A LOT OF LESSONS
Visitors to this year's World Effie Festival in Singapore
witnessed a somewhat risky commercial for a new
savings bank in New Zealand. In the ad, a young woman
flirts with strangers in a bar, suggesting that a little
adventure on the side doesn't hurt. Sound tacky? Not
to the local marketing community, which honoured the
campaign with an award for advertising effectiveness,
an Effie. In its first year of operation, RaboPlus attracted
thousands of new customers with its commercials and
internet banners. Positioned as 'your significant other
bank' RaboPlus successfully promoted promiscuity in
the banking sector, pulling NZ$ 1.3 billion away from
its established competitors.
"We are challengers in markets such as Ireland, New
Zealand and Australia," explains Gert Bouwman, who
heads International Direct Banking at Rabobank. "We
have to engage with customers in a way that sets us
apart from the established banks in those markets.
Rabobank in Belgium, RaboDirect in Ireland and
RaboPlus in New Zealand do compete with better
interest rates on saving accounts, but we don't want to
be seen as a price fïghter. Our positioning in those markets
needs to be based on more lasting values, matched to
real consumer insights."
RaboDirect in Ireland chose to present itself as the straight
talking bank. 'Transparent, empowering, pioneering: we
have translated values of the mother brand into our direct
ISSUE 17
THE WORD
