GROUP NEWS
Wholesale portal opens
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Looking outside in
Easy access
Group re-named
One of the most important communi-
cation tools in today's world is an
internet site - without one your very exis-
tence is questionahle. Being such a basic
requirement, the first ever Rabobank
wholesale portal will be launched in the
first quarter of2003, with very little
hoopla.
'It's a single front door to Rabobank's
wholesale business,says Kate Hedges,
Project Manager for the portal. Until
now there have been many wholesale
internet initiatives but they have been
lacking becaase they represented either
a single division or product. Hedges
says, 'Our wholesale clients are looking
for a way to access something that is
larger than one business line or product.
Hence development of this wholesale
portal began six months ago. According
to internet best practice, the most intit-
itive URL www.rabobank.com bas
been allocated to the portal. From here
customers will be directed to the vari-
ous wholesale solutions and entities,
including RI, depending on their
requirements.
'The portal will be the first really tan-
gible result of the ttew branding strategy
- one of the first moments where the
wholesale brand expression is visible
both internally and externally,' Hedges
says. 'It's very true to our brand values
- we are thinking outside in - so it's
appropriate that we launch with some
thing the customer can see and use.
Furthermore, it supports Rabobank 's
claims to be knowledge driven. 'The
extensive breadth and depth of our
research will be evident on the site,'
she concludes. 'It is an ideal place to
ntake our credentials known.'
0 0 e Rabobank.com - corporate solutions - Netscape
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national clients; and other stake-
holders, including (potential) staff
and the investor community. 'The
three expressions are based on one
core brand becausc they share the
same corporate norms and values,
history and resources,' Peijster
says. The three brand expressions
can be likened to translations of
the core message to appeal to tar
get customers who have different
expectations and speak different
languages.
'Customer orientation or cliënt
focus must permeate everything
we do. We must not look from the
inside out - we must look from
the outside in, from the customer's
perspective,' states van Veggel.
A coordinated approach will be
appreciated by customers, enabling
them to make clearer choices for
our products and services. The
benefits will be feit Group-wide.
'By successfully binding the
wholesale communication efforts
to communicate with one voice to
the market, each of the wholesale
units, including Rl, stands to ben
efit from communication activity
undertaken by any member of the
Group,' enthuses van Veggel.
Everything done on a local level
contributes to the global brand.
As this is the first time that the
wholesale units have been coni-
bined under one clear brand and
the first time one uniform and
consistent wholesale message to
the market has been formulated,
employment of professional com
munication resources has been
planned. These resources include
the premier wholesale portal (see
sidebar) and Brandweb, an on-line
style guide. 'The wholesale portal
will make life easier for customers,
while Brandweb will make life
easier for the local offices and rep-
resent great cost efficiencies,' van
Veggel says.
Aside from the fact that there now
exists a new wholesale brand, the
most striking and decisive aspect
of the new branding strategy is the
unveiling of a new Rabogroup
brand. The decision to drop
'bank' from the Group's title
The Word I 23
