J
n
New 'Stijl'
campaign
aims at
international
markets
eabo
band
In banking, as in art,
a clear concept
can make all the
difference.
M
Rabobank fS
For more than ten years, adver
tisements featuring Rembrandt
van Rijn, the famous 17th century
Dutch artist, helped to expand
our Group's profile abroad. Piet
Mondriaan took over that task at
the end of January, although the
objectives are now somewhat
different. In other words: Rabo
bank's international campaign has
changed its complexion.
Piet Mondriaan,
the new Rembrandt
Mondriaan
Issue 1/April 7, 1988
U. n.1» C+*r. Loméo
m The Dutch artist Mondriaan spent more than 20 years
refining a style of painting he called neo-plasticism.
Similarly, Rabobank carefully defined and refined its
industry grew, so did Rabobank, becoming the largest
domestic bank. Today, with total assets of US$ 75 bil-
ÜfjljllA
lion, Rabobank is one of the top 50 banks in the
world, with offices in major finanaal centres and ports
around the globe, active in financmg, agribusiness,
The
Art of Dutch Banking
commodities and every aspect of international bank
ing. And we still have our own clear, longterm
view of cliënt relationship, based on commitment,
Ho*, Xo-t Jaluu. Cn« AOCA «ANK (FiankliM 1
"iÜS'iiSJÏi.
xh. Siwngjn)
dedication and trust.
One of the advertisements hightighting the works of Mondriaan.
Although it is a great stride from
Rembrandt to Mondriaan, this step
is fully justified. Ton van Iperen of
the International Publicity Department has
been busily engaged in the preparations of
the campaign. 'Despite the positive results
of the Rembrandt campaign, you still have
to ask a number of questions', he thinks,
'what image do you want to establish on
the international market? How do you wish
to communicate? What are the long-term
effects?' The answers to these questions
and the results of the inquiry into the
image of our Group, triggered the prepara
tions for the new campaign.
Thanks to the advertisements featuring
Rembrandt's works, Rabobank has come to
be viewed as a genuine Dutch bank. This
was underscored by the slogan 'Rembrandt
country is Rabobank country'. Rabobank's
stature as an international bank is growing.
The number of our member banks' Dutch
customers who do business with other
countries is on the increase. Says Van Ipe
ren: 'This is testified by the growth in the
number of offices beyond our national fron
tiers. The new campaign can make that
clear. Rembrandt appeared to evoke a some-
what conservative image. Mondriaan is
more contemporary and links up with our
'way of banking', our co-operative structure.
The symbolism in his paintings typifies our
solid mode of operation.'
Whilst the campaign is referred to as
'Mondriaan campaign', this is actually not
quite right, we are here concerned with a
trend in Dutch art known as 'De Stijl', of
which Mondriaan was an exponent.
Says Van Iperen: 'The main point is the
brightness, strength and vision emanating
from 'De Stijl'. The work of other 'Stijl'
group members may serve our purpose as
well in the future. For that reason the
name of Mondriaan is given somewhat
less prominence than Rembrandt's in the
previous campaign. This is in conformity
with the criteria we have formulated. Along
with the requirement for international pro-
fessionalism we have opted for continuity
in the campaign. We stick to the 'art'
theme, which proved to be a positive
element in the Rembrandt advertisements.
The campaign has been tested in New
York and Singapore, with positive results.
It was further elaborated in close conjunc-
tion with the foreign-based offices. For the
present there are three versions of the ad-
vertisement, one destined for the sector
aimed at the Netherlands, one aimed at
agribusiness and one presenting a general
image of the Rabobank Group. The media
have been chosen with care. Says Van Ipe
ren: 'That is necessary in view of our rela-
tively limited budget and the widespread
target group we have to cover.' The adver
tisements are put in a number of major
financial and economie newspapers such as
the Financial Times, the Economist and the
Wall Street Journal. For better coverage they
are furthermore placed in publications that
directly support the various locations. Exam-
ples of these are Le Nouvel Economist in
France and the Far Eastern Economie Re-
view in Asia. An exception is West Germany,
where ADCA-BANK conducts its own cam
paign. Promotional activities following nat-
urally from the Mondriaan campaign have
also been developed. A case in point is the
sponsoring of the Mondriaan exhibition
staged at the Gemeentemuseum at The
Flague from February 20 to May 30. With
some 300 paintings and drawings this
museum boasts the world's biggest collec-
tion of Mondriaan's works. The exhibition
styled 'Mondriaan, From figuration to
abstraction' comprises 170 works owned by
the museum itself. In addition, 70 works
from the private collection of 92 year old
Sidney Janis of New York are displayed. The
latter collection has never been exhibited in
its entirety. Usually only a few works
lent out for an exhibition.
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan, usually
called 'Mondriaan' for short, is best known
for the 'lines and planes' technique used
in his works. Black lines and white planes,
combined with the colours yellow, blue and
red. Mondriaan was bom in Amersfoort, a
small town in the centre of the Nether
lands, on March 7 1872. In 1892 he went
to the art academy in Amsterdam. He
started by painting landscapes. His tech
nique evolved slowly. Not only the form of
objects painted by him changed, his col-
ouring also became different, i.e. brighter.
While at first a tree was represented by
him as a tree and a steeple as a steeple,
they were reduced to simple line patterns
later on. Mondriaan left for Paris in 1911
where he met people like Picasso and Bra-
que. This influenced his development to-
wards abstract art. During Word War I he
stayed in the Netherlands where he beca
me a contributor to the art magazine 'De
Stijl' among other publications. The threat
of World War II induced him to go to Lon-
don in 1938 and subsequently to New York
in 1940, where he died in 1944.