A study solutions for developing brand of anbinh bank in the period 2005 2010 60 34 05

Below are some reasons, which make me to, decided chose thistopic what makes ABbank to develop its brand in coming time First, under competitive pressures from foreign banks, domestic ba

vietnam national university, HANOI

hanoi school of business

vietnam national university, HANOI

hanoi school of business

Master of business administration thesis

Supervisor: dr nguyen viet anh

Hanoi – 2007

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

TÓM TẮT iii

DECLARATION iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

LIST OF TABLES viii

INTRODUCTION 1

1 Background 1

2 Objectives & aims 2

3 Research question 3

4 Scope of work 3

5 Data & process 3

6 Methods & approaches 4

7 Significance 4

8 Limitations 5

9 Expected results 5

10 Follow –up (potential) 5

11 Short introductions 5

11.1 Introduction 6

11.2 Theoretical Foundation 6

11.3 Research methodology 6

11.4 Solutions for Developing Brand of ABBank 6

11.5 Conclusion 6

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 7

1.1 Understanding Brands 7

1.1.1 What is brand? 7

1.1.2 Types of brand 9

1.1.3 Function of brand 9

1.1.4 What is branding? 10

1.1.5 Key Concepts in Building Brand 11

1.1.6 The Corporate Brand 12

1.2 Branding strategy 16

1.2.1 Positioning 17

1.2.2 Brand Equity 17

1.2.3 Value 17

1.2.4 Brand Image and Identity 18

1.2.5 Brand Popularity 18

1.2.6 Service and Banking Branding 19

1.2.7 Yin and Yang Model to Branding 19

1.3 Building banking brands 20

1.3.1 Introduction about brand in banking 20

1.3.2 Factors in building strong brand 25

1.3.3 Communicating banking brands 36

1.3.4 What brand model for bank 41

1.4 Experience in building and developing banking brands 43

1.4.1 Failures and Success in building brand 43

1.4.2 Experience in building brand 44

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY & EMPIRICAL FINDINGS 48

2.1 Research Approach 48

2.2 Research Method 49

2.3 Data collection method 49

2.4 Overview of the case ABBank 51

2.4.1 Introduction 51

2.4.2 History and development process of ABBank 52

2.4.3 Mission, Vision and Objectives of ABBank 54

2.5 Empirical findings 57

2.5.1 Empirical Data 57

2.5.2 Data analysis 58

2.6 Status of brand development in ABBank 72

2.7 Why are Vietnamese banking brands not great? 74

2.7.1 Overview of banking brand in Vietnam 74

2.7.2 Actual existences of bank branding in Vietnam 75

2.7.3 Why are Vietnamese bank brands not great? 80

CHAPTER 3: SOLUTIONS FOR DEVELOPING BRAND OF ABBANK 86

3.1 Orientations develop banking industry in coming time 86

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

3.1.2 Government orientation in developing banking services 88

3.1.3 The future of banking branding 95

3.2 Difficulties and challenges in developing brand of ABBank 97

3.2.1 Difficulties to ABBank 97

3.2.2 Challenges to ABBank 100

3.3 Solutions for developing ABBank brand 101

3.3.1 Overall solutions for developing ABBank brand 101

3.3.2 Application of Brand Resonance Pyramid model in ABBank 113

3.3.3 Recommendations 117

CONCLUSIONS 119

REFERENCES 124 APPENDIX

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ABBank: An Binh Bank

CJS Bank: Commercial Joint- Stock BankEVN: Electricity of Vietnam GroupPR: Public Relation

SBV: State Bank of Vietnam

SOC Bank: State-owned commercial bankVCB: Vietcombank

WTO: World trade organization

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1- 1: Importance of brand to banks 20

Figure 1-2: Seven factors in building successful brands 26

Figure 1-3: Brand resonance model 42

Figure 2-1: Highlight of performances 2004-2006 54

Figure 2-2: Performance Results in the period 2004-2006 55

Figure 2-3: Employees‘ Understanding about brand 61

Figure 2-4: Understanding of employees about aspects of brand 62

Figure 2-5: Customers‘ choice 66

Figure 2.6: Satisfaction level of Customers about bank 67

Figure 2.7: Feeling of customers about ABBank brand 68

Figure 2.8: Brand personality of ABBank 69

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 63

Table 2-3: Logo of banks 66

Table 2-4: Factor affect to customer‘s choice 70

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

APPENDIX

Appendix 1: QUESTIONNAIRE (For customers)

Appendix 2: QUESTIONNAIRE (For Manager and employees)

1 Background

In recent years, Vietnam‘s economy has been always at high growth rate,banking is one of the industries has influence on the economy with the highestgrowth rate in a long time Besides that, go together high growth is competitivepressure becoming increasingly among banks as well as foreign banks which hasnot only a strong power of finance but also experience in a long time Especially,when Vietnam become formal member of WTO since the 1 January 2007, after thatthere are many banks establish, and there are more foreign banks send file to StateBank of Vietnam to ask the Vietnam State Bank to permit them open branch or evenestablish a new foreign bank with 100% their capital What‘s more, with pressurefrom domestic competitors as well as foreign banks, domestic must have planning

to compete in fierce competitive environment An Binh bank (ABBank) is notexception To compete with competitors from domestic to foreign, each bank musthave good brand Below are some reasons, which make me to, decided chose thistopic what makes ABbank to develop its brand in coming time

First, under competitive pressures from foreign banks, domestic banks moreincreasing, ABBank cannot develop without development planning of brand and acertain brand image in customers ‗mind Therefore, ABBank needs to have a plan

to develop its brand in coming time, before cope with direct competition fromforeign banks

Second, Vietnam participates into WTO (world trade organization), more andmore foreign banks penetrate into Vietnam market, and this makes a large pressurefor Vietnam‘s banks

Third, ABBank changed operation in commercial and investment banking in

a short time and it is new one in Vietnam financial market Therefore, ABBankmust do many things to build and develop a believable image in customers trust.Furthermore, ABBank has difficulties in finding solutions for developing brand aswell as improve brand image in customers‘ mind Therefore, ABBank has to not

only compete with domestic commercial banks but also prepare finance and humanresource to guarantee existence and development in fiercely competitiveenvironment as well as cope with foreign banks At this moment, ABBank has notyet an overall plan to develop its brand Therefore, it must have a plan to developbrand if it wants to exist and develop in fierce condition in today Moreover, thereare sub-reasons what make me interest in studying brand in banking, that is brand inbanking is new concept in Vietnam and the number of banks have strong brands isvery little.

2 Objectives & aims

The purpose of this study is to show the issues of ABBank case and proposethe solutions for developing brand of ABBank in the period 2007-2010 In thestudy, I will concentrate studying brand problem of ABBank and raise solutions todevelop its brand in coming time Furthermore, the purpose is to provide an overallseeing about bank brands in Vietnam financial market as well as foundation forfuture research in the banking brand in Vietnam in the future In this thesis, theobjectives 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 coming time

Aims of study

 Applying successfully solutions in the process of developing ABBank brand

 Help ABbank become one of five leading commercial joint stock banks in Vietnam in 2010

 Make ABBank brand becomes one strong brand in Vietnam

3 Research question

As mentioned above, there are several important issues need to considerwhen developing a brand Local bank brands not only have to compete with eachother but also to compete with international bank brands that have the advantage ofcapital and management skills to attract the consumer Because of new business ininvestment and commercial, ABBank actually has not an overall brand strategy fordeveloping bank brand The question to ABBank now is to find the solution fordeveloping 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 to 2010?

However, to have solutions for developing brand of ABBank, the studyneeds consider the issues discussed in this paragraph, the research problem isfurther narrowed down as one following sub research question

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

5 Data & process

With the main objectives are to find solution for ABBank to develop its brand in the period from now to 2010 Study takes information from many sources

as following:

Data source: Bank‘s information & findings, Internet, 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 worldand Vietnam such as Brand channel, Interbrand, Businessweek or vneconomy,saigontimes and so on Information from survey/interviews more than 100customers in Hanoi as well as over 100 employees of ABBank in Hanoi branch

6 Methods & approaches

The study uses case study to make clear the problem of brand in bankingsystem in Vietnam Moreover, to have information for this study, this studyconcentrates on survey customers and employees by some ways such asquestionnaires, interview and observation or in research method, we use case studymethod Especially, in the survey, we use three methods that includesquestionnaires, interview, observation

This study will be an empirical research, which preliminarily adopts thefollowing: Review of related literature/documentation, survey, in-depth interview,Review of related literature/documentation: this will examine the multidisciplinarytheories of and empirical studies on brand in the literature In Surveys/interviewssessions: questionnaires will be developed and structured interviews are conducted

7 Significance

With the objective mentioned above, the study contributes several meanings

to banks in Vietnam On the theory, this study makes clear some aspects of thetheory of banking brand in general and in ABBank in particular This study is also agood reference for banks in Vietnam when they have demand to build brand It ishoped that this study will contribute to the body of knowledge on brand and showhow 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 andcome up with more suitable brand strategies and policies On the practice, this studygives 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 not consist of enterprises.

 Numbers of customers to interview and survey is not large.

9 Expected results

The study expects to show the following findings:

 Propose solutions for building and developing brand in ABBank

 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 after aperiod Other way of study will be analyzing the importance of brand to banks inABBank particularly and all over banks in Vietnam in generally This study is aninformation channel and reference source for banks in Vietnam when they want todevelop their brands Apply successfully in ABBank in the further future

11 Short introductions

With objective is considering brand development in ABBank, therefore, thisstudy concentrates on studying brand problem in ABBank case The result of studywill respect the status of brand development all over Vietnamese banks.Furthermore, the study will be conducted as a case study limited to ABBank andcertainly, will not directly be applicable to other banks in Vietnam In addition, thisstudy will only examine branded difficulties and show solutions for ABBank Due

to the standardized thesis format and for the sake of clarity, this thesis will bedivided into five clearly defined parts and chapters as follows:

11.1 Introduction

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

to build interest in the topic and help the readers understand the motivation forchoosing the subject

11.2 Theoretical Foundation

This chapter presents to the readers about basic theory of brand and brand inbanking, consist of factors, criteria and process to build a successful brand inbanking The chapter focuses on considering internal factors and criteria as well asothers relate to building a strong brand in banking Beside that, this chapter alsobrings the theoretical foundation and different, more detail understanding of brand

in general and banking brand in particular

11.3 Research methodology

This chapter explains the theoretical, empirical and analytical approachesthat were used for the study It also seeks to establish the validity and reliability ofthe paper Moreover, this chapter shows the research methodology in detail and allfindings on the research based on reaching above objectives as well as mentionmodel for developing in the case And present the overview of the case study

11.4 Solutions for Developing Brand of ABBank

This chapter bases on the results of the survey, interview, observation andstudy in relation to research questions and the theory presented in chapter one andtwo More importantly, this chapter indicates difficulties and challenges of ABBankand since then propose appreciate solutions, recommendations for bank indeveloping its brand in the coming time

11.5 Conclusion

This part will summarize the findings of the study and give out conclusionsabout the study Furthermore, through comparison between theory and practicalunderstanding this study gives out implications for further research of building anddeveloping brand in Vietnamese banks

CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Since 1 January 2007, Vietnam became formal member of WTO; this is anopportunity for Vietnam economy as well as most enterprises However, go togetheropportunity is challenge and challenge in here is extremely large, if we have no wellpreparation we will fail, especially to banking industry, which is easily affected byinternational and multinational corporations such as HSBC of UK or Citibank ofAmerica… With a strong power of finance and labors force as well as over onehundred years experience they are easy to defeat domestic banks when they arepermitted to open their own banks in Vietnam market It is necessary to build anddevelop brand and this is an important task even necessary mission to all Why?Building brand in order to assert banks‘ position, credit, and reputation is the mostimportant task in this period Through building brand, banks improve image,competitive ability, develop market, keep market share sustainable and enhancecompetitive ability to not only among domestic banks but also among foreignbanks

Branding is a relatively new concept for the banking industry Banks areslowly realizing that they need to manage their strategic assets, too Competition inthe global business environment is tough and achieving a unique position andcompetitive advantage becomes more and more difficult and expensive The highlevel of investment necessary to maintain production capabilities and rising cost ofR&D for product differentiation makes strong marketing capabilities and uniquebrands pre-requisites for modern companies to cover these heavy investments Howcan 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 aname, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them, intended to identifythe goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them

from those of competition In other words, where product features can be copied inconstantly diminishing periods, brands offer companies the possibility ofdistinguishing themselves from their competitors Whereas products offer tangiblebenefits, such as different uses, and feature tangible attributes, such as price andquality and physical characteristics, brands are much more complex A brand isoften loaded with symbolic meaning; it can bring up associations with seeminglyunrelated subjects that have been linked with the brand, a perception of qualitybeyond physical attributes, or other positive/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, thecommunication they have with the outside world, and the associations all thoseelements bring up Branding is ideally done in a manner that appeals to the needsand wants of the proposed target audience, and thus communicates to that audienceissues that give them a positive impression Building profitable brands is a hardtask, especially with the huge competition in today Only approximately 5% of newbrands succeed, and even huge, well-known banks or companies often experiencethe need to downsize their brand portfolios However, the value of a strong brandcan be immense, so a look into what researchers has deemed effective ways ofbuilding 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 marketing tool

 Brand as a source of sustainable competitive advantage

Branding started to develop and come to the fore in the marketing process in theUSA in the 19th and early 20th centuries Many famous brands date back to thistime, for instance, American Express and Coca-Cola With growing consumersophistication branding became associated with a mix of values that gaveconsumers a message about a product Consumers saw the brand as encompassing a

specific set of values, which would lead them to reject an alternative unless theirperceptions were altered or other factors.

1.1.2 Types of brand

A brand in many ways is an external manifestation of an internal culture Theessential point of a brand is that it inspires customer loyalty and/or a method ofdistinguishing one product from similar rivals For the owner of a brand, twoimportant characteristics should flow from the existence of the brand There are twotypes of brand

Manufacturer brands

Manufacturer brands are created by producers and bear their chosen brandname The producer is responsible for marketing the brand The brand is owned bythe producer By building their brand names, manufacturers can gain widespreaddistribution and build customer loyalty

Own label brands

Own-label brands are created and owned by businesses that operate in thedistribution channel – often referred to as ―distributors‖ Own-label branding – ifwell carried out – can often offer the consumer excellent value for money andprovide the distributor with additional bargaining power when it comes tonegotiating prices and terms with manufacturer brands negotiating prices and termswith manufacturer brands

1.1.3 Function of brand

Brand is very important to all banks Especially in this stage, whencompetitive pressure is large and a lot of difficulties and challenge come todomestic banks Therefore, to understand about function of brand is the way helpbanks to use brand as a tool in the development process Below are some functions

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

 First, brand has recognizable and distinguishable function

 Third, Making feeling and confidence

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.

a Branding Context

Relate to brand name, there are many factor such as customers service, pricequality, advertising, marketing sales, public relation, financial performance, facilityappearances, competitors offerings, internet presence, employees behavior,

employee appearance…

b Service Branding

A holistic brand image integrates entities such as values, colors, name,symbols, words and slogans Many people argue that once an organizationestablishes a favorable brand image its main task is to ensure consistency Theyfurther argued that since service firms often follow a monolithic branding strategy,consumers mentally group all the corporation‘s portfolio together, expectinguniformity, thus management of brand consistency is even more important

Successful service brands also depend on good internal communicationprogrammers enabling greater consistency delivering the service experience,regardless of the customer‘s point of contact Having well designed induction andtraining programmers creates greater commitment, which is an importantcomponent in services brands

Many services branding issues require a company-wide approach to theirsolution and implementation Such issues include closing service quality gaps; afocus on internal and external stakeholders, including staff; a need to monitor thewhole service delivery process and the role of strong organizational values inmotivating staff to deliver the services brand

1.1.5 Key Concepts in Building Brand

Brand is common term and in that term, there are quite many conceptsrelated to it In this study, the research focuses mainly on finding difficulties andchallenges as well as solution for develop bank brand This section will examinekey concepts in this process Bank brands are different application of the brandconcept; however, the theory presented applies to 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 personality and a user personality The matchbetween 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 important source of imagery, a soft attribute of image.According to Aaker (1996), brand personality can create brand equity according tothree models: self – expression model, relationship basis model and functionalbenefit representation model

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

and brand personality A good brand name gives a good first impression and evokespositive 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 ahigh value to, or associate any superior attributes to your brand, it just means theyrecognize your brand and can identify it under different conditions Brandawareness consists of both brand recognition, which is the ability of consumers toconfirm 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 productcategory, category need, or some other similar cue Aided awareness occurs whenyou show or read a list of brands and the person expresses familiarity with yourbrand only after they hear or see it

Brand Positioning: A positioning statement tells in one sentence, what

business the company is in, what benefits it provides and why it is better than thecompetitors are The market position of a brand shows where a specific brand islocated It also shows the relationship to competitive brands We can determine themarket position of a brand based on the answers to the following four questions:

 Why (which benefits and advantages does the new brand bring to the

consumer)

 When (determining the opportunities for which the brand is most suitable)

 For whom (it is 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 fundamental

nature or quality Usually stated in two to three words, a brand‘s essence is the oneconstant across product categories and throughout the world Some examples are:Nike: Authentic Athletic Performance

Disney: Fun Family Entertainment

Starbucks: Rewarding Everyday Moments

Brand essence determines the corporate vision Without brand essence, wecannot 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 tobrand image or message of a bank or company that is corporate branding What iscorporate branding? Corporate branding is a potentially strong tool for re-aligning acorporate strategy and ensures that the corporation – big or small – is leveragingadequately on the untapped internal and external resources A strong CEO and adedicated management team are always seeking to raise their own bars and bechange agents for their corporations backed by a strong corporate branding strategy

A well-drafted and professionally managed corporate branding strategy andimplementation plan can be a powerful component of the boardroom work.According to this concept, corporate branding is often, but wrongly, referred to as

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 laterstage once the strategy has been decided upon It is often accompanied with a newcorporate slogan, and then everyone expects results to occur during the project.Corporate branding is a serious undertaking that entails more skills and activitiesthan just an updated glossy marketing facade with empty jargon

A strong corporate branding strategy can add significant value in terms ofhelping the entire corporation and the management team to implement the long-termvision, create unique positions in the market place of the bank and its brands, andnot the least to unlock the leadership potential within the organization Hence, acorporate branding strategy can enable the corporation to further advantage on itstangible and non-tangible assets leading to branding excellence throughout thecorporation

a) The Corporate Brand in the Banking Sector

Branding is the cornerstone of service marketing for the 21st century; thecorporate brand is the primary brand for banks In banking, the corporate brandbuilds on the identity of the corporation to offer a distinct promise to customers,shaped by all members of the organization Both bank brands and corporate brandsinvolve multiple interfaces, and employees are an important part of communicatingthe brand Because of the intangibility, heterogeneity and inseparability 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 is higher risk associated with intangibleproducts Customers must trust the bank through its brand, which helps consumers

to visualize the service That is why VCB or BIDV brand make confidence incustomers‘ 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 tocustomers Staffs, whose understanding, commitment, behavior, attitude andperformance are vital to the success of a brand, deliver services Services mustbecome more tangible through clear reference points, such as physical elements likefurniture and building design Fixed elements create a consistent offering, which isnecessary to build the brand in the future

Another important characteristic for branding services is inseparability,

meaning that the brand promise is delivered through staff and customer interaction.Services are usually produced on a regular basis with the customer, while customerswho are not a part of the production process buy products Therefore, serviceproviders have more opportunities to create a positive impression and strengthentheir brands To take advantage of their potential, service companies should alignprocesses, organizational structures, and the physical environment to deliver aconsistent superior service Due to the characteristic of inseparability, internalimplementation of the brand is very important for bank and its services Thus, thecorporate 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 creates value for the organization and its customers through brand

equity Brand is the most powerful weapon that the firm has 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 corporatebrands live in the past, present and the future Differentiation is not enough inbusiness today, it is also important that the sender of a message represents the realsource, which is the case for the corporate brand Businesses that come from acorporate body reassure stakeholders in insecure times

Moreover, as businesses are becoming more global, banks tend to emphasizecorporate brands instead of service and product brands The increased use of the

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

as well as the fragmentation of markets

The corporate brand is a strategic resource that guides the business andcreates value A general advantage to corporate brands is the economies of scalethat it generates in all aspects of communication, compared to the promotion ofindividual line brands As a result, of strong brand values, higher prices can becharged for services, and sales volumes are likely to increase It is easier tointroduce new services under the existing brand name, but it can be difficult to enternew markets if the brand does not fit the new customer segment In addition, if anew line fails, then more damage could occur than with a firm that practicesindividual branding The power of the corporate brand is clearly demonstrated byInterbrand‘s list of the world‘s 100 strongest brands, of which a vast majority iscorporate brands

By creating clusters of functional and emotional values for their brands,banks can add value to the lives of customers Customers generally do not createrelationships with individual products or services, but it might do so with a brand(which represents a set of promises) People argue that 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 worldand through their self-image Through this identity, the brand tries to achieve astrong emotional bond to the consumer, which gives the brand a special quality.Consequently, the brand becomes a guarantee of quality and reduces the perceivedrisk of purchasing the service

Bring the corporate brand to life through a range of planned, executed marketing activities, and make sure the overall messages are consistent,clear and relevant to the target audiences Make sure the various messages areconcise and easy to comprehend Do not try to communicate every single point

well-from the corporate branding strategy Instead, a selective approach will make much more impact using the same resources.

A brand is accountable and this is no different from a corporate brand Howmuch value does it provide to the corporation and how instrumental is the brand insecuring competitiveness? These are some of the questions that need to be answeredand that the CEO will automatically seek as part of a commitment to run thestrategy successfully The brand equity consists of various individually tailor-madekey performance indicators and needs to be tracked regularly A brand scorecardcan help facilitating an overview of the brand equity and the progression as thestrategy 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 orgroup of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors We can furtherlook at a brand to identify the maker or supplier of a product, while presentingspecific features, benefits and services to consumers Moreover, a brand is apromise to the consumer of what the product, service, or company stands for, and ofthe kind of experience, they can get from it

A brand incorporates a personality based on cultural factors including filmstars, sport heroes, or fictional characters Today‘s brands are viewed andunderstood from an emotional perspective Therefore, branding has to do with theway that customers perceive and buy things, not simply a characteristic of certainindustries A brand equals a ‗relationship‘, ‗reputation‘, a ‗set of expectations‘ and

a promise Moreover, they state that a brand is a combination of tangible andintangible attributes, symbolized in a trademark, which if properly managed, createsinfluence and generates value

1.2.1 Positioning

Positioning is the process by which a company offers its brands to theconsumer and positioning is an essential aspect of branding It is necessary that themessage to be communicated by all the organizations activities because any of themmay be the particular characteristic that the customers analyses and develops theirperception Moreover, the objective of the positioning as the process makes theoffer 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 inthe mind of prospects According to Aaker (1996), brand positioning refers to boththe process and the result of building or rebuilding an image for a brand relative to atarget market segment

1.2.2 Brand Equity

―Brand equity‖ refers to the value of a brand Brand equity is based on theextent to which the brand has high brand loyalty, name awareness, perceived qualityand strong product associations Brand equity also includes other ―intangible‖assets such as patents, trademarks and channel relationships Brands differ in theamount of power and value they have in the market place due to different factors.Powerful brands are known to have brand equity Brand equity is a set of brandassets and liabilities linked to a brand through its name and symbol, which adds orsubtracts from the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to thatfirm‘s customers (Aaker, 1996) Nevertheless, the brand equity is based on theextent to which it has brand loyalty, name, awareness, perceived quality, strongbrand associations, and other assets such as patents, trademarks and channelrelationships Furthermore, brands that have strong brand equity are seen as avaluable 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 brandpersonality These characteristics of the brand cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard orsmelled before they are bought For example, trust, freedom, power and excitement.However, tangible values are the benefits that the customer experiences that are thefunctional or physical aspects of the brand These characteristics of the brand can beseen, tasted felt, heard or smelled before they are bought Perceived value is theconsumers overall evaluation of the benefits of a product, which is based on whatthey receive (ex: quality, satisfaction, or convenience) and what is given (ex: price,time, effort) Furthermore, perceived value is completely based on the individual.Perceived quality is the consumers perception about a products overall excellence orsuperiority 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 built by creating a strong brand personality, 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 Consumer‘s beliefs may differ based on their individual

experience 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 run as well as in the long run, by creating a favorable brand image in theminds of consumers As a result, the brands popularity will have a positivecontribution to the brand's loyalty, image, or market sales.

1.2.6 Service and Banking Branding

A company uses product branding when they decide that the product shouldstand on its own, and should be left to succeed or fail without any support from thecorporate brand or company name Usually fast moving consumer goods areassociated with this level of branding Corporate brand is when the brand namegives all its identity to the products or service, and then the products receivestrength and association through the companies brand values In extreme cases ofcorporate 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 everyindividual, and it provides balance so that the individual is harmonized Like Yinand Yang, the human brain has two hemispheres; one on the left, another on theright The left side of the brain deals with logic and rationality, while the right side

is concerned with emotions, dreams and creativity In branding the Yin representsthe rational, while the Yang represents the emotional Both the left side and the rightside of the brain are important for people to have because it creates balance Based

on this concept, bank either builds their brand personality to appeal to therationality, or the emotions of consumers, while others use both This way oflooking at consumers began with packaged consumer goods, but has adoptedrapidly by practically every type of business in various industries, since it hasshown to provide many benefits With specific products are services, therefore, thebank need to build a brand must based on combination of opposite factors That isphilosophy make many successful brands in Asia, especially in Japan with famousbrand 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 provetheir ability, management ability as well as finance power before have customers‘absolute confidence To do this, banks must understand the importance of brand andother factors, which have influence on process of developing brand of bank Nextstep we will consider elements relate to brand and role of brand in banking

1.3.1 Introduction about brand in banking

a The importance of brand to bank in business

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

Figure 1.1: Importance of brand to banks

[Source: Steffen Leditschke, Successful branding in the

Financial Sector 2004, p50]

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

you communicate and the experience you deliver must be closely aligned to build apositive brand image Finance in general and banking in particular is, as it were, thestomach of the country, from which all the other organs take their tone Brands haveuntil recently been a relatively minor part of the marketing message of retailfinancial services companies and bankers in particular.

With changes over in 20 years, since economic reform began in 1986 havechanged the pattern of banking Some of these have been driven by changes inregulation, but more significant have been the changes in consumer behavior.Today, demand of customers has changed much Customers are now more aware ofsafety of their asset and comfortable with new technologies Customers are morewilling to purchase banking services such as home banking, internet banking….They have embraced change, regulatory changes have made many financialproducts more transparent, and thus more easily compared

b Why should banks try 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 strongtheir brand in order to attract customers as well as to cope with competitors If theydon‘t build brand for themselves that means they will make them in trouble in theprocess of competition To avoid being merged and acquisitioned by foreign largebanks, banks must have strong enough brand to cope with them as well as to attractcustomers There are many advantages to businesses when they build successfulbrands for them These include higher prices, higher profit margins, betterdistribution, and customer loyalty Businesses that operate successful brands arealso much more likely to enjoy higher profits A brand is created by augmenting acore product with distinctive values that distinguish it from the competition This isthe process of creating brand value

c Brand value in banking sector

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

trust the bank company with large sums of money Branding is particularlyimportant to the financial sector in the current economy, since investors and otherbig spenders are being cautious about making large financial transactions.

Finance Brand is a London company that tracks the value of bank brands Thecompany tracks 150 global brands across all industries The top financial servicesbrand, holding the number 13 spot on Finance Brand‘s worldwide list, is Citibank.(According to Interbrand, the world's top brand name is Coca-Cola with brand value

is over $ 70 billion)

Scandals are not the only factor affecting brand value in the banking sector.Banks and financial service firms have sought to trim their budgets over the last fewyears Like other industries, the banking sector has had to react to the recenteconomic downturn by becoming leaner and more efficient Seeing losses ininvestment units, banks are looking to their consumer divisions to find a profit As aresult, instead of being rewarded for bringing banks their business, customers areoften seeing higher fees and decreasing personalized customer service Some bankshave even adjusted their fee structure to encourage customers to use ATM machinesinstead dealing with bank tellers These cost-cutting measures lead to adepersonalized banking experience in which customers have little emotionalconnection to the bank's brand The lack of human contact is increased by moderntechnology While many basic banking transactions can now be handled either at anATM or at a bank's Web site, neither outlet is capable of perceiving, let aloneaddressing, a customer's fears or frustrations Unfortunately, as banks rely more andmore on technological outlets for service, there is often fewer helpful andknowledgeable staff in the bank lobby when the customer shows up in person

Maintaining the value of a single bank brand is difficult Corporation in theindustry bring new branding challenges The function of a brand is to make the bankand its services recognizable and memorable In corporation, however, corporatepolitics often become involved The fate of the acquired bank's name can beperceived as a symbol for what is happening to the bank itself Employees are afraid

for their careers often fight to preserve what they believe are the core identity oftheir company.

d Signals to recognize a strong brand in market

It is not easy to recognize the mistakes of bankers in their investment ofbrand building Experience from crisis in 1997 in Asian countries gave us importantlessons about right investment decision in branding A large brand withoutdifference or specific characteristic or image, it could not get profit The same to thecase a large brand and famous service without profit also lead to failure in the nearfuture

Moreover, to have a strong brand as well as to know that we need to knownecessary signals to a brand in market What are signals to know a brand is strong inthe financial market? There are many signals to 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 inthe future Therefore, how to measure our brand whether it is strong or not Youcannot describe how your brand difference to competitors in one word Withproduct are invisible, it is very difficult for banks when make customers see thedifference between your service to competitors If do not that, your brand is notstrong Why did you succeed? What would you have in that case? The answer iscertainly profit However, how could we to cope with financial 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 Thatmean your customers also cannot feel Therefore, you have to answer clearly thequestion: ―what your brand‘s mission is? How does it develop and where is yourbrand‘s Customers only remember your brand‗s symbol when it is clearly differentand 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 assets disappear, how much is your bank value? At that time, only brand is factorcan help your company to restore

Who make brand in first time is very important, all people remember tofounder of company, who help company to growth as today Moreover, to make agood image of leader in customers ‗s mind is very important of all brand, especiallythat is commercial bank, where all beliefs have been put in one leader‘s hand

Above are some analyses about six standards to know a strong brand inmarket We need to strive make a good image through service quality and othersfactors which relate to customers as 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 in general as well as in banking field in particular is acomplicated and difficult process To build and develop a brand, the bank needshave a detail and suitable process A number of models of the branding processexist in the literature; however, they have generally been criticized for the lack ofempirical testing The brand building processes in general and will be reviewed inthis section Brand building process focuses on building the overall brand Since allbrands have an identity, the framework is applicable to any type of brand Afterconsidering factors, which relate to a bank brand, we found that, building brand is aprocess of combination and choice of invisible and visible attributes as well withobjective to differentiate product and service by meaning, interesting and attractiveway To build a sustainable brand in the long time, bank can apply seven steps asfollow:

First step is marketing research This is a necessary preparation step to any

marketing expert or brand expert To have this information system, bank canoutsource or to do by itself If bank does research by it self, there are two types:qualitative research method (Focus group, Face to Face, interview) or quantitativeresearch 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 comingyears In other words, brand mission express the reason for bank‘s existence Beloware some roles of brand mission Unify bank‘s development aims and makeconsistence in leadership point out a strategy to use human resource Makingmeasurement for development of brand and make base for building developmentobjective in the future Encourage employees towards a common developmentobjective HSCB is a typical example for this or Sony, IBM and Honda…

Third step after building brand mission is to map out strategy for brand

development That mean we must have a strategy for developing brand in short termand long term Fourth step, based on strategy of brand development, we continue to

choose position for brand or Brand positioning In this step, 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 set of imaginativeness, which bank wants its image

to survive in customers‘ mind through service, bank, employees‘ behaviors, logo,symbol….However, it is not enough when building system, and we must makecustomers remember, understand and accept our brand In other words, we have tobring brand to public This is very important step in building brand To do that,many people know brand Through that, we assert the success of brand in themarket That is core problem lead 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 measurementalso help to know the effectiveness level of cost budget to developing brand inbank

1.3.2 Factors in building strong brand

a General brand factors

To answer the question: What factors are important 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 qualitybrands achieve higher market share and higher profitability that their inferiorcompetitors

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, servicestandards, 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 hasbecome tired

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

to be used to develop and sustain customer perceptions Initially, the challenge is tobuild awareness, then to develop the brand personality and reinforce the perception

Credibility: In terms of brand development, first-mover means that it is

possible for the first successful brand in a market to create a clear positioning in theminds of target customers before the competition enters the market

Long-term perspective: This leads to the need to invest in the brand over

the long-term Building customer awareness, communicating the brand‘s message

and creating customer loyalty takes time This means that management must invest

in a brand, perhaps at the expense of short-term profitability

Internal marketing: Management should ensure that the brand is marketed

internally as well as externally To do this, we mean that the whole business shouldunderstand the brand values and positioning This is particularly important inbanking businesses where a critical part of the brand value is the type and quality ofservice that a customer receives and in banking there are 70% influence to brandfrom internal factors

b Internal brand factors driving successful banking brands

There is little research has been undertaken to identify and understand factorscontributing to brand success in the banking sector Due to the intangible nature ofbrands leading to different people holding different interpretations, managementfaces the challenge of ensuring that all employees have similar interpretations toensure coherent enactment of brand strategies The organizations with moresuccessful brands were characterized by the following factors: a holistic, consistentand integrated approach to branding, a focus upon excellent and personalizedcustomer service, an ethos, which challenges the norm, responsiveness to change, ahigh degree of brand literacy, and a synergy between the brand and organizationalculture

 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 everythingexperienced by the customer The synergy between each element of the experienceenables the brand to be more than the sum of its parts This is highly appropriate in

a services context, services branding uses these in addition to intangibles such as thebehavior of employees during the service encounter Conversely, amongst lesssuccessful banking brands, the branding approach was a more nạve and simplistic.

 Consistent and integrated approach to branding

For the successful banking brands, consistency between the brand elementswas recognized as vital to brand success, a fact reflected in the literature We cansee the importance of consistency throughout the organization in terms ofcommunications about the brand We also notes the need for consistency, with themost effective way of encouraging this being to gain employees‘ belief in the valuesgoverning their behavior To encourage consistency all employees should work onthe brand in an integrated fashion Many theories stress that an integrated brandingeffort is everyone‘s responsibility in the company The bank also needs to highlightthat for a brand to appear as a coherent whole, managers from different functionsand 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 between the more and less successful bankingbrands, was the degree to which the brand was dynamic and responsive to change.Essentially, a brand can be described as a cluster of functional and emotionalvalues Societies are dynamic, as reflected in the constantly evolving values held byconsumers It, therefore, follows that for a brand to be successful over time; itsvalues may need to be adjusted to reflect changes in consumers‘ values Rather, thebrand 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 successful brandsalso having a long heritage, both of them demonstrate certain unique aspects to theservice offered which reflect the ways in which the brands have responded tochanges in the environment Retaining the brands‘ anonymity, one of the successfulbrands has harnessed changes in technology to offer customers a particularly

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

 Synergy between brand and culture

Definitions of organizational culture are conspicuous in their abundance anddiversity We can temporarily understand culture on three levels – artifacts, valuesand basic assumptions It is at the values level that the link between brand andculture is most evident If there is congruence between the organization‘s espousedvalues, employees‘ values and brand values, then the resulting synergy shouldencourage a strong brand which is genuinely ‗lived‘ by employees It was foundthat the successful brands were capitalizing on their corporate culture and werecongruent with this The brand often reflects the culture and values of theorganization The brand is part of the culture Its combination of factors, differentways we live our lives and vision and not necessarily a specific thing says ―this isthe brand We also remember that we cannot copy a culture or people and our brand

is based in our culture and we can do whatever we want with the brand but unlessthe 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, gettingthem to change We have been looking to change culture for years and still haveloads to do The influence of corporate culture upon the success of brands has beennoted 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 organizationneeds a ‗corporate religion‘ whereby all members believe the same things about theorganization and share the same values Because culture relates to the shared valueswithin an organization and through influencing staff behavior impacts uponperformance If the values of the organization and the brand are congruent, thenemployees will not face such conflict 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 The brand mayplay a more vital role in terms of differentiation for services than for products, giventhat tangible evidence of differentiation is less feasible with services A basis fordifferentiation succeeds when genuinely relevant to and welcomed by consumers.Many people argue that service organizations with the strongest brands demonstrate

a conscious effort to be different and to ensure that what they stand for is importantand valuable to their customers In spite of the acknowledged importance ofdifferentiation but many corporate brands have no value proposition? They aresimply large, stable firms that can be trusted to deliver adequate products andservices, but with no point of distinction and sometimes with a hint of beingbureaucratic and ponderous We found that the more successful banking brandsdifferentiated by challenging the norm Of the less successful brands, respondentsnoted that there was generally very little differentiation or deviation from the norm.For banking brand, therefore, to be successful there needs to be something, whichmakes it unique

 The brand is based upon excellent, personalized customer service

Another factor strongly related to banking brand success was the quality and

nature of customer service Essentially a brand is a cluster of functional andemotional values, which enables an organization to make a promise about a uniqueand welcomed experience Whilst it is difficult to make the functional valuesunique, 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 quality customer service is well grounded inthe literature The uniqueness of a services brand is more likely to emanate from theaugmented level More generally, performing a needed service and performing it

better than competitors is a powerful brand-building combination Within one of themore 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 andthe bonding between the brand and consumers were regarded as being significantlylower One aspect of customer service, treating customers with respect and notpatronizing them, was noted as particularly important One of the choicesorganizations face is whether to adopt a ‗loose‘ or ‗tight‘ style of brandmanagement However, the importance recognized by managers of the moresuccessful brands of personalizing the customer service experience is more inkeeping with the idea of loose branding There is a realization that seniormanagement must relinquish their dominant control over the brand, so staff can beallowed, or even encouraged to personalize the experience for consumers Suchpersonalization is governed by the brand‘s values, as these define boundaries andenable staff to understand what appropriate behavior is That is why; there are sofew successful banking brands, given how consumers seem to welcome anindividualized service experience

 Organizational members are highly brand literate

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

or involvement with branding matters were highly brand literate, having acomprehensive 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 theinternal value chain adds value in the desired coherent manner, and there is a linkbetween the internal and external brand Without a strong connection between theinternal and external brand, it becomes almost impossible for a significant consumerrelationship to develop

Employees with more successful brands have a much clearer and consistentunderstanding of their brands They commonly provided short, sharp statementscharacterizing their brand, which resonated across levels and functions Within the

less successful brands, particularly managers that are more senior often gave veryelaborate and sometimes confusing brand explanations Additionally, somerespondents amongst the less successful brands confused advertising slogans withbrand essence statements From reality and theory we found that the brands may not

be salient and did not make a strong connection with consumers

Employees working with more successful brands appeared to have a greaterunderstanding of how their departments contributed to brand success, and how theirbehavior impacted upon the brand in the eyes of consumers Everything we do has

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

we are doing the right thing making sure we operate in HR in a way that isconsistent with the brand It was also notable that the brand understanding withinthe more successful brands was independent of seniority and functional area Often,respondents within the less successful brands had received minimal or no educationabout the brand and therefore could either not understand that a services brand ismore than just its advertising, or not appreciate the implications of the brand fortheir role The less successful brands tended to be poorly understood, within theorganizations‘ lower ranks and outside the marketing function This reflects a themewithin the branding literature refer to an overall lack of understanding aboutbranding

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 aprinciple The following are the fundamental principles of building a brand:

 Differentiate yourself Whether you choose to highlight youreducation, your high-tech equipment, an aspect of your service, or your expertise, focus

on something that sets you apart

 Create a position Positioning is the place a product or serviceoccupies in the minds of prospects A firm might specialize in a specific service or focus

on a specific audience Decide what position

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

 Be consistent and persistent After determining the differentiator andposition, create the brand by advertising and promotion Repetition in more than onemedium is key factor Print ads, direct mail, radio, the Internet, speaking engagements,newspaper articles—any available medium should be used to communicate your nameand your message to the target audience

 Customize your services Once you have built your brand, beginrefining 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 time with clients

d Key Criteria in Building Bank Brands

Here we focus on a review of the relevant services management and servicesbranding literature to understand the problem of developing successful servicesbrands Many papers representing the defining issue in the management of banks.But the service encounter frequently is the banks from the customer‘s point ofview‘ Yet often front-line employees are not trained to understand customers and

do not have discretion to ensure effective responses Furthermore, customer-facingstaff may be relatively poorly paid, resulting in low levels of motivation andresponsibility This can be disastrous for the bank and its brands

Competitors easily copy products; but service is not Because, servicedepends on the culture of the organization, the training and attitudes of itsemployees, it is more difficult to build and sustain successfully and it is moredifficult to copy As we see that ―banking is perhaps the most sustainabledifferential advantage in building successful brands The most often raised criteriafor succeeding with bank brands is having a focused position, followed byconsistency, values, system and other themes conducted an empirical study to

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

The bank brand must be positioned in the mind of prospective customers.Positioning must be understood by both staff and customers Faced with anabundance of communication in the market, this is indeed a challenging task Tosucceed, simple communication of the service brand is imperative; the firm mustfocus on creating few associations A positioning statement should associate thebrand with a restricted number of benefits Consistency is essential to all brands

Consistency was seen as being almost as important as having a focusedpositioning in successful banking brands As many others have observed services,marketing presents the challenge of variable quality through dependency on staff.The single most important and most difficult factor is achieving some kind ofconsistency in the experience that consumers have of the brand Consistency could

be encouraged through systems For example, the way the ACB bank uses IT to getcall centre to ask, in almost a mechanical manner, a few questions to help locate thecaller‘s details on their database Once confirmed, the support of the databasefacilitates a more personal interaction When developing support systems for staff,the organization needs to consider how these can be implemented across all points

of customer contact

The third most apparent theme about successful services brands is that theycome 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 bank has aclear understanding of its values, often expressed through the corporate culture Ithas been proven that there is a clear connection between values and behavior It issaid that, values guide and motivate staff Management must also ―live the brand.‖