”

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