Rabo
band
THE NETHERLANDS
Rotterdam:
the world's
foremost port.
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Clear choice of
sponsoring
projects in
Holland: horses
and music
The Netherlands:
Rabobank land
Issue 5/December 13, 1989
Wlth more than 575,000
inhabitants Rotterdam Is the
second largest city In the
Netherlands. During the past
hundred years Rotterdam has
developed from a small port
to the world's no. 1 harbour
town. In World War II most of
the city was destroyed by se-
vere bombing. After the war,
Rotterdam was rebuilt and ex-
panded into an industrial cen-
tre and dlstribution polnt of
great importance to the West
European markets. For Rabo
bank Nederland thls was rea-
son enough to establlsh an of
fice there.
Some 32,000 ocean-going
ships are good for an annual
total goods transhipment of
250 million tons, 32 per cent
of which consists of crude oil
that finds its way to Rotter-
dam's industrial area for pro
cessing. The engineering in-
dustry also occupies an impor
tant position both in and
around Rotterdam.
In the oid city there is a new
centre with modern architec
ture. Between cube-shaped
houses a passage leads to
the oid harbour with its histori-
fir*
Sf .s-w
n i "T'
cal inland waterway barges, a
slipway and pubs, cafés and
restaurants all around. Rotter
dam has shopping prome
nades, interesting museums
and art galleries, the Gothic
St. Laurens Church and a
large zoo, calied 'Blijdorp'.
Close to Rotterdam there are
several beaches and outstand-
ing watersport centres. A part
of the Rotterdam harbour area
where memories of the old
days are still to be
found, is the his-
torical town 'Delfs-
haven'. In 1620
the Pilgrims met
here at the Pilgrim
Father's Church
before sailing for
the New World.
This was also the
birthplace of one
of Hoiland's na-
tional heroes, Piet
Heyn, who became
Lord Admirai of the
Dutch Fleet. One
of Rotterdam's
major attractions
is 'The Euromast',
a gigantic tower of
185 m, the high-
est point of the
Low Countries. An
elevator spirals its
way up to the top,
affording the visi-
tor a fantastic view of the city
and its outlying areas, or as
Rotterdam is often calied: the
port with a city attached to it.
Rabobank Nederland has had
its own office (photo) in Rotter
dam since 1981. This is not a
member bank, but an outpost
of the head office which han
dles business for the very
large customers in the Rotter
dam region. These include
goods merchants specialising
Over the years, Rabobank
Nederland has sponsored a
varlety of projects. Recently,
however, an important con-
centratlon has taken place.
Careful thought has also been
glven to the choice of pro
jects. Sponsoring by Rabo
bank Nederland is now fo-
cused on two areas: horses
and music.
For Rabobank, sponsoring pri-
marily presents an opportunity
to influence its image. But
marketing objectives are be-
coming more important too.
The possibilities for sponsor
ing are selected in relation to
the target groups. As a Dutch-
based organization, Rabobank
has been involved for many
years in equestrian events
and the breeding of Dutch
horses. This involvement
largely sterns from the fact
that many of Rabobank's
members and customers are
active in the horse-riding
world. If the bank sponsors
equestrian sports, that sup
port ultimateiy benefits its
members and customers. Last
summer a four-year sponsor
ing contract was signed with
the largest Dutch stud organ
ization, the Koninklijk Neder
lands Warmbloed Paarden
stamboek (KNWP).
A second spearhead sponsor
ing activity is music. A great
many concerts were spon
sored this year, a very special
event being the Second Inter
national Franz Liszt Piano
Competition held in Utrecht.
The winner of this contest, the
Italian Enrico Pace, went on a
tour of the Netherlands at
Rabobank's request. He gave
concerts in the towns where
the nine regional offices of
Rabobank Nederland are io-
cated. In addition, attention
was paid to the Holland Festi
val of Ancient Music which is
also international in character.
Music and horses are the re-
sult of a clear-cut choice. Why
these themes? Wim Louwerse,
Public Relations Department,
says: 'It was obvious to us
that a choice had to be made.
The problem of sponsoring by
the Rabobank Group was that
it was not recognizable be-
cause of the wide variety of
projects. As an organization,
you want to present a clearly
identifiable image to the out-
side world and be recognized
through an association with
something. That explains why
we are now concentrating ex-
clusively on some main lines.'
The offices outside the Nether
lands are also already spon
soring several activities. Con-
tinuing the Dutch policy, atten
tion is paid to music and
horses there too. The New
York office, for example, con-
tributed to the National Horse
Show held in New Jersey in
November. Although still in its
infancy, sponsoring will devel-
op into an important instru
ment for image-building of the
organisation for the foreign-
based offices as well.
in the field of cereals and raw
materials for cattle feed, and
the large companies whose fi-
nancing requirements exceed
the facilities of the local
banks. Financing in a meta
context - in other words, to-
gether with a member bank -
is also a regular occurrence in
Rotterdam. The Rotterdam
branch also plays an impor
tant part in relation to the
Rabobank branches outside
the Netherlands. For, of
course, a substantial propor-
tion of world trade flows be
tween Rotterdam, Antwerp,
Hamburg, New York, London
and the Far East.
In the Netherlands there is
one bank for every 1,600 in
habitants. By way of compari-
son: in Spain, every 1,200 in
habitants have a bank, in
France every 2,100, in the UK
there is a bank for every
2,700 inhabitants and in Por
tugal 5,400 people have to
make do with one single bank
office.
The Netherlands has 14.8 mil
lion inhabitants - who together
own 6 million cars - and about
9,250 bank branches. The
Netherlands is primarily a
Rabobank country. 900 Rabo-
banks have a combined total
of 2,200 branches. 90% of
Dutch farmers bank with
Rabobank. 40% of Dutchmen
save with Rabobank and 25%
have a Rabobank mortgage.
To complete the picture, 30%
of small and medium-sized
businesses in the Nether
lands are Rabobank cus
tomers.
Old: The local bank in Oudewater.
And new: The local bank in De Bilt.
