BRANDING & PRIORITY BANKING

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BRANDING & PRIORITY BANKING ON “Importance and scope of branding in priority banking program run by Indian and foreign banks, taking into perspective the customer and the key features he associates with a strong banking brand”. B Y : GAUTAM BUCHHA PGPSE PARTICIPANT , AFTERSCHOOOL CENTRE FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP , BIKANER

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BRANDING & PRIORITY BANKINGON“Importance and scope of branding in priority banking program run by Indian and foreign banks, taking into perspective the customer and the key features he associates with a strong banking brand”.BY:GAUTAM PGPSE PARTICIPANT BUCHHA CENTRE FOR SOCIAL,AFTERSCHOOOLENTREPRENEURSHIP,BIKANERTable of contentsIntroduction to branding from branding perspective ……...................................................................1 Types of brand …...........

Transcript of BRANDING & PRIORITY BANKING

Page 1: BRANDING & PRIORITY BANKING

BRANDING & PRIORITY BANKING

O N

“Importance and scope of branding in priority banking program run by Indian and foreign banks, taking into perspective the

customer and the key features he associates with a strong banking brand”.

B Y :G A U T A M B U C H H A

P G P S E P A R T I C I P A N T , A F T E R S C H O O O L C E N T R E F O R S O C I A L E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P , B I K A N E R

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Table of contents

Introduction to branding from branding perspective ……...................................................................1

Types of brand ….......................................................................................................................................2

Role of brand in consumer and business banking …….........................................................................3

Effects of brand on financial behavior ……............................................................................................4

Consumer and corporate banking …….....................................................................................................4

Quantifying brand’s impact ……...............................................................................................................5

Brand value chain ……...............................................................................................................................5

Marketing program investments ……........................................................................................................6

Market performance ……............................................................................................................................7

Case study on bank of Baroda ……............................................................................................................8

Steps to branding …….................................................................................................................................12

Branding principles …….............................................................................................................................14

Brand value and important intangible assets ……...................................................................................16

Brand strength model ……..........................................................................................................................17

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Executive Summary

The study on “Importance and scope of branding in priority banking program run by

Indian and foreign banks, taking into perspective the customer and the key features he

associates with a strong banking brand” has been undertaken by us to get insights into

marketing and particularly into branding process.

The methodology that was used for the analysis is as follows- Primary data was collected

through questionnaire, by taking information from prospective premium customers of HDFC

BANK. Discriminant Analysis was then done on it to determine the attributes that affect the

brand equity to a large extent. From the analysis it was found that dedicated relationship

managers, provision of various facilities, High point of sales and Non-banking services like

managing tours play an important role in determining the brand equity of the banks.

We studied the Concept of branding and various strategies followed by different banks. Then we

looked at the significance as how branding could help in differentiation. The similarity of

product offerings makes differentiation more difficult in banks. We found that re- branding

strategies affect the customer’s base and market share. We studied the significance of brand

scorecard in analyzing the performance of banks.

Finally we looked at HDFC’S branding strategy from the perspective of introduction of different

products or customized services for different consumers, where we justify the tagline of “We

understand your World” with the help of internal attributes and external differentiations. We

found that Brand is one of the key resources from the perspective of customer value proposition

for every organization both, at the domestic and at the global levels.

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Introduction to Branding from Marketing Perspective:

In today’s world there is nothing which cannot be branded. Branding is giving a name, sign symbol for identifying it, so that we can distinctly identify the product from that of other products. It creates a point of difference between a company’s product and competitor’s product. Simply we can say that it’s a mixture of tangible and intangible attributes, which create value and influence.The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.

Examples of brands:  Brands examplesPerson DHONI,AMITABH BACHCHAN, SRKPlace KERELA, SWITZERLANDProduct PEPSI, MAGGI, RAYMOND CLOTHServices HDFC BANK, SATYAMRetail store BIG BAZAAR, SHOPPERS STOPWEB SITE GOOGLE, NAUKARI.COMOrganization TATA, RELIANCE, WIPRO

The use of brands is important in product planning for several reasons: To build product recognition, motivate buyers and concrete customer loyalty. To ensure quality, consistency & confirm your credibility. To connect with your target prospects emotionally and capitalize on brand exposure.

Elements of branding: Brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or combination of these elements that identifies a

business, product, or service and distinguishes it from its competitors. Trade name is a phrase or symbol that identifies and promotes a company or a division

of a particular corporation; also known as a corporate brand. Brand mark is: A unique symbol, coloring, lettering, or other design elements.

We can find the term brand in different contexts in different ways. There are some of the terms used for it:

1. Brand equity: Brand equity is something which tells value of a product. It’s the difference between prices paid for the product because of being of a particular brand. Had that brand not been associated to that particular product what would have been the price payable? To explain it further we can look at example of soft drinks. There is not much difference between soft drinks in terms of taste and color. But a consumer is ready to pay the extra sum for the name of Pepsi and Coca cola. Hence that is the brand equity of Pepsi for which consumer is paying extra sum of 8-10 rupees. Branding is not a short term proposition. So it plays a very important role in company strategy. Companies determine name of the brand keeping a lot of considerations in mind.

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Why branding? Confirms your credibility: Branding confirms the credibility. So that next time when

consumer goes to market he will ask for the same product with its brand name not the generic name.

Connects your target prospects emotionally: Consumers get emotionally attached to the product due to its brand.

Motivates the buyer: Brand name creates an intrinsic motivation to buy that product again and again.

Concretes User Loyalty: Consumer gets loyal by using the product again and again.

Name of the brand should be:

Memorable–The name of brand should be memorable. So that it will be easy to recall and customer when going to next time will consider its name.

Meaningful– The name of brand should convey the half of the message whether visually or verbally. The name of the brand should say what it is meant for.

Likable– Name should be interesting so that everyone will remember it. It may have an element of fun at times.

Transferable and adaptable–It should be kept in such a way that you can use the name for the whole product range. It should not be specific. And it may be used in different parts of the country and cultures.

Protectable– It should be kept in such a way that it will be legally followed. No-one else can use it and it should not mean something else.

Types of brands:

Generic product: Characterized by plain label, with no advertising and no brand name – Rice, Kerosene, generally used in pharmaceutical industry.

Corporate/company brand: Corporate branding is the practice of using a company's name as a product brand name i.e. Pepsi.

Private brands: Brand name placed on products marketed by wholesalers and retailers. Food Bazaar has ‘adopted’ labels like Wow Premium sanitary napkins.

Captive brands: National brands that are sold exclusively by a retail chain, like Arvind Mills for future group.

Family brand: A brand that is used on two or more individual brands, E.g. Maggie. Individual brand: Unique brand name that identifies a specific offering within a firm’s

product line and that is not grouped under a family brand as in P&G’s Tide, Head and Shoulders.

Role of ‘brand’ in consumer and business banking-

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The world economy has a significant over-supply of products and services in all sectors. As a result differentiation through strong branding is becoming more and more important. This is as true in financial services as in consumer products. Even non-traditional financial services companies, like Virgin, have created an array of well-designed, differentiated, financial products. Both consumer and wholesale markets are saturated and with so many alternatives, branding is becoming a deciding factor. As such, there is an increasing onus on each brand’s to communicate why it is uniquely able to satisfy customer needs. Banks need to provide a consistent brand experience to prevent customers from switching to rival banks. There are significant differences in priorities for customers between the developed and developing world. In the developing world, the emphasis is on trustworthiness and for financial strength and stability. Decisions are often made on more practical issues such as price and network. Consumer banks have traditionally invested more in marketing activities than their wholesale counterparts. This is changing as Executive Boards are realizing the value of brands in driving business.

Consequently many banks are developing Brand Scorecards to track and correlate the impact of marketing expenditure with business performance. However, many banks remain poor at analyzing the effectiveness of their marketing investment across both their product and service offering.

Effect of Brands on Financial behavior-

Linking brand and marketing metrics to financial performance is often a complex process. However, using market research (targeting customer and key stakeholders) combined with competitor benchmarking as inputs, it is possible to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing activities, and to establish the brand contribution to each segment of a banking business. The varying levels of brand involvement in the purchasing decisions across a bank’s product and service portfolio are governed by the ‘Drivers of Demand’ – the critical factors affecting purchasing decisions.

Figure 1 and Figure 2 provide an overview of the relationship between marketing actions and business performance, which are linked by the resulting changes in perceived attributes and their impact on customer behavior.

Figure 1 1

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Consumer Banking-

In consumer banking functional drivers of demand, like the quality of product and service, are the start point for customer choice. For most complex and high-value products, consumers prefer a face-to-face exchange, a fact that is reflected by many leading banks returning to their retail branch roots. Increasing consumer access to the internet – allowing potential customers to compare and review a wide range of financial products – means that price and product fundamentals are scrutinized in more detail. But for the majority of consumers image attributes often swing the final decision.

Corporate Banking-

A business-to-business purchasing decision should theoretically be more rational and informed than a consumer purchasing decision. However the brand and reputation are still extremely important. In our experience ‘hygiene factors’ include price and technical capability. But the two most significant drivers of demand in business banking are personal relationships and brand reputation. This is because a degree of practical competence is assumed to be present across the competitor set. A typical brand valuation analysis would incorporate data sets taken from market research including areas such as relationship depth, product penetration, and share of mind, satisfaction and quality indices and an assessment of recent marketing activity.

Quantifying Brand’s impact-

Figure 2

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For the purposes of this global valuation study Brand Finance has created a simplified Brand Index methodology, which draws on publicly available data to score each brand in each product and service area. The Brand Index is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100. It quantifies the strength of the bank’s brand relative to its main competitors, with reference to key business and brand attributes. Each competitor is scored out of 100 on each chosen attribute. The attributes are weighted and aggregated into an index for each brand.

Within this study, the Brand Index used both quantitative and qualitative data: I. Input measures: Quality of Brand Management Brand Presence II. Brand Equity: Familiarity Functional Performance

Emotional Connection Brand Preference III. Output measures: Revenue Growth Market Share Profitability Consensus Analyst Ratings

Brand value chain-

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The various Value stages-

Brand value creation begins with marketing activity by the firm that influences customers in a way affecting how the brand performs in the market place and thus how it is valued by the financial community.

Marketing program investment-

Marketing program investments can be attributed to the brand value development, either international or not, falls into this first value stage. Specifically some of the bigger marketing expenditure relate to product research, product development, and design; trade or intermediary support; and marketing communications (e.g. advertising, promotion, sponsorship, direct and interactive marketing, personal selling, publicity, and public relations). The extent of financial investment only committed to the marketing program of priority banking will not determine its success.

Program multiplier

The ability of the marketing program to affect the priority customer mindset will depend on the quality of that program investment.

Clarity- How much evident is the priority banking marketing program? Do the consumers properly interpret and evaluate the meaning conveyed by brand marketing?

Relevance- How relevant is the marketing program to customers? Do the consumers feel that the brand should be given serious consideration?

Distinctiveness- How creative and differentiating is the marketing program? Consistency- How well integrated is the marketing program? Does the marketing

program relate effectively to past marketing programs and properly balance continuity and change evolving the brands in the right direction?

Customer mindset- Customer mindset includes everything that exists in the mind of the customers with respect to brand: thoughts, feelings, experiences, images, perceptions, beliefs, attitudes and so forth. Brand value is created at this stage when the customer have

1. High level of awareness 2. Strong, favorable and unique brand associations 3. Positive brand attitudes4. Intense brand attachment and loyalty5. High degree of brand activity

Customer multiplier:-The extent to which value created in the minds of customer affects the market performance depends on various contextual factors external to the customer.The factors are as follows:-

1) Competitive Superiority: how effective is the quality of market investments of other competing brand2) Channel and other intermediary support: How much brand reinforcement and selling effort is being put by various marketing partners3) Customer size and profile: this signifies the number and type of customers which are attracted to the brand.Market performance-

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Six key outcomes of that response are as follows:

The first two dimensions relate to price premiums and price elasticities.

1. The extra amount customers are willing to pay for willing to pay for a comparable product because of its brand.

2. The amount their demand increases or decreases when the price rises or falls.

A third dimension is market share, which measures the success of the marketing program to drive brand sales. Brand value is created with higher market shares, greater price premiums, and more elastic responses to price decreases and inelastic responses to price increases.The fourth dimension is brand expansion, the success of the brand in supporting line and category extensions and new product launches into related categories.The fifth dimension is cost structure because the customer already has favorable opinions and knowledge about a brand, any aspect of marketing program is likely to be more effective for the same level of expenditure.

When combined, these five factors lead to brand profitability. The brand value is created at this stage to reach the final stage in terms of stock market valuation again depends on the external factors, according to the market multiplier.

Market multiplier- The extent to which the value engendered by the market performance of a brand is manifested in shareholder value depends on various contextual factors external to brand itself. Financial analysts and investors consider a host of factors in arriving at their brand valuations and investment decisions.

Market dynamics- This measures the dynamics of financial markets as a whole (e.g. interest rates, investor sentiment, or supply of capital).Growth potential- Measures the growth potential of HDFC bank and banking industry. Risk profile- this signifies the risk profile of the brand.Brand contribution- How important is the brand as a part of firm’s brand portfolio.Share holder value- It can be measured in terms of P/E ratio, stock price and market capitalization.

Case study on Bank of Baroda:

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In the five years after the start of the 21st century, BOB, a 97-year-old organization with about 2,700 branches spread across India, found that its business was stagnating and it was losing market share at an alarming rate. The bank’s share in deposits had declined from 5.07% in 2000 to 4.07% in 2005 and its share in advances had declined from 5.10% to 3.26% during the same period

Bank of Baroda Market Share (%) Year ended March Deposits Advances

2000 5.07 5.10

2001 4.69 4.80

2002 4.58 5.00

2003 4.60 4.19

2004 4.03 3.65

2005 4.07 3.26

Source: Bank of Baroda

Surveys sponsored by the bank revealed that products per customer ratio in BOB were 1.16 when global best practice is 4. Of the bank’s 25 million customers, 67% held balances below INR 1000 when at least a deposit of INR 5000 is required for a bank to break even. While the cost per customer per year was INR 1200, the bank earned a net interest margin of INR 30 from them. Ten per cent of the bank’s customer accounts were dormant. The average age of the bank’s customer was 43 while 70% of India’s population is under 35 years of age. An IMRB survey, which analyzed the consumer market consisting of people in the 21-65 age group, revealed that BOB had a very low market share across most consumer segments vis-à-vis its competitor and India’s largest bank, State Bank of India (SBI)

With regard to visibility, although BOB was comparatively well known in the east, west, and north of India, awareness about the bank was 13% in the south. Unaided awareness of the bank in this region was 7% compared to 32% for its competitor ICICI, 28% for HDFC. Eighty per cent of the bank’s 25 million customers were unaware that the bank offered retail loans. The bank’s logo, created when the bank was established, had virtually no recall value; even some of the bank’s oldest customers were unable to remember it. The IMRB survey revealed that SBI had ‘strong’ brand equity, ICICI’s and HDFC brand equity was ‘growing’, while BOB’s brand equity was ‘weak’.

The survey concluded that BOB lacked differentiated positioning and consumers perceived it to be ‘just another’ public sector bank, providing low levels of customer service and offering

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only deposit-accepting services. In 2003, the banking industry witnessed an increase of 13.4% in deposits and 15.1% in advances. In deposits, PSBs’ share declined from 81.9% in 2002 to 80.5% and in advances, it came down from 75.3% to 74.9%. On the other hand, private sector banks increased their share in total deposits from 13.1% to 14.4% and in total advances, from 17.3% to 18%.

The bank’s logo consisted of a cogwheel, ears of corn, upraised hand and the tagline, “Akshayyam te bhavishyati” (meaning, “Thou shall forever be prosperous”).

BOB appointed Gartner Consulting in April 2001 to assist the bank in assessing the situation, developing a new business strategy and in enabling an IT strategy. The Gartner report revealed

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that the bank had a complex symbolic logo and its tagline was more focused on the primary and secondary activities of the economy. These facts, in addition to a serious lack of consistency in displaying or reproducing it, in terms of colors, designs, layouts, typefaces and text, could be the reason for the low unaided recognition of the logo among both consumers and non-consumers. Roger Tuvy, a Gartner analyst, said that the bank needed to improve its marketing efforts. Gartner also suggested a new re-positioning strategy revolving around taglines like “Baroda: same (PSB) strengths, but with a new commitment to customers”; “Baroda: the superior PSB brand, with a new feel for customer service”; “Baroda: responsible lenders for your future”.

The top management of BOB commenced interventions relating to HR, organization structure and business processes and took up branding as part of a holistic transformation to reposition the bank. An open tender was held and bids were invited for the selection of a brand design consultant. Ray &Keshavan, Bangalore-based brand consultants, were chosen to develop a new logo. Ray & Keshavan proposed the idea of a vermilion colored ‘Baroda Sun’ and BOB’s Board of Directors approved it in late 2004.

The Baroda Sun – The Intended Significance

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The sun is one of the most recognizable symbols the world over and it nurtures life. The morning sun is symbolic of change; a change from night to day. The sun’s five rays symbolize the global presence of BOB, in the sense that the rays fall

across the five continents of the world. The vermilion color symbolizes loyalty in India, where married Hindu women wear it on

the forehead as a mark of loyalty to their husbands. The Baroda Sun is at an angle, to represent the dynamic nature of the bank.

For the first time in the bank’s history, it was decided that the bank should have a brand ambassador. BOB believed that it had found the ‘perfect match’ in Rahul Dravid. Firstly, just as BOB had been a financially secure bank since its inception, Rahul Dravid was also perceived to be a player of consistent and dependable quality in the Indian cricket team. Secondly, Rahul Dravid was never involved in any controversies, personal or professional. Thirdly, the essentially male customer base of the bank could better relate to Rahul Dravid compared to Sushmita Sen, who was considered too up-market for BOB’s consumers. Finally, Rahul Dravid is an international star and is a well-known personality across the cricket-playing nations of the world.

This international status of Rahul Dravid was in line with the new positioning strategy of BOB. The contract with Rahul Dravid, worth about INR 50 million, was signed in April 2005 for a period of three years and three month Khandelwal wrote a letter to all the 40,000 BOB employees explaining to them the necessity of re-branding the bank and changing the logo. A house journal, Bobmaitri, especially devoted to this theme, was published and circulated internally.

Problems Encountered: Signage conversion was the biggest task for BOB during the re-branding. The BOB management decided to remove the branch name and the ‘Government of India Undertaking’ tag. HDFC is the only bank other than BOB that does not have the branch name on its signage. It was decided that the bank’s signage would display only the new logo and the name of the bank. The application forms, stationery, letterheads and visiting cards bearing the new logo were designed and distributed across the bank. Both print and electronic media were selected with one objective, “to achieve the largest possible visibility for the new brand”. The western states, where the bank has a greater presence, were widely covered. Educational, financial and regional magazines with wide readership were chosen amongst the print media. Websites were selected for advertising the new logo, and television commercials (TVCs), featuring Rahul Dravid, were designed to be telecast after the brand launch.

The Baroda Sun has had a positive impact and this staff member is getting motivated. Within the organization, this high motivational level is a major effect of the Baroda Sun.

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Within 45 days of launch, 1.2 million new accounts were opened and about INR 6.5 billion was mobilized. This is 5% of total accumulated customer base in 97 years; in 45 days BOB got 5% of that. It is a phenomenal number. They gave cricket bats autographed by Rahul Dravid and Rahul souvenirs. Some lucky customers who opened accounts would get to play a cricket match with him. So to that extent it’s working for us. The power of brand and brand ambassador can easily be realized from here.

In the 2005 survey of India’s ‘Most Trusted Brands’, published by the Economic Times, BOB ranking had improved to 20th among service brands. The bank increased its products per customer ratio to 1.5 by 2007 and 3 by 2008.

Steps to Branding:

Today’s tough economic climate may cause the company to be leery about the prospects of their brand in the coming year. Reduced budgets and shrinking staffs may indeed limit the marketing activity planned, but in order for the brand not only to survive but thrive in this economy, the company must take action and ensure it remains strong.  A strong brand counteracts the downward pull of a tough market by sustaining price premiums and

higher margins because differentiation clears perception and results in its offerings, are perceived to be differentiated and of higher value. A strong brand also staves off competitive threats.

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A strong brand distinguishes itself by being: Meaningful approach: Is relevant and compelling. Some brands create desire; others meet

existing demand. The customers the bank cares about have to, in turn, care about what the brand delivers.

Differentiating: Gives the business a distinct advantage over competitors. Moreover, the difference must make the target customers perceive the difference and think it is important.

Believable: A strong brand doesn’t stretch far or overpromise, as people are savvy and skeptical. Thus, what the company communicates about the brand should be authentic.

Transcendent: A strong brand conveys value beyond a specific offering. It adds value to a great product when it has one, and still gives people a reason to buy even when not needed.

Consistently experienced: A strong brand is expressed and delivered consistently across all touch points, not just in ads and marketing communications, but in all the company does.

A brand’s strength, however, is measured by more than the way people who are buying or using the brand perceive it—that is, the external perspective. Internal perceptions—those of the people responsible for developing and delivering the brand—also play a role. The internal perspective on brand strength includes whether the brand is:

Sustainable: Enables the business to compete now and in the future. A brand should be an enduring proposition that drives continuous improvement and innovation for the organization.

Adding business value: A strong brand makes business sense, measure and manages the causal relationship between brand expenditures and increased revenue. Usually it goes something like: brand spend → image equity → customer preference → customer purchase/repurchase → revenue increase.

Clearly articulated: A strong brand is clearly defined and described to all stakeholders. Alignment in brand execution begins with common understanding.

Used as a tool: A strong brand inspires, informs and instructs all stakeholders so that they interpret and reinforce it in their daily decision-making and actions.

Operationalized: Operationalizing the brand involves the deliberate and systematic management of the business around the brand—identifying, prioritizing, and implementing programs and initiatives to deliver brand values and attributes.

Because branding must span broadly to be most integrated and effective, branding programs can be difficult to plan, develop and manage. In response to this problem, a Branding Framework could be developed, that would identify and relate key branding disciplines, points of understanding, activities, and tangible expressions of the brand. The Framework is built around four core disciplines: brand strategy, brand identity, brand management and brand experience.

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Each of the core disciplines has several related elements. These elements may represent points of understanding, activities, building blocks or types of communications.

Brand Strategy Its purpose is two-fold: to understand key aspects of a company's business, its marketplace, its customers and other key audiences, and then to use these insights to define an appropriate brand strategy. The brand strategy is critical because it sets the foundation for all other branding activities it establishes a focused understanding and direction.

Brand Identity Informed and directed by the Brand Strategy elements, the Brand Identity discipline provides the highly distinctive outward expressions of the company's values, personality and promise. Its identity system consists of elements such as the name and logo that are used repeatedly to provide instant recognition. Beyond name and logo, the Brand Identity expresses the organization's purpose and personality through a well-defined color palette, a characteristic design system and additional verbal branding such as a tagline and category-defining phrases for products and services.

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Brand Management The inclusion of the Brand Management discipline at this point in the framework is critical for the three key functions it provides:

Planning coordinated launch and delivery of brand messages, both internally and externally, integrating with business and marketing plans to optimize impact and cost-effectiveness-planning not just individual projects, but optimizing the overall priority.

Actively cultivating brand understanding, adoption and ability among employees who will be creating the customer's brand experience - providing them with brand training, assets and tools so they can consistently deliver "on-brand" communications.

Setting up a system and tools for monitoring and assessing the brand's health, so that resulting insights can be used not only to maintain brand alignment, but also to evolve the brand strategy, identity, experience and management over time.

Brand Experience This enables companies to design a range of experiences that customers and other audiences will find meaningful, memorable, and associate explicitly with the brand. Doing this is the surest path to building brand trust, loyalty and advocacy. Also the term "Brand Experience" is inspirational: it speaks to the goal of making every point of contact with the customer and other audiences as remarkable, engaging and compelling as possible.

Brand Strategy Elements

Company- Captures the company's business history and situation, long-term vision, nearer-term mission, cultural values and business goals, and its intrinsic personality. Customers -Establishes an understanding of customer groups and other key audiences, such as investors, employees, trade press and sales-channel employees. Market- Defines the marketplace in which the company and/or its offerings will compete; can include market trends and dynamics, traditional and non-traditional competitors. Promise and Experience- The brand promise states what the company/products provide and the benefits that customers can expect to enjoy from them.

Brand Identity Elements

Personality- Expressive characteristics that help breathe life into a brand and give it a distinct presence-behaviorally, graphically and verbally. In addition to specific attribute descriptions, some methods for characterizing personality as a package include brand persona, brand archetype and brand personage. Name- Depending on the brand strategy and architecture, different types of names could be appropriate: descriptive (of functions or places), eponymous (named for some person), suggestive (recognizable and relevant), arbitrary (a known word taken out of its normal context) or fanciful (unique fabrications). Logo- A company's or product's logo can be thought of as its "flag": distinctive, memorable, and signaling value and allegiance in the brand it represents. Types of logos include logo marks (graphic symbols) and logotypes (symbol and name combined in a specific arrangement). Tagline- Often referred to as a "slogan," is a short verbal phrase that can serve a number of purposes: it can provide descriptive information to define the company's business or the product's function, the kinds of customers the company or product serves, or the benefit it provides.

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Brand Management Elements Planning- Focuses time and resources into specific decisions and priorities, identifying the opportunities, budget and time for the best-possible delivery of the messages. Planning ideally builds from the organization's overall business and marketing plans, and then breaks out to specific program-, product- and project-level plans, both for launches and ongoing activities. Training and Adoption-The organization's leaders, employees and partners must all understand and deliver the brand-and better yet, become engaged and live it as part of the corporate culture. Internal brand launches and employee brand training enhance a brand's clarity and authenticity, and they help keep the business focused in serving its customers. Tools- A number of tools can be developed and applied to support the discipline of brand management. These can include brand training modules, a range of guidelines for brand, style, examples of internal and external communications, and templates to "jump-start" projects with appropriate design and assets already in place. Monitoring and Assessment- A key aspect of brand management is paying attention to the faithfulness of branding efforts, and also working to understand whether the efforts are resonating with audiences. Both sides of this equation should be monitored and assessed on a regular, ongoing basis to understand what's working, and what's not.

Brand Experience Elements Products and Services- The design and function of the product and service offerings are crucial elements of the brand experience created as they represent the embodiment of the brand. Personal Interactions- These interactions range from how you answer the phone, to the behavior of the sales and support staff, to discussions with the executives in meetings and public forums. Environments- Anything that provides surroundings for audiences can be considered an environment; include physical spaces such as retail and office environments. Virtual environments can be delivered through electronic media, including websites and CD-ROMs and can help create a compelling and memorable brand experience. PR and Events- Public relations efforts result in attention for the brand and offerings in media coverage, public events and business forums. They have the potential to build a community and following for the brand, helping it take on a life and momentum of its own.

Brand Value – An Important Intangible Asset A brand is the most important asset in many businesses. This is due to the far reaching economic impact that brands have on enterprise. Brands have also demonstrated a unique durability and sustained competitive advantage unmatched by any other corporate asset. Brand is an intangible asset and there are several methodologies suggested and prevalent for valuing brands. Some of these methods are cost, market value, economic use and royalty relief. Companies often utilize “Economic Use” model. This model is one of the standard methodologies in brand valuation by companies in India.

This method is basically a combination of market factors and financial parameters to arrive at the value of the brand. It uses Brand Strength Model which arrives at a brand strength score based on various market parameters. This score is multiplied by the net brand earnings to estimate the brand value. The Brand strength Model is used to determine the value of a brand based on the assumption that a strong brand is more reliable for future earnings with lesser risk.

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Method involving Brand Strength- This fully encompasses the attitude of customer satisfaction and the behavior of repeat purchase---drivers of brand choice, the perceptual differences between competitors, and links to business performance. The various parameters are,

Employee Satisfaction: Apart from reduced turnover, lower training costs, and higher morale, satisfied employees tend to deliver higher product quality, which directly translate into higher customer satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction: Is used to identify key drivers of brand choice, performance along those key drivers, competitive points of differentiation, and areas for improvement.

Key Drivers of Choice: From a customer value perspective, the key drivers of brand choice represent the relative importance of the product benefits that influence brand choice. They are-

Perceived Differentiation- As a customer perceives a brand to be more unique and a match with her needs, its relative position in the consideration process is enhanced.

Price Sensitivity- Buyers weigh the cost of the product relative to the benefit of the product differently. Buyers frequently underestimate their willingness to pay for quality.

Brand Consideration- Three components are: the key drivers of choice, perceived differentiation, and price sensitivity. Each of these three components influences brand choice by impacting customer value.

What makes the Brand Strength approach unique when considered against other models of satisfaction is the focus on competitive forces. Most models of satisfaction suggest buyers who are satisfied with a product will remain loyal, ignoring the roles of variety seeking behavior, environmental or competitive forces, or potentially higher satisfaction or perceptions of higher satisfaction from competitors. Even models of satisfaction that include competitive products include them at the satisfaction level and not at the brand choice level.

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When a brand achieves relative Brand Strength over competitors, it benefits from a double jeopardy effect:

First, the decision maker is more confident that he is making the right choice and the size of the consideration set is decreased.

Second, since the brand is perceived as having strength, it is perceived as being even more superior to the smaller set of competitors.

Hence, the brand benefits in two ways from Brand Strength. Under the Brand Strength approach, the fundamental measurement system is traditional satisfaction research. However, the goals are all outside the realm of traditional satisfaction research. The new goals include:

Operational Efficiencies, as suggested in the Balanced Scorecard Approach Enhanced Product Quality, as suggested in the TQM Approach Competitive Positioning, as suggested in the Customer Value Approach Business Performance: These goals are achieved by integrating the attitudes of employee

and customer satisfaction, the behavior or repeat purchase loyalty, as well as the drivers of brand choice, relative competitive positioning, and links to business performance.

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Priority banking Programs adopted at HDFC Bank:

Rated as the Best Private Bank in the Super Affluent Category in India. The recent launch of the HDFC Bank World MasterCard Credit Card targeting high

end, with a credit limit of Rs 3 lakhs upwards, will be made available by invitation only. The Visa Signature card is one of the most exclusive cards in the country, and comes

with a wide range of exclusive features like Signature Golf and Signature Access. Exclusive Imperia PhoneBanking Service-

The Imperia Phone Banking service gives customers the freedom to do almost anything over the phone - balance enquiry, loan-related queries, bill payment and lots more.

HDFC Bank Easy Shop Imperia Debit Card- It offers customers with a wide range of benefits like enhanced limits, cash back and much more.

Banking Convenience- This provides: Combined Monthly Statements for the savings, current and fixed deposit accounts Payable at Par Imperia Cheque Book Sweep-In Facility on the savings accounts Waiver on a host of service charges

E-BrokingHDFC Bank offers a gateway for e-Broking, via HDFC Securities Trading account, to facilitate easy T+2 settlements at a special price.

Priority banking Programs adopted at Standard Chartered Bank:

Cirque Selecte' is a series of unique events, open to the Priority banking customer, which cater to preferences in sports, music, dining, literature and entertainment.

At 'Money Talks', a series of seminars on financial and investment-related subjects, Standard Chartered give priority customers a platform for interacting with eminent personalities from the world of finance.

As a Member of the Movie Club, clients would be privy to exclusive movie previews and specially organized screenings.

“Nari” –in January 2009, an exclusive preview of paintings by Wasim Kapoor was showcased, based on the theme – “psyche of the woman”, with a backdrop of a fashion show featuring some of country’s top designers and fusion performances.

Exquisite Audemars Piguet Launch- Co-sponsored by SCB International Banking and The Peak Malaysia every year, preferred clients are invited to this high profile, posh cocktail event. .

E-$aver Account and Marathon Savings AccountAs claimed by the bank- “Manage the money anytime, anywhere, and watch the savings grow faster with our competitive interest rates”. Also, priority customers enjoy an interest rate as attractive as that of time deposits while enjoying the transaction convenience and the flexibility to withdraw the money anytime.

Components of Branding-

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Advertising: In Advertising it is decided upon what kind of add should be there, who should promote it and what colors and music should be used and when to air on TV and when to print in Newspaper. The advertisement should create the personality of the product so that te target audience can relate to it

Marketing: The Bridge between product and Reorganization of brand is marketing. If advertisement is the way the public discovers the product then marketing determines what to discover, i.e. to say marketing gives the personality to the product where as advertisement gives the way it is communicated to the people.

Public Relations: In this the product is talked about the third party i.e. newspaper news or some discussion. This is not funded by the company as a part of promotion. This is an effective branding tool because when the something good is discussed about the product by third party without it being paid then it creates a positive image among the Consumers

Advantages of Branding

1. Brand Differentiation: Branding helps a particular brand to differentiate itself from others. Even if the company offers same product and services as that of the competitors but due to the High and trusted brand this company scores over the competitors.

2. Creates Brand Personality and Identity: Branding is very Effective tool to create brand personality for e.g. Bank of Baroda before branding it was considered to be low dynamic brand and less attractive but after Bank Rebranding it was considered to be a dynamic and strong brand. It associated itself to the young crowd

3. Premium Charges: The Company can always leverage on his high brand value and brand image. It can charge more for its product and services than the competitors. For eg the IBM Computer will be costlier than the Zenith PC

4. Company can come up with new products with same brand name: Company can come with new kind of products and services under the same brand name so that they can leverage on the value and trust they have in the market

5. Competitive advantage: A high brand value always crates a competitive advantage for the company even if the competitors are selling the same products and services.

Disadvantages of Branding

1. Cost: If you wish to create and maintain a strong brand presence, it can involve a lot of design and marketing costs. A strong brand is memorable, but people still need to be exposed to it, this often requires a lot of advertising and PR over a long period of time, which can be very costly. 

2. Impersonal: One of the main problems with many branded businesses is that they lose their personal image. The ability to deal on a personal basis with customers is one of the biggest advantages small business have, and poorly designed branding could give customers the impression that your business is losing its personal touch.

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3. Fixed Image: Every brand has a certain image to potential customers, and part of that image is about what products or services you sell. If you are known for selling just one product, and you want to sell another product, will you be able to do so effectively?If you sell computers, would your brand name be suitable for selling vacuum cleaners? If your brand is focused too strongly on one product, it can limit your ability to sell other products.

4. Time Scale: The process of creating a brand will usually take a long period of time. As well as creating a brand and updating your signs and equipment, you need to expose it to your potential customers. It is commonly shown that people need to see an advert at least three times before they absorb it, which means you will need to advertise and promote the brand for a considerable amount of time before it will become well known. 

Survey Analysis-

We conducted the survey regarding the Attributes that affect the brand equity of the bank and to what extend is affects the priority banking programs:

Methodology: In this survey we prepared the Questionnaire and then we get it filled by the premium Customers. The data so obtained is analyzed in Excel and SPSS and we have tried to draw the conclusion that what are the attributes that affect the brand equity and by how much.Target Audience: We have tried to reach Premium Customers having salary more than 12 lakh per annum.Sample Size: 30 ClientsAnalysis Tools Used: Discriminant analysis, Excel Charts

Results Obtained-

SPSS (Discriminant Analysis)

Discriminant Analysis is a technique for analyzing data when the dependent variable (DV) is categorical (classification) and the predictor independent variables (IVs) are of interval or ratio nature.

Purpose: to understand segmentation/ classifications and to predict group membership Input: dependent variable as an indicator of group membership and independent

variables as classification criteria Key output: classification matrix

Important1. Dependent Variables: Non-metric (Nominal/ ordinal scaled) Classification/grouping variable.2. Independent Variables: Metric variables (Interval or ratio scaled variables).

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The objectives of this technique are

1. Development of Discriminant function which is a linear combination of independent variables, that best discriminates between the categories of the dependent variable (groups)

2. Examine whether significant differences exists among the groups, in terms of the predictor variables.

3. Determine which predictor variables contributes to most of the inter-group differences .

4. Classification of cases to one of the groups based on values of the predictor variables.

5. Evaluating accuracy of the classification.

Equation: The Linear discriminant analysis model known as the discriminant function is:

D (or Y) = b0 + b1 X1 + b2X2 + ………..+ bkXk

Where,

D = Discriminant score bk = Discriminant coefficient Xs = Independent variables (k independent variables)

In discriminant analysis a score is assigned to individuals or objects .This forms a basis for classifying the item in the most likely class.

Here in our project we have:

Dependent Variables: Brand Equity Independent Variables:

Brand Equity Overdraft facilities Mezzanine Finance

Sweep in facility(withdrawal of money from FD without breaking it anytime)

Membership Cards

Customized services Dedicated RM High Point Of sales limits Non- banking services(e.g. managing tours) If you know about HDFC, to what extent do you know about its financial services?

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Results of SPSS Obtained:

Eigen Value: Ratio of between group and within group sum of squares. Larger the Eigen value better is the function. Eigen value > 1 indicates that 100% of the explained variance is accounted for. (Square of the canonical correlation explains the % variation in the dependent variable explained by the model).

We have got the Eigen Value >1 hence the model is very good more over the model has 100% Variance i.e. the Independent Variables are completely explained by this model.

Wilk’s Lambda: Indicates the significance of the model. A lower value indicates higher significance. (Wilks lamda is converted to a chi-square value)

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Functions at Group Centroids:

Brand Equity

Function1

0 3.9061 -1.019

Unstandardized canonical discriminant functions evaluated at group meansThe group Centroids tells us that Attributes below Value 1.44 (i.e. average of 3.906 and -1,019) support the Brand Equity positively (for e.g. 1 increase in Dedicated RM causes 2.1 Times Increase in Brand Equity). Attributes above Value 1.44 does not support Brand Equity

Findings: The main finding is that the variables that affect the most to brand equity in positive manner are:

1. Dedicated RM

2. Customized Services

3. Sweep in Facility

4. Non Banking Services

5. High Point of Sales Limit

1. Excel AnalysisIn this we have use excel charts to analyze the importance and demand of various attributes.

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Brand Equity: In this nearly 67% people believe that brand is an important factor before investing, while 13% people are neutral towards it.Sweep in Facility: In this nearly 73% people say that this attribute is very important for them regarding their decision making when they have to choose the bank for large deposits. Whereas only 20% are neutral to is. This is so because premium clients do a lot of spending.

Dedicated RM: This is one of the most important features that banks use to differentiate themselves from other banks in case of priority banking. According to our Findings 73% people says that Dedicated RM is necessary for them where as only 7% remained neutral or did not want Dedicated RM.Customized Services: Again Customer heavily responded (75%i) n the favors of customized services as an important factor that motivates them to opt for priority banking.

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High POS Limits: This graph shows 60% of the client wants high Point of Sales Limit. This is important feature because premium customers spend a lot on Card and they carry less cash with them. Whereas only 20 % feel this is not so important facility.

Importance of brand in banking business-

Branding is a relatively new concept for the financial industry. They are slowly realizing that they need to manage their strategic assets, too. “Ultimately, a brand is the things people say about you when you’re not there,” Brand is often associated with slogans, advertising campaigns, logos, and organizational names. Brand is much more emotional in nature since it is tied to ideas of reputation, trust, and quality of a firm. We follow the view that brand is what a person feels after repeated interactions with any aspect of products or services. Since the brand is so connected to what your firm stands for in the minds of your key constituents, it represents a promise that the firm makes with its clients to deliver a set of experiences.

Financial services companies, particularly banks, must better establish brand identity as their services begin to overlap and as technologies wipe out geographic boundaries. Through brand identity, banks will be able to stand for something distinct, compelling and relevant in the minds of customers, employees and investors. However, banks have been slow in establishing consumer brand recognition. To be able to organize brand strength, banks should measure and manage their position in relation to their consumers in terms of quality, awareness, relevance, and competitive differentiation. While measurement entails the use of data collection techniques and comparative analysis of brands to determine the company's position on a competitive brand map, brand management calls for high-level corporate strategy and excellent customer service. Regulatory restrictions helped keep competitors at bay, while proximity to potential customers was the key competitive dimension.

But in an increasingly competitive and national financial services arena, those traditional advantages have virtually disappeared. How well and how quickly banks strengthen and communicate their brands will have a direct impact on their ability to attract and retain customers in the coming years. There are multiple competitive advantages associated with strong brands-

Strong brands result in better investment performance.

They decrease acquisition costs since customers are more likely to repeatedly purchase a product/service that they have come to trust and to whom they have demonstrated loyalty.

Brands are an important means for differentiation and competitive advantage. A powerful brand can change customer behavior, improve business economics, gain competitive advantage and provide a clear mandate for employees

Clients are more willing to pay a premium price for strong brands.

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Strong brand simplifies client choices. Once a client has purchased brand, he/she will not need to go through the entire decision-making process again, but instead will rely on past experience to guide them.

Better pool of people will be attracted to the big brands so this is kind of benefit which a company get in terms of better employee.

In capitalizing on a brand’s advantage in any industry, the first company or institution to “stake out” the territory of a specific proposition tends to preempt later entrants.

Brand management challenges in financial services-

Branded financial products in the hope that it will create a differential in the marketplace is a myth because unlike FMCG or other products it is difficult to remember financial service product. This is because:

Brand management is a relatively new concept for the industry

Brand relevance is difficult to maintain with so many client types

The similarity of product offerings makes differentiation more difficult

The client / advisor relationship, often the key to the industry, is hard to control

The significant changes required may challenge the management of traditional financial services companies

Industry trends have made brand positioning more complex

Brand management in financial services: the Brand Management Checklist-

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The 5 questions that form the checklist are-

1. Do you know what you want your brand to stand for? This defines a set of goals for your brand that is based on how clients should perceive the company, how to differ from the competition, and how the brand could support the business.2. Do the messages your clients receive reflect your brand?Identify the messages that will best communicate the brand’s promise. Integrating these messages across various channels, such as advertising, media/ investor relations, and sponsorship, will ensure that your clients receive a consistent message regarding your brand. 3. Do the messages your employees receive reflect your brand?Letters from management, e-mails, informal meetings, intranet sites, and road shows should all be infused with key messages consistent with your brand strategy.4. To what degree are the interactions with your clients guided by brand?To assess your client interactions, first identify all the points where your client interacts with the firm; assess each of these interactions with regards to the brand and determine what improvements are necessary; finally, modify those interactions to reflect the brand promise. 5. Is brand incorporated in organizational decision-making?Finally, check to see at what level senior management uses brand in business planning and organizational development. It is beneficial that the five- or ten-year plan, including product/service goals, highlight strategies that help an organization to achieve its brand goals.

Inspiration for branding a bank-

In these times of mergers and acquisitions, branding a new bank can prove both challenging and exciting, for many reasons. Completely new corporate cultures are invented in these mergers, coupled with the fact that many banks have shifted from personal relationships to digital experiences. The challenge is to express the core values of the new company while providing transactional experiences seamlessly, both physically (in branches) and online. Some of the biggest bank in world and in India as well has gone for rebranding strategy. Some of them are HSBC, Bank of Baroda, Bank One, Bank of America, Grossmont Bank, Home Federal Bank, Huntington Bank and Santel Federal Credit Union. Brands are building through the strategic integration of corporate identity, interior architecture, retail merchandising and signage strategies. The interior design of the bank is driven by the commitment to create a warm, inviting atmosphere, with areas for a variety of conversations – from confidential, to casual,"A great brand has a deep knowledge of itself. Anyone can establish a brand by using focus groups to create an "identity." "Design by a committee" may deliver consensus, but it may not be what most consumers want the brand to be. To keep a brand alive over the long haul, banks have to do something new, something unexpected. A great brand has design consistency. Great brands have a consistent look, feel, a high level of design integrity, and they follow a much focused design process. However, it’s important to see what brands don't do. They don’t allow trends that are in conflict with their vision. Consumers are looking for something that has lasting value in a quest for quality, not quantity.

Branding Bank of America

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Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 55 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 5,700 retail banking offices, through more than 17,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 21 million active users. Bank of America is the No. 1 overall Small Business Administration (SBA) lender in the United States and the No. 1 SBA lender to minority-owned small businesses. The company serves clients in 175 countries and has relationships with 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 80 percent of the Global Fortune 500.This bank had first move advantage in rebranding. It has advantage over other banks because of its strong brand equity. Various aspects it considered while rebranding were-

Understand Industry Dynamics Exploit Competitive Advantages, Choose Partners wisely   Customers are an asset. Continuous Improvement is a Requirement. Brand Positioning

Providing Opportunity to All Customers

The new brand positioning reflects Bank of America's business strengths and global presence, highlighting the company's unmatched ability for enabling all its customers to achieve their goals - from buying a first home to planning for retirement, from starting a business to expanding into new markets.

Launching the Campaign

Bank of America supported its new brand positioning through an integrated marketing campaign, which included a mix of national and local television, radio, print, online and outdoor advertising. The initial series of TV ads were premiered prior to, and during the ABC telecast of the Academy Awards.

Bringing Opportunity to Life

To celebrate the new brand positioning, Bank of America helped consumers in 15 U.S. cities "wake up to opportunity" by providing coupons good for one cup of coffee from a variety of retailers. In select markets, notable individuals who exemplify "opportunity” were asked to join teams of Bank of America associates, to distribute hot cups of coffee to consumers. Bank of America will announce significant charitable donations to address most critical needs of those communities.

Branding HSBC-

Headquartered in London, HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world. HSBC's international network comprises around 8,500 offices in 86 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With listings on the London, Hong Kong, New York, Paris and Bermuda stock

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exchanges, shares in HSBC Holdings plc are held by around 220,000 shareholders in 119 countries and territories. The shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American Depositary Receipts.

Through an international network linked by advanced technology, including a rapidly growing e-commerce capability, HSBC provides a comprehensive range of financial services: personal financial services; commercial banking; corporate, investment banking and markets; private banking; and other activities. This bank is a classic example of a successful branding case. HSBC started focusing on branding early on as a sure path for global success. The dual aspects of global competition and the involvement of stakeholders’ funds make branding financial institutions quite focused. The first aspect that any financial institution focuses on is building an unquestionably good reputation and credibility for its operations. HSBC has probably done both of those things more successfully than any of its peers. Another aspect that stands out in the case of HSBC that can serve as a guide to any financial institution is the ease with which it has managed its role as a global institution.

These are some of the HSBC initiatives which can indeed serve as valuable examples for other Asian financial institutions in their branding efforts.

HSBC has created an internal architecture that allows for proper branding

Focused on building an unquestionably good reputation and credibility for its operations

Making itself fully equipped to handle the many challenges involved in branding and become one-stop-shops for financial advice and solutions.

Successfully in categorized its businesses and focused on the strengths of each. With individual ownership of its various units — private banking, investment banking, consumer banking and many others

Developed an internal leadership program that nurtures talent and grooms leaders.

“GLOCALIZING” — a concept that even many consumer durables companies grapple to grasp. HSBC’s many country centers makes full use of and encourages local talent.

Advertisement campaign promoting it as “The World’s Local Bank”. HSBC has strived to set itself apart as a bank that, while it has many global connections, is still nimble enough to care for the needs of local customers in the ways they prefer.

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Conclusion:

After completing the research study on “Importance and scope of branding in priority banking program run by Indian and foreign banks, taking into perspective the customer and the key features he associates with a strong banking brand”, we can confidently say that we have understood the essence of branding in banks, especially in the priority banking programs, meant mainly for the Preferred and Imperial customers. This project has helped us gauge the importance of brand strategies, brand considerations and brand management to differentiate oneself from the others in this fiercely aggressive and continuously growing banking industry.

Through this project, we have understood several concepts that we had never really delved upon till date. Working on this project for the last couple of weeks, a conceptual insight has been attained in the vast world of banking. This entire study has given us an opportunity, to reach beyond the theoretical knowledge of our textbooks and gaining a practical aspect to various concepts in banking and branding.

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References

Aaker, D.A. (1991), Managing Brand Equity, the Free Press, New York, NY. (The) Banker (2004), “Top 1000 world banks and top 300 European banks”, The Banker, available at: www.thebanker.comDoyle, P. (1990), “Building successful brands: the strategic options”, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 5-20.Durkin, M.G. and Howcroft, B. (2003), “Relationship marketing in the banking sector: the impact of new technologies”, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 61-71.Farquhar, P.H. (1994), “Strategic challenges for branding”, Marketing Management, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 8-15.Gardener, E.P.M., Molyneux, P., Williams, J. and Carbo, S. (1997), “European savings banks: facing up to the new environment”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 7, pp. 243-54.Griffin, A. (2003), “Metrics for measuring product development cycle time”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 112-25.Harris, G. (2002), “Brand strategy in the retail banking sector: adapting to the financial service revolution”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol. 9 No. 6, pp. 430-6.Kerin, R. and Sethuraman, R. (1998), “Exploring the brand value shareholder value nexus for consumer goods companies”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 26, pp. 260-74.Kumar, S. and Blomqvist, K.H. (2004), “Mergers and acquisitions: making brand equity a key factor in M&A decision-making”, Strategy & Leadership, Vol. 32 No. 2, pp. 20-7.Levitt, T. (1983), “The globalization of markets”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 61 No. 3, pp. 92-103.Mathiesen, H. (2002), “Managerial ownership and financial performance”, pp. 1-295, available at: www.encycogov.com/PremiumContent.Motameni, R. and Shahrokhi, M. (1998), “Brand equity valuation: a global perspective”, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 275-90.Moutinho, L., Davies, F., Deng, S., Peris, S.M. and Alcaniz, J.E.B. (1997), “The future role of bank branches and their managers: comparing managerial perceptions in Canada and Spain”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 99-105.Powers, T.L. and Hahn, W. (2002), “Skill and resource based competitive methods: impact on firm performance”, Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 16 Nos 2/3, pp. 113-24.Quelch, J. (2003), “The return of the global brand”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 81 No. 18, pp. 22-3.Park, R. (1999), “The global transformation of financial services”, European Business Journal, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 7-17.

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Saunders, J. and Watters, R. (1993), “Branding financial services”, International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 6, pp. 32-9.Schildbach, J. (2008), “European banks: the silent (r)evolution”, Deutsche Bank Research, pp. 1-31,available at: www.dbresearch.comStrahan, P.E. (2003), “The real effects of US banking deregulation”, The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Review, pp. 111-28.

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Annexures:

Questionnaire to understand client’s perception of HDFC Brand on Domestic and Global levels:

1. Which bank do you manage your transactions with?

ICICIHDFCBOTHAny other (Please specify)

If any other bank other than HDFC-

2. Why are you dealing with your bank?

Brand EquityCASA facilities (surcharge and transaction information)Debit Card limitsEnhances portfolio of financial solutions (Auto Loans, Loan against Shares, Demat and Foreign Exchange services)Customized services and personal attention

3. Rank the private banks in the order which first strikes your mind:

ICICI BANKHDFC BANKKOTAK MAHINDRA BANKINDUSLND BANKYES BANKAXIS BANK

4. When you are investing huge money in the bank what attributes you look for

Rating on the scale on 1 to 5 (1 being least important 5 most important)

Attributes Not Important

Average Importance

Neutral More Important

Most Important

Brand Equity

Overdraft facilitiesMezzanine FinanceSweep in facility(withdrawal

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of money from FD without breaking it anytime)Membership CardsCustomized servicesDedicated RMHigh Point Of sales limitsNon- banking services(e.g. managing tours)

5. What is your concept for the financial advisory services-

I manage my own wealthRare consultation, once in 3 monthsPeriodic consultation, once a monthRegular consultation, once every 2 weeksA personal RM for portfolio management

6. Before this survey, how often have you heard of HDFC?

I have never heard of HDFC before todayI have seen/heard about HDFC few timesI see/hear about HDFC frequently

7. If you know about HDFC, to what extent do you know about its financial services?

Rating on the scale on 1 to 5 (1 being least important 5 most important)

8. What is your general impression of HDFC bank brand?

It seems of high quality and reliableIt seems to be of average quality and reliabiltyIt seems to be of low quality and reliabilityA bank brand does not signify quality and reliabilityCan’t say

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9. Which of the following is the HDFC Brand? (Tick one Option)

10. How memorable would you rate the logo of the brand HDFC bank?

There is no brand recallOn providing cues, the logo comes to mindBrand recall is there, but weakIt is very memorable and distinct

Rating on the scale on 1 to 5 (1 being least memorable 5 most memorable)11. How memorable would you rate the advertising or tagline for HDFC Bank Brand?

“India’s World- Class Bank”1 2 3 4 5

12. What types of association first comes to your mind when you think of priority banking of HDFC bank?

Quality UniversalityValueServiceDeliveryConsistencyFriendliness

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Premier servicesBrand Association

You can tick on more than one option-

13. Have you done priority banking with HDFC?

Yes No

14. If Yes-

Would you recommend it to others? I would recommend it very strongly to others I would rather let other clients decide for themselves I myself is apprehensive regarding the services offered I was not satisfied with the services offered

15. With what will you associate HDFC brand?

Credit card facilitiesRelationship initiatives of bankReliable financial advisoryPrompt response and service deliveryDedicated staff

16. If Yes-

Would you recommend it to others? I would recommend it very strongly to others I would rather let other clients decide for themselves I myself is apprehensive regarding the services offered I was not satisfied with the services offered

17. To what extend you consider the past financial performance of the bank before using its services?

1- Hardly matters

5- Matters to a great extent

18. Demographic Profiling:

Name

Age (In years):

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20-30 30-40 40-50 Above 50 years

Sex:

Male Female

Marital status:

Married Single

Income Bracket(Annual)- In INR:

10, 00,000-15, 00,000 15, 00,000-20, 00,000 Above 20, 00,000

Thank you for your time and patience!!