RI Make-over
6
marketing
WHAT'S NewS Issue 4 April 1997
lt is one thing to change your name - it is another to successfully project a new identity. As
part of the effort to project our global image more clearly, a two-part advertising initiative is
planned. 'When it comes to corporate identity, you cannot afford to sit on your hands,' says
Roel van Veggel, who is head of RI marketing.
Roel van Veggel with the Dutch campaign: an unconventional approach with a human touch.
'Even as the old CBB was renamed
Rabobank International, it is clear that an
even harder communication task still lies
ahead. The most important step is to
firmly define our new identity in the eyes
of domestic and international clients,' says
Van Veggel.
The first campaign, aimed at a Dutch
target audience, has already been
approved at board level and will be
launched quite soon. A second, intended
to support the global network, will follow
later this year.
RI WERKT AAN
WERELDWIJD
IMAGO
'Het is niet zo moeilijk om
van naam te veranderen. Wel om echt een
andere identiteit te krijgen. Om ons
wereldwijd imago duidelijker te maken, is
een tweeledige advertentie campagne
gepland,' zegt Roel van Veggel, die aan het
hoofd staat van RI marketing.
De Nederlandse campagne zal binnenkort
van start gaan. De tweede, internationale,
campagne begint later in het jaar.
HUMAN TOUCH
The Dutch campaign has been designed to
heighten the general appreciation of the
fact that the Rabobank group also
contains an internationally-oriented
wholesale bank - one which is
increasingly active in the corporate and
investment markets as well. An intensive
print campaign will primarily target
leading decision makers in Holland's top
500 companies - general managers,
treasurers and board members - as well as
institutional investors and the financial
community at large (including Dutch
member banks). Avoiding the usual
advertising clichés - such as tall buildings
or swirling globes - it will take a
somewhat unconventional approach with
a human touch.
The campaign will build on the concept of
Rabobank as the (still) 'unknown force' in
global wholesale banking. The ads will be
dominated by people's faces, with a
charecteristic international nature, all of
whom (it will be suggested) 'know more'
about Rabobank International and its
services than many readers back home.
'The idea is to excite a readers' surprise
and curiosity,' explains Van Veggel. 'We
want to convey a genuinely informative
message about Rabobank International's
role in specialized markets and to project
a sense of a true globalism that has not
traditionally been associated with the
Rabobank name.'
The ad campaign's secondary goals are to
improve the overall image of Rabobank as
a whole, and also its local banks, as well
as to further cultivate our image as a
human organization in which cliënt
relationships are accorded the highest
priority. The campaign should also seek tod
reduce a perceived gap for many Dutch
people between Rabobank International
and competitors like ABN Amro and ING.
In fact, we are playing in the same
international league.
SPECIALIZED EXPERTISE
The second internationally-oriented
campaign, scheduled to follow later this
year, will differentiate Rabobank
International from the competition by
emphasizing the knowledge-driven aspects
of our global operations; that is, our
specialized expertise in the entire business
chains of such markets as Food Agri,
Healthcare, and other priority areas. It
will also stress our commitment to
maximizing customer value. Target groups
for this campaign will include not only
decision makers in our fields of
specialization but also the respective
corporate and financial communities as a
whole.
By mid-summer, a decision will be taken
as to whether this campaign should be
launched globally - or at different times
on different markets. However, the basic
concepts have been articulated, planning is
at an advanced stage, and the campaign
will soon be underway. What's more, both
campaigns, the domestic and the
international, will be at the disposal of the
local branches in order to meet their
needs.
Says Van Veggel: 'These forward-looking
and pro-active ad campaigns - which
strike clearly-defined Communications
targets - are intended to project a distinct
identity and thus benefit the whole of our
entire domestic and international
network.'
