REGIONAL FOCUS
Nuts and bolts
All-staff event
Belinda Howell -
convincing staff
was key
the concerns Howell found quite surprising was the staff's
belief that re-branding under the Rabobank brand would cause
the rural business to lose importance. Despite their apprehen-
sion, Howell reports staff were very pleased that they were
being consulted.
In November and December, Howell and Stewart met again
with staff across the country to explain the scope and timing of
the project. 'We made it clear that we were not just changing
the logo,' Howell says. 'We had uncovered the key values and
were creating a brand personality for Rabobank in Australia
from which the visual identity changes and operational changes
would follow.' During this second round of workshops, the
spectrum of activities that would be undertaken during the
re-branding were discussed. These involved marketing Commu
nications (the development of a corporate video, website,
brochures and calendars), advertising, corporate wardrobe
changes, cliënt Communications, internat Communications,
public relations (including media relations and sponsorship
activities), operational changes such as to systems and IT/tele-
com infrastructure, and legal issues management. 'In addition
we had an inventory of hundreds of items that needed a logo
change,' says Howell. 'We gave people feedback on the
progress so far and we explained the timeline. It was a nuts and
bolts briefing, including what they should say to clients and
what support materials, such as a Q&A dossier, would be
available and when. We also revealed our plans for a big
all-staff conference in Sydney and said, at the event, they'd
preview all the advertising and marketing materials.
The staff conference in February created a sense ofunity
behind one brand name and helped to address the emotional
side of the change by offering staff the chance to question the
bank's leaders. Howell says, 'As I mentioned earlier, during our
brand exploration sessions we found there was very little
knowledge in some parts of our organization about the
Rabobank Group and when we'd start to talk about the
Group, there was great interest. Therefore, it was important to
communicate more information about the world-wide
Rabobank organization.' Conference speakers, including Rl
Chairman Rik van Slingelandt, local Chairman James Graham
and CEO Bruce Dick did just that. 'They provided a greater
perspective of the bank's history, current market position and
future direction,she says. The information they imparted
emphasized the importance of the rural business in fulfilling the
'country banking' initiative, the Group's deep commitment to
Australia and New Zealand, and the imperative for 'a business
as usual' apjnoach to clients. By all accounts it was a very
effective way to lay to rest any lingering concerns people had,
create a sense of pride in the 'new' organization, and break
down barriers between people. 'This was the largest staff gath-
ering ever held here,' says Howell, 'and it was very exciting.'
{Left to right) James Graham, Rik van Slingelandt and Bruce Dick - communicating about the world-wide RaboGroup at the staff conference in Sydney