Spreading the word
Regional advertising strategy
Regional marketing achievements
our banking services and our unique structure,' explains
Schinkelshoek. Jochem's father in the commercial represents
private banking, his grandmother the local, friendly bank for the
elderly and his girlfriend symbolises Small and Medium-sized
Enterprises (SMEs).
Since they started in 2003, the Jochem de Bruin commercials
have become one of the most successful corporate campaigns
in Dutch advertising history, and have won several prestigious
awards. In addition, the commercials have raised Rabobank's
profile as a solid and trustworthy bank and strengthened
company pride.
In the late nineties, Rabobank's cooperative structure was
working against rather than for the bank. As a result, in 2002,
Rabobank decided to modernise by becoming an open coop
erative in which all customers are members. Under Chairman
Bert Heemskerk's leadership, the old-fashioned cooperative
evolved into one with unique and attractive fïnancial products.
Despite this evolution, however, Rabobank continued to suffer
from a general lackof self-confidence. In response, Rabobank's
Communications department came up with a variety of cam
paigns, including the Jochem de Bruin commercials, and gave
Rabobank the confïdence boost it needed.
One of the secrets of Rabobank's communication success is
that it does not have a global advertising strategy. This does not
mean that the brand is highly fragmented, however.
The Central Communications Department in Utrecht functions
as a back office for the regional communication departments.
'We work closely with London, Singapore, New York/California
and Australia/New Zealand,' explains Schinkelshoek. 'Utrecht
is responsible for the global Rabobank look and feel, such as
the blue and orange used in advertisements, and for our core
values. "Community" and "confidence" are key words empha-
sised in all markets, but ultimately it's up to each communica
tion department to incorporate our central guidelines as they
see fit when developing marketing strategies that meet their
individual cultural and fïnancial needs.'
Asia
Communication in Asian markets spans a variety of cultures,
languages and levels of economie development. This makes
positioning Rabobank a real challenge. For example, a
regional press release has to be translated into at least five
languages. Tai Djoe Lim, Campaign Coördinator, explains, 'The
objective of our communication campaign at present is to
build name recognition and to position Rabobank as a niche
knowledge-based bank, a world leader in F&A financing. We
are doing this by informing our clients about who Rabobank
is and what it stands for,' she says. Although the Rabobank
brand name in Asia doesn't have sufficiënt critical mass yet,
our corporate Communications' efforts are slowly but surely
starting to pay off.
Australia and New Zealand
Rabobank Australia and New Zealand are positioning them-
selves as leading specialists in F&A. The marketing department
was successful in creating and launching a strong brand
positioning for the bank in 2003. This followed the decision
to rebrand the Primary Industry Bank of Australia (PIBA) ac-
quired in 1994, as Rabobank. As General Manager Marketing,
Belinda Howell, explains, The Rabobank brand was quite
underdeveloped and PIBA, although very well known in rural
communities through word-of-mouth and personal contact,
was relatively unknown in the city business environment.'
According to brand health tracking surveys, the Rabobank
brand now rates very highly in terms of awareness and con-
sideration in both the Australian and New Zealand markets.
Awareness of the bank in New Zealand was given a strong
boost with the launch earlier this year of RaboPlus - an online
savings and investment initiative. 'The campaign has attracted
more than 10,000 clients in the first six months,' says Flowell.
The United States
The United States' advertising campaigns support three major
businesses in the Americas: North American corporate F&A
Issue 12-October 2006 The Word 5
