There are many misconceptions about what makes a good or strong brand. Foremost amongst them, is the idea that a brand is nothing more than a logo or badge that a company can slap onto itself, and say: ìlook: this is who we are and what we stand for.î The truth is that good branding is about much more than what the organisation aspires to: it must be a reflection of what it actually is, and how it acts, thinks and behaves, across all its activities and interfaces. If the brand promise is not backed up in reality by the experience that the customer (and the wider market) has with the organisation, it will prove to be little more than a faÁade.
But this sense of the brand as a reflection ñ or perhaps embodiment ñ of the organisation itself, is one of the factors that has made Bank of Scotland Corporate (BoSC) stand out in the business marketing world. Correspondingly it was also one of the primary reasons why BoSC was recognised by our judging panel as the Best B2B Brand of 2005. Despite an impressive and diverse shortlist, in the end the decision was unanimous, reflecting the strength of BoSC’s case.
The story of how what many would see as a ‘second tier’ player in an industry that is notorious for its lack of marketing innovation (ie. banking), came to be the leading light in business branding is an intriguing one.
As most readers will probably know, BoSC’s parent company HBoS emerged through the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland in 2001, which created what is now the seventh biggest bank in Europe by market capitalisation. The dramatically different profiles of the two converging organisations posed major challenges. For example: Halifax had a major branch network in England and Wales, plus a sizable mortgage book. Meanwhile, besides a presence in the Square Mile, Bank of Scotland had relatively little profile south of the border.
HBoS recognised that there was a major opportunity in business banking in England and Wales, a market that is dominated by the ‘big four’ high street banks, but it needed a new strategy and framework to enable this.
According to James Farrar, head of marketing & product development at BoSC, this was put into place in 2003, with a complete restructuring. ìUntil three years ago, we were only targeting businesses with a turnover of at least £25 million,î explains Farrar. ìWe wanted to be able to take on smaller businesses.î
BoSC’s target market was down-shifted dramatically, to include all businesses with at least £1million turnover, bringing its services within reach of an enormous number of new clients.
this was a massive change, creating enormous opportunities, and it was clear that a strong brand and effective marketing would be critical. Farrar says before it could go out to the market, it had to have a long look at itself, understand its strengths and weaknesses, and develop a clear proposition. He says, ìWe had to ask ourselves: ‘what does this all mean? Who are we?’î
For a brand seeking to make headway in a tough market, dominated by a handful of very strong players, one of the most effective strategies is to position yourself as a so-called ‘challenger brand’. As the phrase suggests, this is a brand which attempts to change the status quo by not following traditional paths or accepted ways of doing things. In short, to shake things up.
It’s little surprise, then, that BoSC chose to adopt the challenger brand model for its onslaught on the world of corporate banking. But Farrar absolutely refutes that this is any kind of cynical exercise, designed to grab customer’s attention from the hackneyed ways of the big four. ìWe went around the whole business to look at how we did things, and it became apparent that we were already different,î he explains, in terms of the products and services it offers and the way it does business. He says this can be seen in many aspects of the bank’s activities, and cites the integrated finance offerings that the bank has pioneered as an example of this, which have since been widely copied by its rivals. ìAnd the fact that we don’t have a branch network means that everything we do has to be different.î
Farrar claims this reputation even extends to the City of London. ìWe have a strong reputation at the top of the market, where we are seen as innovative and daring in terms of some of the deals we have put together. We are genuinely seen as being different.î
As a result, Farrar claims ‘Look at things differently’ ñ the brand promise that emerged from this period of naval gazing ñ is not a vague, unrealistic aspiration, but a genuine reflection of the organisation as it really was. ìIt was a reflection of what was already happening, rather than a statement of intent.î He adds that, because the positioning was simply reflecting the bank’s positive attributes, the internal communication of the rebrand ñ one of the most important but most commonly overlooked aspects ñ was far more straightforward. ìPeople bought in quickly because they were already doing it anyway. This is very powerful.î
With the brand position established, the thoughts of Farrar and his team turned to going out to the market. The tone of communications, he says, had to be entrepreneurial and aggressive, but not so much so that it sacrificed the important banking qualities of dependability and reliability.
ìBanking is a boring market, so we wanted to create standout,î he explains. ìWe had to cut through the domination of the big four ñ they have been on people’s high streets for decades.î And unlike the big four, BoSC couldn’t rely on pull-through from high profile consumer activity because there wasn’t any. He says this separation from the mainstream brand is both a hindrance and an advantage. ìOn the plus side, it allows us to pitch our brand exactly right for the market.î
Farrar says BoSC has worked with four agencies over the last couple of years ñ all small, all localñ but says the role of T3 was most important in establishing its new brand. ìT3 got involved very early on, and were very much part of the thinking. We had worked with them before on similar projects, but not on the same scale, and it was this experience, rather than their location that was key.î He adds that despite the size of the task at hand, he was more comfortable offering the job to an agency he had worked with previously, rather than turn to a big London agency.
T3 were key in development of creative concepts, which needed to be bold to match BoSC’s ambitions. ìI like to explore all the options: safe, medium and scary,î says Farrar on his attitude to creative. ìIt is important to look at all possible alternatives. There might be some good ideas [at the extreme end of the spectrum]. I think what we ultimately went for is closer to ‘pushing back the boundaries’ than ‘playing it safe’, but it is not scary.î
The first elements of the definitive ‘Head for business’ campaign rolled out in 2004, but it was developed, evolved and continued to run through most of 2005.
‘Head for business’ focused on a simple but striking image of a young woman with hair ‘styled’ (or Photoshoped) to reflect various different industries: eg. cogs and wheels for manufacturing. The different heads were used collectively for more over-reaching executions and selectively for targeted activity.
Not only did they feature on the typical range of direct mail, posters and taxis, but more impressively they were also used on London Underground ticket barriers, over 200 trucks and a number of high visible ‘building wraps’. The power of the imagery, the huge variety of placement and the length of the campaign generated massive exposure for BoSC, effectively putting it on the business banking map (in England and Wales). Results suggest it delivered over £9 billion in potential new business, during this period.
Such visibility is uncommon in B2B, and a cynic might suggest that it would be easy to deliver excellent results with a media budget as large as appeared to be available for this campaign. In the campaign’s defence, Farrar says it would be easy to draw false conclusions regarding the size of the budget. ìSome of the building wraps were purchased, but some were on our own buildings, or those of our customers. Property is one of the bank’s major strengths,î he explains. It was a similar story with the branded trucks. ìWe own them through a company called Hill Hire. We were using our own assets.î
Whilst the building wraps may have come down and the trucks been rebranded, much of BoSC’s ongoing marketing takes its cues from the initial campaign, almost two years on from its inception. Farrar says it has always been about evolution, analysing what works and adapting the messages accordingly. ìWe track brand presence in different areas and always conduct pre and post-campaign research,î he comments.
A good example of how activity has changed in response to feedback is that early advertising featured a man alongside the woman with the stylised hair. ìResearch showed this activity generated less cut through than when we used her on her own. So we dropped him and developed her image. We worked the asset.î
The onus of BoSC’s activity at present is on direct mail to a target base of 200,000 customers, focusing on its varied product portfolio. The bank sends an average of six campaigns a week, all of which are developed inhouse.
Another central focus of BoSC’s marketing activity is development and leverage of what it calls ‘The truth’. This can be found in video form on the bank’s website, and in books it has produced following its series of customer events. Whilst most observers would describe these as testimonials, Farrar says this word is not appropriate. ì’The truth’ is about getting the real life experience of customers and prospects,î he explains. The videos are simple but well-produced case studies explaining how BoSC helped different companies achieve their objectives. The books contain the real-life business wisdom collated from guests to BoSC’s customer events ñ featuring celebrity interviews, such as BBC’s Natasha Kaplinski interviewing record producer Pete Waterman. They are then mailed to the delegate list as a follow-up.
The implication is that BoSC’s ‘think different’ approach allows businesses to understand and address their problems and ultimately achieve their objectives. It all feeds back into the brand, and helps develop relationships, and it is very un-banking.
The Bank of Scotland Corporate brand will continue to evolve in future, as will the market generally, as it becomes better established. ìYou always have to question what you are doing. You must gather research and feedback; adapt and change. Changes can be both major and minor.î
Whatever scenarios the future throws up, and however the market may change, Farrar is confident that he will have the board’s support in addressing it, on the strength of the success of ‘Head for business’ and the activity that has followed. ìThe board are quite committed to marketing at the moment, but you have to earn commitment, rather than demand it. Your marketing must work, and it must generate revenue.î
So are you only as good as your last campaign? He ducks this question, but reveals later: ìWe were budgeted to generate a 10-1 return on marketing spend last year. This year the target will be higher. But we have always beaten our targets.î
On this basis, BoSC has good reason to be committed to marketing, and to nourish the strong brand which they have created. Together with the promise ‘Looking at things differently’, the brand has been key to the great leap forward which the bank has made in the last two years, and it will continue to be key as it seeks to make further inroads into the hegemony of the big four in the business banking world.
ow often these days do we hear a brand say, ìWe look at things differentlyî? From accountants to water companies, the B2B world is currently dominated by organisations claiming to approach their customers from a unique perspective. In such competitive times like these, where people are often the only difference, I guess it’s an understandable claim. But how many actually pull it off?
What impressed the judges so much about the Bank of Scotland Corporate entry was its delivery. They are a bank that likes to say ‘we are different’, ‘we are customer-focused’ and ‘we deliver, plain and simple’. And what’s so impressive? They actually appear to do just that.
We all know aligning people, products and services to a core message is central to effective branding, yet how often do we hear that ‘there’s a good reason’ why something or someone should be different from the rest. Not it appears at Bank of Scotland Corporate.
This organisation demonstrates a high level of understanding and focus across all its communications. It clearly knows whom it’s talking to and how it wants to do it. It applies clarity and rigor to a consistently branded experience, but the key to its winning formula is how it’s done. Continued on page 22
A combination of simplicity and imagination, reminiscent of First Direct, makes the offer easy to understand and personable to use, both refreshing and differentiating in the world of corporate banking. The bank’s website (bankofscotland.com/corporate) typifies the approach, using customer testimonials really effectively to reassure and short humorous films to bring it all to life. The navigation is incredibly easy to use and the language is both conversational and direct.
The homepage confidently displays ‘The Difference’, and explains right up front what it is that makes Bank of Scotland Corporate different from other banks. It shares its beliefs and promises ‘to help businesses grow, plain and simple’. But it doesn’t just say it; a link takes you directly to it. ‘The Truth’ is a section on the site where approximately twenty different business customers explain in their own words how the difference in Bank of Scotland’s approach helped their businesses to grow ñ simple, and very effective.
The Bank of Scotland Corporate was a clear winner in the eyes of all the judges. Although the brand initially sounds like a ‘me too’ in the world of financial services, the judges were attracted to its commitment to message and the imagination they show at every opportunity.
Here is a brand with a clear proposition, an offer that connects with its customers and a distinctive style of delivery – a worthy winner.
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