THE CHALLENGE.REBRANDING
Business sense
Tony Costa (President Director of PT Bank Rabobank International Indonesia)
and Danny Hartona (Ril Deputy President Director).
Indonesia, the largest economy of South East Asia, is still a very
promising market. With growth percentages up to 6% per
annum and a growing middle income group, economie
indicators are positive. Yet, of the population of approximately
250 million citizens, many groups are highly underbanked
and there is huge upward potential. The country is also a rich
F&A market as the fertile country produces many soft
commodities, including sugar, palm oil and coffee. However,
there are also risks: governance, corruption and inflation
are factors to consider, In 2006, the regional and local
management of Rabobank decided it was a good time to
expand the business into retail banking. This was in order to
take advantage of the upward potential, and also to create a
broader risk base for our activities. The Indonesian banking
market was changing dramatically and many banks were
looking for partners and/or investments. The Bank Indonesia
(BI) encouraged international banks to participate in this
consolidation phase. Finding the right bank was the next step.
Rabobank was not only looking for the perfect business fit,
but also for a bank that would match with us culturally.
Rabobank shares Hagabank and Bank Hagakita's commitment
for relationship-driven banking in the growing SME banking
sectors in Indonesia. "We also see this as a great opportunity
to further build our franchise in Food and Agribusiness
banking, the core sector of Rabobank's global strategy,"
says Tony Costa, President Director of PT Bank Rabobank
International Indonesia. "Rabobank's roots lie in F&A and
SME banking, and we lookforward to working with both banks
to strengthen our personal relationships with their customers."
Change the logo at 94 offices on four different islands in six weeks!
That was the challenge for the Communication taskforce. Together
with the General Services Heads Erny Utama and Sonny Palmi, the
signage was developed and produced. In each branch there is now
at least one Rabobank sign, A TM sign, Rabobank name behind
the cashier and various stickers with the Rabobank logo. AH were
produced in time and put in stock at the supplier's warehouse. On the
effective legal mergerdate, four trucks with a team of ten people per
truck started their rebranding trip throughout Indonesia. A logistical
challenge but one which was handled with enthusiasm and high
energy.
Tony Costa: "Already from the start we had intentions to merge
Bank Hagakita and Hagabank into Rabobank. From a regulatory
point of view we had to, as BI only allows a 'single presence',
which means that Rabobank can only invest in one bank. More
importantly though, it made business sense to do it."
The merger combines and synergises the local experience and
knowledge of the former Hagabank and Bank Hagakita with
the global triple A rating, knowledge and size of the Rabobank
Group. With these combined capabilities Rabobank will
strengthen its business in the F&A business sector, and at the
same time aggressively expand into the SME sector with the
extended branch network of Hagabank and Bank Hagakita.
With a total of 94 offices and approximately 1,700 employees
the merged Rabobank has become the number one international
bank, with the largest network of branches throughout Indonesia.
The combined bank's total assets are approximately Rp. 10.2
trillion oraround US$1.1 billion.
Tony Costa: "We are very proud that we managed to realise
the legal merger in July. Now we can concentrate on finalising
the operational integration, focusing fully on our customers
and realising our business ambitions."
"Rabobank's triple A rating is a strong
advantage for our position in Indonesia.
Since our merger is all about growth,
with very little overlap between the
three banks that make up the 'new'
Rabobank Indonesia, we would like to
announce that there will be no signifi
cant change in staffor service. A vast
majority of the employees currently
working at Bank Hagakita and Haga
bank will take care of customer banking
needs under the new Rabobank name.
This reflects the key focus and objec-
tive of our strategy going forward."
ISSUE 17
THE WORD
